When you pass your first conflict, are you required to declare which (military/political) one you’re giving up for the turn?

No, but if you do, you're bound by what you said. So just don't do it.

18 hours ago, Khudzlin said:

No, but if you do, you're bound by what you said. So just don't do it.

What you can pass with a specific one if you wanted? Why is that a thing? Wouldn't that also cause the unicorn character for first military bonus to lose his bonus if you use that to advantage?

My guess is that a future card design may force an opponent to declare a particular type as their first conflict. If they don't want to declare the conflict, it prevents them from using that type for their second conflict.

Either that or they playtested it that you had to choose, but changed it without fixing the RR.

One line of thought was that it is in part to prevent trickery on the part of the passing player. For example, saying they pass their military conflict, then declaring a military conflict after their opponent declares and commits to a conflict based on the expectation that their opponent will declare a political conflict.