Board Thread:Lore and Fanon Discussion/@comment-10148112-20150604171243

I guess an easy place to start with would be the Wowpedia opening statement on the Grand Alliance:

"'The Alliance (aka Grand Alliance[2] ) is one of two major political factions of the mortal races in Azeroth, its counterpart being the Horde. The Alliance consists of powerful cultures and groups bound not by desperation or necessity, but by their deep commitments to abstract concepts like nobility and justice,[3] and, striving to represent these high ideals, its many different peoples all contribute their technical, arcane, and spiritual wisdom 'toward the goal of a just and peaceful world.'[4]
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"The memories of the allegiances and idealism of Alliance of Lordaeron -centered in the homonimous continent- served as the ultimate inspiration for the new Alliance of the present day.[5] The modern organization has the bulk of its forces on Northern Kalimdor and the south-eastern continents of Khaz Modan and Azeroth. Some of the members of the previous Alliance are members of the Grand Alliance.'
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(http://wow.gamepedia.com/Grand_Alliance)

So it is fair to say a few things about the Grand Alliance: It is an alliance based on ideals as well as needs, the Alliance of Lordaeron is the de facto preceeding organization, and it is considered a political faction as well as a military alliance. But beyond what can be said in Wowpedia, what the Grand Alliance is becomes more and more fuzzy when you get to the finer details, and in the end, Roleplay.

During my time on Moon Guard, I've seen many, for lack of a better way to say, approaches to the Grand Alliance's structure, as well as how it is regard. Many people regard it as a military alliance and nothing more. But perhaps just as many people regard it as an overarching polity with the power to levy taxes, raise armies, and effectively be its own nation. And with it's own King, who can blame them for thinking that. It can be reasoned that the distinction between that of a state and a military alliance becomes more and more fuzzy with the details.

Let's take a look at a real life example. Or at least, the closest thing on Earth you can get to a fantasy Alliance of humans, elves, and dwarves. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) shares a lot with the Grand Alliances in several ways: It is a military alliance, it had common enemy at the time was formed (the Cold War era Warsaw Pact, which housed most Eastern Bloc countries), and it has the armies of various countries involved. Unlike the vague lore of Warcraft, we know all of the details of NATO, and it wouldn't be unreasonable to based a lot of the Grand Alliance's structure on NATO. But the common trends of the Grand Alliance in details and roleplay seem to go against that. NATO does not have its own territory to govern or its own military to raise (member states contribute armies and navies, and have a unified command chain, led by the US), and does not have the ability to establish laws.

Rather, to me, the Grand Alliance is looking more and more like the United Nations, or even the European Union. A membership of states that goes beyond the military cooperation and does have its own army per se, can tax its members, and does establish its own laws. And yes, I compared a fantasy alliance of gnomes, dwarves, night elves, to a real world organization. But it doesn't take away from the fact that many people treat the Grand Alliance as an overarching organization.

Which is confusing.

So my question to the users of the Wikia is this: What is the Grand Alliance to you? Do you think it is more like NATO? The EU? Neither? Am I plain dumb for comparing? It would be interesting to gather opinions on the topic. Also remember that this post is about opinions, not what is right or isn't right.

P.S.: I meant to make this a blog post, but... I couldn't post a blog for some reason, so I put it here.  