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BRIEFING: BRYNANIA

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the regional setting

• Cyberia (or “Equatorial Cyberspace”) consists of six developing countries:

– Icasia (large, poor, unstable, and corrupt)

– Udem (poor, large French military base)

– Ruritania (powerful, authoritarian nationalist regime)

– Uqamistan (weak revolutionary regime)

– Concordia (relatively developed democracy)

– Brynania (civil war since 1984, ruled by military regime)

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Brynania

• topography and climate– tropical climate in south, semi-tropical

elsewhere, arid in northern hills– St. Catherine valley and flood plain

dominate south and center of country, with more mountainous terrain to the west, east, and north

• people– population: 11.5 million– according to 1961 census, 61% Brn,

23% Zaharian, 11% Icasian, 5% other

• economy– GNP/capita: $1,583 (PPP adjusted)– HDI 0.388 (152nd)– primary industries: beef, cotton,

diamonds

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historical timeline

1865 French forces clash with local “pirates”

1870 French colonial rule established

1950s Rising anti-colonial protests

1960 Naul Poble elected president in French-run elections

1961 Independence

1969 Mutiny by Brn army units put down with French assistance, Poble cancels future elections.

1973 Gen. Rudolph Arvanitidis deposes Poble in military coup

1984 Civil war erupts, secessionist PFLZ calls for Zaharian state

1995 Gen. Jose Hamra deposes Arvanitidis in military coup.

Former regime retreats to northern strongholds, forms FPA

2010 Hamra resigns amid urban protests.

Reformist VP Bill Wieninger subsequently killed in air crash. Current president assumes power.

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civil war

• Free People’s Army (FPA), consisting of former junta and northern Brn clans, controls the diamond-producing area around Eiku

• secessionist Popular Front for the Liberation of Zaharia (PFLZ) and smaller, more radical Zaharian People’s Front (ZPF) control much of the south

– PFLZ besieges the southern port of Mcgilldishu

• small irredentist Eastern Icasia Freedom Movement (EIFM) active in northwest

• Government of Brynania (GoB) controls the remainder of the country

– some Ruritanian forces and advisors deployed in support of GoB along RCB highway

– military stalemate

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an opportunity for peace?

• military stalemate has led to a de facto ceasefire

• UN SRSG appointed to mediate peace talks

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local actors

• Brynanian government– President, VP, Foreign Affairs, Defence, Economy, Social

Affairs• OPHUG

– pro-government militia• Radio Unity

– hardline Brn local radio station• Radio Democracy

– pro-democracy local radio station• Brynanian Federation of Trade Unions

– multiethnic, stresses current economic crisis• Brynanian Human Rights Group

– local human rights NGO

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local actors

• PFLZ– Zaharian secessionist rebels, largest rebel group

• ZPF– Zaharian secessionist rebels

• FPA– former (Brn) military regime and diamond smugglers

• EIFM– small (ethnic Icasian) irredentist movement

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regional actors

• Ruritania– some troops supporting GoB, hosts refugee camps

• Icasia– hosts refugee camps, cross-border smuggling

• Uqamistan– critical of GoB and Ruritania

• Udem– seat on the UN Security Council, French military base

• Concordia– suspicious of Ruritania’s regional ambitions, military agreement

with US

• Organization of Cyberian Nations

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international actors

• US UNSC P5, G8/20• European Union• France UNSC P5, EU, G8/20• UK UNSC P5, EU, G8/20• Russia UNSC P5, G8/20• China UNSC P5, G20• Japan G8/20• Germany UNSC, EU, G8/20• Norway• Canada G8/20• Hungary EU (presidency)• Poland EU (presidency)• South Africa UNSC, G20• India UNSC, G20

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international organizations

• UN Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG)• UN Department of Political Affairs (DPA)• UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO)• UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

(OCHA)• UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)• World Food Programme (WFP)• UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF)• UN Development Programme (UNDP)• UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR)

• World Bank

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international NGOs

• International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)– humanitarian relief, humanitarian law

• Médecins sans Frontières (MSF)– humanitarian relief (and development)

• CARE– humanitarian relief (and development)

• Oxfam– sustainable development (and relief)

• Human Rights Watch– human rights monitoring and advocacy

• International Crisis Group– conflict analysis and policy advocacy

• ZahrAid– humanitarian relief