Commonwealth of Sovereign Nations (Earth II)

The Commonwealth of Sovereign Nations
Membership	Apilonia, four Commonwealth Realms, & four Commonwealth Republics
Leaders
• Head of the Commonwealth	William V
• Secretary-General of the Commonwealth	Sir William K. Ecclestone
Establishment	01/11/2020
• Signing of the Treaty of Cape Town	08/10/2020
• Formal Establishment of the Commonwealth	01/11/2020
Population
• 2021 estimate	404,582,161
GDP (PPP)	estimate
• Total	NSD 19,665,472,942,000
• Per capita	NSD 48,606.87
Currency	Apilonian Dollar ($)

“We, the people of Apilonia, Austria, East Africa, and South Africa, in order to form a free union of nations, establish justice, provide for common peace and prosperity, and to secure liberty for all, do ordain and establish this Commonwealth. Let the nations sing! Let the people shout! Let the Commonwealth begin!”
-His Majesty The King, Declaration of the Commonwealth, 1 November 2020

The Commonwealth of Sovereign Nations, unofficially the Apilonian Commonwealth due to the dominance of the Kingdom of Apilonia, is the formal name for the federal union of seven member-states, almost all of which are former colonial possessions of, or possess close historical ties with, Apilonia, from which the organisation takes it’s name, due to Apilonia’s status as first-amongst-equals due to its vastly superior population, economic, and military strength. Each of the members of the Commonwealth, other than Apilonia itself, are known as a Commonwealth Realm or Commonwealth Republic, depending on their political structure, unified by their status as signatories of the Treaty of Cape Town and, in many cases, their common allegiance to the Apilonian Crown. Individual Commonwealth Realms or Republics retain their own national sovereignty and legislative independence, however all members of the Commonwealth implicitly agree to abide by a range of Commonwealth Agreements, seeking to develop a common policy amongst all the members, particularly in areas such as a common economic, foreign, and defence policy. These broad policy agreements are debated and decided at an annual Commonwealth Conference, which brings delegations from all member-states together, including heads of government. The Head of the Commonwealth, by treaty the reigning Monarch of Apilonia, is the symbolical unifying leader of the Commonwealth, with day-to-day administration of the organisation handled by the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, appointed by the Head of the Commonwealth on the advice of the Commonwealth Conference.

Through the Commonwealth Agreements, the member-states implicitly work towards a general standardisation of laws and regulations, most notable of which is the establishment of the Commonwealth Single Market, one of the largest and widest reaching economic unions in the world. Under the single market, the vast majority of trade barriers have been removed and common policies on product regulation have been developed (known as the Commonwealth Standard), with freedom of movement of the factors of production, enterprise and services. In addition, travel arrangements within the Commonwealth are visa-free and all Commonwealth citizens enjoy reciprocal healthcare, consumer choice and increased travel protections. In addition, security, intelligence and defence policy and co-operation is enshrined through the Commonwealth Security/Intelligence/Defence Arrangements, which are detailed protocols for the co-operation in law enforcement, intelligence sharing, and defence respectively. In particular, whilst each Commonwealth Realm is responsible for its own military forces during peacetime, albeit with extensive standardisation, during wartime it is agreed that all Commonwealth military assets will come under the direct command of the Royal Apilonian Military (RAM), to ensure a co-ordinated, cohesive response. In practice, even during peacetime there is extensive co-operation as a matter of course. Indeed, all Commonwealth Realms maintain an extensive liaison staff at the Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ), the top-level operational command of the RAM.

Political, Economic and Security Policy

Although Apilonia and each of the Commonwealth Realms remain independent sovereign states, the Treaty of Cape Town commits all Apilonia and all Commonwealth Realms to developing a common policy across a number of policy areas.

Commonwealth Single Market

The Commonwealth Single Market was explicitly established with the signing of the Treaty of Cape Town, viewed by all the founding member as a key aspect of the closer union desired between them. Upon the completion of the transition period, all trade barriers have been removed, for goods, and freedom of movement facilitated for the factors of production (capital and labour) and of services, including financial services, particularly with the introduction of the Apilonian Pound as a common currency. This removal of physical borders and customs checks has largely been facilitated by the adoption of the Commonwealth Standard, an extensive set of common policies with regards to product and commercial regulation. In addition, the single market also establishes a customs union and free trade area between the member-states, in recognition of the nature of the ‘Commonwealth Family’. As part of the free movement of labour, all travel within the Commonwealth is visa-free.

As part of the Treaty of Cape Town, and therefore by common consent, the Bank of Apilonia serves as the Commonwealth’s central bank and sets monetary policy for the Single Market.

Commonwealth Defence Agreement

The Commonwealth Defence Agreement (CDA) is a Commonwealth Agreement which sets the framework by which all of the members of the Commonwealth cooperate jointly with regards to defence matters, serving as an effective military alliance. In the most basic terms, the CDA commits all of the Commonwealth Realms to joint military action in the event that one of them becomes involved in a war; an absolute commitment in the event of a defensive war and a voluntary commitment in the event of an offensive war. In addition, the CDA also provides a framework for peacetime cooperation, both operationally and with regards to training and exercises, as well as the fundamentals for the cooperation during peacetime. In particular, the CDA provides for the assignment of all Commonwealth military forces to the direct command of the Royal Apilonian Military during a general war situation. After the transition period, the terms of the CDA will become enshrined in the military law of all the member-states, to ensure the smooth and cohesive conduct of operations when necessary. The CDA also provides for the ability of Commonwealth Realms to make use of the military facilities of each other, and with regards to individual military bases in other Commonwealth Realms the CDA serves as a status-of-forces agreement.

In particular, the Royal Apilonian Military operates a number of Permanent Joint Operating Bases (PJOB), both within the Commonwealth Realms and externally, which serve as both a part of its own power projection ability and key logistics and staging bases for operations under the CDA. Within the broader CDA, is a Standardization Agreement (STANAG) that defines processes, procedures, terms, and conditions for common military or technological procedures and equipment between the members of the Commonwealth, in order to provide common operational and administrative procedures and logistics so that one Commonwealth military may use the stores and support of another without issue. Various STANGAGs also form the basis for technical interoperability between a wide variety of communications and information systems (CIS) essential for joint Commonwealth operations.

Commonwealth Intelligence Agreement

The Commonwealth Intelligence Agreement (CIA) is a Commonwealth Agreement which sets the framework by which all of the members of the Commonwealth cooperate jointly with regards to intelligence collection (primarily signals intelligence). Although all forms of intelligence are shared under the CIA, signals intelligence is of particular importance due to globally spread nature of the Commonwealth’s membership which makes it significantly easier to facilitate comprehensive communications monitoring. In general, the CIA is largely focused on facilitating intelligence gathering against external threats, with domestic intelligence gathering remaining the primary concern of individual domestic intelligence agencies; due in no small part to a desire to avoid any suspicion or recriminations. The vast majority of the joint work under the CIA is conducted via a variety of programmes, which each of the individual intelligence agencies participate in, as well as an extensive joint database.

However, it was quickly realised that for specific threats to the Commonwealth, particularly regional and trans-regional concerns, a more cohesive organisation was required through which all intelligence-gathering and analysis could co-ordinated. This realisation resulted in the formation of the Unified Intelligence Task Force (UNIT, or the Unit) in January 2021, which consisted of intelligence (particularly military intelligence) personnel seconded from across the Commonwealth, as well as military and civilian support personnel. Not all intelligence-sharing under the CIA is conducted by or through UNIT, instead the organisation concerns itself on specific and wide-reaching threats to the Commonwealth as a whole.

Commonwealth Trade Agreement

The Commonwealth Trade Agreement (CTA) is a Commonwealth Agreement which sets out the framework by which all members of the Commonwealth cooperate on the matter of both internal and international trade. Within the Commonwealth, internal trade between member-states is under the terms of the Commonwealth Single Market and is aided by the removal of barriers to trade such as tariffs and border controls, and by not having to deal with any currency differences due to the adoption of the Apilonian Pound. In addition, the Treaty of Cape Town explicitly espoused the principles of encouraging world trade, and under the terms of the CTA the Commonwealth Secretariat is responsible, at the direction of the Heads of Government at Commonwealth Conferences, for setting the trade policy of the member countries and negotiates agreements for them. Speaking as one voice, the Commonwealth carries more weight in international trade negotiations than each individual member would; although to ensure representation of all member states the Secretariate’s Office of Commonwealth Trade includes officials and staff from across the Commonwealth.

Under the CTA, the Commonwealth actively engages with countries and regional groupings to negotiate trade agreements, usually granting mutually-beneficial access to the markets of both the Commonwealth and the countries concerned, allowing Commonwealth companies to grow their business both internally and internationally and to more easily import the raw materials they use to make their products. Each individual agreement is unique, and can include tariff reductions, rules on matters such as intellectual property or clauses on human rights. In addition to including trade representatives from each of the member-states, and in close co-operation with member-states ministers for trade, the Office of Commonwealth Trade also gets input from the public, businesses, and non-government bodies when negotiating trade agreements, in order to establish a Commonwealth-wide consensus when establishing these agreements.

Organisation

The Commonwealth as a whole is led by the Head of the Commonwealth, a title held by the Apilonian Crown, and is the most visible unifying force for the entire organisation. Commonwealth Policy is decided by the elected leadership of Apilonia and the individual Commonwealth Realms at the annual Commonwealth Conferences. Although the Commonwealth itself does not have an executive or legislature, the Commonwealth Secretariat was formed to facilitate co-operation between members, organisation various meetings and assisting and advising on policy development, and providing assistance in implementing the decisions and policies of the Commonwealth Conferences. The Commonwealth Secretariat is led by the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, with four Deputy Secretaries-General; one for Economic Affairs, one for Political Affairs, one for Cultural Affairs, and one for Defence Affairs. In addition to the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Crown itself is represented in each of the Commonwealth Realms by a Governor-General, however primarily in relation to the Crown’s constitutional role in each Commonwealth Realm rather than as part of the Commonwealth Secretariat.

Head of the Commonwealth

The Head of the Commonwealth, which under the Treaty of Cape Town is held by the reigning King of Apilonia, is the recognized leader of the Commonwealth, the symbol of their free association and unity. In general, the Head of the Commonwealth does not have a role in the day-to-day governance of the Commonwealth, instead serving as a unifying force and an impartial moderator and plays a significant role in forming and furthering the joint foreign policy of the Commonwealth. Broadly speaking, this role is very similar to the constitutional role that the King of Apilonia holds in Apilonia. The Head of the Commonwealth, or a designated representative, is also responsible for hosting the annual Commonwealth Conference, in which the broad policy positions of the Commonwealth are agreed by the Heads of Governments of each of the Commonwealth Realms.

Secretary-General of the Commonwealth

The Secretary-General of the Commonwealth is the Chief Executive of the Commonwealth, responsible for leading the Commonwealth Secretariat. The Secretary-General is elected by the Commonwealth Heads of Government, and approved by the Head of the Commonwealth, for a four-year term. As the Chief Executive of the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Secretary-General is responsible for overseeing the work of the Secretariat. The Secretary-General is therefore both highly influential, as he/she regularly interacts with Heads of Government and other various representatives of the Commonwealth Realms, as well as exercising a great deal of actual control over the day-to-day affairs of the Commonwealth.

The current, and first, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth is Sir William K. Ecclestone, former HM Ambassador to the Union of South Africa, who worked closely with President Mulder on the Treaty of Cape Town.

Commonwealth Secretariat

The Commonwealth Secretariat is the organisational body of the Commonwealth, responsible for facilitating the development of the common policies of the Commonwealth, encouraging and facilitating co-operation between members, implementing the decision of the Commonwealth Conferences, and overseeing the various Commonwealth Agreements and the Commonwealth Single Market. Although the Commonwealth does not have a true executive or legislature, the Commonwealth Secretariat is nevertheless responsible for keeping the organisation running and meeting both the requirements of the Treaty of Cape Town and achieving the tangible and intangible reasons for which the Commonwealth was formed in the first place. In general, the Commonwealth Secretariat primarily serves as a faciliatory body rather than exercising direct control over the actions of any of the Commonwealth Realms, relying on the implicit agreement of the members to implement the joint decisions of the Commonwealth. As such, the Secretariat is responsible for the development and maintenance of the Commonwealth Agreements and other similar agreements, and for advising and assisting member-states in their implementation.

The exception to this is specific institutions established by the Commonwealth, to fulfil a specific aim or objective, the control of which has been specifically delegated to the Commonwealth Secretariat by the Heads of Government. There ar

• Secretary-General of the Commonwealth
• Deputy Secretary-General for Political Affairs
  • Office for the Promotion of Democracy
  • Office for Civil and Criminal Justice Reform
  • Office for the Implementation of Commonwealth Agreements
• Deputy Secretary-General for Economic Affairs
  • Office for Commonwealth Trade
  • Office for the Commonwealth Single Market
  • Office for Sustainable Development
• Deputy Secretary-General for Cultural Affairs
  • Office for Sport and the Commonwealth Games
  • The Commonwealth Foundation
  • Office for the Commonwealth of Learning
  • Commonwealth Local Government Forum
  • Association of Commonwealth Universities
• Deputy Secretary-General for Defence Affairs
  • Office for Defence Co-Operation
  • Office for Intelligence and Security Co-Operation
  • Commonwealth War Graves Commission