An editorial in the Taurus Sun-Times, November 5, 3059
Some say that the Capellan Confederation has much to offer our nation. They would add that a partnership, an Alliance, would be stable and beneficial for all parties. They believe that our nation's security would be enhanced by adding the Capellan Confederation to our present Alliance.
They are wrong.
The Capellan Confederation does possess much that we do not. Their advanced technology, their goods and markets, their military expertise could all benefit Taurian society in some respect or other. But why must the price of these benefits be a yoking, choking alliance? Our merchants already participate in the mingling of our economies, and our new colony regions are already the home of a number of disaffected Capellan citizens. And I would remind the public that it has not been so long since our own military learned some lessons from (and taught some of its own to) the Capellan armed forces.
Supporters of Alliance with the Capellan Confederation claim that such an Alliance would have a stabilizing affect on our region of space. These people may not have noticed, but our region of space has been stable now for almost two hundred and fifty years. How long has it been since the Capellan Confederation has been at war? That space of time is measured in months, not centuries. Furthermore, the leadership of the Capellan Confederation is anything but stable. Their leaders' tradition of going mad and being assassinated by their next of kin is not one that I would like to see emulated in our system of government. Chancellor Sun-Tzu Liao has not impressed this observer with his ability to lead his nation, or even his ability to keep his word. He is a schemer who will stoop at nothing if it will enhance his nation's power or prestige even a small amount, even if it means war and the possible deaths of millions, or even billions. Such a man does not make a good ally of peace-loving people such as ours.
Our nation's security would not be enhanced by Alliance with the Capellan Confederation. In addition to the destabilizing affects of the Capellan Confederation's internal politics, its external politics must also be taken into account. The sworn enemy of the Capellan Confederation is the state with perhaps the most powerful military in the Inner Sphere: the Federated Commonwealth. As things stand now, it has greater threats to its security than our Concordat. Were we to ally with their enemy, however, things might not stay the same. If war comes to the Taurian Concordat, we should do our best to ensure that that war is not against the most powerful military of the day, filled with veterans from the clan war. An alliance with the Capellan Confederation would bring us to the attention of a large, powerful foe; this is exactly where we do not want to be.
In conclusion, I urge opposition to any political or military alliance
with the Capellan Confederation. Any benefit we can gain from alliance we
can gain from peaceful activity, and any alliance with the Capellans will
surely drag us into the muck and mire of Inner Sphere politics, to the
detriment of our nation as a whole.