Enlightened Coast

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Erik Vael Hernandéz, author of Nations Developing a Global Presence Through Waterborne Trade

The concept of the Enlightened Coast was first written about in 1799 by Antoran philosopher and economist Erik Vael Hernandéz (1756-1814.) Hernandéz posited in Nations Developing a Global Presence Through Waterborne Trade, a treatise that included and expanded upon his prior papers, that nations that have coastal territory and direct access to international trade routes will naturally become more wealthy, developed, cultured and ultimately important on the world stage. According to the treatise, a nation that was able to take advantage of directly-adjacent trade routes would be able to acquire more wealth. This wealth, brought by foreign ships arriving to trade for unique goods and domestic ships bringing unique foreign goods home, would attract investors, new settlers, and increased trade, all of which would contribute foreign ideas to the local culture and provide opportunities for scientific and social advances. Nations would also be able to use these new ideas and new wealth to expand its territory, either through domestic conquest or colonization abroad.

Citing the Packilvanian and Morst imperial systems as primary examples, Hernandéz's writings on the expansion of national borders, economic opportunity, diversity through myriad relationships, and the development of the spiritual nature of the people were one of many Antoran treatises to make their way into the public consciousness in the following centuries. Popularized due to the expansive trade carried out by Antora in the two hundred years prior to the writing of Nations Developing; the treatise provided many analogous examples of Antoran history that lined up with the Morst and Pax citations. It has been theorized that his time growing up in the shipping district of Giroruña influenced Herandéz in writing the piece as well. Today, Antoran historians and geographers will often refer to developed countries with shorelines as Enlightened Coastal nations. Critics assert that this is simply a veneer for self-aggrandizement by categorizing Antora alongside world superpowers like South Hills and Asendavia.