CHALLENGE CUPS APPROACHING!
One week remains until the beginning of the Challenge Cup season in the IIHF with the beginning of the Challenge Cup of Asia, Division I, in Bahrain, the other three Divisions I starting five days later. Nikita Alexeyev, our nation's biggest lower-level hockey nut, was by to give us his opinions on each of the eight tournaments.
Challenge Cup of Africa
The Challenge Cup of Africa is no longer the smallest Challenge Cup system due to an exodus of sorts from the system by European teams becoming full members as well as an expansion of Africa's system by two teams in the lowest division, so they'll be playing a split-eight system in Division I - Mauritius and Namibia join their respective groups.
In Division I Group A it will be between the Akans and the East Africans for promotion. The EAU is the relegated team, but the Akan Empire has a couple new additions I think could really make a difference, such as 17-year-old Canadian-born Pierre-Marc N'Guéssan, who plays for the Monstres Magog in the LHJQ; with both his parents from what used to be Côte d'Ivoire, he has dual Canadian-Akanian citizenship by default and has chosen to represent the latter. His biggest drawback, which will show up more in the upper level should the Akans make it up, is his lack of physicality. He has great hands, but is lacking in strength. He has gotten his release forms from his team. The EAU plays a pretty solid team game, though, with not many people standing out. Keep an eye out for Philipp Ndwati, though. He recently got a hockey scholarship to go play university hockey in Uralica. Ethiopia is getting better thanks to a couple of factors; they were joined by Swedish-born-and-raised Yared Hagos (coming out of retirement to join as a player-coach), and are getting a few other expats from the diaspora in (especially) Nordland, Canada, and Cascadia, such as Aron Gebreselassie. Mauritius... they may surprise a few people like Réunion did, but it's more likely that they are just going to get trampled in their first tournament. Please pray for them!
Division I Group B will be even more lopsided. There is no way anyone besides Igbolandia wins this, although Yorubaland, their self-declared "archrivals," will certainly try! Not that it helped them last year. But host country Gabon is also looking to make waves, led by Ghislain Mbeng, who is one of the most popular players in the relatively new UMAHL, where he plays for the Pirates de Port-Gentil. Namibia is not going to be nearly the pushovers I think Mauritius will be thanks largely to players coming from the SAIHL such as team captain Paulus Tjikuzu and fun-to-watch winger Absalom Tjihonge, both of whom play for the Kimberley Crunch. I don't think they'll go up. I think they'll probably finish last, in fact. But Group B will be far closer in terms of scoreline.
In terms of who gets promoted, it's two-up-two-down. So any two of Igbolandia, the Akans, and/or the EAU.
To the Challenge Cup of Africa proper... let me see... what team already has an NHL hockey player again? Oh right, BOTSWANA! Sethunya Tshireletso played two games with the San Jose Sharks earlier this season because of a rash of injuries! And he looked a little out of his league, but he at least managed an assist in those two games, and he was given a standing ovation as the NHL's first player who was trained in Sub-Saharan Africa. But then he went back down to the AHL and looked like he belonged, so his contract has once again been renegotiated, and I doubt he'll play a NAMPHA game again until his pro career is winding down - he's impressed the staff that much! But he holds more or less every Challenge Cup of Africa offensive record in the book aside from maybe assists. Add to that a team of players who mostly play for the two Botswanan teams in the SAIHL but a couple of whom have transitioned to higher-skilled leagues elsewhere, such as Thabo Molefi, who plays in England, Nkosilathi Kgasa, who signed an off-season contract to play in NAMPHA's PNHL for the Penticton Scorpions, and goalie Jakob Kakanyo Machemko, who is in Uralica's third division and working his way up the system. Their main threat will be, as it has been the last couple of seasons, Fangland, although none of the others can be completely ruled out, either - not even plucky Réunion. Egypt, Lesotho, and especially Calvinia are good for their level when the chips are down. Centreman Marcel Tayot has been okayed by NAMPHA's Lévis Nordiques to play for Fangland. But Botswana appear to be favoured to win their third in a row! They're that good at this level!
Challenge Cup of the Americas
This year is going to be interesting in the Americas because of one specific team. Division I's Group A is seeing the debut of the Canadian Antarctic Territories, which are the Falkland, South Georgia, and South Sandwich Islands on paper (in practice, it's only the first two, since nobody lives in the South Sandwich Islands!) but they are inhabited entirely by either Canadian transplants or British duals who stayed there when England gave the islands to Canada. This means that, in spite of the territory having a grand total population of just over ten thousand, they are actually better-equipped to win this group than any of their equivalents in Latin America. The only thing they lack is tournament experience as a team. They have played a number of exhibition matches against opponents from the Americas and Africa and have yet to lose in regulation. Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, and the Dutch Antilles are their opposition, with only Colombia really looking as if they will be a challenge. If all goes as planned here, though, The CATs will face a stiff challenge from the favoured team in the other group. The question would only be when.
So who is favoured in Division I Group B? After recent announcements, the Antillean Union, by a mile. Coach Anson Carter was grinning like a cat that caught a canary when he announced the news that AHL goalie and former Finnish junior nat Christopher Gibson, whose father is from St. Lucia and who has a dual Finnish-Antillean passport, as well as AHL defender and Chicago Blackhawk prospect Isaak Phillips would be joining the team. While they were favoured before because of having more NAMPHA sign-ups, there's absolutely no way I could see anyone beating a goalie with NHL experience at this low level. I mean look at Jamaica and Hispaniola and what they did! The new team for them is Venezuela, who might not particularly have talent but they want to get their feet wet already. The closest they have come to a win so far is a 6-5 shootout loss against Costa Rica, who is also in this group, as also are almost-promoted Panama and the Mayans. It is two-up two-down, so the Antilleans are going to at least get promoted and will probably win the division too. Probably will come down to the CATs or Panama for promotion, with an extreme outside chance for Colombia.
The Challenge Cup of the Americas proper is a split-eight this year:
Group A: Brazil, Jamaica, Paraguay, Puerto Rico
There is absolutely no question who will win this. Jamaica is just too good. NHLer Malcolm Subban has said that as proud as he is to be Canadian, he is also honoured to represent Jamaica, not surprising given the goalie glut Canada has. More home-trained Jamaicans are popping up in junior hockey systems of higher-level nations, whether it be Tier 2 or even Tier 1 hockey in Canada and the old USA, or in European countries, especially England, Scotland, Germany, Nordland, and even Uralica. If they play like they did last year, there is absolutely no stopping them from winning another Cup in 2022. The biggest threat to them in the group is Paraguay, who themselves have quite a solid goalie in Luis Ronaldo Ericson, who recently started playing in NAMPHA in the LME, for Chivas HHC in Guadalajara and is being eyed up by NHL-affiliated NAMPHA teams. Even Hispaniola and the Incas fear them. Puerto Rico is not one to underestimate either, especially if starting goalie Roberto Pujols can stay healthy. He has already been cleared by the SPHL's McAllen Monarchs to play. Will he be the X-factor in payback against the Brazilians? Or will they end up in a duel of goalies for relegation, or perhaps even go clear of both of the South American sides? It's a tough call. André Costa will be back again for Brazil, and while the lanky centre isn't a huge scorer, he is known to come up big in the clutch as he did last year!
Group B: Argentina, Hispaniola, The Inca Republic, Trinidad and Tobago
I hate to say it, but the Argentinians may be in over their heads. A couple of key players are injured, and Trinidad and Tobago is at full health and has a new Canadian-trained goalie in 18-year-old Spencer Hutchinson, who is a dual citizen through both parents and plays for the OJHL's Markham Royals. He was a late-round pick in the OHL draft and may end up playing there next season. We'll see, but he shows much promise! Add to that a much-improved Hispaniola relative to when they were last in, to say nothing of the NHL alum they added with former Buffalo Sabre and current Ilves player Nicholas Baptiste joining the mix! He is expected to replace injured Aristide Chrétien on the front line at right wing alongside their existing stars, Martin Auclair and J.P. Zéphir, who finished first and second in overall scoring as Hispaniola won Division I last season. The Incas, though, are the real favourites in this group, as they won the Cup two seasons ago and took silver last year after losing to Jamaica. They absolutely do not expect to humiliate Hispaniola like they did two seasons ago, though. Leading scorer Stan Valenzuela said that Hispaniolan goalie Robert Benoît is "much improved" and that his team "really got boosted last year" with the addition of the first expat duals, most of them from Quebec and a couple from New York. Even the native-trained players are getting better! Team captain Armando C. Enriquez in particular signed a contract with the SPHL's Corpus Christi Crunch and has looked good as one of the second-pair defencemen this season. I would not be surprised if Argentina ended up relegated. But it is close as well. All it takes is one bad bounce.
But let's face it. We are speeding towards another Jamaica-Inca final.
The shrinking Challenge Cup of Europe proper is probably going to be a twelve-team tournament for a few years to come, after Nokhchynya, Armenia, and Portugal became full members in spite of the former's loss to Crimea in the finals of last year's Cup, meaning that on top of the two teams promoted - Albania and North Macedonia - we also have Alania being spared relegation after beating the Faeroe Islands in last year's seventh-place match. Crimea is back this year and likely will be for some time because a lot of its domestic hockey is backed monetarily by Russia. Asturias stayed afloat comfortably in spite of finishing third in their group last year. Galicia only managed to get over on the Faeroes by goal differential. So who wins this year? Oh, probably Crimea. They are the masters of winning close matches, although most of the teams they won those closer ones against are now full members and no longer play the Challenge Cups! I wouldn't be surprised if Asturias took silver, though. Goalie Conráu Xosepe Cinfuegos is looking for redemption after Asturias finished fourth last year. But there are so many have-nots in this group from a purely hockey sense that it is impossible to tell who will win bronze, or who will get relegated.
There will be no such confusion in Division I, though. The Faeroe Islands are incensed that they didn't stay up after losing out on goal diff, and they want revenge! Even Kosovo is rather worried about them, even though, having finished a comfy third in the playoffs, they should technically be favourites. Let's be honest. Nobody else - neither Abkhazia, nor Cyprus, nor Malta, nor Gibraltar - stands a snowball's chance in a fusion reactor against either of those top teams! But part of the fun is going to be seeing who takes bronze. One might think Abkhazia will only naturally take it, but don't forget, they had trouble with Cyprus last year! Malta and Gibraltar are just glad to be participating.
Challenge Cup of Asia
The first and biggest of the Challenge Cups, with more participants in the Challenge Cup of Asia-P Division I than in the entirety of Europe, and as many as in the entirety of Africa! I've actually heard it said that if Asia's Division I gets just two more teams, that they'd actually split it into four groups to speed up the process!
Group A: Babylon, Dravidia, Hawaii, Hijaz, Melanesia, Pashmenish, Tajikistan
Tajikistan are the overwhelming favourites here. Babylon isn't terrible, but they have this annoying habit of playing dirty when things don't go their way, and that cost them a medal after top defender Raghib Mukhtar was suspended for kneeing Vietnam's Markus Tran, who didn't finish the game but would come back for the Division I championship final. Mukhtar's absence was part of the reason Oman beat Babylon for bronze - so not only did they not win on home ice, they didn't even medal. There are two newbies in this group this year, and one - Dravidia - already has expat support in the form of team captain Shane Mathew, who is a Swiss-Dravidian dual. The other, Hijaz, is exclusively homegrowns, so don't expect huge things from them so soon. However, they could take some encouragement from Pashmenish's play last season, where they didn't finish last in spite of their newness. They even got much-favoured Bharat to overtime before eventually losing! They'll be working to build on that surprise this season. Melanesia is looking to improve on their low finish last season, and the Hawaiians are actually looking somewhat like making the playoffs.
Playoff predictions: For sure Tajikistan and Babylon, Hawaii is likely, and I actually favour Dravidia over Pashmenish or Hijaz. But we'll see.
Group B: Bahrain, Bharat, Kashmir, Kurdistan, Oman, Saudi Kingdom, Tibet
Two new teams this time around, in Kurdistan and the Saudi Kingdom. I actually like how Kurdistan's looking, given that they have a degree of expat support from players born and/or raised in the likes of Nordland, Canada, and Switzerland. Of particular note is Ciwan Khorshid, who was born in Iraqi Kurdistan but grew up in Canada and is currently playing for his hometown NAMPHA team, the MHL's Riverview Rangers in Moncton, and the Agha twins from Switzerland, Yasin and Nidal. I already think they have one over on Tibet and probably have a leg up on Kashmir well. We'll see, though. In terms of favourite to win, I really don't know - One would think either Bahrain or Oman at this point, but Bharat's a dark horse, provided they can cope with not having defenceman Apurva Nagarkar, who will miss the entirety of this tournament serving a suspension from a line-brawl-causing head shot on Kashmir's Rafik Mohammed Karim (who has thankfully healed up for the moderate-grade concussion he suffered as a result). Bahraini security is going to be very high for that game and the two teams have been told to be on their best behaviour or the suspensions will be more severe this time, and per the IIHF's discipline division, if even one player jumps into a fight off the bench the team they represent will be kicked out of the tournament. They are not taking crap from anyone. They have also warned the Saudi Kingdom and Bahrain about any such shenanigans. But unlike Bharat, the Saudis are relatively green and don't have any "established goons." Tibet has gotten good enough that I think they could beat the Saudis and possibly Kashmir this time, but the Kashmiris have a certain toughness that Tibet lacks, so we'll see.
Playoff predictions: Oman and Bahrain without question, and probably Bharat and Kurdistan. Provided Bharat can keep their dirty hits to a minimum.
Oman is overdue for something good to happen and I have them pegged as slight favourites to win the whole thing, even though they're playing in Bahrain and Tajikistan will be tough as well.
And now to the Challenge Cup of Asia proper. The original Challenge Cup and the biggest one as well.
Group A: Chukotka, Jordan, Polynesia, Qatar, Tyva, Uyghurstan
The top three teams from Group A last season are back again this season - that is, the eventual Chukotkan champs, impressive Tyva, and goalie-led Jordan. Yes, Muqtada Muhammad al-Qadir is back again, having been okayed by his club team, Nordland Allsvenskan side Hammarby, to join Jordan again. Their offence seems to be getting better, so don't rule Jordan out for promotion even if Chukotka are favoured. Tyva has this habit of choking under pressure and it's something coach Martyn Rebrov has said he's been trying to work on. Even if they do make it out of the group phase (and I expect them to), they need to keep their momentum going. The real battle is to see who gets that fourth playoff spot, and I honestly think the surprising Polynesians have a good shot! Tongan goalie Mataeula 'Ahonima and Samoan sniper Salofa Tamasese have been making some waves in Australia and are both expected to produce. Qatar and Uyghurstan - both teams known to lack grit - will have to be much tougher than they were last season to beat them. I honestly think the barely-surviving Uyghurs are going to drop this season.
Playoff predictions: Chukotka, Jordan, and Tyva for sure, and probably Polynesia.
Group B: Kuwait, Libnan, Nepal, Persia, Punjab, Vietnam
Libnan's on home ice this year! After their amazing performance last season, which saw them take silver, I honestly think they are legitimate threats to win the whole shebang this year. Punjab is, of course, not to be underestimated, but they will be a bit handicapped this year because of starting centre Jujhar Khaira not being available due to club commitments with the AHL's Red Deer Bucks. But I will also say that Kuwait really needs to smarten up with how much Vietnam has improved even from last year, when they ran rout over just about everyone in Division I. But so does Nepal, whose inability to finish off matches in regulation has almost seen them relegated these past two seasons. Persia is looking about the same as they did last season, which will get them comfortably into the playoffs but might see them drop early in the playoffs if they don't jack up their efforts.
Playoff predictions: Libnan takes top, Punjab and Persia make the playoffs, probably Vietnam but maybe Nepal or Kuwait joining them.
And who's going to win? 90% sure it'll be Libnan this time, with home-ice advantage and the continued improvement of their players. It's gotten to the point where their best player, Youssouf Darwiche, is now playing in the Ligue Magnus and doing reasonably well. The Gothiques d'Amiens have let him suit up for his country.
WHO DOES URALICA HAVE A TREATY WITH?
The list is longer than you think! It ranges from non-aggression treaties to recognition of a country's sovereignty, all the way up to its mutual defence pacts!
Mutual Defence Bloc With Options - The Arctic Union/The Treaty of Moscow
Uralica was one of the "Founding Four" of this scarily powerful military alliance, which contains close to 92.5% of the world's nuclear weapons. Its membership is capped at 24, meaning there are just four spots left. It is technically an "extended mutual defence pact," meaning that if one member's non-AU ally or allies are attacked, the other nineteen members have every right to join in. This clause has angered several of the less savoury elements in the world, whether state or organization. Besides Uralica, its current members are Baltika, Canada, Chukotka, Dakota Republic, England, Faeroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Korea, The New Confederacy, The New United States, Nordland, Northern Ireland, Novgorod, Russia, Scotland, Siberia, Ural-Altai, and Wales; there are no current plans to add new members although the countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Japan, and Transcaucasia have been mentioned as potential members in the past.
Uralica also has redundant MDPs with the majority of AU members.
The Arctic Union has a bloc-to-bloc MDP, the first and only such treaty in history outside of the Robertian Era, with the League of Moderate Arab Countries (LOMAC). In other words, you might as well add Bahrain, Egypt, Israel-Palestine, Hijaz, Jordan, Kuwait, Libnan, the Maghreb Union, Oman, Qatar, Suqutra, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates to the list! Uralica has independent treaties with a few of these as well.
Mutual Defence Pacts - you'd be surprised how many of these Uralica actually has. These are in chronological order. Almost all of these also include certain trade provisions, especially those with nations outside of NCIS or CCC.
Not necessarily protectorates, because that implies more involvement, the UDP+ODC treaty is one Uralica has a few of. It has upgraded one of these, the Treaty of Famagusta, to a MDP, but most of them have remained as is since signage. There are rumours that another two of these could become a MDP in the near future! Try to guess which:
Although Uralica is in a few blocs, only two cover all three of these categories:
Border-defining treaties
Uralica has treaties with all of its members that denote the official borders. Many of the originals were superseded by treaties made after the Syktyvkar Statement, which has since been codified into the Syktyvkar Protocol per the UN, and as such this can be invoked by countries in a border dispute.
Uralica currently has five of these, with all but one dating back to Dispersion.
One week remains until the beginning of the Challenge Cup season in the IIHF with the beginning of the Challenge Cup of Asia, Division I, in Bahrain, the other three Divisions I starting five days later. Nikita Alexeyev, our nation's biggest lower-level hockey nut, was by to give us his opinions on each of the eight tournaments.
Challenge Cup of Africa
The Challenge Cup of Africa is no longer the smallest Challenge Cup system due to an exodus of sorts from the system by European teams becoming full members as well as an expansion of Africa's system by two teams in the lowest division, so they'll be playing a split-eight system in Division I - Mauritius and Namibia join their respective groups.
In Division I Group A it will be between the Akans and the East Africans for promotion. The EAU is the relegated team, but the Akan Empire has a couple new additions I think could really make a difference, such as 17-year-old Canadian-born Pierre-Marc N'Guéssan, who plays for the Monstres Magog in the LHJQ; with both his parents from what used to be Côte d'Ivoire, he has dual Canadian-Akanian citizenship by default and has chosen to represent the latter. His biggest drawback, which will show up more in the upper level should the Akans make it up, is his lack of physicality. He has great hands, but is lacking in strength. He has gotten his release forms from his team. The EAU plays a pretty solid team game, though, with not many people standing out. Keep an eye out for Philipp Ndwati, though. He recently got a hockey scholarship to go play university hockey in Uralica. Ethiopia is getting better thanks to a couple of factors; they were joined by Swedish-born-and-raised Yared Hagos (coming out of retirement to join as a player-coach), and are getting a few other expats from the diaspora in (especially) Nordland, Canada, and Cascadia, such as Aron Gebreselassie. Mauritius... they may surprise a few people like Réunion did, but it's more likely that they are just going to get trampled in their first tournament. Please pray for them!
Division I Group B will be even more lopsided. There is no way anyone besides Igbolandia wins this, although Yorubaland, their self-declared "archrivals," will certainly try! Not that it helped them last year. But host country Gabon is also looking to make waves, led by Ghislain Mbeng, who is one of the most popular players in the relatively new UMAHL, where he plays for the Pirates de Port-Gentil. Namibia is not going to be nearly the pushovers I think Mauritius will be thanks largely to players coming from the SAIHL such as team captain Paulus Tjikuzu and fun-to-watch winger Absalom Tjihonge, both of whom play for the Kimberley Crunch. I don't think they'll go up. I think they'll probably finish last, in fact. But Group B will be far closer in terms of scoreline.
In terms of who gets promoted, it's two-up-two-down. So any two of Igbolandia, the Akans, and/or the EAU.
To the Challenge Cup of Africa proper... let me see... what team already has an NHL hockey player again? Oh right, BOTSWANA! Sethunya Tshireletso played two games with the San Jose Sharks earlier this season because of a rash of injuries! And he looked a little out of his league, but he at least managed an assist in those two games, and he was given a standing ovation as the NHL's first player who was trained in Sub-Saharan Africa. But then he went back down to the AHL and looked like he belonged, so his contract has once again been renegotiated, and I doubt he'll play a NAMPHA game again until his pro career is winding down - he's impressed the staff that much! But he holds more or less every Challenge Cup of Africa offensive record in the book aside from maybe assists. Add to that a team of players who mostly play for the two Botswanan teams in the SAIHL but a couple of whom have transitioned to higher-skilled leagues elsewhere, such as Thabo Molefi, who plays in England, Nkosilathi Kgasa, who signed an off-season contract to play in NAMPHA's PNHL for the Penticton Scorpions, and goalie Jakob Kakanyo Machemko, who is in Uralica's third division and working his way up the system. Their main threat will be, as it has been the last couple of seasons, Fangland, although none of the others can be completely ruled out, either - not even plucky Réunion. Egypt, Lesotho, and especially Calvinia are good for their level when the chips are down. Centreman Marcel Tayot has been okayed by NAMPHA's Lévis Nordiques to play for Fangland. But Botswana appear to be favoured to win their third in a row! They're that good at this level!
Challenge Cup of the Americas
This year is going to be interesting in the Americas because of one specific team. Division I's Group A is seeing the debut of the Canadian Antarctic Territories, which are the Falkland, South Georgia, and South Sandwich Islands on paper (in practice, it's only the first two, since nobody lives in the South Sandwich Islands!) but they are inhabited entirely by either Canadian transplants or British duals who stayed there when England gave the islands to Canada. This means that, in spite of the territory having a grand total population of just over ten thousand, they are actually better-equipped to win this group than any of their equivalents in Latin America. The only thing they lack is tournament experience as a team. They have played a number of exhibition matches against opponents from the Americas and Africa and have yet to lose in regulation. Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, and the Dutch Antilles are their opposition, with only Colombia really looking as if they will be a challenge. If all goes as planned here, though, The CATs will face a stiff challenge from the favoured team in the other group. The question would only be when.
So who is favoured in Division I Group B? After recent announcements, the Antillean Union, by a mile. Coach Anson Carter was grinning like a cat that caught a canary when he announced the news that AHL goalie and former Finnish junior nat Christopher Gibson, whose father is from St. Lucia and who has a dual Finnish-Antillean passport, as well as AHL defender and Chicago Blackhawk prospect Isaak Phillips would be joining the team. While they were favoured before because of having more NAMPHA sign-ups, there's absolutely no way I could see anyone beating a goalie with NHL experience at this low level. I mean look at Jamaica and Hispaniola and what they did! The new team for them is Venezuela, who might not particularly have talent but they want to get their feet wet already. The closest they have come to a win so far is a 6-5 shootout loss against Costa Rica, who is also in this group, as also are almost-promoted Panama and the Mayans. It is two-up two-down, so the Antilleans are going to at least get promoted and will probably win the division too. Probably will come down to the CATs or Panama for promotion, with an extreme outside chance for Colombia.
The Challenge Cup of the Americas proper is a split-eight this year:
Group A: Brazil, Jamaica, Paraguay, Puerto Rico
There is absolutely no question who will win this. Jamaica is just too good. NHLer Malcolm Subban has said that as proud as he is to be Canadian, he is also honoured to represent Jamaica, not surprising given the goalie glut Canada has. More home-trained Jamaicans are popping up in junior hockey systems of higher-level nations, whether it be Tier 2 or even Tier 1 hockey in Canada and the old USA, or in European countries, especially England, Scotland, Germany, Nordland, and even Uralica. If they play like they did last year, there is absolutely no stopping them from winning another Cup in 2022. The biggest threat to them in the group is Paraguay, who themselves have quite a solid goalie in Luis Ronaldo Ericson, who recently started playing in NAMPHA in the LME, for Chivas HHC in Guadalajara and is being eyed up by NHL-affiliated NAMPHA teams. Even Hispaniola and the Incas fear them. Puerto Rico is not one to underestimate either, especially if starting goalie Roberto Pujols can stay healthy. He has already been cleared by the SPHL's McAllen Monarchs to play. Will he be the X-factor in payback against the Brazilians? Or will they end up in a duel of goalies for relegation, or perhaps even go clear of both of the South American sides? It's a tough call. André Costa will be back again for Brazil, and while the lanky centre isn't a huge scorer, he is known to come up big in the clutch as he did last year!
Group B: Argentina, Hispaniola, The Inca Republic, Trinidad and Tobago
I hate to say it, but the Argentinians may be in over their heads. A couple of key players are injured, and Trinidad and Tobago is at full health and has a new Canadian-trained goalie in 18-year-old Spencer Hutchinson, who is a dual citizen through both parents and plays for the OJHL's Markham Royals. He was a late-round pick in the OHL draft and may end up playing there next season. We'll see, but he shows much promise! Add to that a much-improved Hispaniola relative to when they were last in, to say nothing of the NHL alum they added with former Buffalo Sabre and current Ilves player Nicholas Baptiste joining the mix! He is expected to replace injured Aristide Chrétien on the front line at right wing alongside their existing stars, Martin Auclair and J.P. Zéphir, who finished first and second in overall scoring as Hispaniola won Division I last season. The Incas, though, are the real favourites in this group, as they won the Cup two seasons ago and took silver last year after losing to Jamaica. They absolutely do not expect to humiliate Hispaniola like they did two seasons ago, though. Leading scorer Stan Valenzuela said that Hispaniolan goalie Robert Benoît is "much improved" and that his team "really got boosted last year" with the addition of the first expat duals, most of them from Quebec and a couple from New York. Even the native-trained players are getting better! Team captain Armando C. Enriquez in particular signed a contract with the SPHL's Corpus Christi Crunch and has looked good as one of the second-pair defencemen this season. I would not be surprised if Argentina ended up relegated. But it is close as well. All it takes is one bad bounce.
But let's face it. We are speeding towards another Jamaica-Inca final.
The shrinking Challenge Cup of Europe proper is probably going to be a twelve-team tournament for a few years to come, after Nokhchynya, Armenia, and Portugal became full members in spite of the former's loss to Crimea in the finals of last year's Cup, meaning that on top of the two teams promoted - Albania and North Macedonia - we also have Alania being spared relegation after beating the Faeroe Islands in last year's seventh-place match. Crimea is back this year and likely will be for some time because a lot of its domestic hockey is backed monetarily by Russia. Asturias stayed afloat comfortably in spite of finishing third in their group last year. Galicia only managed to get over on the Faeroes by goal differential. So who wins this year? Oh, probably Crimea. They are the masters of winning close matches, although most of the teams they won those closer ones against are now full members and no longer play the Challenge Cups! I wouldn't be surprised if Asturias took silver, though. Goalie Conráu Xosepe Cinfuegos is looking for redemption after Asturias finished fourth last year. But there are so many have-nots in this group from a purely hockey sense that it is impossible to tell who will win bronze, or who will get relegated.
There will be no such confusion in Division I, though. The Faeroe Islands are incensed that they didn't stay up after losing out on goal diff, and they want revenge! Even Kosovo is rather worried about them, even though, having finished a comfy third in the playoffs, they should technically be favourites. Let's be honest. Nobody else - neither Abkhazia, nor Cyprus, nor Malta, nor Gibraltar - stands a snowball's chance in a fusion reactor against either of those top teams! But part of the fun is going to be seeing who takes bronze. One might think Abkhazia will only naturally take it, but don't forget, they had trouble with Cyprus last year! Malta and Gibraltar are just glad to be participating.
Challenge Cup of Asia
The first and biggest of the Challenge Cups, with more participants in the Challenge Cup of Asia-P Division I than in the entirety of Europe, and as many as in the entirety of Africa! I've actually heard it said that if Asia's Division I gets just two more teams, that they'd actually split it into four groups to speed up the process!
Group A: Babylon, Dravidia, Hawaii, Hijaz, Melanesia, Pashmenish, Tajikistan
Tajikistan are the overwhelming favourites here. Babylon isn't terrible, but they have this annoying habit of playing dirty when things don't go their way, and that cost them a medal after top defender Raghib Mukhtar was suspended for kneeing Vietnam's Markus Tran, who didn't finish the game but would come back for the Division I championship final. Mukhtar's absence was part of the reason Oman beat Babylon for bronze - so not only did they not win on home ice, they didn't even medal. There are two newbies in this group this year, and one - Dravidia - already has expat support in the form of team captain Shane Mathew, who is a Swiss-Dravidian dual. The other, Hijaz, is exclusively homegrowns, so don't expect huge things from them so soon. However, they could take some encouragement from Pashmenish's play last season, where they didn't finish last in spite of their newness. They even got much-favoured Bharat to overtime before eventually losing! They'll be working to build on that surprise this season. Melanesia is looking to improve on their low finish last season, and the Hawaiians are actually looking somewhat like making the playoffs.
Playoff predictions: For sure Tajikistan and Babylon, Hawaii is likely, and I actually favour Dravidia over Pashmenish or Hijaz. But we'll see.
Group B: Bahrain, Bharat, Kashmir, Kurdistan, Oman, Saudi Kingdom, Tibet
Two new teams this time around, in Kurdistan and the Saudi Kingdom. I actually like how Kurdistan's looking, given that they have a degree of expat support from players born and/or raised in the likes of Nordland, Canada, and Switzerland. Of particular note is Ciwan Khorshid, who was born in Iraqi Kurdistan but grew up in Canada and is currently playing for his hometown NAMPHA team, the MHL's Riverview Rangers in Moncton, and the Agha twins from Switzerland, Yasin and Nidal. I already think they have one over on Tibet and probably have a leg up on Kashmir well. We'll see, though. In terms of favourite to win, I really don't know - One would think either Bahrain or Oman at this point, but Bharat's a dark horse, provided they can cope with not having defenceman Apurva Nagarkar, who will miss the entirety of this tournament serving a suspension from a line-brawl-causing head shot on Kashmir's Rafik Mohammed Karim (who has thankfully healed up for the moderate-grade concussion he suffered as a result). Bahraini security is going to be very high for that game and the two teams have been told to be on their best behaviour or the suspensions will be more severe this time, and per the IIHF's discipline division, if even one player jumps into a fight off the bench the team they represent will be kicked out of the tournament. They are not taking crap from anyone. They have also warned the Saudi Kingdom and Bahrain about any such shenanigans. But unlike Bharat, the Saudis are relatively green and don't have any "established goons." Tibet has gotten good enough that I think they could beat the Saudis and possibly Kashmir this time, but the Kashmiris have a certain toughness that Tibet lacks, so we'll see.
Playoff predictions: Oman and Bahrain without question, and probably Bharat and Kurdistan. Provided Bharat can keep their dirty hits to a minimum.
Oman is overdue for something good to happen and I have them pegged as slight favourites to win the whole thing, even though they're playing in Bahrain and Tajikistan will be tough as well.
And now to the Challenge Cup of Asia proper. The original Challenge Cup and the biggest one as well.
Group A: Chukotka, Jordan, Polynesia, Qatar, Tyva, Uyghurstan
The top three teams from Group A last season are back again this season - that is, the eventual Chukotkan champs, impressive Tyva, and goalie-led Jordan. Yes, Muqtada Muhammad al-Qadir is back again, having been okayed by his club team, Nordland Allsvenskan side Hammarby, to join Jordan again. Their offence seems to be getting better, so don't rule Jordan out for promotion even if Chukotka are favoured. Tyva has this habit of choking under pressure and it's something coach Martyn Rebrov has said he's been trying to work on. Even if they do make it out of the group phase (and I expect them to), they need to keep their momentum going. The real battle is to see who gets that fourth playoff spot, and I honestly think the surprising Polynesians have a good shot! Tongan goalie Mataeula 'Ahonima and Samoan sniper Salofa Tamasese have been making some waves in Australia and are both expected to produce. Qatar and Uyghurstan - both teams known to lack grit - will have to be much tougher than they were last season to beat them. I honestly think the barely-surviving Uyghurs are going to drop this season.
Playoff predictions: Chukotka, Jordan, and Tyva for sure, and probably Polynesia.
Group B: Kuwait, Libnan, Nepal, Persia, Punjab, Vietnam
Libnan's on home ice this year! After their amazing performance last season, which saw them take silver, I honestly think they are legitimate threats to win the whole shebang this year. Punjab is, of course, not to be underestimated, but they will be a bit handicapped this year because of starting centre Jujhar Khaira not being available due to club commitments with the AHL's Red Deer Bucks. But I will also say that Kuwait really needs to smarten up with how much Vietnam has improved even from last year, when they ran rout over just about everyone in Division I. But so does Nepal, whose inability to finish off matches in regulation has almost seen them relegated these past two seasons. Persia is looking about the same as they did last season, which will get them comfortably into the playoffs but might see them drop early in the playoffs if they don't jack up their efforts.
Playoff predictions: Libnan takes top, Punjab and Persia make the playoffs, probably Vietnam but maybe Nepal or Kuwait joining them.
And who's going to win? 90% sure it'll be Libnan this time, with home-ice advantage and the continued improvement of their players. It's gotten to the point where their best player, Youssouf Darwiche, is now playing in the Ligue Magnus and doing reasonably well. The Gothiques d'Amiens have let him suit up for his country.
WHO DOES URALICA HAVE A TREATY WITH?
The list is longer than you think! It ranges from non-aggression treaties to recognition of a country's sovereignty, all the way up to its mutual defence pacts!
Mutual Defence Bloc With Options - The Arctic Union/The Treaty of Moscow
Uralica was one of the "Founding Four" of this scarily powerful military alliance, which contains close to 92.5% of the world's nuclear weapons. Its membership is capped at 24, meaning there are just four spots left. It is technically an "extended mutual defence pact," meaning that if one member's non-AU ally or allies are attacked, the other nineteen members have every right to join in. This clause has angered several of the less savoury elements in the world, whether state or organization. Besides Uralica, its current members are Baltika, Canada, Chukotka, Dakota Republic, England, Faeroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Korea, The New Confederacy, The New United States, Nordland, Northern Ireland, Novgorod, Russia, Scotland, Siberia, Ural-Altai, and Wales; there are no current plans to add new members although the countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Japan, and Transcaucasia have been mentioned as potential members in the past.
Uralica also has redundant MDPs with the majority of AU members.
The Arctic Union has a bloc-to-bloc MDP, the first and only such treaty in history outside of the Robertian Era, with the League of Moderate Arab Countries (LOMAC). In other words, you might as well add Bahrain, Egypt, Israel-Palestine, Hijaz, Jordan, Kuwait, Libnan, the Maghreb Union, Oman, Qatar, Suqutra, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates to the list! Uralica has independent treaties with a few of these as well.
Mutual Defence Pacts - you'd be surprised how many of these Uralica actually has. These are in chronological order. Almost all of these also include certain trade provisions, especially those with nations outside of NCIS or CCC.
- Treaty of Nizhny Novgorod with Novgorod - Uralica's oldest. (19 June 2015)
- Treaty of Chaykovsky... Also Twinkies! (supersedes earlier border treaty, the Treaty of Tazovsky) with Siberia - Uralica's second-oldest MDP which also has a couple of bizarre clauses demanding that Uralica ship half its capacity of Twinkies directly to Prince Mishka, a notorious lover of the pastry snack! (20 June 2015)
- Treaty of Lappeenranta with Finland, also their border-definition treaty. (21 June 2015)
- Treaty of Ufa with Bashkorto-Tatarstan, also their initial border-definition treaty. (24 June 2015)
- Treaty of Tyumen' with Ural-Altai, also their initial border-definition treaty. (29 June 2015)
- Ordinance of Halifax with New Polar Canada. (1 July 2015)
- Knox-Sproul Pact with Scotland (which was still the Kingdom of Proxia when this was signed on 1 July 2015).
- Treaty of Cork with Ireland (2 July 2015)
- Second Treaty of Tallinn with Baltika (3 July 2015)
- Treaty of Krasnodar with Transcaucasia (9 October 2015)
- Treaty of Surgut with Hungary (16 December 2015).
- Birmingham Pact with the New Confederacy (23 December 2015).
- Treaty of Trondheim (supersedes previous treaties with Norway and Sweden- the treaties of Skellefteå and Tromsø) with Nordland (1 April 2016)
- Treaty of Famagusta (initially unilateral when signed 4 May 2016, made bilateral in 2020) with Cyprus.
- Covenant of Francistown with Botswana (12 June 2016)
- Covenant of Cotonou with Calvinia (12 June 2016)
- Covenant of Kitwe with Bembaland (13 June 2016)
- Covenant of Lusaka with the Zambezi Republic (13 June 2016)
- Treaty of Durban with KwaZulu (14 June 2016)
- Treaty of Tshwane with Ngunia (14 June 2016)
- Treaty of Mangaung with Lesotho (15 June 2016)
- Treaty of Bhisho with Xhosa Republic (16 June 2016)
- Kapstad Compact with the Afrikaner Republic (17 June 2016)
- Covenant of Haifa with Israel-Palestine (20 August 2016).
- Treaty of Kagyrgyn with Chukotka (14 September 2016
- Treaty of Green Bay with the New United States (21 September 2016)
- Second Treaty of St. Louis with Dakota (22 September 2016)
- Second Treaty of St. Petersburg with Russia (also a border-recognition treaty superseding the first Treaty of St. Petersburg, 3 October 2016)
- Treaty of Chester with England (6 October 2016)
- Treaty of Coleraine with Northern Ireland (7 October 2016)
- Garrett-Salomäki Pact with Australia (1 December 2016)
- Treaty of Osh with Kyrgyzstan (1 January 2017)
- Treaty of Akureyri with Iceland (24 June 2017)
- Treaty of Kirkuk with Kurdistan (20 November 2019)
- Treaty of Merthyr with Wales (14 January 2020)
- Treaty of Sarapul with Jordan (31 March 2020)
- The Tórshavn Accords with the Faeroe Islands (Treaty 7, signed 15 May 2020 and announced the following day)
- Treaty of Jeju with Korea (24 May 2020)
Not necessarily protectorates, because that implies more involvement, the UDP+ODC treaty is one Uralica has a few of. It has upgraded one of these, the Treaty of Famagusta, to a MDP, but most of them have remained as is since signage. There are rumours that another two of these could become a MDP in the near future! Try to guess which:
- Third Treaty of Chittagong with Himalaya, cosigned by the New Confederacy (14 December 2015)
- Treaty of Birkirkara with Malta (2 January 2016)
- Treaty of Kanash with Crimea, co-signed by Russia, Novgorod, Ural-Altai, Transcaucasia, and Azerbaijan at first signing; later ratified by Ukraine, Finland, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Siberia. (5 May 2016, with others joining later)
- Treaty of Novi Sad (29 May 2016)
- Protectoracy of Suqutra/Treaty of Krasnoslobodsk (19 October 2019)
Although Uralica is in a few blocs, only two cover all three of these categories:
- The Christian Coalition of Countries (CCC). Uralica has been a member of this in both of its forms - both a Robertian alliance (for most of 2008 and then later from 2011 to the end of 2015) and a post-Robertian cultural, economic, and intelligence bloc (after the Cotonou Decree on 11 December 2015, removing the military component of the alliance). In fact, only Botswana and Calvinia (as the remnant of the Republic of Displaced Calvinists) can claim to have been members longer. Uralica is a full member, one of thirteen, with two more nations recently added. This means that they have a direct say in bloc policy, as opposed to associate members, which may attend the meetings and vote on non-essential or logistic matters but not on doctrinal matters, and religious institution observers, which are just that: observers. Along with the New Confederacy, they have been key doctrinal watchdogs against "heresies," most fervently against the prosperity gospel movement, which Jarkko Salomäki has deemed "not only heresy, but criminal activity only legitimized by its superficial appearance of Christianity." This stance has not been without controversy as Yorubaland withdrew itself from the bloc in mid-2019 over this and Adamawa and Edonia withdrew their applications in tandem with this (although the latter has since reapplied). Uralica also houses the world or regional headquarters of numerous RIOs, not the least of which is the world headquarters of the Reformed Apostolic Church, which actually had its origins in Uralica and has since spread to much of the NCIS and also other parts of Europe and Asia, and North America (especially Canada and Dakota). Members listed below, with members changing categories (including applicants becoming members) since February 2019 italicised and new members since February 2019 in bold.
- Current full members: Armenia, Bembaland, Botswana, Calvinia, Chewa, Libnan (co-official with Sunni and Shi'a Islam and Druze), the Luba Kingdom, Malta, the New Confederacy, Papua, Polynesia, Uralica, and the Zambezi Republic.
- Current associate members with majority of professing Christians: Afrikaner Republic, Antillean Union, Australia, Baltica, Brazil, Bulgaria, Crimea, Croatia, Cyprus, Dakota, East African Union, eSwatini, Ethiopia (has applied for full membership), Finland, Greece, Guyana, Himalaya, Hispaniola, Hungary, Igbolandia, Ireland, Italy, Kongo, Kru, Lesotho, Mexico, Melanesia, Micronesia, Namibia, New United States, New Zealand, Ngunia, Nilotica, Northern Ireland, Novgorod, Paraguay, Poland, Russia, Scotland, Siberia, Tigray, Ural-Altai, Vojvodina, Wales, Xhosa Republic
- Current associate members with plurality of professing Christians: Canada, England, Korea
- Current associate members with substantial minority of professing Christians: Bashkorto-Tatarstan, Dravidia, Egypt, Gurland, Israel-Palestine, Kazakhstan, Malay Federation, Myanmar, Tyva
- Current applicants: Abkhazia, Akan Empire, Alania, Aragon, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Chukotka, Edonia, El Salvador, Galicia, Georgia, Inca Republic, Jamaica, Jordan, Kurdistan, Maya Republic, Mbundu, Montenegro, Netherlands, Nordland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Syria, Transcaucasia, and Tsonga.
- Current full members: Armenia, Bembaland, Botswana, Calvinia, Chewa, Libnan (co-official with Sunni and Shi'a Islam and Druze), the Luba Kingdom, Malta, the New Confederacy, Papua, Polynesia, Uralica, and the Zambezi Republic.
- The New Commonwealth of Independent Nations (NCIS). For the most part these nations are nations of the former Soviet Union or nations otherwise influenced by the same (you could make an argument for Finland or Mongolia being included in these, but Uyghurstan is a definitive exception to this!) that have come together for cultural, economic, and intelligence-sharing benefit. There is also a "diplomatic aid" clause. There is talk of adding more members, but they have to be okayed by all current members of the Commonwealth, and at present only three countries - the Faeroe Islands, Nordland, and Korea - look even close to having that unanimity. There are about a dozen more! The current membership is as follows: Abkhazia, Alania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Baltica, Bashkorto-Tatarstan, Belarus, Buryatia, Chukotka, Crimea, Dagestan, Finland, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nokhchynya, Novgorod, Russia, Siberia, Tajikistan, Transcaucasia, Tyva, Ukraine, Ural-Altai, Uralica, Uyghurstan, and Uzbekistan. The officiating charter of this was ratified as the Treaty of Volgograd on 10 April 2016.
There are a number of in-built sub-treaties, and Uralica is party to more or less all of these.- NCIS Free Trade Agreement. This is the big economic portion of the treaty. There are no trade tariffs between NCIS nations. The opt-out clause was removed in 2017 when it became apparent that nobody was gonna use it. Now automatic.
- NCIS Buyer Scheme. This is specifically an incentive for richer NCIS nations to import goods from poorer ones. Uralica is a very avid partaker of this, especially with regards to Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan, whence it gets most of its raw cotton.
- NCIS Food Trade Agreement. Food made in the NCIS is not just free-trade, but is also to be exported cheaper to NCIS nations to begin with. Automatic.
- NCIS Diplomatic Corps. Uralica is arguably the leader of this, given some nations' hesitance to work with Russia due to its history. Russia is still a member, but it is argued that Uralica, Siberia, Transcaucasia, and even Finland do more. Not only does this help keep the NCIS together but has been called upon to broker peace elsewhere.
- NCIS Free Movement Agreement. A bit more controversial because of remaining jihadist elements in the Caucasus and the southernmost Stans. Citizens of signatory nations can move freely throughout the bloc's nations' boundaries. However, if you are blacklisted by your own nation, you're basically stuck there. All NCIS members except Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Dagestan, and Nokhchynya are signatories.
- NCIS Waterway Sharing Pact. This is an important one for trade. Select navigable waterways are included in this so that NCIS members can do trade not just with one another but with the greater international community as well. It started out intended to help the nations on the Volga, but it expanded significantly when Uralica suggested adding the Ob-Irtysh complex to that. Uralica is, along with Russia, Siberia, Transcaucasia, and Ural-Altai, a charter member of this, with Finland, Ukraine, Georgia, the other Caspian nations (so Dagestan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan), and Baltika all joining later. Uralica has three important links in this chain - the White Sea-Baltic canal system between Shuomua and Poventsa (after which it enters Russia for its final stretch via Lake Onega), the Volga-Baltic canal system between Cherepovets and Vytegra (ditto), and the Viena-Sheksna Canal between Lake Kubenskoye near Sokol and the Sheksna River at Topornya. It also relies on this to ship its goods to the Caspian region via the Volga, which passes through Uralica between Chuvashia and Mari El. Other countries need this to pass through Uralica, and gets particular mileage from Ural-Altai and Siberia because of the Ob-Irtysh complex.
- NCIS Sport Passport. This is huge, especially for players playing in any of the pan-NCIS sport systems. A citizen of an NCIS country with one of these need only display it and they're good to go. In some sport systems, only the highest-level leagues have it, while in others, they all do. A number of top-level individual sport practitioners also have access to it.
- NCIS Sport Systems. This is for team sport and also, exceptionally, tennis. This is particularly important in ice hockey because of the KHL - the world's elite large-ice hockey league. (The Finnish SM-Liiga, conversely, exists outside of this system.) But there are several other sport pan-NCIS sport leagues that have been founded, especially within the last three years:
- Eurasian Baseball League (has teams from Finland, Russia, Uralica, Transcaucasia, Kazakhstan, Siberia, and Ural-Altai)
- Kontinental Basketball League, Divisions 1 to 3 (many NCIS nations are represented - exceptions are Abkhazia, Alania, Dagestan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tyva, and Chukotka)
- The NCIS Cup system is an international club tournament sanctioned by both UEFA and the AFC, with the best teams from the UEFA nations (including fully geographically Asian nations Georgia, Abkhazia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, as well as evenly split nations like Uralica and Alania) playing for the NCIS Cup Europe, the Asian nations (Siberia, Ural-Altai, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uyghurstan, Mongolia, Tyva, Buryatia, and Chukotka) playing for the NCIS Cup Asia, and the winners playing for the NCIS Football Supercup. Europe has yet to have lost, with Uralica having won three out of five (all SiPS) and Russia having won the other two (Zenit St. Petersburg and Spartak Moskva).
- The best football leagues have access to the NCIS Sport Passport permanently - that is the Uralikan Jalkapalloliiga, the Russian Football League System, the Transcaucasian Premier League, and the Siberian Super League. Players from the best clubs from each country get the NCIS Sport Visa assigned on a yearly basis.
- Although not just the NCIS, NCIS teams in the European Handball Super League - even the two from Siberia - get the NCIS Sport Passport. The Asian NCIS may start its own league if Korea (arguably the best handball nation outside of Europe) joins, but Siberia would retain its Sport Passports that way
- North Eurasian Russian-Hockey League. This bandy league is unique in that Nordland gets NCIS Sport Passports for this as well, as "invitees." Finland, Uralica, Belarus, Baltika, Ukraine, Russia, Ural-Altai, Bashkorto-Tatartsan, and Transcaucasia are all represented.
- Rugby NCIS League/Union. Both rugby league and rugby union have leagues represented by the same body, and within NCIS there is now an international league (first season was 20-21). This doesn't count Uralica's famed rugby sevens league, though! In any case, a great many NCIS nations are party to this, with the exceptions primarily being from Asia (Tyva, Uyghurstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Chukotka, and the sole European nation, Alania).
- Eurasian Baseball League (has teams from Finland, Russia, Uralica, Transcaucasia, Kazakhstan, Siberia, and Ural-Altai)
- NCIS Cultural Exchange. While not automatic, all NCIS members are party to this and take good advantage of it! Not only does this involve studying in another NCIS nation, but it can involve much shorter trips of cultural tourism or being able to work in another NCIS nation. It is worth noting that all NCIS nations save Uyghurstan are also at least associate members of the Russosfera cultural bloc.
- NCIS High Research and Educational Exchange. The best universities of the NCIS (many of which are based in Uralica, Russia, or Finland) are part of this academic bloc, which is also open to the "top three" universities of every member nation should that many exist (in smaller countries there are fewer). Membership list will come later.
- NCIS Free Trade Agreement. This is the big economic portion of the treaty. There are no trade tariffs between NCIS nations. The opt-out clause was removed in 2017 when it became apparent that nobody was gonna use it. Now automatic.
- The Uralosphere is largely a cultural bloc but involves trade as well. It is between all nations that have at least one Uralic language as official at the national level. Associate members are only involved in cultural activities but the six full members - Uralica, Finland, Hungary, Slovakia, Baltika, and Vojvodina - have a partial free trade pact and a de facto intel-sharing pact.
- Trans-Arctic Trade Pact with Canada
- CCC Internal Trade Pact with all full CCC members
- Treaty of Sunderland with West European Islands Free Trade Association (that is, England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Iceland, and the Faeroe Islands)
- Treaty of San Antonio with the New Confederacy - largely redundant with the CCC pact but has a couple of specific clauses regarding certain goods, not the least of which is Christian heavy metal CDsǃ
- Uralica/Suqutra Free Trade Pact
- Treaty of Kochi - tariff reduction agreement with Dravidia
- Treaty of Sysert - tariff reduction agreement with Himalaya (addition to Third Treaty of Chittagong)
- Spread The Music! Pact - musical free trade agreement with over a hundred nations
- Russosfera and Slavosphere. Full members of both as a nation that has Russian as one of its four official languages (and its most spoken overall, since all but a couple hundred elderly people speak it in Uralica).
- Other Russosfera full members (which are also Slavosphere full members): Russia, Baltika, Belarus, Uralica, Novgorod, Crimea, Bashkorto-Tatarstan, Transcaucasia, Abkhazia, Alania, Dagestan, Ural-Altai, Siberia, Chukotka, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tyva, and Buryatia.
- Russosfera associate members: New Polar Canada, Dakota Republic, New United States, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Mongolia, Romania, Finland, Korea, and Ukraine.
- Non-Russosfera Slavosphere full members: Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Vojvodina, Slovenia, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Bulgaria
- Non-Russosfera Slavosphere associate members: Cascadia, Utah, The New Confederacy, Turkey, Kosovo, Austria, Germany, Romania, England, and Switzerland
- Other Russosfera full members (which are also Slavosphere full members): Russia, Baltika, Belarus, Uralica, Novgorod, Crimea, Bashkorto-Tatarstan, Transcaucasia, Abkhazia, Alania, Dagestan, Ural-Altai, Siberia, Chukotka, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tyva, and Buryatia.
- Turkosphere. This is a cultural bloc with representatives from all countries that have speakers of Turkic languages. Full members must have a Turkic language at the official level in a two-tier language policy. The Turkish government has been trying to pressure them to boot Uralica from the bloc, with no effect. The representatives that actually attend the meetings tend to be friendlier.
- Full members with Turkic language(s) as nationally official: Azerbaijan, Bashkorto-Tatarstan, Crimea, Cyprus, Dagestan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tyva, Transcaucasia, Ural-Altai, Uyghurstan, and Uzbekistan.
- Full members with Turkic language(s) as sub-nationally official: Armenia (Northern Azeri in Lachin State), Siberia (Sakha in Sakha Province, Khakas in Khakassia Province, Buryat in Chita Province), and Uralica (Chuvash in Chuvashia, Tatar in Izhevsk)
- Associate members: Associate members: Austro-Bavaria, Balochistan, Bulgaria, Cascadia, Francoist China, Germany, Georgia, Ghor, Greece, Hazarastan, New United States, New Polar Canada, Novgorod, Pashmenish , Persia, Romania, Russia, Switzerland, Tajikistan, and Ukraine
- Full members with Turkic language(s) as nationally official: Azerbaijan, Bashkorto-Tatarstan, Crimea, Cyprus, Dagestan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tyva, Transcaucasia, Ural-Altai, Uyghurstan, and Uzbekistan.
- Anglosphere. Any nation with English as an official language at any level or otherwise significantly promote usage of English may enter. Core members are those who "either are from the English-speaking heartland, or have contributed enough to global Anglophone literature, education, and/or culture to earn it." Uralica is a core member as of 2020, elected on account of its contribution to all three.
- Core members: New Polar Canada, New United States, Cascadia, The New Confederacy, Bahamas, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago , England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Ireland, East African Union, Yorubaland, Afrikaner Republic, Zambezi Republic, Australia, New Zealand, Malay Federation (2020), Uralica (2020), Akan Empire (2021), Bharat, Dravidia, and Punjab (2021).
- Other members (countries in next vote for core membership in bold; up to three nations will be admitted in 2022): Dakota, Utah, Hawaii, The Mayan Republic, Antillean Union, Union of Guyana, Cyprus, Gibraltar, Nordland, Finland, Baltika, Israel-Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, Maghreb Union, Nilotica, Tigray, Hausa Nation, Kanuri Republic, Yobe, Adamawa, Igbolandia, Edonia, Calvinia, Gurland, Kru, Mande Republic, Temneya, Fangland, Bembaland, Chewa, Zimbabwe, Yao, Botswana, Namibia, Xhosa, Lesotho, Ngunia, Tsonga, eSwatini/Swaziland, KwaZulu, Seychelles, Mauritius, Papua, Solomon Islands, United States of Melanesia, Polynesian Union, Federation of Micronesia, Siberia, Taiwan, Myanmar, Thailand, Himalaya, Sindh, Pashmenish, Costa Rica, and the Faeroe Islands.
- Core members: New Polar Canada, New United States, Cascadia, The New Confederacy, Bahamas, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago , England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Ireland, East African Union, Yorubaland, Afrikaner Republic, Zambezi Republic, Australia, New Zealand, Malay Federation (2020), Uralica (2020), Akan Empire (2021), Bharat, Dravidia, and Punjab (2021).
Border-defining treaties
Uralica has treaties with all of its members that denote the official borders. Many of the originals were superseded by treaties made after the Syktyvkar Statement, which has since been codified into the Syktyvkar Protocol per the UN, and as such this can be invoked by countries in a border dispute.
- Second Treaty of St. Petersburg with Russia. Reasserts Uralica's control over the Karelian Isthmus and defines Uralica's maritime and lake-bound boundaries in the Gulf of Finland, Lake Ladoga, and Lake Onega, as well as their mainland boundaries.
- Second Treaty of Naberezhnye Chelny with Bashkorto-Tatarstan. "Cleans up" the border between the two, swapping several exclaves.
- Treaty of Tobolsk with Ural-Altai and Siberia. A three-way treaty.
- Treaty of Krasnoslobodsk with Russia and Novgorod. Cleans up a "tattered mess" of borders near Tengzhele, Mordovia; Uralica receives the exclaved (and almost uninhabited) village of Ryazanka from Russia while the northern part of the exclave is given to Novgorod, as is the stretch of highway between Kryusha (Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia) and Kafteyka (Ryazan Oblast, Russia) by Uralica. A new border outpost is set up just outside of the Uralican village of Meltsid'vele, Mordovia.
- Treaty of Arzamas just with Novgorod.
- Treaty of Lappeenranta with Finland.
- Treaty of Bodø with Nordland.
Uralica currently has five of these, with all but one dating back to Dispersion.
- Cascadia
- Georgia
- Abkhazia
- Belarus
- Serbia (this one was signed after six months in power of Živko Plavsić after the Civil War)
Spammers Beware! I will destroy you by the POWAH of the JARK SIDE! ALL SPAMMERS WILL BE EXTERMINATED ON SIGHT.
Spammers EXTERMINATED: 120
(06-11-2022, 10:13 PM)Kyng Wrote: I love how [Abacab] has a track with a section named "Lurker", when the album title itself looks like Lurker's attempt to spell "Abacus" or something .
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