This could lead to crashes in cities where it is every man for themselves, and where people ignore traffic laws left and right, this would just create more issues.
Ashqar Ayyad presents 3 Problems at the Constantinople Conference. Food Water Energy Food Due to the obvious fact that the majority landmass of the Caliphate is desert, means less arable land and less mass production of foods. However, beyond the obvious dry climate, regions like Turkey, Algeria, Tunisia, Iraq, Syria, Egypt and South Nubia have large potential. Other regions can produce their own food, however at a smaller scale and would not be noted as a mass producer. In this case, the Caliphate is the most food-import dependent country in the world, depending on Canada, Abyssinia and The Federation the most for an abundant source of food. Ashqar Ayyad however wants to trade with the soil rich nations of Ukraine and the SEU, however the SEU is seen as strictly anti-Caliphate. The reason why South Nubia is kept so tightly by the Caliphate is because of the access of arable land. The amount of un-tiled land in the region is extraordinary, and if a revolution would occur the region would be starving for the next century, that's why the Nile Convention was protecting them. As is such, Ashqar has placed orders to begin using the unused soil of Nubia to it's advantage and become a massive producer in the Caliphate. Water Water in the Caliphate is deadly scarce, amounting to the region being a country under water poverty. Actions have been made to tackle this scarcity, and one of the tactics is reservoir projects. Reservoirs such as the Nubian Reservoir and the Arabian Reservoir aquifers are being worked on, as the Caliphate creates pump age systems above ground, and through pipelines plan to transport this water richness to urban settlements. This plan is estimated to take nearly 10-15 years and will cost a lot. Advanced and large scale pumps are planned on being built at the aquifers, where they would be treated and transported via hundred mile long pipelines through the desert to civilization. Aquifers are already in use however, as in Arabia near Jordan reservoirs are being pumped and used to irrigate massive crop circles for an abundant source of food. To protect water quality, Ashqar Ayyad is focusing on building massive waste-water treatment plants in urban settlements, so that all the waste water put back in the environment doesn't cause pollution, and hopefully some well treated water would be used for irrigation. Other methods such as the cutting down of toilet flushing usage and avoiding overuse of water is being done, and a new law has passed, stating that pollution of rivers and fresh water supplies is strictly forbidden and punishable by law. Desalinization Plant technology is being researched into. Hopefully, the Caliphate can use their vast amount of saltwater to be filtered into usable fresh water for the future. Energy Although the Caliphate has been booming heavily due to the oil industry, accounting for the majority of its wealth and energy, the greatest in the world, that energy is pollutant and hard to access everywhere. That is why dams are being built in the Nile and Euphrates/Tigris to hopefully produce energy to power entire cities, as some Egyptian towns and even parts of cities don't even have electricity at all. As for now, coal factories are in big boom, and coal is mainly imported from The Federation and Canada, giving the Caliphate high energy output. Nuclear energy however, a new discovery, and one which the Caliphate wishes to expand upon is being used. Nearly 6 prototype reactors have been produced, while only 2 are large scale. Promising results have been made, and the Nuclear Association in the Caliphate boasts their pride in safety, moderation, and high energy output. In one year time, the Caliphate plans to construct their first nuclear power plant in Bandar Bushehr, a city in Persia. Results will need to be taken and evaluated, but if all goes well, the Caliphate wants every major city not powered sustainably to be powered by Nuclear Energy. (Yes, they know the risks, that's why they are building the safest reactors in the world). The dry and desolate aspect of the Caliphate works out very well in the case of storing Nuclear Waste. The USSR has Serbia, yes, but in the end burying waste ruins the environment, while the Caliphate can easily bury it a few miles away from a city, depending on the exact location of course. The Caliphate knows the progressive and striding forces of the UBR, and considering they are the top dogs in national improvements, (SEU is too, but SEU is so big that improving takes a while), the Caliphate wants to work with the UBR and gain assistance in improving the triad of problems, Water, Food, and Energy. Ashqar Ayyad and his cabinet want to personally meet with the UBR's president, his cabinet, and the top companies and advisors in Energy, Food, and Water industries. This meeting will be held in Constantinople, starting with a tour, a dinner, (Ashqar Ayyad is true to his word of living humbly, so the dinner will be mediocre considering what position he is in) and then talks of trade, friendship, and Water, Food and Energy. The Caliphate waits on the UBR's response, and hopes this doesn't anger the SEU, but the SEU is stubborn and would never agree to such terms.
The construction of the Chernobyl power plant, given extra funding and rushed (this creates a near-disaster later) is complete and pumping out energy in a limited capacity (Reactor 2 is incomplete.). SEU is making a super big deal out of this; this is the pinnacle of SEU scientific accomplishment in the last few years, living proof of the superiority of the Socialist, Atheist ideology that is the Socialist Eurasian Union in clean, sustainable energy (OOC: Clean? Sustainable? Nuclear is efficient, safe and powerful, but it is not clean or sustainable.) (OOC: This is more of a testament for SEU's ability to cut corners rather than the superiority of their ideology.). However, the cutting of corners has been kept secret in favor of gradually fixing the problems, such as a higher void coefficient than designed and control rods that temporarily strengthen the reaction. The SEU Government has placed a contract internally for 5 more RBMK power plants, and 2 more experimental LWRs as well as smaller LWRs for Naval usage; SEU is experimenting with Nuclear Powered things, because they love nuclear powered things. (RBMK is considered unsafe for naval usage; if something goes wrong it keeps getting worse, and there's no room for the safety mechanisms in a full reactor.). SEU is building 4 new power plants in the following places: Kori Sasnovy Bor Balkhash Keelung Bunbury All five of these have lakes or ocean near them, to make sure that they have enough cooling water. As of now, every region in SEU is scheduled to have a Nuclear Power Plant, and more are on the way. (SEU considers putting RBMK power plants near regional capital cities too great of a risk. If something goes wrong, and with RBMK there is a high probability that if something goes wrong it keeps getting worse, and then it blows up and kills a bunch of people in the most important city in the region which is bad for the economy and the reputation of SEU's government. If SEU will ever put in power plants at regional capitals, it will be LWRs that have undergone strict testing to make sure that it cannot have an accident even if a saboteur was running it.). In any case, SEU is testing methods of containing Nuclear Waste with a giant concrete, water and steel coffin that is proof to any non-deliberate attempts to open it and then sealing it in a super deep hole and forgetting about it. SEU has picked a location in Siberia, so cold and rainless that no sane human being would ever venture to it, and an insane human being would die trying to get there. SEU has made preparations for it to be resistant to any Earthquake, despite the fact that it is so deep in Siberia that a chance of an Earthquake is one in a million. It is planned to be made to be able to defend against any attack by a civilization that cannot on its own discern what the waste is, and is incapable of simply throwing the waste back into the deep hole/make their own deep hole and throwing in the waste there and forgetting about it. SEU is experimenting there. It is expensive, but it will be worth it in shooting down any concerns of Nuclear Waste. OOC: There is only one region in the SEU that has a positive opinion for the Caliphate, and they're the Kazakhs. They constitute a tiny minority of SEU's population. China is ambivalent, but the Eastern Orthodox Christians (Belarus, Ukraine, Russia) really don't like them, as in about 5% of the population wants to kill all of them (yes, Genocide. Since no one committed a NN Holocaust, Genocide seems a lot more culturally acceptable, although still repugnant not a taboo.) and the rest ranges from strong dislike to mild dislike. Yeah, it's kind of understandable why they don't like the Caliphate very much.
The Socialist Eurasian Union has entered secret negotiations with the Zionists to give them a home. Now, the Israelis are currently in an ongoing insurgency against the Caliphate (they seem to have a lot of insurgencies, for whatever reason.). However, the insurgency is small-scale and nowhere near the scale of the South Nubian insurgency, now dying down under Ashqar Ayyad. However, the Zionist movement has really picked up steam after people stopped persecuting them officially (none of the Governments care whether they live or die.), for obvious reasons. Jews are still not safe, just safe enough to gather influence and create their own homeland. Major bankers have backed the movement, and the Eastern Orthodox Christians seem to be sympathetic to an extent (because no matter how much they hate Jews, they hate Muslims more.). China, as this as in most things, doesn't care. "Jew" is a new concept in Korea, and so no one has an opinion. In any case, Mao believes that they could be useful as a pawn. Deng agrees. The negotiations are not going well, mainly because SEU's goal isn't to give the Zionists a home (it's to get a shiny new geopolitical pawn they can sic at anyone they don't like), and partly because Extreme Judaists want to take over the entirety of old Israel and then some. Even if SEU wanted to help them (they don't), SEU could not possibly accomplish this, even if they outright attacked the Caliphate (THEY WON'T). SEU offers to relocate them to a warm, sunny rainforest in Siberia (yes, there is a rainforest in Siberia.). They obviously refuse; they have little desire to have no contact with the outside world, and SEU expected this. SEU offers to assist them carve out a homeland in the Israeli heartland. This goes well initially, but the Ultraconservative Judaists and SEU come into conflict about the amount of aid SEU can give them and how much SEU is willing to openly support them. Basically, nothing works out because they can't agree on anything. REALLY IMPORTANT STARTS HERE They need another backer, and they look for it in the Federation and SNE. The USA has always been reasonably sympathetic to them, and these guys are the closest thing to a strong USA. They come knocking with an offer. They will assist their strategic needs in the Middle East, give them a thorn in the Caliphate's side, (hint: every major power has one except for the Caliphate. SEU has India poised to deliver a killing blow if they act fast enough. India has Pakistan, a hostile state right next to them backed by the Caliphate. SNE has the SEU and UBR, combined near-unstoppable.). In return, they want help in establishing a Zionist homeland. The extremists are told to shut up and they come up with a reasonable offer; they don't have to get Jerusalem, just a nice chunk of land to live in and not to be under constant attack. NOT REALLY IMPORATNT STARTS HERE SEU wants experience in counterinsurgency warfare. There are 2 ways of counterinsurgency: the nice way, and the brutal way. SEU has decided to use the nice way. The brutal way is bad for putting up puppet states later on to use as geopolitical pawns, which is bad. SEU wants to have pawns for later use, and destroying the entire country in a storm of brutality tends to create enemies and alienate allies, of which SEU has to keep a delicate balance of appeasing or lose their sphere of influence.
The Caliphate knows the progressive and striding forces of the UBR, and considering they are the top dogs in national improvements, (SEU is too, but SEU is so big that improving takes a while), the Caliphate wants to work with the UBR and gain assistance in improving the triad of problems, Water, Food, and Energy. Ashqar Ayyad and his cabinet want to personally meet with the UBR's president, his cabinet, and the top companies and advisors in Energy, Food, and Water industries. This meeting will be held in Constantinople, starting with a tour, a dinner, (Ashqar Ayyad is true to his word of living humbly, so the dinner will be mediocre considering what position he is in) and then talks of trade, friendship, and Water, Food and Energy. The Caliphate waits on the UBR's response, and hopes this doesn't anger the SEU, but the SEU is stubborn and would never agree to such terms.
SEU doesn't care what UBR does as long as they keep obeying USSR rules and don't mess things up. SEU has come up with the R-7 and MiG-21 designs. They will enter production simulatenously, 1957. Both are top secret, the MiG-21 combines interceptor and fighter characteristics, making it very powerful. The R-7 is a potent rocket and potential missile. In any case, SEU has sent a chimp up into space using an R-2 rocket, it was however an embarrassing failure (the chimp was turned into a fine stew on impact due to failure of the parachute mechanisms. This has been kept secret and a new chimp found.). SEU is going to try again, but with a new Chimp. They are also planning to launch several dozen rats and a third Chimp, and then a few dogs into space. The R-11's naval version is in development for use in Submarines; SEU is building the second arm of the Nuclear Triad. Also in 1957, SEU is planning to launch a dog into orbit. Yes, orbit. And then they are also planning to launch a man into space, named Yuri Gagarin. He has been selected after rigorous selection process. 1957 is going to be a big year for Science.
The UBR agrees. Energy will be a simple task, the UBR currently produces an excess of energy with capacity to create much more. Food and water on the other hand, not so much. As for water, there are several bodies of water in the UBR that is clean enough to be drinking water, or we can use reverse osmosis and filtration to clean brackish water. Food may be a bit more difficult, as there isn't very much farmland in the Caliphate or the UBR (well, there is some, but urban expansion is growing very quickly). The black lands along the Nile or in the Fertile Crescent may make good areas for mass farming, however the rest of the Caliphate is mostly just desert. Mr. Ashqar Ayyad will most likely want to speak to the Minister of Fishing, the Baltic Sea, and Waterways and the Minister of Agriculture, Health, Care, and Food, as they are our main concerns. In addition, the leaders of the Latvian "Project No Suffering", brothers Pārtiku Vairāk and Ūdens Vairāk, are probably also people he should talk to, as Project No Suffering aims to help get food and clean water to everyone on Earth. Mr. Kahvi is looking forward to the talks as diplomacy is crucial to the well-being of the country as a whole.
SEU motto: Ceaslessly Forever Onwards. A consise motto fitting SEU's tendency to be hammy, but very short. SEU tends to do that kind of thing with most of their mottos; hammy and if possible short. Some are more successful than others at this. In any case, SEU's Chernobyl plant is running with few operational difficulties; less than would be expected of RBMK reactors. As the World's first and only Civilian power plant, SEU has started to create a standardized safety doctrine from data collected by Chernobyl Power Station.
The SNE, with the rising problems in the Middle East with the Calipahte and Israel, decide to start backing Israel. This will first off help Israel establish a safe home in the Middle East and damage The Caliphate in any way possible. Arms are sent to Israel along with SNE troops, SNE generals and SNE military vehicles. THey also send $250 to help them. This is for funding the military, establishing a working economy, or whatever they need it for. The SNE wants them to be self sustaining and powerful.
Ashqar Ayyad sees this move by the SNE as a direct threat of war, supplying is one thing, but supplying your own troops, generals and military vehicles is another. The Caliphate has nearly 2,000 Nuclear weapons, ranging from various sizes and kilotons. The Caliphate has put nearly 4 Cruisers, 10 Destroyers, 11 submarines and 2 Aircraft carriers in the East Mediterranean, if the SNE wants to have a war, they can, because at the moment, there is no oppression to the Jewish people, and the region would be under peace if you would take away the failed Zionists. If the SNE doesn't cease, the Caliphate will make sure that all weapons will be used. However, this is a defensive measure, Ashqar Ayyad doesn't want war, he wants to scare off anyone who tries to distrupt the growing process of the Caliphate. Back. Off.
SEU bluntly points out that the Israeli want some of the most arid regions of the Middle East. SEU The thing is, Ayyad may love the Jews and there may be no legal discrimination, but the Jews and the Islamics are not known to get along and no matter what the Caliphate government does, it's going to take decades for this hate to be reduced, and it will likely never really go away; 2,000 years of conflict has created a nasty stain in their mutual relationship. There's definitely a lot of latent racism; the Russians and the Chinese get along by an extraordinary balancing act by the SEU Government, which consumes vast amounts of resources and money. The Koreans act as intermediaries, but even then the SEU government is concerned about the Union dividing into hostile Eastern and Western segments (which has almost happened more than once). Effectively, there is a lot of antisemitism in the world, especially in the Caliphate (No one is condoning the antisemitism legally or otherwise but there is only so much Government can do.), and the Jewish people are demanding a homeland exist where they can be safe. SEU offers to act as intermediary, hoping to defuse the situation where SEU gains nothing from the Caliphate reducing oil exports to SEU. Some of the less extreme Zionists seem to be amenable to a compromise where Jerusalem stays Caliphate territory, the Jordan River is shared proportionally, and they get a tiny patch of land (otherwise known as modern Israel without the West Bank).
Ashqar Ayyad speaks at the summit in Damascus and gives the Jewish population one option. To become a governmental region. Is it an independent region? No, but it gives them their own identity as the Region of Israel, and it allows them to vote in parliament, participate and bring ideas to parliament, have a voice, exercises freedom of religion, culture and all of their rights, and their right to act as a semi-independent state. If the Zionists don't accept this, their only option is to get crushed by the Caliphate Army, which they are very capable of doing. The thing is, before Zionism came into the region Jews, Muslims and Christians lived together in peace. Now however, it is the opposite.
SEU knows that any clash between the Zionists and Caliphate will end badly for both sides. The Zionists have a lot of sympathy from the parts of the world that aren't that antisemitic, and donations have flooded in. The Zionists refuse to accept anything less than independence. Basically, cracking down on them will result in what is essentially a reversed Middle East; Zionists fighting Caliphate forces and open chaos; and the Caliphate will just end up looking bad because Islam is virtually nonexistent in many areas of the world so no one can really defend them. And the plight of the Zionists should be clear; the Caliphate could steamroll them if they wanted and delay them indefinitely.
The threat of nuclear weapons is enough to remove most of their troops. Still some SNE soldiers remain but very little. There is one battleship staying to watch over but with nuclear war on the line, no attacks directly from the SNE will come in the Middle East, only support
The Caliphate sends nearly 100,000 troops in the region as an act of defense. They are only there for the purpose of destroying all supply lines from alien sources, snuffing out rebel outposts, and by keeping the peace. The Zionists are foolish, they have been given a free opportunity for a semi-Independent state, and one which allows them to live peacefully in their homeland. Still, they fight, which will end poorly for them. In other news, the Caliphate has used their X-3 missiles to launch into space, they do reach orbit, however their trajectory trail is complicated. Satellite prototypes have been made, and by 1955 the Caliphate expects to launch their first satellite into space. The X-4 is underway, a liquid fuel rocket enough to transport a 250 kiloton warhead. The warhead is being made, however the first thing to be sent into space is a satellite, the warhead is for later testing. The Caliphate is working on desalination plants, ones that can convert salt water into freshwater with various processes. It has been somewhat successful, although researchers estimate the technology will show its true colours in 1960 when the first plant is hoped to be made. Since Canada has a pro-Ashqar Prime Minister and cabinet, they are reluctant to actually support Israel, however due to their jewish population they are almost forced to, but support minimally. Ashqar knows this, and is fine with the circumstances.
The USSR People's Congress has many strange traditions. One of them is a large Titanium-plated Steel Gavel with elaborate engravings. Surely this cannot cause any problems for politicians who have weak physical strength! Surely, no one will think to use this large, durable object as a weapon (fights break out quite often in the People's Congress, for whatever reason.)! Another is the fact that the PC and the unfinished Palace of the Soviets is so large, that Politicians are given megaphones (being replaced by a PA system, but there are budget cuts that continuously delay this.). Surely this cannot cause any problems for those with sensitive hearing, and surely politicians will not cause any problems with it! As well as this, they have an insistence on having a dining hall within the Palace. Since the Palace is so large, and with massive voids of space the designers have no idea what to do with, they have allocated the space. It is incredibly Spartan compared to the grandiose rest of the Palace, even more so than the rural schools and they are the definition of Spartan. Surely, this will not cause any problems with morale! The PL's office is always gifted with a bobblehead of said PL, always unflattering. This has become a tradition after Rhee Syng-Man pulled strings to get a Bobblehead of Stalin that was unflattering, and Stalin returned the favor. It is to be taken in good faith, and Mao has commissioned some of himself for his future successors. It has become an institutional meme to blame tradition for problems. What are your nation's weird traditions? (e.g. the infamous Sunayyad Caliphate band.)
The Caliphate boasts in having the world's greatest band, from Egypt, using ancient manuscripts and sheet music on papyrus to develop their insane musical talents... Seems as if the papyrus was smudged though... Totally a video in black and white, and those presidents you see? Just ordinary people. You would never see them in 1952! Who are they?
The polders near Kaliningrad are complete. At the moment, the land is currently just being used to transport goods from a makeshift port into the city of Kaliningrad. A planning association in Kaliningrad has come up with an ultra-urban idea. In its simplest form, the Advancement Association of Kaliningrad (AAK)'s plan is to create one giant building that is basically an entire city that houses apartment-like homes, businesses, and various other things all housed in this one single building. The building would have several stories and would be about 500 square kilometers on its first floor. The building would not have roads running through it, per se, but rather pedestrian and bicycle paths as well as a rapid transit subway system to get across the city quickly. The roof area would be used for many purposes such as farming/gardening, community courtyards, as well as producing energy through solar panels. The building would be able to sustain a fairly large population and, with its abundant number of livable spaces, it would be an easy area for someone to have a good life at a low cost of living. The building would have all the standard things that a city has, such as a police force, a fire department, schools, et cetera. Despite the fact that the building will probably be called New Kaliningrad and that it will be under the jurisdiction of the Russian-speaking government of Kaliningrad, the building is supposed to be a center of multiculturalism including groups that don't even have a prominent minority in the UBR, as an example, I don't know, Icelanders? Pretty much any people group you can think of. This building will require a huge amount of money and will probably take a very long time to construct. Luckily most of the project will be funded by the AAK as well as other groups in Kaliningrad in support of the New Kaliningrad building. Our weird thing is building entire cities in a single building!
The USSR has finished the Palace of the Soviets. Or at least the bottom half. The top half is unfinished, and the giant spire leading to the sky (doubling as an antenna) has not yet been finished. The bottom half is perfectly fine however, and the PC has moved in to have their first meeting. A 515-meter tall building has proved challenging, and it has become more and more pyramid-like in shape as the design was revised. However, all the kinks have been worked out and SEU is now set to have the tallest building in the world. In any case, it is an government building, mixed-use building, and private office building all in one. It is just that big. The gigantic dome takes up a lot of space, but there's still plenty for lots of offices in the center of Beijing. SEU has stated that the Palace of the Soviets have enough capacity to fit every congress in the USSR; this is true. SEU also offers to host things in there; it could work out considering the fact that it is ridiculously large. OOC: It's even more gigantic and ridiculous than in real life! SEU has a crap ton of money, so why not?
