Are there even any countries that don’t have those anymore? I mean, most people realize how unfair that is now, right?
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by waterj2 *
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If I recall correctly, the continent of Antarctica doesn’t belong to any one country.
Buck The Diver <—begins his conquest there
Which are you? Brain or Snowball?
Just remeber that if you conquer the world, you are now responsible for RUNNING it. I suspect that part of the job is not as glamorous.
I see Buck beat me to it. Oh well.
Antarctica, under the Antarctic Treaty, is at present basically international territory. Notwithstanding the fact that several signatories have overlapping claims, or as in the case of the US, have reserved the right to make such claims at a later date. However, there is a part of the continent (between 90º West and 150º West) where no specific claim has been made.(map)
The downside is that in spite of no claims in a particular area, you’re still stuck with that treaty. And industrial production, such as that needed to produce your robots, would probably violate the treaty or its protocols.
Moreover, you have to worry about the other signatories getting in your hair, and you don’t have much opportunity to gum up the bureaucratic works until you become a party to the treaty. That’s not likely to fly with parties that have for the time being suspended any implementation of their territorial claims. Meanwhile,
That column would be How do I go about starting my own country?
The law beatle quotes just says the Communists can’t overthrow the government. Nothing in it prohibits them from taking over the government; if it did, Robert Dole could have been arrested for trying to take over the government in 1996. Presumedly the goals of the United States Communist Party are to elect sufficient representatives into various legislative bodies so that they can enact laws creating a Marxist worker’s state.
Ok, then. Let’s say I do it on Tuvalu. Tuvalu is a group of islands (corral atolls) near Australia, and their own nation of 11,000 citizens.
Tuvalu has been slowly sinking and is expected to be uninhabitable in th next ten years. They blame greenhouse gases and rising sea levels created by the US and other industrialized nations.
So let’s say I take over Tuvalu, and I convert it’s 11,000 citiznes into unstoppable cyborg beserkers.
Next, I issue an ultimatum to the US and the world in general. Cease all industrial activity immediately, as it is destroying our nation, or we will cease it for you.
The next day, following proper protocols, I declare war.
I conquer the world, return it to a pre-industrial state, thus saving my nation’s environment.
Since I’m only doing it to protect my nation (heh, heh) it’s not a war of aggression, but rather one of defense, and thus allowable under the Hague conventions.
Would that be legal?
Plus, I save money this way, as unstoppable cyborg beserkers are a lot cheaper than invincible robots.
You conquers the world, you makes the rules.
I wager there’ll be a lot of toadying lawyers eager to defend your actions in exchange for a position in your hierarchy.
The problem Scylla is that “law” is a social construct - international law, at any given time, is determined by what the nations holding the power (economic and military) agree on. The Hague Convention, The Geneva Convention, The Berne Convention, The NATO treaty, the ANZUS treaty, are basically just agreements made amongst friends. We agree to pay the penalties if we don’t honour the commitments we have made under those contracts, but who (realistically) is going to “make” us pay? The ICJ? Strangely enough, a lot of the signatories to the above name treaties/conventions do not recognise the ICJ (hint, in particular, the US doesn’t).
Have you violated any laws? Very probably. But even if you have, who is going to punish you, and how, and by what authority?
And I suspect that Tuvalu has now (quite illegally in terms of international law) been excluded from our immigration zone and so we won’t give a toss. (in joke about my nation’s current immigration policies)
I’m not trying to be a smartarse here Scylla, merely trying to point out that “law” isn’t an absolute, and just as the victors get to write the history, they also get to write the laws. There is no supreme, impartial referee who determines these questions on this planet - its a committee thing, and we all know about committees.
Reprise:
I understand. I think it’s cheating to change the laws after the fact. My sense of honor an fair play demands that I follow protocols presently in place.
If I broke the law while conquering the world, then my personal honor would demand that I turn myself in. Since nobody else would have the power to do it, I’d have to arrest myself.
If I didn’t I would just prove myself to be another self-aggrandizing and ruthless despot.
This is gonna be pretty big, and I need to make sure I don’t step on anybody’s toes or do anything out of line by accident.
So, would my Tuvaluan plan be legal? If not, what laws would I be breaking?
It will take a while to confirm this. I have roughly
18 boxes of roughly 500 comic books each. But Doom has gone
from the supervillian/Hitler-in-armor of the 60’s and 70’s to a man who loves his country (Latveria), and is loved by its people. Since the make over, Doom has been recognised by the UN as the legal ruler of a sovereign nation. During the Trial Of Magneto series(memory fuzzy here don’t own copy), Mags was given the same status. As such his actions against the US military were not the actions of an individual and subject to prosecution. They were the acts of the armed forces of one country on the armed forces of another. At that point. Magneto was released because he did not initiate the combat, and the UN has yet to interpret international law as it applies to the Master of Magnetism.
So, once you gain recognition as leader of your own nation (Brainainia, Asteroid M, etc) just declare war on whoever you want to take over and send in the cyborgs.
TIP For Would Be Conquerors-Give employees a generous pension, 2 weeks paid vacation each year, and on firdays serve burgers, pretzels and German beer. It worked for Hank Scorpio.
Scylla, wouldn’t it be easier to simply declare yourself Emperor of the World and then start a campaign to get your supreme rule recognized?
That would seem to be more consistent with the idea of fair play. If people recognize your rule voluntarily, because you’ve promised them a chicken in every pot or a $300 tax rebate or some such ridiculous thing, then it should be consistent with the principle of self determiniation.
Also, you’d only need an army of unstoppable cyborg beserkers, you’d just need an army of unstoppable cyborg petitioners, lobbyists, and pollsters, readily available in Washington DC.
and
And thus, we have the real reason behind the Kyoto protocols: to prevent the manufacture of armies of unstoppable robots. 
Otto, you need a door. If they don’t have a door to kick down they’ll ignore you.
I’m not sure I can see how your plan gets to first base i.e. how do you take over Tuvalu without violating their laws. The CIA Factbook - Tuvalu (??!!)
Their head of State is QEII, and I think elements of your plan are going to get right up Bessie Windsor’s nostrils. And that’s before you get to the cyborg beserkers phase. Not that your plan mightn’t succeed, just questioning the legality of it.
Would also bet that you’d look to move your centre of government off the Tuvalu Atoll asap to some more permanent and prominant real estate. It is inevitiable that any such construction and transfer of title will violate some council building regulation ordinances in the process. 
(bolding mine)
If you’re trying to take over the world, and you can’t even manage to follow through with tresspassing, you really need to find a new line of work.
There is a passage I like in Shogun where Toranaga tells Blackthorne “There is no excuse for betraying your liege lord!” and Blackthorne replies, “Unless you win.” Toranaga thinks about it for second and then laughs uproariously, conceding that is the one exception.