Chapter 1

 Secretary of State John Bohntner was called to the President’s Office. It was the Oval Office.

“Hello, Mr.President. What is on the Agenda?”

The President closed a folder on his desk and pushed it towards Bohntner. “The Island Nation of Caryaland has decided to halt all oil exports. You must meet with their Ambassador and sort this out.”

“I have never heard of Caryaland. Why aren’t they playing ball?”

“Caryaland is a 90,000 square mile island nation in the South Atlantic. They produce four percent of the worlds oil exports. The details are in the folder”

Bohntner placed the file in his briefcase. “Alright. I will arrange for Ambassador Mason to meet me at the State Department”.

The President sighed. “You will have to meet the Ambassador at the Caryan embassy. He dislikes traveling through D.C.”.

……………………..

Bohntner thumbed through the Caryaland file as the State Department limousine drove him to the Caryaland Embassy. He hated traveling through D.C. Why had he never heard of Caryaland. Because it was an alternative history novel, like some shit Harry Turtledove would write. Only not written well. “The Caryaland adopt Western European names when dealing with America and Europe. This is easier than getting foreigners to pronounce their names in their own language”, read the file. Bohntner continued reading the file until he arrived at the embassy. 

After exchanging pleasantries Bohntner sat down across the table from Ambassador Corwin Mason. “Ambassador Mason. We would like to know why Caryana has decided to cease all oil exports.”

Ambassador Mason replied, “Our nation is very concerned about the United States’ war with Russia. It takes a lot of oil and gas to keep this war going and escalating. Therefore there must be a surplus of oil and gas. Why else would someone blow up the nord stream pipeline that delivers much of the gas and oil to western  Europe? There must be an enormous surplus of oil and gas.”

“Nobody knows who blew up the Nord Stream Pipeline”. Stated Secretary of State Bohntner.

“Sure. Nobody knows who blew up the Nord Stream Pipeline” replied Ambassador Mason. He knocked slowly three times on his wooden desk and chuckled. Then he remained silent and stared at Secretary of State  Bohntner.

Bohntner was getting frustrated. Didn’t this prick understand that America won World War 2? “ look, your nation supplies 1 percent of American Oil imports, 5 percent of European oil imports, and 8 percent of Asian oil imports. If you cut that supply it will raise the price of gasoline in the United States at least 20 percent”

“Perhaps”, answered Ambassador Mason. “Most of that is your own commodities speculators, oil companies, refineries, and distributors gouging people. For some reason they do that the more you cut the taxes of the people that make the most money off of it”

Bohntner was getting mad. Didn’t this prick know how things worked? “But the people will blame the President. And whatever party has the most sets in Congress.” His voice had become slightly louder and faster. His primary experience was speaking with different types of Americans to get enough Americans to cooperate on some goal that group of Americans could cooperate in.

Ambassador Mason stared at Bohntner. “It is not our fault that your nation’s pundits are corrupt, your political action committees are dishonest, and your voters are basically illiterate.”

Bohntner was getting pissed. “I have been authorized to warn of the imposition of sanctions if we cannot come to an accord”.

“You can only restrict what your nation exports to our nation. Your nation does not produce anything we need. Your nation can only restrict what we export to your nation. The only thing we had exported to your nation was oil. You cannot sanction any trade Caryana has with any other nation.”

“We can So. We won world war 2! Your nation owns 300 billion dollars in U.S. Treasury Securities. We have been authorized to freeze those accounts if you do not resume oil exports” declared Secretary of State Bohntner. 

“Why would anyone buy your Treasury Bonds if you keep freezing or confiscating them? How are you going to fund your war with Russia and arms race with China if people stop buying your Treasury Bonds to fund the Reaganomics deficits?” Answered Ambassador Mason.

“Well. We don’t really want a war with China. That would be non-sensical given how much of the stuff they produce that we consume , and how much trade they have with our Allies that also produce most of the stuff we consume. But military spending is the only way American conservatives and moderates alike can be giant Keynesians while pretending they are not. This requires ratcheting up tension and public angst.”

Ambassador Mason was surprised by Secretary of State Bohntner’s honesty. “It looks like you could use a drink” offered Ambassador Mason.

End of Chapter 1.