In the latest posting by Professor Wayne King-Meiouf he looks at the legacy of Ronald who a few days ago finally stepped down from the head of the Dino state.
Ronald headed the Dino Empire for decades and later created the Dino Republic. During the years of his reigns the Dino state has turned from being an obscure local power to the superpower it is today and if that is not enough Ronald also created the DDS, though it is not all down to Ronald of course.
The role of Senator Jimmy cannot be understated, though he seems to do so himself. In the 2080s Ronald took a break from the Emperorship and left Dino-Land for awhile (sort of like an intergalactic gap year). He left Jimmy in charge while he went travelling the galaxy with GBH getting drunk and creating the DDS. Jimmy laid the foundations for the current military and financial might of the Dino Republic when he instigated financial reforms to greatly grow the economy and started to build vast cash reserves.
Thus in 2099 when Ronald returned to the throne after the disastrous reign of El Diablo and the One-Horn coup the Dinos had a cash stockpile of over half a trillion zarks (according to some sources, the actual state of Dino cash reserves is a state secret). The Dinos had suffered in the war against the Tarbot a few years earlier and Ronald saw the need to greatly increase the effectiveness of the Dino armed forces. He began a huge programme to quintuple the size of the army, began the Dinomark PT programme and ended the traditional semi-isolationist foreign policy stance of the past. The Dinos began to build bases and alliances across the galaxy culminating in the 37 billion zark bail-out of the Clone Empire which nearly collapsed in 2102.
So how is the Dino Republic Ronald has left behind? The cash reserves have been greatly depleted but still said to be over 200 billion zarks, the Dinos have completed much of their planned military expansion. A much larger army armed with new AFVs such as the T-55ZDM and the future Dino financed Tapir, a large fleet of Dinomark PTs, upgraded XTs and bases. Ronald has also given democracy to the people even if the same faces have remained in charge, for now. The question will be how the Dinos will use their far greater military might and influence. In the past the Dinos have resisted large scale wars except in self-defence, how willing the Dinos are to pay a blood sacrifice in the aims of foreign policy will be a key part of Ronald's legacy.
