AF-CES Partnership

The Augustan Federation - Conference of Eastern States Partnership, abbreviated the AF-CES Partnership or just AF-CES (alternatively AFCES), was a supra-alliance organization on CivClassic 2.0 between the Augustan Federation and the Conference of Eastern States.

Politics and Structure
AF-CES did not have an independent bureaucracy nor political roles, instead leaving self-administration to the partner alliances, who retained total control over themselves. Its treaty was barebones and short (with the actual text taking up less than a page), serving only to formalize the partnership between the alliances.

Formation
During the summer (northern hemisphere) of 2021, the Augustan Federation and Conference of Eastern States grew diplomatically closer and more alike. Politically distinct from the Mutual Assistance Coalition and the alliances attached to it, and sharing between them the nation of Lambat, the two alliances increasingly turned to one another for cooperation, including for shared military exercises, trade, and cultural exchange. On August 18, 2021, this closeness prompted a formal proposal from the Augustan Federation for a formal partnership. The Conference of Eastern States discussed this proposal, first between its own members, and then with the Augustan Federation, and agreed on a cooperation treaty three days later, on August 21, 2021.

List of Major Events
AF-CES's history and utility was defined by a series of diplomatic and military events in which it played an essential role. During mid and late 2021, fears of an eventual, inevitable third world war pervaded CivClassic 2.0, which became increasingly multipolar over this period (a development of which AF-CES was a part). In most instances of spiking tensions between groups during this time, AF-CES sought to play a de-escalatory role (though it is debated on some matters as to whether or not it actually did so). These fears were never realized, as CivClassic 2.0 closed in December of that year without such a conflict erupting. August 26 - Mount September Ice Road Conflict | The first test of AF-CES came less than a week after its formation, when a Mount September court dispute over an old UDF iceroad through Septembrian territory suddenly escalated to an armed standoff below the city. While Mount September was able to broker a resolution on its own, the incident spurred military consciousness and unity across AF-CES. September 2 - minemaster933 Pearl Incident | On September 2, the pearl of then-Mount September resident minemaster933 was discovered and taken by a Kallosian operative to the Kallosian vault Arx Centauri, without stated reason and against Mount September law. As the Conference of Eastern States had its hands full with the Ohio Crisis, which occurred on the same day, AF-CES resorted to a noninvasive pressure/PR campaign to release minemaster933, which eventually prompted Kallos to attempt to offshore the embattled pearl, leading accidentally to its release. October 10-11 - Asahigaokan Missile Crisis | Considered by many to be the closest brush with "hot" conflict in late 2021, the Asahigaokan Missile Crisis was a two-day standoff between the nation of Caledonia and the newly settled Asahigaoka, caused by poor relations between Caledonia and Asahigaoka's more powerful ally Kallos, and accentuated by a series of escalations and miscommunications which drove the two to prepare for conflict. AF-CES management of the delicate situation focused on refusing to act against their opponents unless first provoked, and making this strategy clear and public in the hopes that it would be reciprocated by Asahigaoka and its allies, leading to mutual detente; this it was, and the situation was formally resolved on October 18 with the establishment of the Caledonia-Asahigaoka Non-Aggression Agreement. This agreement is hailed as a significant factor in reducing tensions between AF-CES and Kallos. October 17 - Nro'Meagh-Thoria War | When the Nro'Meaghev tribe of Thoria nonconsensually declared independence from Nro'Meagh and claimed much of its land and over a week of Nro'Meaghev attempts at negotiation failed, a small team of AF-CES fighters disabled Thoria's defenses and restored Nro'Meagh's claims. November 21 - Battle of Eddie Murphy | AF-CES responders were the first on the scene when a group of three VPN alts, calling themselves Murphy Tech, attacked its member state of Amyr. The fight would rapidly escalate to involve Mutual Assistance Coalition and Eddie Murphy responders as well, as Murphy Tech proved challenging to eliminate. The fight, called the Battle of Eddie Murphy (due to its proximity and incidental relation to the nation of Eddie Murphy), is generally regarded as a military embarrassment for AF-CES and the Mutual Assistance Coalition, as Murphy Tech captured a grossly disproportionate number of pearls from both before being defeated.

Re-Evaluation and the End of the World
Following the Battle of Eddie Murphy, existing discontentments within AF-CES became more apparent. As a result, the CES launched a survey initiative to determine what adjustments it should make to itself, and three AF-CES states left their respective alliances: Lambat from the CES, Gabon and Lusitania (CivClassic 2.0) from the AF. While obviously regarded as unfortunate, this series of events provided AF-CES with new unity. However, this unity did not have a chance to be tested on CivClassic 2.0, as the server's EOTW was announced on December 8, 2021. The group of people formerly constituting AF-CES has stayed together in spite of this, but it is as yet unclear what they will be doing on future Civ servers.