The "Dark Elf Problem"

Apseldia's public agenda is to look out for the safety and prosperity of all half-elves everywhere.
Apseldia was formed because the war between the Elven Empire an the humans of Umera created a very dangerous environment for half-elves.  Things are far from perfect now, but the Elven Empire and the major powers of Umera have laws on the books that at least in theory protect their half-elf citizens.
The nation of Kahdisteria is estimated to have twice as many half-elves as Apseldia does and all the half-elves in Kahdisteria are slaves bound to chains held by the iron fists of the dark elves.  Half-elves are beaten, humiliated, raped and killed on a daily basis and the Apseldians are sitting cozy in their rich port city doing nothing about it!
On the other hand, the nation of Kahdisteria is very large and Apseldia is very small.  It would be costly, but if the dark elves committed their military to a full invasion of Apselda, they could theoretically conquer Apseldia outright and kill or enslave every man, woman, and child.  Even if they didn't commit themselves to an all out war, the Kahdisterian navy could easily choose to make life hell for Apseldian sailors.

Dark Elf Hawks want Apseldia to take a far more active in helping their oppressed half-elves cousins in Kahdisteria.  The Dark Elf Doves want to maintain the fragile peace with Kahdisteria for their own safety.  Most Apseldians fall in between these two camps so the debate rages on.

Foreign Relations Debate

The Hawks want to strengthen ties between Apseldia and the Colassian Confederacy.  A few hardliners even want Apseldia to join the Confederacy.  Of course their detractors say that more ties with the Confederacy will provoke the dark elves into attacking Apseldia preemptively.
The doves want to strengthen ties between the Elven Empire and Apseldia.  The Elven Empire and Kahidisteria are rivals but not enemies.  The Elven Empire would make it much harder for Kahdisteria to sail in with an invasion fleet, but allying with the Elven Empire would not provoke the dark elves directly, best of both worlds.  Their detractors say that the Elven Empire isn't much better and it's a sign of weakness for Apseldia to turn to their former oppressors for aid.

Abolitionist Debate

Right now Apseldia will give automatic citizenship to any half dark elves who manage to escape slavery and make it all the way to Apseldia.  They will provide four weeks refuge to escaped human slaves from Kahisteria and then will ask them to leave unless they A) marry an elf or half-elf or B) have a very useful skill.  Apseldia will provide similar aid to ex-slaves and runaway serfs from human lands.
Even the most hardline doves won't dare suggest turning away half-elf ex-slaves (at least not publicly), but many of them are not afraid to say that Apseldia should stop aiding ex-slaves if they are not half-elves.
This flies in the face of the ideals of Zarthus which Apseldia is supposedly founded on, but Apseldia cannot grow enough food to feed themselves.  Right now they have a lot of trade, so they can import enough food for now, but even a minor slow down in ship traffic would cause severe food problems.  Hypothetically if Kahdisteria's government collapsed and every slave was freed at once, Apseldia could be awash in new immigrants they cannot feed.  If even 2% of Kahdisteria's total slave population came to Apseldia, that would severely overtax Apseldia's resources to feed and house the refugees.
Logistics be damned, the Hawks believe that aiding escaped slaves is the only moral and just thing to do.  They want the Apseldian Council to provide funding and shelter to adventuring groups out to free slaves in Kahdisteria, and not just free the half-elves.
Of course the question "What about the goblin slaves?" causes issues.  In principle, Apseldia is opposed to all slavery but in practicality, Apseldians generally hate goblins.  Apseldia is often harassed by goblin brigands living in the mountains outside their borders.  Even if they want to free goblin slaves in the abstract sense, they still don't want the goblins to be anywhere near them.

Conflict Type

Political Debate