Diplomacy

Diplomacy involves peaceful relations between nations and is built on relations, infamy and interests.

Relations

Relations is a bilateral value between −100 and +100 that determines the overall diplomatic standing between two countries. Relations are categorized into seven levels, based on the current relations score.

Score	−100 to −80	−79 to −50	−49 to −20	−19 to 19	20 to 49	50 to 79	80 to 100
Relation level	Hostile	Cold	Poor	Neutral	Cordial	Amicable	Friendly

Relation effects

Many diplomatic actions are blocked if relations are above or below a certain level, and starting diplomatic plays generally requires neutral or worse relations. Additionally, the relation score, along with attitude, impacts AI's acceptance of diplomatic actions and its willingness to join a side in diplomatic plays.

Changing relation levels

The primary way to change relations is through the  Improve Relations and  Damage Relations ongoing diplomatic actions, but most diplomatic actions affect relations, as do diplomatic incidents and various events.

Infamy

Rank		Infamy	For attacker
	Great power	+20%	+20%
	Major power	+10%	+10%
	Unrecognized major power	+50%	−30%
	Minor power
	Unrecognized regional power	+40%	−40%
	Insignificant power	−10%	−10%
	Unrecognized power	+30%	−50%

Infamy represents a country's perceived aggression in the world. Infamy begins at 0 and can reach a maximum of 1000. Infamy primarily increases due to diplomatic plays, as most war goals add infamy, but certain other actions and events can add infamy as well. Infamy decays at a yearly base of −5 yearly, and this is increased up to −6.25 by having surplus influence.

The amount of infamy gained is modified by a country's rank and recognition. Countries get more infamy the higher rank they have, and similarly more for the higher rank their target is. Unrecognized countries generate +40% more infamy than equivalent recognized countries, but generate −40% less infamy for their attacker. The amount of infamy generated by each rank and the rank of the target can be seen in the table to the right.

The amount of infamy gained by diplomatic plays is modified by the population of the targeted state or country. The population multiplier is calculated as $multiplier=min(cap,3*population+1)$, where $population$ is valued in million and $cap$ is 5 or 50 for state target or country target respectively.

Population	Multiplier (targeting a state)	Multiplier (targeting a country)
0	1	1
100K	1.3	1.3
1.33M	5	5
10M	5	31
16.33M	5	50
20M	5	50

Infamy levels

The amount of infamy a country has is categorized into four levels, and each affects how AI countries view and interact with the country.

Level	Infamy
Reputable	0 to 24.9
Infamous	25 to 49.9
Notorious	50 to 99.9
Pariah	100 and above

In particular, if a country reaches Pariah status, great powers can use the  Cut Down to Size diplomatic play, which returns recent conquests and releases subjects if enforced.

Diplomatic incidents

Infamy is tied to the diplomatic incident mechanic. In the vast majority of cases, any diplomatic action a country takes – such as demanding land in a diplomatic play or violating a neutral country's sovereignty during war – that increases infamy also creates a diplomatic incident localized at a particular strategic region on the map. This adds a relation penalty to all countries with an interest in the region, based on the amount of infamy gained in the incident.

Interests

Not to be confused by interest paid from treasury debt

Interests represent a country's diplomatic engagement with a region of the world. A country always has an  active interest in regions where it or a subject owns states and can declare interests in other regions. A country can also engage in diplomacy with its immediate neighbors, even without a specific interest in that region.

In order to start or join a diplomatic play, a country must have an interest in the region where the play is located. This can be used advantageously when attacking a country with states in many regions, as the initial wargoal can be targeted to a region where the country's rivals have no interest and thus cannot join the play.

Additionally, colonization requires the colonization nation to have an interest in the region, and note that  colony states do not count for maintaining an interest in a region, at least until the colony has completed colonizing the state region.

Declared interest

A British Empire player declaring interests in China.

A  declared interest represents a country declaring that a strategic region is of importance to it, perhaps because they plan to colonize it, or because they want to prevent a hated rival from expanding into it. A country can declare an interest in any region that is either coastal or adjacent to a region where they have an inherent interest. The number of declared interests a country can use depends on its rank and its naval power – a great power can choose to have its fingers in a great many pies, while an insignificant power is limited to acting only in regions where they already have land.

Often, a nation should actively convert declared interests into active interests. This is easiest with Great and Major Powers, as they can easily puppet insignificant or unrecognized powers.

Maximum interests

A country may declare as many interests as its Maximum Declared Interests cap. This cap is determined by ranking, and the presence of Naval Bases in the country. If  Isolationism is enacted, the maximum number of declared interests is reduced by −50%.

	Country Rank
+5	Great power
+3	Major power
+2	Unrecognized major power
+1	Minor power
+1	Unrecognized regional power

Per level	With  Naval Base method
+0.1	Man O' War
+0.12	Ironclad
+0.15	Monitor
+0.17	Dreadnought
+0.2	Battleship

Diplomatic actions

Diplomatic actions are one form of diplomatic engagement. Each diplomatic action can be categorized by whether it requires the target to accept and whether it happens immediately or establishes a pact. Diplomatic actions can be found in the Diplomatic Actions tab of the Diplomacy Lens or the Interactions tab of a country's info window. Possible diplomatic actions are also shown when right-clicking on countries on the map.

Obligations

An  obligation is a promise that a country can use to convince another country to agree to their proposal. A country can offer an obligation as a sway in diplomatic plays or as an extra incentive in diplomatic agreements. Obligations can also be earned, or absolved when owed, by taking on the debt of another country or  bankrolling, which has a random chance of 0.2% per week to gain an obligation.

Once an obligation has been obtained, it can be redeem later similarly to offering the obligation. If a country rejects a proposal when an obligation has been used, they suffer a prestige malus for 5 years as well as −50 relations with the country.

An obligation is valid for ten years, after which it expires. While a country owes an obligation, it cannot oppose the country owed the obligation in diplomatic plays.

Instant actions

The following actions happen immediately and do not form any pact. Unless otherwise noted, the actor and target must be at peace with each other and have an interest in the same region.

Action	Requires Acceptance	Conditions	Effects
Expel Diplomats		Is not improving relations with target Has not expelled target's diplomats within the last five years	Lose −30 relations with target Target's diplomats are expelled for five years Gain +10 infamy
Take on Debt		Target is in debt Can afford target's debt Has researched  Central Banking	If owes obligation to target, Absolves obligation to target Otherwise, if doesn't have an obligation from the target Gain an obligation from the target Otherwise, gain +30 relations with target
Redeem Obligation		Target owes actor an obligation Can be done while at war with target or without overlapping interests	Gain +30 relations with target Absolves target's obligation
Violate Sovereignty		Is at war Target is not in war or at war with actor Has less than  Amicable relations Target borders both warleaders through one contiguous region.	If target accepts: Create diplomatic incident with 15 infamy Target joins actor's side in war If target declines: Create diplomatic incident with 10 infamy Target joins enemy side in actor's war Other countries may join enemy side in actor's war

Ongoing actions

The following actions form one-sided pacts; they never require approval and can be ended any time by the actor. Most cost influence to maintain, scaled by the target's Rank.

Action	Cost	Conditions	Effects	Auto-break conditions
Improve Relations	150	At peace with target Is not damaging relations with target Neither country has expelled the other's diplomats Has less than  Amicable relations	Gain +0.03 relations with target daily to a max of +50	Has  Amicable or higher relations Any condition is false
Damage Relations	100	Is not improving relations with target Has greater than  Cold relations	Lose −0.03 relations with target daily to a max of −50	Has  Cold or lower relations
Rivalry	—	Target is within one rank category of actor Target has the same recognition as actor Has less than  Cordial relations	Lose −0.01 relations with target daily to a max of −20 Gain +200 influence ×0.5 if target's absolute rank is lower than actor's +50% for each overlapping interest, max +400	Has  Cordial or higher relations
Embargo	100	Has researched  International Trade Neither country has  Isolationism enacted Neither country is a junior member of a  customs union Target doesn't have a treaty port in an actor's state Has  Poor or lower relations	Blocks all imports and exports by target to and from the actor Lose −0.01 relations with target daily	Has greater than  Poor relations Any condition is false
Bankroll	100	Has researched  Central Banking At peace with target Not in default Has greater than  Poor relations	Gain +0.03 relations with target daily to a max of +80 Target receives 20% of the actor's income 0.2% chance weekly to absolve an obligation to the target or gain one from them	Has less than  Cordial relations Any condition is false

Diplomatic pacts

See also: Subject

Diplomatic pacts come in two types – mutual and subject – and always require acceptance. For mutual pacts, both parties pay the influence maintenance, scaled by the other's Rank. Either party can break the pact later without approval from the other. For subject pacts, only the senior partner pays the influence maintenance, and the junior partner cannot break the pact without approval, except for  customs unions. The target of a subject pact must also be independent, as only one type of subject pact can be active for the junior partner at a time. Subject pacts also have rank limitations, where typically the actor must be a higher rank than the target.

Mutual pacts

Pact	Cost	Conditions	Effects	Auto-break conditions
Alliance	200	Both countries have researched  International Relations Both countries are independent or autonomous subjects Neither country is subject to the other At peace with target Each country has researched  Multilateral Alliances or has no alliances Has  Cordial or higher relations	Replaces a  defensive pact Gain +1.5 relations with target daily to a max of +80 Both countries may always side with the other when targeted by or initiating a diplomatic play If broken: Lose −30 relations with target Create a one-year  truce.	Has less than  Cordial relations Any condition is false
Defensive Pact	150	Both countries have researched  International Relations Both countries are independent or autonomous subjects Neither country is subject to the other At peace with target Does not have an  alliance with target Has  Cordial or higher relations	Gain +1 relations with target daily to a max of +80 Both countries may always side with the other when targeted by a diplomatic play If broken: Lose −30 relations with target Create a one-year  truce.	Has less than  Cordial relations Any condition is false
Trade Agreement	50	Has researched  International Trade Neither country has  Isolationism enacted Both countries are independent or autonomous subjects Neither country is subject to the other Neither country is a junior member of a  customs union At peace with target Does not have an customs union with target Has greater than  Poor relations	Gain +1 relations with target daily to a max of +80 Eliminates any tariffs and all bureaucracy costs for trade routes between target and actor If broken: Lose −10 relations with target	Has  Poor or lower relations Any condition is false

Subject pacts

Pact	Cost	Conditions	Effects	Auto-break conditions
Customs Union	25	Has researched  International Trade Neither country has  Isolationism enacted Is not a subject of the target Is not a junior member of a  customs union Is at least a  Minor Power Target is not a  Great Power or  Unrecognized Major Power At peace with target Has  Cordial or higher relations Has market access to the target (both have ports or adjacent states)	Gain +1 relations with target daily to a max of +80 Countries form a common market If broken: Lose −30 relations with target	Has less than  Cordial relations Any condition is false
Protectorate	25	Is not a subject of the target Is recognized and at least a  Minor Power Target is lower rank and not an  Unrecognized Major Power Target is at peace and not on opposite side of a diplomatic play Has market access to the target (both have ports or adjacent states)	Gain +1 relations with target daily to a max of +50 Create diplomatic incident with 5 infamy Create a five-year  truce Target becomes Protectorate of actor If broken: Create a one-year  truce.	Cannot auto-break
Tributary	25	Is not a subject of the target Is an  Unrecognized Major Power or  Unrecognized Regional Power Target is lower rank and not a  Major Power Both countries are at peace Has market access to the target (both have ports or adjacent states)	Gain +1 relations with target daily to a max of +50 Create diplomatic incident with 5 infamy Target becomes Tributary of actor If broken: Create a one-year  truce.	Cannot auto-break