Tlahatl World Summit

On the date October 13, 2020, the city of Tlahatl hosted the first ever world summit, where world leaders from all across Rathnir gathered to negotiate. The main topic of the summit was the mesa, although other topics such as territorial claims, colonization, and international organizations were discussed.

Origin
The mesa, located on the continent Ummarnu, is a controversial location, due to its abundance of resources that all the great nations of Rathnir desire. On its surface lies terracotta, an invaluable building block used in a multitude of architectural styles. Below the terracotta plateaus lies vast gold reserves, gold being a valuable commodity on in Rathnir. The mesa, the only such biome found in the entire world, is rules by two vastly different nations. Ardat Mosul, ruling the eastern portion of the biome, is a capitalist's paradise and the self-described pleasure capital of Rathnir. A financially powerful caliphate, it holds a lot of influence over world events for its size. The western side of the mesa is ruled by the Empire of Uldarash, a newly-formed super-nation built upon a xenophobia of the empires of the east, which also holds great amount of influence on the world stage. These two nations are separated by The Great Barrier, a massive wall between their lands. Since the entirety of the only mesa is claimed, and the resources of the mesa are so highly sought-after, it was inevitable that a clash for those resources would take place.

The Summit first began organization when Kaiser Siegfried of the Eastern Empire approached the dual emperors of Uldarash about their restrictive mining rights policy in the mesa. Tlatoani Infinick of Tlahatl was also interested in mesa mining rights, and approached Uldaras h as well. They all agreed to hold a conference on the matter, and Infinick offered to host the conference in Tlahatl. Soon, other nations approached the group about attending as well, and very quickly, most of the major nations of Rathnir began sending representatives.

The Summit
Hours before the summit started, more and more nations began requesting permission to attend. Diplomats began gathering in Tlahatl early, and at 1:50 PM EST on October 13, 2020, the summit began.

The first topic was on mesa mining rights, the topic that cause to summit in the first place. First, Caliph Dalatra of Ardat Mosul laid out her policy on mining rights. Ardat Mosul would allow foreign nations to purchase "mining rights" to zones of her nation's mesa land, which would grant exclusive rights to mine terracotta in that zone to their respective nations. The Valdreach Imperial Republic had already bought a zone, and another zone was laid out as an international zone for all miners no matter what nation they came from. The Empire of Uldarash was next, and they laid out their position plainly: they would not allow foreigners to mine in their territory. The floor was then opened for other nations to express their opinions on mesa mining. Kaiser Siegfried felt that the nations who claimed the mesa shouldn't be able to claim it in its entirety without settling it first, considering neither had more than a single settlement in the mesa. Yimmu-Audal representative O6dity stated that other nations should respect the claims of the natives of the land Tlatoani Infinick as well as others expressed his sentiment that the builders of all nations should be able to readily access terracotta, a sentiment many at the summit agreed with, but the Tlatoani did not care where that terracotta came from.

The second topic, triggered by Kaiser Siegfried's objections to the claims of Ardat Mosul and Uldarash, was on how nations can claim land. The discussions generally centered around what territory nations can and cannot claim depending on their population and location, and it was generally agreed that nations shouldn't make claims they cannot enforce. President Noodles expressed her opinion that nations shouldn't be capped on how much land they can claim, and disputes over land should be settled on a case-by-case basis. However, this topic was mostly tabled until the second Rathnir World Assembly meeting, held on October 17, where it was agreed that there would be no specific rules on claims, because the forces of nation-growth and ability to enforce claims would naturally prevent unrealistic claims.

The third topic evolved from the second topic, and became colonization of land by foreign nations. Nations generally agreed via a poll conducted after the summit that all new distant colonies owned by nations should be declared for everyone to be aware of, and they also agreed that no new colonies should be established in territory claimed by another nation.

Finally, nations discussed the position of the Rathnir World Assembly, and how much influence it would have as an organization. It was generally agreed that it should only be a diplomatic channel, and shouldn't be used for more than that. Representatives from all across Rathnir agreed that they didn't want a powerful RWA, and that disputes could be resolved between the nations involved, whether that be via war or negotiation. Plus they agreed a UN is boring for rp.

After about an hour of constant negotiations, the summit was officially declared over.

Nations Represented
(In order from left to right)

JesperHD - New-Interland

President Noodles - Valdreach Imperial Republic (& Infinick - Tlahatl)

Jacky_Boy7 - UTCC Banking

Kaiser Siegfried (SikkeOst) - Eastern Empire

Chieftess Samantha Pantha - Chiefdom of Kawalapua

Emperor Wilusa, squirreltrousers, KingCrafter9K, WhiskeyKnight - Empire of Uldarash

ViewedMarquis - Installation-76B

O6dity - Empire of Yimmu Audal

Caliph Dalatra - Caliphate of Ardat Mosul

Vipur_ - Volandia

Accomplishments
After the summit ended, most representatives went home to their respective nations, while some remained behind for further discussions. In the end, the summit was a huge success for multiple reasons. Although no new developments on the mesa emerged, besides Uldarash and Ardat Mosul stating their positions, the clarification on mesa policy was invaluable. The summit also accomplished other things diplomatically, because the talks that sprung out of it were very important in furthering relations between nations. The summit was the largest gathering of representatives from nations in Rathnir history, and showed that the nations of Rathnir were able to resolve their disputes diplomatically, as opposed to militarily. The summit also guaranteed a spot in history for its host city Tlahatl. Previously, virtually no outside visitors had ever been to Tlahatl, not even the VIR government, but suddenly everyone knew about the growing city, and its role in hosting the summit earned it international prestige and respect.