Charter of Confederation

1 Preamble
In order to provide for the prosperity of peace-loving states, the alliance of nations Mutually Assured Defense (MAD) is hereby created. MAD strives always to maintain neutrality in the face of world affairs, existing solely to protect otherwise independent nations from the aggression of rogue states. MAD does not condone and offers no protection to nations that make war without provocation.

2 Support
2.1 Military Aid
2.1.1 Member nations may not engage in warfare without the approval of the confederation, or to protect an attacked ally. Nations which engage in first-strike activities cannot expect MAD protection, and may be expelled from the alliance.
2.1.2 In the event of an attack on the alliance and declaration of war by the MAD Cabinet, capable member nations are expected to contribute to the collective defense as necessary.
2.2 Passive Aid
2.2.1 Member nations may, at their own volition and with neither endorsement nor prohibition by the alliance at large, provide passive, non-combatorial aid to any other nation in the cyberworld. Such actions are considered the sovereign province of every independent state, and are not to be considered sanctioned by the confederation.
2.2.2 In the event of an attack on the alliance, member nations not directly involved with military defense are expected to contribute non-combatorial aid to the confederation effort on an as-needed basis, if they are able.

3 Membership
3.1 Membership Requirements
3.1.1 Membership in MAD is open to all peace-loving nations.
3.1.2 MAD does not require specific team membership, though most alliance participants count themselves as Blue.
3.2 Enlistment Protocol
3.2.1 Prospective member nations must first contact any officer of the MAD Cabinet and request inclusion in the confederation.
3.2.2 Leaders of prospective member nations must affix their name to the MAD Roster, after which time they may be considered active alliance members and bound to the canon setforth herein.

4 Cabinet
Confederation governance is handled by a Cabinet of two officials, consisting of a Minister of Defense, charged primarily with matters of security, and a Minister of Confederation Affairs, charged primarily with internal alliance matters. Either member of the Cabinet, however, may perform the duties of the other as necessary. Additional Cabinet positions may be created at any time by unanimous vote of existing Cabinet officers.

5 Ratification and Amendment
5.1 This Charter provides an account of the de facto state of MAD operations as of January 24, 2007. Amendments may be adopted at any time, for any reason, until the ratification of a permanent Charter by majority vote of member nations.
5.2 Once the Charter is ratified, further amendments may be proposed by any member nation, and shall be subject to approval by unanimous vote of the MAD Cabinet, followed by majority vote of all member nations, except as specified in Section 4 of this Charter (Cabinet).

6 Amendments
6.1 Amendment 1: In the event of a direct attack on sovereignty, member nations may engage in self-defensive warfare without or before the declaration of war by the MAD Cabinet.
6.2 Amendment 2: The MAD Cabinet shall have authority to grant and deny membership in the alliance. The Cabinet may with unanimous vote revoke the membership of rostered nations which take actions that have a negative effect on the alliance as a whole. In the event that a rostered nation’s membership is revoked, that nation may within 3 days submit an appeal to the Alliance-At-Large, which shall consist of a petition signed by no less than 1/6 of all rostered alliance members, and shall be granted upon the positive vote of the rostered majority.

• Charter was ratified by majority vote at 10:08 pm EST, February 6, 2007.
  
• Amendments 1 and 2 ratified 11:59 pm EST, February 24, 2007.
  
• Minor non-amendment renumbering completed 12:53 am EST, February 25, 2007.
  
• Typos, bolding 5:31 pm EST, February 26, 2007.