Tippercommon–Belhavia relations

Template:Infobox Bilateral relations Relations between Tippercommon and Belhavia have spanned more than two centuries since Tippercommon gained independence from the Grand Ulthrannic Empire in 1779. As the two largest democracies in Taveria who share liberal values and two of the four largest economies in the world, Belhavia and Tippercommon have had a positive bilateral relationship for the better part of the past 230 years. As members of the Southern Partnership Commerce Initiative, each is the other's largest regional trading partner. The two nations share authority over security and defense in much of eastern Taveria, with agreements over early warning defense, underwater sound surveillance, and nuclear defense. The two states share political sovereignty over the condominium Ayton-Shelvay and has since 1893.

According to a poll conducted by the Journal of the Union, Belhavia consistently ranks as Tippercommon's second favorite nation after the United Republic with 78% of Tippercommoners viewing Belhavia favorably. Belhavian and Tippercommoner political culture is similar in many aspects. While both nations are led by classically liberal parties, public opinion in Tippercommon is much more socially liberal. While much of the Unity Party's policy is minarchist, it is much more liberal and secular than Belhavia's Conservative Party with the UTR public largely supporting its system of social safety nets and entitlements.

Country comparison

	Template:Country data Tippercommon Unified Tippercommon Republics	Empire of Belhavia
Populations	395,473,885 (2014)	252,813,000 (2015)
Area	11,877,975 km² (4,586,110 sq mi )	17,263,350 km² (6,665,417 sq mi )
Population density	33.3/km² (86.2/sq mi)	17.8/km² (46.1/sq mi)
Capital	Sussex	Provisa
Largest city	Sweetwater City	Dakos
Government	Federal semi-presidential constitutional republic	Federal presidential constitutional monarchy
Current Leader	Gerald Keegan	Eli Goldman
Official languages	English	None at federal level but English and Yiddish de facto
Main religions	32.5% Ulthranism 30.0% irreligious 13.7% Jewish 12.1% Protestant 5.6% Islam 4.5% Buddhism 1.6% Catholic	75.1% Jewish 8.2% Protestant 3.4% Ulthrianism 2% Catholicism 1.6% Islam 0.5% Orthodox Christianity 9.2% irreligious
GDP (nominal) (2014)	$14.65 Trillion ($37,044.17 per capita)	$16.83 Trillion ($54,746.70 per capita)
Military expenditures	$672.67 billion (4.59% of GDP)	$820.00 billion (5.11% of GDP)

Law enforcement

File:Belhavia ambassador.png

Francis MacAlistair (left), Menachem Ziegler (center), and Chief Minister Gerald Keegan (right) during a joint press conference to the UTR State Department, 2014.

Tippercommon and Belhavian law enforcement agencies have a long history of cooperation. UTR and Belhavian law enforcement jointly administer their national borders and either government has oversight over local Ayton-Shelvay law enforcement. Drug policy has been a point of contention in Tippercommon-Belhavian relations. As the Belhavian government stringently enforces regulations on controlled substances and the UTR regulates but does not criminalize their sale and use, there have been issues in recent decades with drug trafficking into Belhavia through Ayton-Shelvay. While Ayton-Shelvay is subject to Belhavia's drug laws by default, the majority of Aytonian law enforcement agencies and the Republic Agency of Investigation do not enforce these laws.

Military and security

Since the restoration of the Empire in Belhavia in 1949 after the fall of the Galarian Regime, the UTR and Belhavia have cooperated in ensuring security in eastern Taveria and, during the Cold War, were aligned as part of Free Pardes. The Imperial Armed Forces of Belhavia boasts 2,328,861 active duty personnel while the UTR Joint Forces field 2,288,245 active duty personnel . The two powers have held joint jurisdiction over the security of the condominium Ayton-Shelvay since its constitution with the Treaty of Evermore in 1893. Tippercommon-Belhavian relations became strained in the 1930's during the Second Shelvay War when Aytonian separatists attacked Shelvay with the objective of annexing it for mining rights. The war concluded in 1934 status quo ante bellum, but left thousands of Aytonians and Shelvayans dead and injured as a result. This conflict would forebode public and administration disapproval of the Galarian Regime in the 1940s. The joint security clause of the Treaty of Evermore was temporarily suspended between 1940 and 1945 during the Ulthrannic Civil War, with UTR forces withdrawing from military bases in the Shelvay portion of the territory, full joint administration resumed in 1945 with the institution of the Provisional Government of Belhavia. Since then, the UTR and Belhavia have continuously provided security for the territory.

The UTR currently operates 14 military bases in Ayton-Shelvay, including 10 air bases.

File:ETADS.png

ETADS (blue) and SAC PAWS (red) coverage.

The most prolific case of joint UTR-Belhavian military operations on Taveria soil was during the Tippercommon Civil War in 1986 when the Belhavian 44th Motorized Army Regiment out of Tel Avson, Shelvay took part in fighting against left-wing rebels in Ayton and Hyperion.

In addition, since the 1960's, the UTR Naval Fleet and the Imperial Navy have shared responsibility over security and of patrolling the Havenwalder Strait and Hyperion Sea to the east of King's Island. Both governments operate a Sound Surveillance System monitoring the waters for submarines and to guard shipping lanes to Sweetwater City and Provisa. The UTR Air Fleet and Imperial Air Force jointly operate the Eastern Taverian Air Defense System, an early warning system with phased array stations in the UTR, Belhavia, and Ayton-Shelvay designed to detect ballistic missile attacks against Taveria. ETADS stations cover the perimeter of the UTR and Belhavia with a range of 4,290 km. The UTR Air Fleet operates ten air bases housing numerous squadrons. Under the agreement of the UTR and Belhavian governments, UTR Strategic Air Command houses the majority of its nuclear forces within the mountainous regions of Ayton-Shelvay, although exact positioning of missile silos has not been disclosed to the public.

Modern Fighter Program

In the early-1970's, the UTR Office of Homeland Defense and the Belhavian Ministry of War under the suggestion of both governments offered UTR and Belhavian aerospace firms a contract for a light fighter to replace both nation's aging third-generation jet fighters. In 1974, the Modern Fighter Program contract was awarded to the Pyrion Group, a Belhavian company, and Armax Defense International, a Tippercommon company. For four years the firms co-developed what would become the F2 Lioness. Entering service in the UTR Air Fleet and Imperial Air Force in late-1981, the Lioness would become the most numerous multirole fighter in either air force, continuing service into the 21st century. Over its service, the Pyrion Group and Armax Defense continued to update the Lioness platform under the advice of both governments with its final iteration, the F2 Lioness Mk. VI and Mk. V, entering service in 2000. With an initial development cost of UR$6.044 billion adjusted for inflation (UR$900 million in 1980), the effort represented the largest joint defense contract between the UTR and Belhavia to date.

Trade

Belhavia and Tippercommon are the region's 2nd and 4th largest Pardesi economies respectively. As signatories of the Treaty of Sussex, Belhavia and Tippercommon are members of the Southern Pardesi Commerce Initiative, making the states subject to its standardized tariff schedules, excise taxes, and border fees. In addition, Belhavia and the UTR have a substantial bilateral trade agreement called the Belhavia-Tippercommon Free Trade Agreement. Belhavia and the UTR hold very low tariffs over exports at around 2-5% and companies of either nation are subject to lighter regulation and oversight than those of other nations. Belhavians and Tippercommoners are subject to a flexible accelerated visa application program and are eligible for cross-border travel agreements. Citizens born in Ayton-Shelvay are granted dual citizenship in both Belhavia and UTR.

The UTR and Belhavia have an extensive trade relationship, with Tippercommon primarily exporting consumer goods, petroleum products, precious metals, manufactured goods, financial instruments, and raw materials and Belhavia exporting high-end consumer goods, industrial equipment, timber, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications equipment, financial instruments, and medical equipment. Belhavia accounts for 23% of all UTR exports and 14% of its imports.

The Belhavian and Tippercommoner governments frequently take part in joint infrastructure projects in Ayton-Shelvay, funding the construction of hydroelectric dams, nuclear, geothermal, and solar power plants, highways, bridges, and other public works projects. Ayton-Shelvay has often been a center point for cooperation between Belhavian and Tippercommoner infrastructure and energy companies.

Both nations are founding members and signatories of the Organization for a Free Energy Market, an intergovernmental organization whose platform is centered upon disapproval of the Pardesi Organization of Petroleum Exporters's price controls over Pardes' natural gas and crude oil markets.

See also

• Belhavia
• Tippercommon
• Southern Partnership Commerce Initiative