Ivoŕ Arolian

Ivoŕ VI Castriduŕ Solomon Źevaritan Eloźuŕ Imorisco Policarpuŕ Arolian is a Kiravian military and intelligence figure currently serving as Chief Defence Executive of the Kiravian Federacy.

Early Life and Military Service
Ivoŕ VI C.S.Ź. Arolian was born in the town of Saar-Lótigæster in the Aquaric coastal state of Niyaska. His father, Ivoŕ V I.C.M. Arolian, was an engineer and ordinance officer at the nearby Katolien Armoury. He is of Hisrovan Coscivian ethnicity. He completed an officer training program at the Sergius Marscen University, receiving a Cooper’s Degree in Political Science and a commission upon graduation. He was assigned to a light infantry unit at Dun-Gelvar, Isèra, and was then admitted to an advanced training program for special operations and counterinsurgency. Arolian was promoted to Captain and assigned to the 30th Special Operations Regiment, which saw action in 21170-72 during the Chopine Operation to combat the Mancei-sponsored militant group Tropkali.

During the Chopine Operation, Arolian served with distinction, leading several successful assaults on Tropkali positions in southern Mixoca, and was noted by his superiors for his use of psychological profiling and rudimentary game theory to make the most of limited intelligence. He also worked well with Coscivised Ix̂öllem volunteers, an experience that “forever proved to me the strategic utility of irregulars, partisans, and the sympathetic local opposition”. He even became conversational in the Ix̂öllem language, giving him what historian Mévar I.L.R. Ríladorian calls “The most unique linguistic repertoire of any _____ _________: The standard Kiravic and Iatic, but also Hisrovem, Daƶiem, Indokwém, Kaltans, Spánni, and Ix̂öllem.” Following the operation, Arolian was promoted to Field Captain and led another anti-Tropkali engagement in the interior of Vorcumbia.

Kiravian High Command recognised Arolian’s talent and transferred him to the Federal Marine Corps, where he was charged with combatting Mancei-sponsored piracy around Kiravia Minor. He did personally participate in two antipiracy operations but was deemed too valuable as a strategist and posted to Southeastern Command Headquarters at Dun-Agliśen, Kedara. The routine of a desk job and regular schedule allowed Arolian to expand and develop his intellect. He earned a Ministerial Degree in Security Policy from the University of Kedara, plus advanced intelligence degrees via correspondence with the Kiravian Military University at Esvëlter. It was also during this time that he became more interested in cultural matters, particularly Iatic literature and the origins of Coscivian civilisation. He was promoted to Major and served as Chief of Intelligence for Southeastern Command before being recalled to Kartika as an Intendant for Federal Military Intelligence.

Arolian strongly believed in the political neutrality of the Kiravian military, and believed even more strongly that military officers and executive officials should be both objective in their work and private about their political views. Letters to his friend Varya Italion Istrovatican show that while he remained fully loyal to Kiravia, he was quite critical of the Kirosocialist régime, primarily its failed domestic policies and its distrust of the military. He was particularly incensed by the government’s denial of pensions to ethnically Indokwém and Döwadem veterans. While he did not completely object to the isolationist foreign policy adopted by the Kirosocialists, and indeed strongly supported the heavy restrictions that it placed on immigration, he believed that the government had implemented the policy improperly and for the wrong reasons. The protectionist and state capitalist policies of Kirosocialism were no longer necessary, he thought, and isolating Kiravia from foreign trade was weakening it economically and increasing its vulnerability to attack. In addition, he did not believe that geographically-expansive Kiravia could maintain isolationism without a strong and sophisticated military. Still, he believed that it was “the duty of patriots in the military and in the government to protect and sustain Kiravia, regardless of who inhabits its halls of power, so that the people may be free to choose a better government.”

Arolian retired from the military in 21185 and settled in Halixatren, Ventarya, a sattelite city of Kartika. He worked as an independent consultant for government agencies and the defence industry. After the accession of Prime Executive Cólsylva, he was invited into the administration in an informal capacity as a defence and intelligence policy advisor to the Prime Executive and the Chief Defence Executive, Lictivur M.G.C. Hālon. It was then that he became acquainted with Kartika insider F.M.D. Eriabitur.

Political Views
Arolian has never formally belonged to any political party, and is forbidden from such as a member of the Executive College.

Anecdotal evidence from Arolian's acquaintances suggests that a young Arolian was sympathetic to the National Republican faction of the post-Restoration Renaissance Party, which had grown out of the United Allegiance Society and later formed the nucleus of the Coscivian National Congress. Arolian is well-regarded in the CNC-leaning think-tank community for his attitudes toward defence policy, and has been quoted (without substantiation) as declaring "no love for the West, no cosmopolite tastes when our Coscivian heritage is already so much," at a private event in Kartika. Possible affinities toward the CNC nonwithstanding, Arolian has served a primarily SRA-backed administration, and F.M.D. Eriabitur has described him as "a consummate Renaissance Man". He has typically kept silent on matters not germane to the military and global/regional security.