Black

General Information

In each edition of the MSP Challenge, countries are coded by colours. This is to help users to distance themselves a bit from the real-life countries and assume a more playful mode - one where they are in control and can try out new things. The idea is to make plans for a managerial area without thinking too much about the how the real-life politicians and policy-makers from the actual country might think about it. Thus, the countries profiles are explained to the users for context and objective specification only. It is up to the users to decide what they want to achieve in MSP Challenge and how.

Click on the tab corresponding to the edition you are interested in and check the profile of the aqua country in that edition.

Baltic Sea

Country Black has actually two rather small areas in the Baltic Sea, but they are strategically very important ones. Geopolitically, this country is very important. This is simply because the country itself is huge, a big economic player, and maintains important relationships in the east. The eastern sub area of this country is host to a large and important city with an again large and important port. The biggest sector for this country is oil and gas, although only a fraction of the total production is done in the Baltic Sea areas. Most of the oil and gas is exported through tanker vessels and the Nordstream pipelines.

Country Black's government wants to maintain its oil, gas and shipping status quo as much as possible. What else it wants is for most other countries in the region something of a mystery. The western orientation of the other countries makes country Black distrustful and suspicious, so it tries to keep its ideas to itself. The difficult and laboured relationship between country Black and practically all countries in the Baltic Sea area makes it hard for Black's fishing industry though. Can't they get more areas in the Baltic Sea to catch their fish?

To that end, the government is looking for a scenario where the existing infrastructures for oil, gas and shipping are maintained, if not strengthened. Relationships with neighbouring countries could be smoothened to at least enable Black's fishing sector to grow a bit. Perhaps there are other sectors that will enable improvements in international relations? To that end the government is considering developing international infrastructures related to electricity and telecommunications.

Internationally, the government needs to be aware of its currently precarious position with the west. This country isn't a member of NATO or the EU, no, it actively opposes them on many principles and aspects. Still the Baltic Sea region is a peaceful and generally cooperative one, if only because everyone (including country Black) is aware that the sea is a 'common pool resource'. Everyone needs it, so some collaboration will always be possible and necessary. As such country Black is also regularly asked to join international policies emanating from the west, notably on marine protection.