US State Visit

[Jamie]

"That sounds ideal. I shall arrange to get a draft written up formally and sent across." responded Emma, taking a moment to write a note as a reminder "I'd also like to suggest, on top of the prospect of a trade agreement, a Joint Economic and Research Partnership Agreement. Again, I'd be happy to compile a draft to send to your office but I'd like to know your interest first. It would work rather well in line with the trade agreement and would focus on fostering collaboration in renewable energy projects, educational exchanges, joint degree programs, biotechnology and pharmaceutical research, and the sharing of healthcare data. It would be quite a broad spectrum and not limited to one certain agenda, but an overall focus on research and technological advances together."

Emma paused, shuffling some paper "To give a couple of instances on that I'd be suggesting:

Collaborate on biotechnology and pharmaceutical research, particularly in areas like genomics, personalized medicine, and vaccine development.

Share healthcare data and best practices to improve healthcare systems and patient outcomes.

Partner on large-scale renewable energy projects, such as offshore wind farms, solar energy advancements, and the development of hydrogen fuel technology.

Create joint research programs for climate change mitigation and sustainable practices.

Expand exchange programs between universities and research institutions, focusing on STEM fields, business, and public policy.

Share best practices in agricultural technology, pest control, and climate-resilient farming.

... That, of course, is a summary. I could formalise it and send it along with the trade agreement but if it's something you'd not be keen on, or if you have any ideas to support it, then I'd love to hear it." Odinson

 

[Odinson]

Private​

President Gore had seemed nominally invested in the discussion about trade, thus far. It admittedly was not his favorite topic, nor the one he had the most faith that Congress would tolerate as they had been very protectionist since the attack on the Capitol in 1997. However, the President seemed to perk up when Emma mentioned renewable energy projects. Gore had been, for quite some time, both fascinated and in great support of renewable energy projects and starting a green revolution in the United States, but those desires had to take a back burner to foreign policy as the United States had been very active on the international stage during his presidency. He couldn't help himself.

"That all sounds very good," the President said as he tried to contain himself. "You know, I think we could both benefit significantly from the green projects that you mentioned," he said. "I especially like the idea of a joint effort between us for the development of hydrogen fuel technology. See, hydrogen fuel is regularly misunderstood. I think that the Hindenburg disaster really undermines discussions about hydrogen technology today. See, the Hindenburg was filled with pure hydrogen - but it was not using a hydrogen fuel cell or using the hydrogen as a fuel, it was just using hydrogen to float. In fact - I have spoken to scientists at the Department of Energy about this extensively - while a car accident involving a vehicle with a hydrogen fuel can result in a fire if the tank was ruptured, it would still be a safer accident then if the gasoline tank of a car was ruptured. This has to do with the nature of gasoline, versus the nature of hydrogen. See-" Gore said, but then he noticed Charlie Price looking at him funny.

Gore cut off his statement, "Well, anyway, hydrogen fuel for vehicles is a very promising scientific enterprise. I think that the first, and easiest, vehicles to use it on would be mass transit, such as busses, in confident metropolitan areas. Also, while a lot of power is needed to perform electrolysis to produce hydrogen, it would just take investment in some renewable energy resources in strategically located locations to get it set up... Detractors of hydrogen fuel will argue that it takes large quantities of power to produce the hydrogen, and it is not as efficient as gasoline. But, those same people fail to realize how inefficient gasoline and diesel is! Think about it: first, extensive exploration has to be done to find deposits of crude oil, then it has to be drilled for, then it has to be transported, then it has to be refined, then it has to be transported again, and then finally it is used in a combustion energy. Hydrogen has several less steps in the supply line... If your government is serious about working with us to make advancements in hydrogen technology for transportation, I can promise significant funding from the United States," he said.

"In addition to that, I think that partnering on renewable energy projects is also something that would be very beneficial for both of us, as well as researching more efficient means of renewable energy production. There are also innovations waiting to be made in geothermal and hydroelectric," he said.

"I look forward to the proposal, I can't wait to review it," Gore said sincerely.

Jamie

 

[Jamie]

Emma nodded to acknowledge her interest in the Presidents response, a brief second of silence as she processed what was said but most importantly, it highlighted a key interest of the current President. She took a couple notes down "I'd definitely have to take your word for it as I thought electric vehicles were the future, rather than hydrogen" she smiled before chuckling "But.. I suppose that's why I'm not the Energy Secretary. What I'll do is write up a draft to send along with the trade agreement and on the joint research agreement, specifically raise the idea of working together on progressing hydrogen fuel to see if it's something that can gain enough traction within the science community and perhaps it'll be an endeavour we'll be working on together providing what I send across is something your government would be keen on."

Perhaps she'd bitten off more then she can chew but she acknowledged the massive mood shift from talking trade agreement to energy as a positive. It's something she could work with to develop relations that much more. "I think that satisfies the points I wanted to raise and I'll work to get you the drafts of the proposals sent ASAP. Unless you have anything else you'd like to raise economically, I'll defer the conversation to Jason to discuss Defence which I'm aware is a much more exciting topic." she concluded in jest.

If any further points did need to be raised, Emma would happily continue the conversation. Failing that, Jason took over "I don't know about exciting but it's certainly of great importance. Now more than ever." begun the Defence Secretary "The world is forever changing and each day, new potential threats emerge. Been prepared to deal with them is the challenge and fortunately the military relationship between the UK and US is rather solid. Through the Transatlantic Security Arrangement and the Treaty of Washington, we have a nice foundation but I'd like to discuss ways to build upon that. To summarise what is currently in place...

The Transatlantic Security Arrangement confirms that an attack on any member party, that of the US, UK or Sweden, is considered an attack on all. This also covers the encouragement of cooperation on joint exercises and joint military doctrine which I think could be improved on as I do think it's perhaps the one area that's lacking. The unfortunate side of TASA is the vacancy that we're seeing with Sweden. Meanwhile, the Treaty of Washington is a bit more intimidate, only consisting of the UK and US but echo's our commitment to protecting each other, supporting us politically and providing strategic facilitation of our armed forces."

Jason paused, taking a sip from his water "I'd like to discuss options to really push on the cooperation front on how we can promote joint exercises, encourage research into joint doctrine and how better our armed forces can support one another." Odinson

 

[Odinson]

Private​

"If you send something over to us involving renewable energies and trade, we'll look at it and I will personally make sure that we send you something back," Gore said to Emma, essentially giving her his word (which was taken seriously in his family's home state of Tennessee, even for a politician).

"Secretary Glass, I think you and I share the same opinions on these matters of defense," President Gore said as he looked at his Secretary of Defense, giving him the queue to speak.

"Yes we do, Mister President," Glass said as he looked the British Defense Secretary, Jason. "President Gore will not deny that, of course, that he is at the end of his second and final term as President of the United States. During his presidency he has ensured that Congress has approved funding for all of the branches of the armed forces, most especially the United States Navy. Right now, assuming that we had unequivocal support from the United Kingdom, the United States could deploy a significant amount of armed forces anywhere in the world outside of South Asia and East Africa, and even then we could still send in a powerful force if needed. What the Defense Department is currently concerned about is the specialization of our general forces, as well as our special forces. The Defense Department thinks that, in order to face the growing threats of the twenty-first century, it is imperative that we focus on non-temperate environments. Marines, Navy SEALs, and regular Army soldiers should be able to survive in all kinds of environments," he said.

"I think that our navies can work closely together, but I would really like to see coordination between American and British special forces, as well as British and American Marines. Is that something that you," Glass said collegiately to the British delegation, "would be interested in? If so.... and please, if this is something that you are not interested in we can alternate our plans, but we thought that it would be an interesting major exercise to have the United State Marine Corps and Royal Marines participate in a mock-invasion of Bermuda. Also, it would be interesting to have specialized forces from the Marine Corps participate with the Royal Marines at Gibraltar in a training exercise... I realize that these are both British locations, but they are of interest to the Marine Corps. We could also reciprocate by having similar exercises in the Florida Keys, or Hawaii, or Alaska, or the Pacific," he said, clearly wiling to offer American alternatives.

Jamie

 

[Jamie]

Jason nodded in agreement to the entire response posed by Secretary Glass "I'm in agreement on everything you've said. We currently have a growing list of deployments to exercise our own strength which sees air assets or naval assets deployed in Asia, the Med and North America. We're hoping to expand on this further but specifically towards Asia given that seems to be where the current climate is. Not unlike yourselves, we've had an increase of funding to our defence budget and are currently undergoing some modernisation in key areas which we consider the Navy and Air Force to be at the forefront of that. This includes new fighter aircraft which you'll see as we introduce our new Typhoon squadron and our intention to upgrade existing airframes such as the Chinook among others. That is something I'd like to discuss, some of the upgrades would involve your own defence sales but if there's a better way or time to bring that up, I'll happily follow through the preferred process you set out.

We can accomodate for any joint exercises in Gibraltar and Berumda for sure. As for other elements, perhaps a joint UK-US Naval Patrol to begin with? Perhaps we ought to start with a small scale complement over a shorter period of time and gradually improve our working relationship during that?" Odinson

 

[Odinson]

Private​

"A joint American-British Naval Patrol could be an excellent opportunity for us to work together. This is just a suggestion, so if you would prefer something else I would be happy to hear it," President Gore said. "Secretary Glass and I have discussed the relevance of Navy's two battleships, which I reactivated during the war with Turkey. He and I both firmly believe that while the role of battleships are much more limited to aiding marine invasions, providing shore cover, or being used to conduct a sustained bombardment in a small area for an extended period of time, battleships have also throughout their history been used for diplomacy. While joint deployments between the United Kingdom and the United States are normally disproportionately American, I think that it could be an interesting if we did the following deployment: the United States Navy deploys a battleship battlegroup, which consists of one battleship, one cruiser, two destroyers, three frigates, and an oiler. The battleship battlegroup could sail in coordination with one of the Royal Navy's carrier groups.

"This would be an interesting scenario where our Navy would have less strike power and could even help escort your carrier. The goal of this mission would be to circumnavigate the world, starting and ending in the English Channel. I understand that this would be an ambitious and logistical operation," President Gore said, "but I think that it would be a good exercise for our forces to work together in a unique and unusual situation," he said.

Jamie