[quote=@BangoSkank]
There needs to be a level of cooperation in order for competition to be interesting, at least to me. 

 Poor two second analogy, but I have to be willing to admit you hit me in the head.  I didn't block it.  I didnt tense me neck muscles at just the right time to absorb the force.  I didn't open my mouth and bite your fist at the last second.  I'm not actually a master of the Iron Jaw technique and therefore you didn't actually just break your own fist in my face.

You got me.  It hurt.  I'm probably bleeding.  My bell is a little rung.  I'm gonna have to adapt.  I wasn't ready for that.  Fucking ouch man.  Damn.
[/quote]

A concept oft' forgotten in non dice-driven roleplaying, and in my limited experience even moreso in nation roleplay. Characters are the lovechild of their creators and we typically desire to protect them, this extending to even falling into one's own little nationalism for their fictitious world. Even I am not immune from faltering as such, and I don't look back on some of my older writing fondly for precisely that reason.

Its pertinent to remember that the goals of the [i]players[/i] should never be in opposition, even if the goals of nations or factions or characters are. The goal of the players is always to tell a compelling story and that means the outcome of conflict should be whatever option drives the narrative in the most compelling way.