NationStates News

by Max Barry
Fri, 12 Dec 2025

As previously announced, big things are happening with the General Assembly! Over the past few months, we've been working through the GA2026 Working Paper proposals with admins, editors, and the community, and have now nailed down how the final project will look.

We can now commit to all 6 major proposals in the GA2026 Working Paper, plus an additional, previously-unannounced major feature: GA Compliance.

During the consultation & planning phase, we surfaced many practical implementation details and questions--too many to address here all at once. Instead, we'll be releasing a series of posts over the next six months with a deep dive on each major feature, explaining what to expect and why.

Timeline

The GA2026 timeline has been slightly revised to reflect the fact it became apparent that most new features would depend on one another. Therefore, rather than delivering one feature at a time over six months, as implied by the Working Paper, the majority of the GA2026 package will be released together.

We are now targeting July 1, 2026. Most importantly, this is when the current body of GA legislation will be permanently archived as per Proposal #1, "Blank Slate," and the GA will begin anew with no existing resolutions and an empty proposal queue.

Proposals #2 ("Simplified proposal rules") and #4 ("Encourage roleplay within the GA forum") will be delivered sooner, especially the latter, as they don't require technical development.

Proposal #3, "WA Secretariat Voting Recommendations," requires the establishment of a new nation-elected body. This body may or may not be elected by July 1, depending on how implementation pans out. We'll be able to provide a timeline update on this closer to the date.

GA Compliance

During the feedback phase, it became apparent that the GA2026 framework would allow us to do something even more ambitious: give nations the power to decide which GA resolutions they adopt.

Compliance with GA resolutions has always been slightly odd, in that nations aren't required to comply with any existing laws upon joining the WA, but they are automatically and instantly brought into line with every new resolution that passes thereafter.

GA Compliance will address this inconsistency, and allow for greater engagement and interaction. Rather than forcing immediate compliance with each new resolution, nations will be required to have adopted a set minimum percentage of all passed resolutions in order to maintain their WA membership. It will be up to them how they do that, by adopting GA resolutions of their choice at any time.

This feature won't disrupt R/D gameplay as it currently exists, but will make GA resolutions more meaningful to most WA members by allowing them to find their own balance between compliance and sovereignity. Look out for details and discussion in a future News post.

Feedback

The GA2026 Working Paper feedback process has been the most significant in the site's 23-year history. We read and considered every post, because the World Assembly today--and the GA in particular--is largely what the community built, not what was coded back in 2002.

I'd like to personally thank everyone who has contributed to that process, which was remarkably positive for such a major change. We feel great about what's coming, and look forward to sharing more over the coming months.

Discussion Thread: GA2026 Plan