10.2 - Foreign Policy

By: Lachrymologist    Read Original Post: Cafe Tropico
Game Guide: Foreign Policy

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 $14,000.  

Also listed on this page are the Democratic Expectations and the Democratic Satisfaction.  Fail to satisfy the people's 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.  Should your condition ever degenerate to Grave, you should take immediate action as an invasion is imminent.

Diplomatic Ministry

The DM is an absolute necessity if you want to be able to affect your political situation at all.  Here Tropican bureaucrats 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.  Unlike 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 Edicts.

-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.  Some of the benefits possible from either country are one-time foreign aid, lower construction costs or free buildings, higher export prices on goods or free skilled workers.  The better your relationship with the country, the more likely you are to receive something and the better the result will be.  Unfortunately trade delegations do not increase your relationship with the country. For more details, see the article on Trade Delegations below.

-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 tenements 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. A military base will also increase relations with the allied country but decrease them with the other country so can be used to maximize relationship rating for one side. One side benefit to a military base is the $1,000 annual rent payment from the allied country, so this edict can pay for itself in 6 years or less.

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.

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 your 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 leader's happiness.  Whatever it takes to change the offended power's mind about Tropico.  An invasion is not a pretty sight, but with practice and a little luck you'll never have to see it.

More on Trade Delegations

Trade delegations are the serious way to make money! Lotsa cool things can be got with em....

Both countries:
50-70% increase on lumber export price
50-70% increase on pineapple export price (canned or uncanned)
50-70% increase on coffee export price (canned or uncanned)
50-70% increase on cigar export price (machine rolled or hand)
50-70% increase on Rum export price (spiced or not)
Cash... 3000 to 15000

America only:
10% to 20% building subsidy
Free Restaraunt
Free Apartment Complex
Free Luxury House
A couple bankers and engineers

Russia Only:
Free Tenement
Free Prison
A couple doctors and propagandists

Doubtless I have missed something but that's a decent list. The price increases you can only obtain once.. doesn't matter which country. Building subsidies you can get till around 50%. Everything else you can continue to get. If you are a booze baron, you cannot get the Rum premium. The better relation you have with the country you are sending the delegation to, the more likely you are to get a higher percentage, more money, or something at least valuable.

I personally think it's worth it to build as soon as possible. Just plop a construction office next to the building site and in 5 to 10 you should have a working airport. Every 2 years you should be able to get something that improves your economy by leaps and bounds.