ghostmartyr:





© I really want the Wall to stand on their own and be mostly in charge of the development of their own civilization, not relying too much on the natural resource beneath the island or the outside world; so that it wouldn’t be that much of a problem for them if those fancy fossil fuel ever run out, or when their world moves on from oil, like Norway (correct?) © © Upgrading Infrastructure? Granted, with oil and gas resources they would have the money, which can help to accelerate the process. Still, I think people need time to adapt to changes, especially a HUGE one like this case. Being done carelessly, it can lead to many ugly consequences. It’s really fascinating to think what one’d do to solve this unique situation the Walled Nation find themselves in ©© I really want the Wall to stand on their own and be mostly in charge of the development of their own civilization, not relying too much on the natural resource beneath the island or the outside world; so that it wouldn’t be that much of a problem for them if those fancy fossil fuel ever run out, or when their world moves on from oil, like Norway (correct?) © © Oh, do you think the outside world has advanced to the point of nuclear weapon yet? The Walled people has nothing to fear regardless, as long as they still hold the Coordinate - if what the Marley’re really after is indeed the fossil fuel beneath the island, they wouldn’t resort to simply nuking the whole place to oblivion. Ha, sorry man, I have no answers here. To my very, very limited knowledge, there isn’t really a precedent for entire nations abruptly rejoining international society. Considering how they’ve done so far… no one has bothered them. The threat of the walls is going to last as long as they exist, and there’s no safe way to really combat a force like that. The island our guys live on seems perfectly fine without outside help, to be honest. There are huge tech gaps when you compare them to everyone else in the world, but how much does that really matter? The main threat to their livelihood has always been the titans. Without them to worry about… I’m not good at this stuff. At all. But it seems to me that the main question they’ll face is how much value interacting with the rest of the world has. If everyone out there hates them, but won’t risk attacking them, they’re as alone as they’ve ever been. If there are nations that are willing to be friendly, that opens up questions about useful weaponry and refugee aid and immigration policies. The walled folks get by just fine when they aren’t facing terrorist attacks and being eaten alive. They’ll want to have some kind of communications system set up, so they aren’t flying blind in this new world, but starting out, I don’t think they need to be in a rush to catch up to anyone. -shrugs- I know nothing in this area, though the ask is appreciated.



I think I can help with this. I’m studying Political Science in college and recently took an intro course for International Political Economy. IPE looks at how countries interact with each other from various perspectives, politically, economically, militarily, etc. @cyborgboy95′s question deals with IPE.

Note that I’ve just taken an intro course on this and am far from an expert.

So, @cyborgboy95′s question is basically “How can the walled world industrialize?” “Industrialize” meaning, “How can they transition from a primarily agricultural based economy to a primarily manufacturing based economy?”

There are a number of things that are needed for industrialization to happen. One of these things is foreign direct investment or FDI. FDI happens when a business in a country either establishes or expands business operations in another country. So for example, a business in Marley could decide to buy a related business in the walls or it could build a facility in the walled world, or they could form a partnership with a related company.

With this FDI will come many beneficial things for the walls, among them jobs, higher incomes, and knowledge. Knowledge in the form of newer business practices and methods, and perhaps most importantly, job training programs. If a Marleyan company wants to build a factory in the walls, then the walled people it employs will have to be trained to work in it.

We don’t actually know what the economic system is like in the walls, but if it’s like some sort of feudal system, then reforms will be necessary. If it is a feudal system, then that means that a large chunk of the population is legally bound to the land they were born on and have some sort of obligation to the land owner for life. This system will have to be abolished for any significant technological advancement to occur.

It is important for incentives to exist that encourage innovation and so there must also be laws in place protecting property rights and the right for everyone to start their own business.

Another important factor is democracy. It has been argued, persuasively, that democracies experience more innovation than non-democracies. The reasoning is that the inclusiveness of democracies rewards innovation and so encourages it. The walled world should move towards democracy, if not adopt it outright.

They should also upgrade their infrastructure however way they can.

Another thing the walled world could do is poach talent from Marley with promises of lucrative pay.

As far as @ghostmartyr‘s answer is concerned, there is a precedent for a country industrializing after an extended period of technological stagnation and isolation: Japan.

For over 200 years, Japan’s foreign policy was insularity. Any foreigner who landed on the island was put to death and any Japanese citizen who left the island was also put to death if they ever returned. Everything changed when, in the 1850s, Matthew Perry, under orders from US President Millard Fillmore, sailed in to Tokyo Bay with a fleet of warships and threatened to make war on Japan if they failed to negotiate a trade agreement with the United States. Ultimately, it worked; Japan and the US negotiated a treaty and within 10 years, Japan had completely opened itself up to the world.

After opening up, Japan embarked on a modernization regimen that included most of what I said above. They brought in foreign talent, upgraded their infrastructure, abolished the feudal system, and democratized. They also implemented a mandatory elementary school education system. Having a more educated populace is generally a good thing.

This was ultimately for the best. Industrialization and modernization created jobs, raised income, and improved the standard of living of literally everyone.

In economics there is a concept called opportunity cost, which is the cost you incur by choosing to do one thing when you could’ve done something else. The opportunity cost of not integrating in to the international community is simply too great to ignore. If it is at all possible, they should go for it.

Sorry about this long response. If any of you want me to expand on anything then please tell me.