“To help increase your own economic recovery, I ask that you review and approve the new US/EU/UK free trade zone that you see before you. We will remove any tariffs currently in place and ensure that this trade agreement does not outsource jobs away from our respective regions. This will enable goods, services and materials to be sold between our countries without having to pay an extra duty tax. I have also directed the US Treasury to offer 50 year, 2 % interest loans for the sole purpose of rebuilding your militaries,” said Stein.
There was a short pause as the leaders in the room looked over the information in front of them. PM Blair was the first to speak. “This trade deal is excellent news. I am also glad to see that there will be special provisions in place to ensure this is not used to outsource either party’s jobs, just provide tax-free access to goods and services. As to the low interest loans, I will discuss this with our defense minister…. This may be doable.”
Lowden chimed in. “I agree Henry. I will work to have this treaty moved through quickly. As for the military, I will recommend we increase our reserve forces to 600,000 and then slowly start to convert some of them to active duty. We may need to rely more on your defense industry for newer equipment; France and Germany’s defense industry is limited in what we can produce right now.”
Seeing that he had essentially gotten everything he wanted from the meeting, the President handed his tablet back to Monty and rose from his chair. “Gentlemen, I am glad we were able to clear a lot of these issues up. I believe we have a dinner to attend in a couple of hours. Let us break for some drinks and a lighter conversation before we eat and share some of this exceptional French wine.” The men all smiled; Stein always knew how to keep the mood in the room light.
The Grain Consortium was really starting to take shape as more countries joined and food production continued to increase. Stein wanted to leverage the Consortium to ensure the world had enough food and to lower overall global food prices. During the Great Global Depression of the 2020s and early 2030s, close to 2 Billion people died from starvation when the global movement of food goods collapsed. When OPEC (and then the IR) placed a global squeeze on oil, raising the price of a barrel of oil to over $400, things began to break down fast. OPEC and the IR believed they could exploit their control on oil and gain an incredible amount of wealth from the West. What they had actually done was create a Global Depression and caused an interruption in the global supply chain; energy and transportation prices became unsustainable.
However, by June 20th, there was plenty to smile about. Jeff Rogers stepped into the room and Henry stood up to greet him. “Mr. President, I’m proud to report that the Grain Consortium is starting to get up to speed. We have the food agreements in place with the EU and our NATO allies. We have cut off all food shipments to the Islamic Republic, and China has grudgingly agreed to our food proposal.”
The President motioned for the attendant in the room to pour everyone a fresh cup of coffee. “Jeff, I’m always amazed at how fast you can make deals happen and get things moving. How do you do it?”
With a smile on his face, Jeff replied, “Well Mr. President, running P&G has given me a lot of experience in how to establish a truly global supply chain and negotiate deals that are fair to all parties…I’ve also poached a lot of really good people from a number of Fortune 100 companies,” said Jeff with a snicker.
“I anticipate that next year the GC will really start to hit its stride as the group begins to increase food production,” Jeff said, taking a sip of coffee. “I’m confident it will, and as the years go by, this Consortium will bring a lot of wealth back to our countries, and more importantly, to our lower and middle class workers.”
Monty checked his tablet as a new message popped up. The intelligence reports of the Islamic Republics troop movements had finally come in. The President saw Monty had received a message and asked, “So — what news do you have for me?”
Monty looked up and quickly said, “Sorry to interrupt, Jeff. Sir, we’ve gotten additional intelligence on those troops that were being moved from Southeast Asia to the Middle East. It appears the Islamic Republic has pulled them back to receive additional training. The Intel guys believe most of them will return back to Asia, though our sources have said some of them will stay behind,” explained Monty.
The President had been concerned about the troop deployments, not knowing if the IR was preparing for a potential conflict with Israel or just moving troops around to consolidate their positions globally. He asked, “Did we ever get a full count on how many troops were arriving from Asia?”
Monty looked down at the tablet for a second before returning the President’s gaze. “125,000 troops — our source said about 25,000 will stay behind after their training. It would appear they will be deployed to Iraq to receive additional training.”
The President thought for a moment, then asked, “What training bases are in Iraq? What type of training are they receiving?”
Checking his tablet again, Monty replied, “It appears they are receiving additional training in mechanized infantry operations in Anbar Province, and about 15,000 are going Balad for additional Air Force related training. That training is most likely being provided by the Russians. Our sources and analysts believe the IR is in the process of reorganizing their military force and working to unify their training and equipment.”
Placing the tablet on the couch seat next to him, Monty continued, “Since we stopped selling them spare parts, they are having to reorganize their military forces with newly purchased Russian and Chinese manufactured equipment. Seeing that Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan and Egypt primarily used American equipment, they have to replace virtually everything.”
The President snickered at that. “It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out over the next couple of years as parts for the JF35, F18s, F16s and F15s start to become scarce. It’ll get harder for them to properly field a military until they switch everything over.”
Jeff rarely interjected in anything related to the military, but at this point he added, “They may be using 3D printing to help with parts. If you have original parts, it’s not hard to develop a replica using 3D printing software, and the printers these days are exceptionally good.”
The President thought for a moment, “I had not thought of that — you are correct Jeff. I guess we will have to factor that in.”
Alliances
“My Caliph, there is a problem that I must discuss with you,” said Muhammad bin Nayef, the Deputy Chairman of the Islamic Republic (he often went by “Nayef”).
“What is so important that you must interrupt my studies, Nayef?” Mohammed Abbas asked as he looked up to see several of the other advisors and ministers entering the chamber.
“Sir, we must find a solution to the food shortages the West has imposed upon us,” said Nayef.
Talal bin Abdulaziz, the IR Foreign Minister, interjected, “I know we have discussed this before, Caliph, but the food situation is starting to become a critical problem. None of the EU countries will sell food products to us either.” He was clearly very angry at the situation.
“Haven’t our economic ministers figured a way around this or figured out how we can increase our own food production?” asked the leader of the IR.