General Assembly

Day breaks on a new General Assembly. Whether through something as baroque as an arcane ritual or as pedestrian as a loose power cord, the old institution is no more and its volume of standing resolutions has been wiped clean.

Thus, it is our privilege and duty as sovereign members of this body of NationStates to forge a new international order. The new General Assembly must seize this opportunity at this critical juncture in history, and learn from the legacy of its predecessor to secure a new vision for the future that centers the needs and sovereignty of its constituents.

In pursuit of those lofty and necessary goals, the General Assembly hereby recognizes the following realities:

1. This new General Assembly is the successor to the one of old, whose resolutions no longer have effect.

2. Member nations are considered competent to manage their own affairs. They possess sovereignty over matters within their jurisdiction, including the ability to freely engage with international affairs.

3. In exercising their sovereignty, member nations may choose to cede it, such as by adopting and implementing resolutions passed by this body or participating in regional or other supranational units.

4. The World Assembly must maintain infrastructure necessary for the execution of its functions and responsibilities, such as administrative bureaucracy and funding mechanisms.

For the benefit of members and future legislative efforts, the General Assembly additionally recognizes the following distinctions:

1. There is a distinction between resolution effects that are Assembly-wide, such as the establishment of agencies or reservation of powers, and effects that are member nation-specific due to flowing from a member nation's obligations under resolutions it adopts.

2. In its capacity as an expression of the collective will of its member nations, the General Assembly expresses collective positions and commitments through resolutions it passes. However, individual member nations subscribe to those positions and commitments by adopting the relevant resolutions.

Based on those realities, and in order to begin the great work of establishing foundational infrastructure for the vibrant legislative efforts sure to come, the General Assembly enacts the following:

1. Member nations possess formal equality under World Assembly law.

2. Member nations must make a good-faith effort to fulfill their obligations under General Assembly resolutions they adopt.

When one chapter ends, another begins. It is time for the General Assembly to usher in a new age of international relations, and to forge a new, better legacy. This body looks forward to the coming era, and eagerly awaits what its members will accomplish. Together, we can improve the world, one resolution at a time.

The General Assembly's primary mission is to improve the world, one resolution at a time. It does so through the collective action and in accordance with the collective will of World Assembly members.

Such efforts should not come at the undue expense of national sovereignty. If anything, upholding and protecting members' sovereignty is one of the purest goals this body can aspire to.

Therefore, the General Assembly hereby recognizes World Assembly member nations to be competent to manage their own affairs, and to possess sovereignty over matters within their jurisdiction unless ceded, including:

1. Authority over internal affairs, such as promulgating and enforcing internal policies.

2. Free engagement in external affairs, including entry into international agreements and association with regional and other supranational units.

In order to better uphold national sovereignty, the General Assembly hereby declares the following to be obligations of the World Assembly to its member nations in executing its responsibilities and functions under World Assembly law:

1. The World Assembly must afford its member nations a presumption of regularity; it must assume its member nations act in good faith and properly execute their obligations under World Assembly law absent clear evidence otherwise.

2. In promulgating policy or resolving ambiguity that affects a given member nation, the World Assembly must extend due deference to the interests and reasonable interpretation of that member.

3. The World Assembly may not impose undue or impractical burdens on its member nations.

4. In exercising authority within a member nation's jurisdiction, the World Assembly must, where appropriate and practical, interface with the member's government rather than commandeering internal government processes or sub-jurisdictions.

Additionally, the General Assembly urges:

1. Member nations to collaborate in good faith on issues of a cross-border or borderless nature, such as public health, environmental policy, and trade.

2. This body's legislative efforts to focus on issues of international character or relevance.

While member nations can and do cede their sovereignty through their participation in the World Assembly, national sovereignty remains a bedrock principle of this body. Member nations should have discretion in how they exercise and cede their sovereignty, and this body should aim to preserve it where practical.

The World Assembly,

Well aware of its newly-minted status of international body, serving tens of thousands of nations worldwide, and the responsibility that comes alongside dutiful oversight of these nations, and

Wishing to establish an early standard of respect within this institution, and between members, which preserves the autonomy of individual members of this body while still being capable of accomplishing policy goals of international significance, therefore

Enacts as follows:

1. All binding actions taken by this Assembly ought to satisfy each of the following conditions:

   1. the subject matter presents a collective action problem that member nations cannot adequately address through independent domestic action, fundamental rights that transcend national sovereignty, or some other transboundary concern;

   2. the scope and intrusiveness of the resolution does not exceed what is reasonably necessary to address the identified concern; and

   3. among the available policy approaches capable of achieving the resolution's objective, the approach chosen is the least burdensome on the domestic governance of member nations, with respect to current understanding of how that is best accomplished.

2. No binding action shall be taken by this body that impedes the sovereign right of members to determine their own constitutional order, or otherwise mandates or prohibits the adoption of any particular form of government, political system, or governing ideology. No resolution should govern a matter which is purely domestic in character and would violate clause 1 of this resolution.

3. In all areas of policy which do not have explicit, active resolutions or clauses governing them, it is to be presumed that the World Assembly reserves governance of this issue to individual members, or independent coalitions of members, where applicable, for their policy assessment.

4. Member nations are expected to extend good faith recognition of domestic policy choices of other members in areas which are not covered by the World Assembly or other relevant treaties, consistent with clause three of this resolution. This clause should not be construed to restrict member governments or officials from expressing political opinion regarding the domestic policies of other members.

The World Assembly,

Affirming that member nations are sovereign political communities and not constituent subdivisions of an international federation;

Holding that such political communities ultimately derive their legitimacy from the societies that they represent, and therefore remain the primary institutions through which societies govern their own affairs;

Observing that the wide variety of political, social, and economic systems present throughout the international community renders centralized regulation both necessarily inefficient and generalizing to a dangerous extent;

Acknowledging that nevertheless, certain matters require international cooperation, whether due to their transboundary nature or their relation to fundamental rights;

Cognizant that efforts to address such matters carry the risk of displacing sovereign governance from its core competencies and, in doing so, can undermine the legitimacy of this body;

Seeking to establish a durable framework governing the relationship between the Assembly and its members;

Hereby:

1. Establishes that sovereign authority is presumed to reside in member nations except where expressly modified by legislation enacted by this Assembly;

2. Recognizes the following areas of governance as core sovereign competencies ordinarily reserved to member nations:

   1. Territorial governance, including the administration of territory and the populations subject to national authority;

   2. Domestic lawmaking, judicial administration, and the enforcement of the law;

   3. Foreign relations, including all facets of diplomacy, participation in international organizations, and commerce;

   4. National defense and the protection of populations from external threats;

   5. Economic governance, including taxation, fiscal and monetary policy, public expenditure, and currency issuance;

   6. Border control, immigration policy, and employment within national territory;

   7. The management, conservation, and exploitation of resources within national jurisdiction;

   8. Cultural, linguistic, educational, and civic policy;

3. Recognizes that matters involving the above areas of governance may nonetheless require international intervention where necessary to address transboundary concerns or protect fundamental rights;

4. Establishes that legislation affecting one or more sovereign competencies shall:

   1. Identify the competencies implicated by such legislation;

   2. Explain the necessity of Assembly action with respect to those competencies;

   3. Preserve the exercise of sovereign authority to the greatest extent consistent with achieving the objectives of that legislation;

5. Establishes that where legislation affects core sovereign competencies, implementation and enforcement shall be conducted through cooperation whenever reasonably practicable, and that legislation establishing such cooperative mechanisms shall provide procedures for review or appeal of decisions made pursuant thereto;

6. Mandates that member nations ensure their diplomats or representatives to the Assembly are appropriately instructed regarding their role and responsibilities within this body, recognizing that such instruction is necessary to enable the Assembly to conduct its proceedings through informed participation by its members, while leaving the means by which such instruction is provided to the discretion of each member nation.

The World Assembly,

Understanding the connection between a nation's capacity for innovation and the future prosperity of that nation, and believing in the ardent bolstering of national pursuit of innovation in order to support both its members and their citizens, and

Noting that nations which are still in the process of their development may find it harder to support the pursuit of knowledge by their denizens, which can exacerbate global socioeconomic inequities as nations which must spend the majority of their budget on, say, fundamental welfare programs, are kept from supporting the prospects of their rise on the global stage, therefore

Enacts as follows:

1. The World Assembly shall establish the World Assembly Science and Innovation Foundation (WASIF), which shall be tasked with encouraging and promoting basic and applied scientific research and scientific education in members.

   1. WASIF shall have the authority to initiate and support diverse research in members through the establishment of scientific grants, contracts, loans, and other forms of monetary or infrastructural support, as allowed by the WASIF budget. Forms of support must be awarded through a competitive process, based on the scientific merits of the proposal, the current infrastructure in the jurisdiction the request is coming from and the prospect for creating long-term improvements of that infrastructure, and educational outcomes for researchers on the project. No grant may be awarded to a non-citizen or non-resident of a World Assembly member.

   2. WASIF shall be empowered to provide scholarships and fellowships to promising students and early-career researchers, on a basis of financial need, merit, and available funds of the WASIF budget.

   3. WASIF shall have the authority to create relevant sub-branches, subject to World Assembly legislation, to aid in the pursuit of knowledge of specific research disciplines, including the physical sciences, social sciences, medical sciences, engineering, mathematics, or any other subject areas deemed relevant.

   4. WASIF shall work with national scientific agencies, where appropriate, to foster the exchange of information between scientists who reside in different World Assembly members.

   5. WASIF shall publish a semiannual report of finances, research proposals supported, geographical areas supported, and impacts resulting from WASIF-funded research. WASIF shall also be empowered to publish information on a more regular basis, as their mission so requires.

2. The World Assembly shall establish Global Research & Development Centers (GRDCs), which are to be administered by WASIF or a sub-entity thereof, which shall perform scientific and technological research in disciplinary priorities of the World Assembly. GRDCs may be established by WASIF in response to research priorities, and shall be established either in international territory, or individual members (including entities therein) may submit proposals for the site to be located in their jurisdiction, which shall be reviewed by an independent entity.

3. WASIF shall host the World Assembly Research Consortium, which shall be a forum for the international exchange of information and research. The Research Consortium shall establish relevant journals for each discipline, as needed. Any scientist or researcher in a member nation may publish rigorous, peer-reviewed research articles in a Research Consortium journal free-of-charge, and scientists or researcher in a non-member nation may publish peer-reviewed, credible research articles in a Research Consortium journal for an affordable and fair price. An appropriate portion of revenue generated from published research in Research Consortium journal shall be given to the scientist or researcher in the form of a royalty.

4. Any research funded with World Assembly monies under the provisions of this resolution must be made available free-of-charge to all individuals residing in a member nation, and must be findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable. The information may be kept behind a paywall for individuals residing in non-member nations. This clause may be waived upon a determination by WASIF or individual members that the research performed poses a substantial risk to local, national, or international security, or otherwise has dangerous applications in the hands of bad actors.