Cafe Tropico Game Guide: Foreign Policy

[Lachrymologist]

Diplomacy:

In Tropico, you'll soon find that your island can be a pawn caught between Super Powers in a global chess match.  Keep relations good with the "Big 2" and you'll be rolling around in piles Foreign Aid.  Let things get too bad and you'll be welcoming a company of Marines to your island.  What can you do about this?  Plenty.

Starting Modifiers:
The easiest way to give yourself a boost in foreign relations is to choose a background, trait or flaw that increases relations with a Super Power.  Refer to the section on Choosing your Leader for a detailed description of the exact modifiers.

Political Situation:
When the Almanac comes out every year, you'll want to check the Politics page.  Listed here is your relationship with the US and the USSR.  You'll can click on each one for a detailed list of exactly what is influencing each countries attitude towards Tropico.  The better your relation, the greater the foreign aid you receive each year.  This can range from 0$ to $10,000.  

Also listed on this page are the Democratic Expectations and the Democractic Satisfaction.  Fail to satisfy the peoples democratic expectations and your relationship with the US will suffer.  Keep satisfaction high by having regular free elections on the island.

Another very useful piece of information from the Politics page is Threats to Power.  This ranges from None to Grave depending on your current situation.  Drilling down will take you to a summary screen showing a breakdown of the conditions on your island.  The US Threat and USSR Threat show how great the threat of an invasion is.  If relations get bad enough, a gunboat will be dispatched to your waters.  This is a serious warning sign and you should seek to increase relations with the angered nation.  Shoud your condition ever degenerate to Grave, you should take immediate action as an invasion is emminant.

[Lachrymologist]

Diplomatic Ministry:
The DM is an absolute necessity if you want to be able to affect your political situation at all.  Here Tropican beaurocrats will follow your policy and influence the perception of your island within the International community.  If you select the Diplomat trait during character creation, you'll start the game with  one of these buildings.

-Policy
The workers in your ministry will seek to increase your international image by following one of 3 policies.  Pro-US and Pro-USSR policies increase relations with one nation at a cost of relations with the other.  If your threat of invasion is high, switching policies at the DM can help calm the situation.  The ratio of gain to loss is 3 to 2.  An average skilled fully staffed DM will increase your relations by 15% with one while lowering it 10% with the other.  
Neutral policies increase your relationship with both nations by 1-20%.  An average skilled fully staffed ministry will yield a 10% gain.

-Edicts (Only 1 Diplomatic Edict every 2 years)
Edicts are another important benefit of having a Diplomatic Ministry.  Unlink the policy setting, which you'll need workers to utilize, you can gain the benefits of diplomatic edicts as soon as the building is completed.  From the edict menu, select Foreign Policy to bring up the available Diplomatic Editcs.

-Praise                  Cost $500
By choosing this edict, El Presidente makes a speech praising the selected nation.  Similar to the policy setting, this will increase your relationship with one nation at the cost of another.  This effect will continue for 2 years and then the edict will expire.  Again, if the threat of an invasion is high, use of this edict will help.
-Trade Delegation      Cost $1,000
If you have an airport and Cold or better relations with either nation, you can issue a trade delegation.  A few months later the delegation will return and one of several good things can happen for you.  The US can provide  foriegn aid, subsidized future construction or provide skilled workers.  The USSR can provide foreign aid, raise the price of exports, or provide skilled workers.  The better your relationship with the country, the more likely you are to receive something and the better the result will be.  At best you can receive a 15% permanent reduction in building costs.  Unfortunately trade delegations do not increase your relationship with the country.
-Developmental Aid      Cost $2,000
One of the main reasons to build your ministry are the developmental edicts.  The Russian edict allows you to build apartment buildings and tenemants for half price, while  the US edict does the same for Airports and Power Plants.  The $2,000 is a one-time cost, so once you issue this edict, don't cancel it.  Developmental edicts also do not increase your relationship with the Super Powers.
-Military Base            Cost $6,000
If your relations are very close, you can have a foreign military base built on your soil.  This will completely protect you from invasion by the 'other' nation.  I.e.  If you have a Russian military base, the US will never invade you.  You can however, still be conquered by the nation that built the base and it's that much easier for them.  If you tie yourself to one side with a military base, do everything you can to keep them happy.

[Lachrymologist]

Faction Views:
How the Communists and the Capitalists on the island feel about you will also affect your diplomatic relations.  High tourism, Free Elections and developed industries will make the Capitalists happy, increasing your relationship with the US.  Low Income Disparity, full employment and adequate housing will keep the Communists happy, raising what the USSR thinks of you.  Remember that the Faction Leader's happiness affects the faction as a whole. You can increase the factions respect by keeping it's leader happy.

Putting it all Together:
The subtle manipulation of foreign powers can be tricky on the higher difficulty settings.  From the start of a random game, you should have an idea of who you are trying to be and what your vision for Tropico is.  Model you foreign policy around that.  Don't expect to have a fabulous relationship with the US  if you are a Moscow educated (-15%) pompous (-20%) leader with Tourette's Syndrome (-15%).  

Your most powerful tool once you are in the game is the Diplomatic Ministry.  If the situation starts getting bad and you see a gunboat, do something about it.  Issue a praise edict, change your Diplomatic Ministry policy, try to increase the faction leaders happiness.  Whatever it takes to change the offended powers mind about Tropico.  An invasion is not a pretty sight, but with practice and a little luck you'll never have to see it.

[Lachrymologist]

Okay, that's it.  Any comments , critiques, recommendations?  Did I miss anything important?  Let me know.

Lach

[flagator_]

Just a few spelling errors and dropped words. Nice work.

Also, I think the Trade Delegations have the same potential outcomes no matter which country you send them to. I got an increase in the cost of beef exports from the U.S., while you list export price hikes as being only a Russian result.

[Lachrymologist]

Okay, we should change that then.  As for the spelling, you'll have to bear with me.  I don't have a spell checker here at home.  Let me know if you need me to work on any other sections.

[IrishBrianMc]

I'm not a big airport builder, so I would like some advice from those who build them.  Is the trade delegations edict by itself enough to warrant building one?  I'm not much on building a tourist industry because I am normally so concerned with the happiness of my populace that I don't want to take the resources away from them to develop it.  Any insights on airports and whether or not you feel they are worth it, would be really appreciated.  Thanks.

[Dreamweaver]

One more thing about trade delegation. There is a difference in the type of skilled labor provided by US and USSR. US provides 3 bankers and 3 engineers while USSR provides 3 doctors and 3 engineers.

[MortalCabbage]

I'm not a big airport builder, so I would like some advice from those who build them.  Is the trade delegations edict by itself enough to warrant building one?

It was in the last game I built one. I dedicated 2 construction offices to the job, and didn't bother with them until the airport was done (took about 9 years, I believe). In total, I must have received about $40,000 in direct financial aid from these edicts, 18 educated dudes, my construction costs were reduced by about 60%, and 3 export goods were given a higher price (unfortunately, I didn't produce any of them and didn't have the opportunity of building the required industires). FYI the game lasted 70 years, I must have issued a trade delegation edict about 20-22 times.

[Crandaddy]

Lachrymologist,

Great stuff.  I may have to volunteer for a section myself soon since I seem to have comments for both you and Flagator.  My only comment on this is relatively minor--I think you covered things very well.

For the Praise edict--  I would point out that this is almost always a great financial investment, as long as you're not planning to use a different edict in the next two years.  The $500 cost is almost always paid for by the increase in financial assistance from the praised Super Power.  I issue this edict every two years unless I need to use a different edict.

Hope this helps!

[hermolt]

just one thing...the maximum is not 10 000 in aid, i got "perfect harmony"with the USA after engaging in an alliance, and i got $14 000 in aid one year...but great idea..

[Lachrymologist]

Thanks for the corrections guys.  It helps to hear others input.  

Crandaddy, As for the Praise edict, aren't you ever concerned about the loss of respect with the other nation?  Have you found that the gain in foreign aid from Power A outweighs the loss from Power B +$500 for the edict?  I have a tendency to try and maintain positive relations with both sides rather than sell myself down the river to one of them.

[Crandaddy]

Hmmm...  Perhaps I'll have to review my math on the subject.  I believe its always a good idea if you're already much closer to one than the other, but if you really do have a good balance going, then you're probably right.  I'm usually buddy-buddy with Russia early in games, and get closer to the US later.  I'll have to try some things when I get time to find out.  Good point.

[Maus]

In line with the questions regarding effects of the Praise Edict, if the numbers exist, would it be possible to elaborate on the pros and cons of the different policy settings for the Diplomatic Ministry?  For instance, should a player try to make a good relationship with a SuperPower even better, or should they attempt to boost the poor relationship with the other SuperPower?  Do long-term effects outweigh short-term advantages? Etc.

The existing GameSpot game guide touches very briefly on this subject, but doesn't provide any details:


Quoted from GameSpot Game Guide: Tropico
http://gamespot.com/gamespot/guides/pc/tropico_gg/

"If your society becomes strongly capitalist for example, the US will be sending you gobs of foreign aid, but Russia will become apathetic toward your cause.  Building a diplomatic ministry with pro-Russian Policies will go far toward placating the Russians and bringing in more cash from the east. (It will also slightly lower your relations with the US, but not as much as it raises relations with the Russians.)"

[Lachrymologist]

The DM setting is really a personal preference.  If you have no fear of Nation A, then definately switch your policy to Pro Nation B.  I personally am a believer in balance and would rather have a +10% relation with both nations than a +15% relation with Nation A and a -10% relation with Nation B.  However, if an invasion is threatening, then you should DEFINATELY change your policy to avoid that unplesantrly.

The nuances of Foreign Policy are numerous and deceptive.  I did not want this section to be a "Follow this section by the letter", or "Do exactly this and this will happen."   It was meant more to be an explanation, clarification, and a offer up some hints on how to deal with foreign policy issues.  How you choose to handle your diplomacy is entirely up to you

[Lachrymologist]

Maus,

Just realized I didn't totally answer your question.  The hard numbers for the Praise Edict do not exist.  If you can find them or if someone can do an objective test, then we'll definately include them in the guide.

Lach

[Coconut Kid]

Faction Views:
How the Communists and the Capitalists on the island feel about you will also affect your diplomatic relations.  High tourism, Free Elections and developed industries will make the Capitalists happy, increasing your relationship with the US.  Low Income Disparity, full employment and adequate housing will keep the Communists happy, raising what the USSR thinks of you.  Remember that the Faction Leader's happiness affects the faction as a whole. You can increase the factions respect by keeping its leader happy. ...

Excellent summary of basic information! I do have to quibble with the 'free elections' since it is not clear whether that comes from the capitalist faction or the base algorithm. It seems more clearly connected with the Intellectualist faction's demand for "high liberty."

I speculate the capitalist faction doesn't care about elections, but the U.S. does. It's a fine point, but important for some El Presidente "rise to power" situations.

It appears that the maximum foreign aid to be received from one power in a year is $10,000.

A direct and easy way to improve a faction leader's "happiness" is to bribe him\her.