In a new series noted strategy expert Prof. Wayne King-Meiouf of the University of Proxima will give us his insights on the big geo-political issues of the day.
The Bolitic Confederacy invasion of the Vosun-Voth Star Empire was a surprise (though the result was not) but an even bigger surprise has been the cessation of the Voth and how the DDS and Dinos have moved in so quickly to secure them as new allies.
But looking deeper we maybe should not be so surprised, the Voth have been the second class citizens of the empire for decades now and calls for independance have been steadily rising despite an ever more brutal suppression by the Vosun dominated military. The collapse of that military though in the face of the Bolitic aggression has allowed the Voth to rise up and kick out their hated Vosun masters.
They rose up rather quickly though, and if we delve deeper we can see that independance forces have been quietly supported by both the DDS and Dinos for years. A few years ago a Vosun blogger claimed that the then-outlawed independance party Voth Freedom had received money from the Dinos via a Sirikwanese trader. Earlier in the year an Aritan newspaper reported the rather obscure news that a DDS transport had called in at Arit for emergency repairs following a meteorite strike. It's eventual destination was a planet in the Voth area of the VVSE and it's payload was unspecified "military equipment". Hours after the story appeared online it oddly vanished. Over the years there have been other hidden nuggets of information which at the time people have dismissed as being interesting but not of any real importance but now we can see that Voth has been planning for this moment for years.
That is why the Voth have become Tier 3 DDS allies so quickly and will sign a military co-operation agreement with the Dinos tomorrow. They have not suddenly become friends of the central powers overnight, this is merely part of a long-running process.
Some questions remain though, are the DDS and Dinos acting together in this or are they competing. It is thought that the expansion of the DDS into this area of space is being done sensitively because of the proximity of the Dinos and the DDS wish to tie the Dinos into a tighter alliance. It is also a very personal project of Windscorpion and Ronald which only recently has become official policy of the powers they lead.
The 2 powers have different aims, the DDS wish to form "DDS West" including the Voth Free Republic, Sirikwan and New Arit to act as a strategic buffer against any future Tarbotian aggression and be a springboard for operations against the Bolitic. While the Dinos are also interested in these aims their main aims are to bring Yeng and Putri 500 into the Dino Republic. Both are Dino colonies which have been independant for some decades since the chaotic rule of Emperor Juliawati and now the Dinos is a democracy (of sorts) are keen on "returning to the fold". The DDS are also thought to be interested in Putri 500 though have been politely told to stay away by the Dinos.
The next few years will be very interesting in this area of space, the DDS and Dinos will be fully occupied. This does run the danger of them dropping the ball in other areas. The HCS could do with being quietly allowed to get on with their re-building, the 7 Sa Sao are a large wild card and the DDS need to find out more about this power as soon as they can.
