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The United Ekumen of Isilanka commonly called Isilanka, is a federal representative democracy in Europe. Isilanka covers 653 064 square kilometers and has has an estimated population of 55.6 million inhabitants. Isilanka comprises of 7 regions : 3 Federal Provinces, 2 Semi-autonomous provinces and 2 oceanic regions.

Etymology

The word "Isilanka" has a complicated origin. It's commonly assumed that it comes from the old, pre-pagan Kadijan language. More specifically, it seems to refer to the location of Isilanka relative to the stars, as "Isla" means "beneath" and "anka" is the short name for "ankarean", the Kadijan name of Aldebaran. "Islaanka" started appearing in the middle ages to qualify the land that was under the influence of the "Ring", the alliance between the lords of the north and the nomadic republics of the south. It was reused after WWII for the new country to come.

The standard way to refer to a citizen of Isilanka is as a "Isilankan.

History

Attention : NOT CANON on The Pacific RMB RP.

The history of Isilanka is long and complex, but one could find some use in a brief summary.

The first mentions of Isilankan culture appear around the early middle ages, with the first lasting alliances between Kadijan nomads and northern queens. Isilankan paganism was born around this time period too, drawing elements from Roman and Christian culture, as well as Islam further away in history. The first Isilankan city, Marienberg, appears as a,n indepent city-state for the first time in 850. A pagan enclave in a christian continent, Isilanka starts massively diverging from european history around the 10th century. At this point, four cultural areas exist in Isilanka. A matriarchal, tribal culture in the north ; several city-states with oligarchic governments in the west ; the duchy of Tlosa in the east, and finally the Kadijan nomads in the south.

The early middle ages see several christian crusades to try and take these pagan lands, some of them supported by prestigious european monarchs. The last Isilankan crusade, in 1254, marks the beginning of the unification of Isilanka under the same banner. Confronted to a coordinated resistance on the grounds of the pagan culture, the crusaders are finally defeated at the battle of Tlosa in 1255. After that, a loose alliance remains between the different Isilankan cultures.

Isolated from the rest of Europe, Isilanka turns itself towards the sea, aggregating muslim, european and even indian influences, as well as the spirit of the Renaissance. The late middle ages see the rise of the matriarchies in Kadija and Tlosa, and for a brief period of time (1550-1620) Isilanka is even united under a Queendom based in Marienberg.

As many european countries become monarchies, some of them absolute, Isilanka follows a different, confused path, which ends up in several civil wars, the longest and bloodiest one being the Tlosan War of Succession (1680-1715) after which Isilanka is shattered between a dozen of kingdoms and merchant republics.

This state of things remains until the end of the 19th century and what Isilankan historians usually call "the Delayed Enlightenment". Modernizing the pagan ideology, several thinkers and philosophers (the "Seven Sisters" in Isilankan tradition) impulse a new era in Isilanka, through the combined influence of rational thought, nation-state ideology and the second industrial revolution. In 1878, Isilanka is finally united as a representative democracy, under the shape of a loose federation. Flexible, yet weak, this new nation has trouble modernizing the country and, by 1900, Isilanka is a weird mix of modern cities (Ostramar in 1900 is comparable to London or Paris) and an old, almost medieval countryside.

During WWI, Isilanka integrates the Entente and takes part in the war, though not directly until 1916, where several thousand soldiers are sent in the French Trenches. The war experience of these 50,000 conscripts (among them a lot of women, which came as a surprise for european observers) is a real traumatism, that durably shocks the Isilankan collective consciousness and leads to a massive refusal of some aspects of the industrial society.

The national integration of Isilanka continues after 1918. Though still isolated, Isilanka becomes a medium power in Europe, sealing alliances with France, Britain and Russia. This is a time of great transformation, where under the impulses of several Isilankan presidents (like Sophia Lamb) the country becomes a modern european nation - even though the influence of the medieval culture remains. Pagan altars are lit with electricity. Planes take off from antique roads in the fields. Ostramar and Marienberg become two european metropolis. Steam and diesel trains go through the old forests.

The bright future promised by the Delayed Enlightenment comes to an end in the late 1930s. In front of the rise of the fascist and nazi regimes, Isilanka has no choice but to rearm. During the Spanish civil war, Isilanka covertly supports the republican side. This behavior weighs heavily in the german decision to invade Isilanka without a declaration of war in june 1940, just after the fall of France. Partially rearmed, the Isilankan army is no match for the Wermacht. Tlosa falls, then Ostramar in september 1940. However, the deep forest, mountains and dry deserts of Isilanka are ideal for guerilla warfare, and most of the country remains out of reach for the nazis. In january 1942, an agreement is reached between the Third Reich and Isilanka which effectively turns the pagan nation into a protectorate. During what is now known as "The White Night", on january 22nd 1942, the entire Isilankan navy, the federal government and what remains of the army defect to the allies. More than 15,000 jews are evacuated on the ships as well.

After 1942 the legitimate Isilankan government is in exile. The suprisingly modern Isilankan Navy fights alongside the Royal Navy in the Atlantic and in the mediterranean sea. In the now-occupied homeland several resistance networks arise, like the "Blue Rose", a pagan spying circle : it is worth noticing though that the majority of the Isilankan population is either too weak or too terrified to do more than a symbolic resistance to the occupation forces. On march 8th 1943, the Isilankan battleship Tlosa and the heavy cruiser Shieldmaiden sink the Tirpitz, the sister-ship of the Bismarck in a long-range engagement near the scottish shores. Even if there are many tensions between Churchill and Sophia Lamb, the representative of the exiled government, Isilanka collaborates more or less smoothly with the allies, its navy playing a support role for them. Token Isilankan forces are sent in North Africa then Italy, and on June 6th 1944, two hundred Isilankan commandos land on Utah Beach. Isilanka is liberated in August-September 1944. An Isilankan squadron flying on British Mosquitos fights over Germany until may 1945.

The aftermath of WWII is painful for Isilanka. Even if the country has been relatively spared by the destructions and has only suffered a few tens of thousands of casualties, the war itself has been a traumatism in the Isilankan culture. The first atomic bombs further widen the gap between the Isilankan culture and the modern industrial world. This divide turns into a massive political shift towards left-leaning, environmentalist policies even if these words don't exist yet in 1950. Isilanka by 1960 is a developed Welfare-state with a weak but stable economy. It doesn't join NATO, but doesn't align with the Warsaw pact either.

After 1973, Isilanka and its massively subsidized renewable energy sector becomes suddenly more interesting. As most western countries go through a period of economic recession, the Isilankan economy stabilizes itself down an alternate path focused on high-tech industry and services in a socialist political framework. The pagan country integrates the european economic community, then becomes a full member of the European Union in 2004.

Geography

Isilanka is a relatively small country, roughly the size of France. In spite of this, it displays a remarkable range of landscapes, from the snowy mountains of the Miisara Range (well, Isilankans call them "moutains", but for the most part they're really just very big hills) to the hot, dry plains of the Kadija Desert (again it's more of a huge, hot valley than a desert but whatever) or the charming hills and the deep forests of the Karana Peninsula. "Wilderness" is not an empty word in Isilanka : cities tend to be big and relatively isolated, with huge patches of almost uninhabited land between them.

Overview

Roughly the size of France, Isilanka displays a remarkable variety of climates and landscapes.

The province of Ereb, in the north-west of the country, is the most populated and urbanized part of Isilanka. Cities are concentrated alongside the shore that benefits from a temperate oceanic climate, bathed in the warm currents of the Elephoron Gulf. There lies the “White Line”, the coastal Isilankan metropolis stretching from the city of Kilth to the city of Sharin and engulfing the capital, Ostramar (15 million inhabitants in total). The shore of Ereb is mostly made of beaches and small cliffs, especially near the delta of the Sirah river. The Elephoron Gulf is dotted by small rocky archipelagos centered around the nearly-uninhabited island of Kestrel. To the east the climate becomes more and more continental as the plains draw closer to the Kalevala Mountains (between 500 and 1500 meters high), the remnant of an old, much higher mountain range. Cities are rarer in this part of Ereb, and are usually separated by huge patches of barely inhabited lands and national parks. The climate and landscape abruptly changes north of the Kalevala Mountains, becoming colder and colder, the plains being replaced by deep, cold forests and then patches of toundra near the northern border.

View of Ostramar : the Corona island on the Jina river.

The Jina delta on the western shore of Ereb.

Alanka, in the south-west, partly shares Ereb’s climate and landscape. Being the first occupied region in Isilanka, it displays less untouched areas and more hills and fields. The northern shore is covered in pine forests and white sand beaches, making it one of the most touristic areas in Isilanka. It becomes hotter and less welcoming in the south, with steep cliffs and warm marshes. Around the delta of the Marien river lies Marienberg, one of the oldest cities in the country and the medieval capital of Isilanka. Traces of Isilanka’s past are abundant in the countryside of Alanka, dotted by castles, old cities and cathedrals. Openfield landscapes slowly give way to agricultural hills and forests in the east, near the Miifara Range, Isilanka’s central mountains. The small hills and plains of rural Alanka house the majority of Isilanka’s agricultural production, even if the region is slowly declining since the end of the century. The Makaan Steppes, in the south-east, are usually considered as the limit between southern and northern Isilanka.

The city of Marienberg in winter

The deep countryside of Alanka, near the Miifara Range

To the east of both Ereb and Alanka, Tlosa stretches from the Miifara range to the north-eastern border, covering a wide range of landscapes. Northern Tlosa is very similar to northern Ereb, with deep pine forests and mostly deserted lands, turned into national parks and pagan sanctuaries. Southern Tlosa is a whole different place and arguably an enclave in Isilanka, almost a separated world. As rain is stopped by the high mountains of the Miifara Range (between 1500 and 5000 meters), it creates a very specific microclimate of warm rainforest valleys where the famous Isilankan tea is cultivated. This climate extends to the north, bathing southern Tlosa in a warm, temperate, almost mediterranean climate and landscape. This is where lies the valley of Tlosa, sheltering the city of the same name, one of the cultural capitals of Isilanka. The small agricultural hills of Tlosa, peppered with windmills, small lakes and medieval cities, are famous in Isilanka for their flora, fauna and history.

View of Tlosa : the Sophia Lemb bridge and the Eletarna temple.

Openfields and windmills : the countryside of Tlosa.

To the south of Tlosa lies Peyruise, a border region that engulfes most of the Miifara Range, from the high, snowy peaks of the Spine (the heart of the mountain range) to the low hills of the Wake (the end of the range, to the south). This south-eastern part of Isilanka is probably one of the most remote regions of the country. The deep forests, sedimentary hills, faraway valleys and lakes that lie here are barely interrupted by a few roads, railways, research centers and the city of Albireo, high in the mountains. Peyruise is usually considered as the border between norther and southern Isilanka, as a third of its surface is covered in the hot steppes and savanna landscape of the Makaan Plains, the former lands of the Kadijan people.

The Miifara Range in Peyruise.

A typical Isilankan village in Peyruise.

Then to the south is Samaris, or Kadija, the southern part of Isilanka. If the shore displays a mediterranean climate, this stops very soon as a range of small cliffs, the Borado Range, shelters the region from the influence of the sea. Contrary to northern Isilanka, southern Isilanka doesn’t receive precipitations from the continent either, which results into a dry, arid landscape : the Kadija Desert. If the north of Samaris is mostly livable, with a mixture of steppes and arid but not completely desert climate, with large patches of wetlands like the Garden of Elisabeth, it ends at the Karan Line. After this valley begins the Lost Sea ; a long-dried seabed that is extremely hot and dry, saturated with dust and salt. Very few live here, bar the high-tech nomads of Kiith Sajuuk and for many the Karan Line, or the Lost Shore, is Isilanka’s southern border.

The Lost Shore.

View of Cassiopeia’s skyline at night.

Between fifty and two hundred kilometers away from the shore of Ereb are the Westergren Islands, an archipelago that was in the past linked to the continent by a now submerged peninsula. These medium-sized rocky islands are, geologically speaking, very close to the northern shores of Ereb and benefit from the same oceanic climate, albeit a bit colder in winter. The Westergren Islands are usually considered in two distinct groups. The Sand Islands, on the south, are renowned for their beaches, coves and small fishing villages, while the Storm Islands, to the north, are less populated and much colder.

The shore of Lovelace Island.

More far away at sea and to the south lies the Wotan Archipelago, a patch of atolls and volcanic islands scattered in the ocean. They enjoy an oceanic climate to the north, but are subject to hurricanes and monsoon rains in the south, as they cross the equator. It is one of the places where Isilankan tea is cultivated.

The coves of Wotan.

Demographics

Population

As of 2018, Isilanka counts 55.6 million inhabitants. The 2017 census has shown that more than 70% of the population live in the urban areas of Isilanka. The most populated province is Ereb, with more than 10 million inhabitants while the least populated is Peyruise with 800,000 million inhabitants.
The average life expectancy reaches an astonishing 89.34 years, while the life expectancy without major health problems plateaus around 85 years for both genders.

The birthrate in Isilanka averages around 1.89 children per women, which is below the generation renewal point. However, thanks to immigration (more than 30% of the Isilankan population is non-native) the net growth of the Isilankan population is positive (+0.2% in 2018).

The most striking trait of the Isilankan population is the enormous imbalance of its sex-ratio, as 2.5 females are born for 1 male in Isilanka, thanks to biological phenomena that are linked to the prevalence of the phi-alpha sequence, a.k.a "Oniromancer Genes" in the population (23.56 % in 2018).

Language

The Isilankan language is fairly new, as it was fixed in its current form in 1567 only. Envisioned as the lingua franca between northern and southern Isilanka, it is based on the common grounds between Erebian and Kadijan language. Isilankan is close to latin languages when it come to pronunciation and vocabulary, and is based on a 28-letters alphabet. Foreign visitors will note that Isilankan has many similiarities with French when it comes to verbs and some words, while the use of non-gendered adjectives and nouns make it lean closer to German or English. Most Isilankan pronoums are non-gendered as well.
In its written form, Isilankan shows its Kadijan origins and looks familiar to those who speak and write arabic languages, except that it is read from right to left like latin languages. It uses arabic numbers.

Religion

Isilankan paganism is mostly centered around five goddesses (and if you wonder why there aren't gods, the answer is obviously Isilankan tea). It is not to say that they are the only deities ; but these five goddesses, sometimes referred to as the Holy Pentagon, or "our little five" by the Northern Isilankans (but no one likes these people anyway), are the most widely known and revered deities in Isilanka. The plural, chaotic nature of Isilankan Paganism means that virtually every city, every region has its own supernatural entities and takes them more or less seriously. But the five goddesses are a common cultural and religious reference for all Isilankans and are regularily summoned in official decisions as well as in everyday life.

The parts in italics are the descriptions of the goddesses, their canonical appearance and their symbols.
These parts describe what the goddesses stand for/represent in modern Isilankan Paganism, also known as neo-Paganism.

NYX
The lady of the night, the goddess of arcane knowledge, mystery, night and shadows. One of the oldest Isilankan deities, she is the protector of astronomers, courtesans, thieves, assassins, witches and sorceresses.
Nyx is usually portrayed in three different ways. She can be a middle-aged, dark-haired woman carrying an owl and a dagger. She is also seen as an alluring, white-haired courtesan lying on a bed. In her last and most recent representation, she is an ageless feminine figure with grey hair and an orb levitating above her palm. Nyx is known to shape-shift and switch between genders at will. Her altars are usually marked by a stylized Isilankan owl and moon crescent. Her element is Water.
In neo-paganism, she stands for oniromancy, astronomy, dreams and imagination, information technology, LGBTQ relationships.

MORA
The lady of time, the illusive goddess of history, the personnification of the Void between the stars. A very old goddess, probably the pagan interpretation of a monotheistic deity.
Mora is a faceless goddess, usually portrayed as a vaguely feminine shape wearing a long tunic. Her symbol is the "Okra", a rune made of a point drawn in the middle of a circle. She is rarely summoned and prayed to ; as such she has barely any temples. Her element is Metal and Stone.
Mora stands for historical knowledge, time, fundamental research, order and entropy, cyclic history.

NEPTHYS
"The lady of the castle", a foreign goddess that was absorbed into Isilankan Paganism in late antiquity. Originally close to Nyx, she was transformed during the Enlightenment as a goddess of intuition and growth. She is one of the most popular deities in Isilanka.
Nephthys is usually represented as a teenager or a young adult, wearing modern clothes - an oddity among Isilankan deities. Her statues are made of wood or carbon, not stone. She is sometimes portrayed with colorful wings coming out of her back, a remnant of her ancient identity. Her usual symbol is the songbird, her element Wood.
In neo-paganism she symbolizes forests, ecology, environmentalism, teenagers and children.

ELEUTHERA
The all-mother, the creator of worlds, the goddess who shaped the Earth with her own hands. Originally a goddess of birth, mothers and children, she turned into a goddess of industry and agriculture during the Industrial era. The two aspects coexist nowadays.
Eleuthera is portrayed as a middle-aged mother, sometimes pregnant, sometimes accompanied by children of all ages. She may be wearing traditional or early XXth century clothing and is the only goddesses who is sometimes portrayed with a man, Eleusis, her celestial husband. Eleuthera's usual symbol is a white tunic, the traditional outfit of her priests and priestresses. Her element is Earth.
She stands for birth, industry, agriculture, solidarity, the social contract and democracy.

KADIJA
The Empress, the queen of the sky, the feminization of a very old god similar to Zeus or Jupiter. She is the goddess of warfare and savagery, the protector of shieldmaidens, the sword of Isilanka : later in the XXth century she was integrated inside the political symbols of the newly-found Isilankan Republic as a symbol of order and democracy.
Kadija is always portrayed in a position of power, either sitting on a throne, riding a horse or overlooking a battlefield. She usually bears arms : either a shield and an axe in the northern part of Isilanka, or a bow in the southern regions. Kadija is sometimes considered as Nyx's lover and as such displayed near her in common temples. In very modern portrayals, Kadija happens to bear a rifle, but this is exceedingly rare. Her element is Fire.
She stands for warfare and diplomacy, democracy and justice, the military-industrial complex.

Do Isilankan people see paganism as folklore or do they really believe in their gods ? It's a very good question. Both aspects seem to coexist in the Isilankan society and are not necessarily contradictory. Isilankan paganism is not a religion that requires sacred oaths or baptisms (at least they're not mandatory) and one can believe in a god without believing in the others. There is no central authority and the mostly female clergy is recruited among the average citizen as there is no religious caste or families. No one would consider odd or strange the sight of a pilot whispering a prayer before taking off, a company building a small shrine in their main office or a police officer being a priest when she's off-duty. Polytheism blends seamlessly with the modern society of Isilanka.

Ethnicity and Culture

The Isilankan citizens are incredibly diverse, which is mostly due to the importance of immigration in the past decades of the country.
On average, one can draw a difference between northern and southern Isilankans : the old medieval differences still exist, even if internal migrations are extremely common in Isilanka. You average northern Isilankan is very european-looking, with a pale skin tone, dark hair and brown/blue eyes. You'll find more arabic-looking types in southern Isilanka, whereas blond hair and blue eyes are common among inhabitants of the Westergren Islands.

In terms of culture, one of the defining traits of Isilankan culture is that it mostly didn't go through the rise of Christianity then the Enlightenment : being a rather isolated place, Isilanka evolved at its own pace during most of its history. Feudality barely existed at all here, and a tribal culture remained for quite long, while Paganism was still strong in the 19th century. In a way, Isilanka skipped the first Industrial Revolution altogether, and started modernizing itself in the late 19th century - using electricity and oil without having used coal and steam. The rational ideals of the 20th century merged with the desire of democracy and the pagan culture to create a unique blend of old and new ideas that Isilanka was built upon. It would be hard to classify Isilanka properly : socialist without being socialist, Isilanka has always had an environmentalist mindset ; and how can one talk about feminism in a country where genders have always been equal ? Slightly matriarchal, environmentalist, pagan, the Isilankan culture show the many aspects of a country isolated from the rest of european history. You might coin Isilankan culture as liberal, left-leaning and ecologist - but these classifications never existed here in the first place.

In terms of private life, bisexuality is the norm in Isilankan culture. Pagan marriage is a loose institution and free unions are very common - the Isilankan culture has never been very keen on enforcing single unions. As a whole it tend to values friendship more than love, especially in art. The western nuclear family doesn't properly exist in Isilanka : children tend to be raised by their uncles, aunts, grandparents...all together. For most of Isilanka's history, the basis of one's life has not been the family, but the local community, at the scale of a village or a city. This organisation has somehow remained in Isilanka culture, through the Commons for example, even if the state or the province have become a better common reference than the villages or the cities.

In the southern part of Isilanka (Kadija), the basis for the everyday life is the Kiith, a social organisation inherited from the nomadic communities of the middle ages. Nowadays the Kiith are social and economic organisations, a cross between cooperative companies, political parties and megacorporation. Three Kiith dominate the political life of Kadija : Kiith Al-Aqsa, Kiith Achernar and Kiith Sajuuk.

Largest Cities

Government

Isilanka is a federation working on the basis of a federal representative democracy with direct democracy elements.
Most powers are delegated to the provinces, as the state mostly retains regal powers : defense, federal laws, diplomacy and justice.
The legislative power is held by two chambers, the Council and the Synode.
The Council represents the people of Isilanka regardless of provincial boundaries, each representative corresponding to a fixed number of citizens : there are currently 250 council members (CM). The Synode, on the contrary, represents the Provinces, each of them sending ten representatives depending on the outlook of their own provincial parliaments.

However, due to the convoluted history of the country, the seven provinces of Isilanka have different powers and political freedoms.

-The three "core provinces" of Ereb, Alanka and Peyruise are fully integrated in the federal system, being the oldest Isilankan provinces. Their provincial parliaments have very limited powers, mostly limited to regional planning directives and laws. Peyruise, Ereb and Alanka now mostly work as a single entity as there are very little differences between them, to the point that, in the Assembly, the three provinces are considered as one single body.
-Two regions have the status of "autonomous regions", though they have very little in common. The first one is the Serene Republic of Tlosa ; its fierce independence comes from its long history, and especially the three decades during which Tlosa was a democratic enclave in the Isilankan dictatorship. Tlosa has its own Assembly, its own Synode (which in Tlosa is called the Council) and a head of state, who is always from the leading party in the Tlosan Synode. Tlosa also has its own constitution, which doesn't really differ from the Isilankan one except on minor details like same-sex marriage, which was legalized in Tlosa way before it was legalized at the federal level. Tlosa is technically independent for everything except diplomacy, defense and foreign affairs.
The Sultanate of Samaris is a completely different matter. It is a fairly recent creation, integrated in Isilanka in the early 2000s, and now the technological heart of Isilanka with the Space Elevator. For all intents and purposes, Samaris is administrated by the democratic body the is the Isilankan Space Agency, and has a fair amount of freedom from the federal government though not as much as Tlosa. The title of "Sultanate" is a nod to the old Kadijan culture, which is very much alive and well in Samaris.
-The two "oceanic provinces" have a hybrid status : they're not as independent as the autonomous regions but are less integrated than the core provinces. The Westergren archipelago enjoys a limited independence, with a single democratic entity, the Ring, that represents the inhabitants of the islands in a reference to the old tribal councils. The Wotan archipelago, on the contrary, is a public property, being owned by the partially state-owned Tsuno Industries and, as such, isn't a single entity but has different rights and regulations for every island.

Foreign Relations and Military

RMB diplomacy to come.

The philosophy and the military doctrine of Isilanka

Isilanka is pacific, but not pacifist. The Ekumen is a defensive, peaceful nation, but will retaliate if attacked, with the avowed intent of ending the conflict.

All military conflicts are political conflicts. A war is always born of a specific political situation. Solving the conflict requires the creation of a new political situation. Every military action should be viewed through its political cost and potential gains.

A war is too complicated to be led by soldiers. The Isilankan Defense Coalition is a political tool. As such it should always be subordinated to the legislative and executive power. The highest ranking official in the IDC should always be a civilian.

Weapons are a deterrent. The IDC should be arranged in such a way that attacking Isilanka should come at such a political and human cost it should be unthinkable.

Complete victory is the goal but not at any cost. The IDC should always go for the highest political and human damage in case the Ekumen is attacked : it will, however, always be open for compromise. Good wars are short wars.

Territory is less important than integrity. In case of an attack, the IDC should not try to defend the Ekumenic territory at all cost but rather go for political gain, exchanging ground for time if needed.

Recruitment

The Isilankan Defense Coalition is a professional army counting up to 50,000 active military personnel. Recruitment is open to all citizens of the Ekumen under the age of 50 regardless of gender, ethnicity, origin or political orientation. Recruits should serve for a minimal time of 5 years : during this time they should retain all of their civil rights, including the right to vote and express a public opinion.

All Isilankans under the age of 30 can also choose to spend their 2 years of mandatory civil service as military or paramilitary personnel. They should recieve the same treatment as professional recruits, but can resign after three months.

In case of off-country intervention, the IDC could use Private Military Contractors and mercenaries, though they shouldn't be counted as part of the IDC and, in case of failure, should be completely disavowed by the Ekumen.

Tactics

The IDC has one main goal : protect the Ekumen of Isilanka. As a small, professional force, it cannot defend the entire territory at once, nor can it be engaged in a massive industrial conflict. The IDC is meant to be a deterrent, and is also averse to human loss, for ethical and practical reasons. These two principles define the behaviour of the IDC on the battlefield. The IDC assumes mostly defensive positions and will strike only if benefitting from a local superiority. The ideal battle for the IDC is fought at long-range, over the sea or in the air, and is short and brutal, resulting in the neutralization of the enemy force. The IDC will always try to integrate tactical results according to strategic goals through operational integration : political gains are always prioritized over military gains.

There are two main guidelines in case of conflict.
The first case arises if the resolve of the enemy is weak and its goals indefined : in that case, the IDC will go through a gradual engagement procedure, going through all steps from harmless spying operations to deep tactical bombings and full-on engagements. The idea is to further weaken the resolve of the enemy by confronting it to the reality of a war.
The second case arises if the enemy has a precise battle plan and intends on going to war with the Ekumen. In this case, the IDC will engage fast, without a declaration of war, striking high-value targets without warning to cripple the enemy offensive before it begins.

Infantry

Being averse to losses, the Ekumen doesn't really like to engage infantry, but needs it nonetheless. Members of the infantry are somewhat seen as brutal, simple soldiers while they are as competent and specialized as their comrades. The infantry uses a mix of regular firearms and electromagnetic rifles. Isilankan soldiers usually wear the regular combat suit, with ablative armor plating, integrated HUD links and self-sufficient healing systems. Some elite units, like the Saiph spec ops team, are equipped with much higher-tech gear, like nanite suits. Drones of all sizes are widely used.

Armored units

The Isilankan armored units are a good example of the tactical guidelines of the IDC. Their main battle tanks are heavily armored and armed machines that have all the qualities and flaws of moving bunkers meant to break enemy lines. The IDC operates, however, a flotilla of smaller, lighter vehicles, that are meant to operate quickly, strike hard and keep their losses to a minimum. IDC vehicles are known for their sleek shapes, mostly due to the adaptative armor they use.

OIDC - The navy

The OIDC (Oceanic Isilankan Defense Coalition) benefits from the prestige and respect associated with everything sea-related for Isilankans. The OIDC focuses on two aspects : defense and long-range firepower. The OIDC operates mainly two kinds of frigates. The Aegis-class frigates are powerful defensive ships capable of projecting a "defensive bubble" on the nearby ships, while Xiphos-class frigates are designed to return fire at the enemy with EM cannons and missiles. Despite not having any nuclear submarine, the OIDC uses several sbmarines, that use their great mobility and extensive stealth capacities to stalk enemy ships and gather intelligence. The OIDC has one, small semi-submersible carrier, the Cassiopea.

EAF (Ekumen Air Fleet) - Air force

The air component of the IDC focuses on defending the Isilankan airspace and enabling long-range strikes on high value targets in case of war. The workhorse of the EAF is the F/B-18, a redesigned 4-5th generation fighter that is notable for it versatility and reliability even if it's not the most advanced plane out there. the EAF operates lots of UAVs and autonomous drones as well as gunships like the Harfang. The sea fighter of the EAF is the Wasp, a smallish VTOL plane.

Special Forces

Being a small military, always on the brink of running out of money, the IDC uses a sizable number of spec ops units. The IDC currently operates 4 special forces units : Saiph, Achernar, Eltanin, Deneb. The IDC is perfectly aware of their limited operative capacities, but sees them as interesting intelligence gathering tools and political symbols.

Economy

The Isilankan economy is an odd beast.
Its staggering unemployment rate combined to high GDP and HDI shows that the Isilankan economy has moved towards a post-capitalistic state where employment has become a choice, not a necessity. Thanks to universal income measures and massive automation, the Isilankan economy is mostly disconnected from employment and labour force. Massively subsidized, the Isilankan eceonomy is quite specialized and led by the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Tourism, Book Publishing, and Arms Manufacturing. The state and nationalized industries have a very important place in the Isilankan Economy.

The Isilankan Commons

In the post-capitalistic economy of the Ekumen of Isilanka, most of the state-owned economic activity is due to the Commons. These cooperative economic structures fuel the social model of Isilanka, by disconnecting several core functions, like agriculture, from the market and integrating political and economic goals. The Commons are entirely state-sponsored, even though some of their parts are integrated into the market. They mainly depend on the Secretary of Economy and the Secretary to the Commons, even though all parts of the government have something to do with the Commons. The Commons are a loose organisation : a Common might take into account giant factories as well as decentralized cooperatives in rural Isilanka.
The budget of the Commons is taken on the government's budget; as of 2018 more than 8 million Isilankans work full or part-time in the Commons.
The Commons are classified following a modernized pagan symbology and separated horizontally, i.e not between economic sectors, but between economic and environmental functions.
The Five Commons are as follows :

Common of the Earth

The Common of the Earth is the economic basis, the foundation. It focuses on the agriculture, extraction of raw materials and energy production. Mines, windmills, agricultural fields, fusion plants...belong to the Common of the Earth. On the other side, the Common of the Earth studies the environmental impact of economy, promotes renewable resources and energy sources.

Common of Wood

Wood - growth, increasing complexity, development : here are a sample of the values the Common of Wood represents. On the economic side of things, it focuses on manufacturing, transformation of raw materials and agricultural products, low and high-tech industry, recycling. It also houses state-subsidized research in assessing the impact of industrial activities, regrowing forests and preserving ecosystemic areas.

Common of Water

This Common is all about movement : movement of people, products and information, movement of living beings and substances. It links all the Commons through logistics, transports and communications.National railways are operated by the Common of Water, just like the Isilankan Internet Providers or the Isilankan trade fleet. It also studies sea and atmospheric ecosystems and phenomena.

Common of Metal

Metal - grey, hard, uniform. Metal symbolizes resilience and carefulness. Economically speaking, this common protects the others and the Isilankan society as a whole. Military production, Healthcare, safety regulations belong to this Common, as well as predictive models and ecosystemic overseeing, as well as practical research.

Common of Fire

Fire : passion, maybe, but first and foremost power. The link between the earth and the sky in pagan tradition. The Common of Fire manages commanding fuctions, art and mass media, urbanism and architecture. This Common builds cities and subsidizes movies. It also focuses on oniromancy and fundamental research.

NB : it is worth noticing that the Commons are not a coercitive system. They are not hierarchised, and one enters them just like any private company - a good half of the Commons' personnel is also made of citizen doing their two years of Civil Service. All Commons work hand in hand through their functional focus, and their domains are meant to be flexible.

NB 2 : there are very loose dress codes in the Commons, mostly based on colors (brown/orange for Earth, green/white for Wood, blue/violet for Water, grey/white for Metal, red/orange for Fire) but they are barely, if ever, respected, except on official occasions and on company logos.

NB 3 : Ever took a look at an Isilankan product ? You can very easily find which Common was involved in its manufacturing by looking for the two or three signature letters. (CE for Earth, CWA for Water, CWO for Wood, CM for Metal, CF for Fire.) Most of the time you'll find at least four of them.

Infrastructure and transports

In terms of transports Isilanka is an odd thing too. Cars and individual vehicles are rarer than in most western countries, which is due to a combination of factors. First, Isilanka never developed a sizable automobile industry ; second, the geography of the country makes travelling on car barely practical ; third, the environmentalist policies of the second half of the 20th century have prevented the development of a road network. Cars in Isilanka are mostly small electric vehicles used in metropolitan areas.

The Isilankan national railway network or INN also known is renowned all around the world for its size and development. Most trains in Isilanka are operated by the Common of Water, even if a few private companies exist for the main lines.
The main Isilankan network is often dubbed "the Isilankan Star" : it links all major cities through high-speed electric or magnetic lines. On these major lines, trains can be private, but all infrastructure is government-built and maintained, often by the Common of Water, the Common of Wood or both. Medium lines link minor cities and settlements through another network, the "Isilankan Nest". Then a smaller, much denser network, the "Spider's Web" acts as train and tramway link between the smallest settlements. There are very few Isilankan settlements not to be reached by the train newtork, wether it's by one of the extremely prestigious MagLev lines or a small electric tramway.

ISILANKAN SPACE ELEVATOR PROGRAM

What started as a casual conversation between the two CEOs of Isilanka's most powerful corporations is now slowly, very slowly becoming a reality : the space elevator.
This megastructure is meant to provide easy, cheap and massive access to low and high earth orbit. It replaces launchers with a sixty thousand kilometers long cable attached to the Earth on one side and to a stationnary space station on the other side. Payloads and transports could then move alongside the cable, allowing for a modular and cheap means of space transport. Even if simple in theory, the space elevator is a massive undertaking, a cutting-edge megastructure that could take years, decades even to be finally built and probably require international cooperation and support.

Rough technical characteristics

Lgth of the main cable : 60,000 km.
Altitude of the main dispatch station : 36,000 km (geostationnary orbit).
Altitude of the counterweight (a captured asteroid) : 60,000 km.
Base material of the cable : carbon nanotubes and diamond nanothreads.

Earth-bound base

The Ariane Crater, in the Kadija Desert, has been retained as the ground anchor for the space elevator. Located on the equator, it lies in an almost inhabited, flat and dry region, easy to reach by train or plane, accessible to ships through the city of Cassiopea and the Cumean Canal, and far away from sea and desert storms. The ground is thick, not susceptible to earthquakes.

The Ariane Crater installations have been made to be modular, and more modules/buildings will be added during the construction.

Currently equipped secondary buildings
The Desert Harbor is a vast superstructure meant to harbor and repair desert civilian land carriers of the Kadija tribe.

Orbital Main Station

Standing in geostationary orbit, right above the Kadija Desert, the High Orbit Drydock (HOD) of the Isilankan Space Agency will be used as a construction base for the cable and a space-bound anchor point, as well as a hub once the elevator is finished. The HOD will keep growing and adding new modules during the course of the construction.

Currently equipped sub-modules
Main Gate : a sub-station located on the same orbit, the Main Gate, has been deployed : every contributing nation will have a module they are free to modify as they see fit to accomodate for their own ships and equipments. The Gate is currently mainly used for recieving shipments from The First German Order and Celizistan. It is also equipped with radar and communication arrays to enable engineers and workers from the aforementioned countries to help more efficiently in the building process. Alexandrovskaya also uses this station as a shuttle hub for metals delivery.
Science Hub : Docking facilities, science labs, server rooms for security systems. Co-operated with Subsonia.
Security sub-module : under construction, operated by the ISA. Some defense turrets are operated by The First German Order for a limited amount of time, until the construction is finished.
Warehouse module : for supplies and food, in case the HOD is cut from the Earth for a long period of time.
Biodome : spheric module attached to the HOD and creating an artificial gravity by rotating, houses animals and vegetation both for micro-gravity study and in the case of plants, food.
Orbital Disease Research Center, co-operated by the ISA and Augustenburg germany, dedicated to researching and understanding earth and extrasolar diseases in micro-gravity environments.

Energy

Energy production in Isilanka - 2018

Thermonuclear fusion : 45.6%
Solar energy : 13.5%
Wind power : 10.5%
Tidal and hydropower : 12%
Geothermal energy : 14.3%
Biomass : 3.8%
Fossil fuels : 0.3%
NB : nuclear fission has been banned in Isilanka since the Saimata power plant incident in 2003.

Source : 2018 Energy Report, Secretary of Energy and Industry, 2018, Ostramar Public Editions

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