"Treaty of Buffalo" redirects here. For other pages titled "Treaty of Buffalo", see Treaty of Buffalo (disambiguation).
"Mundiali" redirects here. For other uses of the term, please see Mundiali (disambiguation).
The Treaty of Buffalo is a multi-national agreement signed on August 12, 2017 in the City of Buffalo (and amended since) in response to the wide-spread rioting and multiple government overthrows that marked the Night of Anarchy. The treaty calls for greater international co-operation in the Night's wake, and officially spells out the 89 polities that are mutually recognized by the world's governments. While government administrators and many citizens have applauded the Treaty, the Treaty has many detractors, particularly from marginalized groups, who do not believe their needs will be addressed nor do they believe the Treaty will lead to better international co-operation. The Treaty also faces criticism from several minor governments who were not present in Buffalo, particularly in Antarctica, who have refused to acknowledge the terms of the Treaty.
Background[]
Main article: Night of Anarchy
During the overnight period of July 11, 2017 (in the Eastern Hemisphere), tens of thousands seemingly spontaneous riots broke out worldwide, directly or indirectly involving 168 polities and causing the collapse of 134 of them. Most of the riots occurred in Virtue-held territory although Rome too was affected, particularly in the Empire of New Rome. According to initial investigations, the rioting focused on a "general dissatisfaction with governments in general", with many of the rioters coming from groups within the polities who had been traditionally disadvantaged. Although most protests were peaceful, some turned violent, particularly in Constantinople where 121 protesters were killed in clashes with Byzantine police after a group of them tried to storm the Palace of Blacherne.
In the end, the world's major powers emerged unscathed, with over one million people arrested for various offences connected to the riots, most of them in Virtual Europe. Still, the effect of the protests was so massive that the world's leaders felt the need to drop what they were doing and meet to address the problem. Since North America was deemed the "epicentre" of the protests, Buffalo was chosen as the Treaty location.
Polities Recognized by the Treaty[]
Main article: List of Treaty of Buffalo countries
The Treaty officially recognizes 86 polities, each of which with claims covering almost all of the world's territory. Each polity is required by the Treaty to have embassies for each signatory as well as to confer diplomatic relations with all members.
To become a signatory of the Treaty, a prospective nation must be invited by current signatory, upon which the prospect will share with the other Treaty members their case for membership. Each of the 86 members of the Treaty get a vote, with 85% of the Treaty's members (or 73 votes) needed to approve a new member or ratify any other changes to the Treaty. The number is this high to ensure that the Roman bloc- which has 18 members- always has a say in Treaty proceedings. Without the Roman votes, there would only be 68 votes available for a measure, ensuring that it cannot pass.
As of May 8, 2017 (the last time the Treaty was updated), the Treaty recognized the following signatory members, each divided into the following groups:
English Empire[]
These are polities that are officially recognized as provinces of the English monarchy, a member of the Virtue Family. Each polity is administered under the rules and regulations of the English Parliament, headed by the Chancellor, with each polity contributing members to Parliament.
Roman Imperial Provinces[]
These are polities which are officially recognized as provinces of the Roman Empire, ruled by the Caesar. Each polity is administered under the rules and regulations of the Council of the Plebs, with each polity contributing members to the Tribune.
Roman Commonwealth[]
These are the polities that are recognized as being under the suzerainty of the Roman Caesar. Each country is technically independent, but, in practice, they are Roman protectorates. Each country has a mutual defence pact with Rome and is a free trade area along with Roman Imperial territory, with their foreign affairs ministries effectively limited to regional affairs. Representing Rome in each territory is the Prefect.
Roman Alliance[]
These are countries that are recognized as being allies with Rome. They are fully independent countries, although each country's individual treaty with Rome spells out varying degrees of economic and militaristic partnerships.
Virtue Family[]
These are countries that are recognized as being part of Virtue's highest level of organization, the Family. Each country is fully independent, although each have deals with each other and with countries within the Friends that outline varying degrees of economic and military partnership. The English Empire is also a part of the Family, but, for the purposes of the Treaty, was kept separate owing to its operational structure.
Virtue Friends[]
These are the countries that are recognized as being part of Virtue's second highest level of organization, the group of Friends. Each country is fully independent, although many countries have agreements with other nations within Virtue that outline varying degrees of economic and military partnership.
Unaligned states[]
These are countries who are officially recognized as not belonging to either of the world's major alliances, that of Rome or Virtue. Each are fully independent, and they are not at all allied with each other or operate together in any formal way. Many of these states, though, do have deals with each other and with countries in both alliances that spell out varying degrees of economic and military partnerships.
Mundiali[]
The Mundiali (officially the Mundiali Imperium, or "World Command"), is a worldwide police force created by the Treaty. The organization was so named because the term "mundiali" evoked the same imagery in English and Latin (as the word means "global" in Latin), thus it was seen as a "neutral" term to describe the entity (though in many English speaking areas it is known as the Federal Bureau of International Investigation, which was the United Nations' international law enforcement unit that survived as an independent organization following the UN's collapse and which the Mundiali absorbs). Eventually, the Treaty outlines that the Mundiali's headquarters are in Buffalo, and will have field offices in each of the Treaty's different polities with some of those polities receiving multiple offices, as needed. The person in charge of the Mundiali receives the title of Dux, with the current Dux being veteran investigator David Wilcox.
Officially, the Treaty establishes that the Mundiali work in "conjunction with local police forces" and are not meant to supersede the role of national police organizations. In fact, the Mundiali are only eligible to operate on a country's soil if that country's national police service invites them into the investigation, unless an investigation crosses national borders (even then, they must be investigating a crime they were invited to investigate). Still, the Mundiali do have worldwide jurisdiction, and the Treaty establishes that if a subject is a target in a Mundiali investigation, the Mundiali are entitled to arrest that individual without the need for extradition.
As bound by the Treaty, the Mundiali's jurisdiction officially covers "matters of national security", and thus investigate matters such as terrorism, multi-national fraud, election irregularities and other anti-governmental matters. Other crimes the Mundiali will cover are "crimes of high importance", defined as "violent or serious crimes that people across a broad spectrum of political ideologies would consider crimes". The Treaty does not have an exhaustive list of such crimes, but lists as examples murder, rape, robbery, burglary, assault, extortion, racketeering, kidnapping, torture and smuggling.
By the terms of the Treaty, the Mundiali are bound not to investigate crimes of a "political" nature and thus will not investigate crimes that are only such in some countries, like adultery or recreational drug use. Notably, the Mundiali will not investigate the crime of sedition, stating that accusations of this nature are almost always political and thus these crimes are best left to the individual countries to investigate. The Mundiali however will get involved if the crime of sedition is committed alongside another act that it will investigate, such as murder.
Officially, the Mundiali do not set up any courts, with criminals arrested being sent to face their country's courts. Critics of the Mundiali assert that the force is largely just going to be used as an extension of local governments, although the Mundiali themselves have rebutted this argument by stating that they do have the right to arrest political leaders, even a country's top official, if need be.