Birgitte's government has run out of steam - the internal differences are growing, and only compromise legislation is being passed, which does not really satisfy anyone. Opinion polls indicate that Birgitte is likely to lose the next election. She really needs a popular cause. Birgitte is therefore very tempted when the financier Joachim Crohne pops up in the Prime Minister's Office to draw Birgitte's attention to the central African country of Kharun, where a referendum on secession by the south threatens to send the country into a bloody civil war.