Placeholden

The "country" of Placeholden is a legal fiction widely accepted as a legitimate country within the Disputatious Assembly of Sovereigns. It did not exist until a tense vote in AES 877, when Lepazzia found itself the deciding vote for giving majority to a measure it disliked concerning Assembly procedure. Rather than do something so uncharacteristic as vote against a measure she was not in favor of, the Lepazzian sovereign, Sarah the Quick, instead told the Secretary that there was one more vote against that hadn't been counted yet. The Secretary was confused when Sarah gestured to a hastily-written nametag on the seat next to her that read "PLACEHOLDER", but faced with the prospect of trying to argue with the sovereign of Lepazzia, the Secretary simply acceded and announced the failure of the motion. Because the nametag had been badly written, the name of the country was recorded as "Placeholden". Once the measure's failure was in the books, it became impossible to question the existence and legitimacy of this new country without raising the question of whether the procedural measure should have been in force all this time. Moreover, because it was a procedural measure, raising questions about it would raise questions about every proceeding of the Assembly since 877. Given this, nobody has objected to the permanent reservation of the seat next to Lepazzia, and Placeholden has been marked as an abstention in the votes since then.

Despite existing only on paper, Placeholden is at war with every other country on the planet. When the original campus of the Disputatious Assembly was built, the primary meeting hall was built next to a courtyard that had been located around an ominous cube. However, over the centuries, the cube has gradually drifted towards the meeting hall due to continental drift. In 931, the cube began pressing up against the outer wall, and in 932 the structure gave way during a summer session of the Assembly. Someone suggested sabotage, and the Assembly passed a motion declaring war on whoever was at fault. Because nobody knew who was responsible, the war declaration had "PLACEHOLDER" written in for the name — much like the first time, in poor handwriting, resulting in the declaration being notarized as a declaration of war against Placeholden. Because Placeholden does not exist, this war was the only world conflict left unsolved by the Massively Parallel Peace Conference. The Hegemony blamed the failure of the MPPC to end the Placeholden War on Flandrean interference.

It is currently in vogue to claim that the Missing Sea is actually Placeholden territory, but this suggestion is not taken seriously, despite my best efforts, and has yet to rise to the level of being officially addressed the Assembly.