NEW IDEAS:[]
WHAT IF AFTER INCREASING URBANIZATION AND MIGRATION TO THE COASTS, CITIES SLOWLY EVOLVE INTO FLOATING NOMADIC SOCIETIES WHICH CRUISE ALONG THE COAST AT FIRST AND SLOWLY MIGRATE OUT TO THEIR NATIONS' EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONES, ONLY RELYING ON THE LAND FOR THINGS LIKE RESOURCES AND VACATIONING? MAYBE THESE SOCIETIES COULD SERVE AS A TRANSITIONAL PHASE IN OUR EMERGENCE AS A SPACEFARING PEOPLE?
UNDERGROUND UNITED (INFORMAL ECONOMY SUPERPOWER): What if the informal economy of the world was linked up via a network reminiscent of the Al Qaeda network of the late 90's? Would a massive "shadow" polity form which might challenge the existing world order? What would happen if this entity linked up to online entities and operated its economy n the basis of virtual currencies like Bitcoin? Might they link up with the Liberators?
An organization of business dealers/negotiators sends negotiators throughout the poorer areas of the world. Their purpose is to set up a network throughout the informal economies of the world. These include illicit money making, like drug cartels. The purpose is to tap into a reservoir of untapped yet vibrant economic activity and link it together.Going from cartel to cartel, private street vendor to private street vendor, the negotiators founded the base network that would form the basis for the Underground United, an entity which would progressively grow in wealth and size. The UEN would utilize Bitcoin as its means of commerce, and every participant was either given a basic interface device or had their existing device upgraded to work with Bitcoins.Underground United officially became active on June 22nd, 2014 as a social networking political movement. Popularity of the group spread rapidly due to the charisma of its unknown leader, known as "Odysseus," or "Ulysses." In actuality, "Odysseus" is actually a narco-terrorist (Raul Menendez).
Cordis Die also has an extremely large military arm within its organization capable of challenging the might of the superpowers around the world. It started out as the armed wings of numerous cartels and rebel factions throughout the world. Because of the wealth obtained by Raul Menendez, he used said resources obtained from his drug empire and weapons dealing to invest in experimental cyber weapons tech and entire hidden armies of drones and elite trained sleeper agents infiltrated in most of the world's top organization's and communities, including many special forces units and intelligence agencies. These huge number of troops, armored vehicles, drones, special forces, and unconventional armies would cause rampant chaos around the world in many smaller conflicts to build up Raul Menendez's empire. As these conflicts occurred, Menendez would negotiate business dealings with the informal economies of the world so as to increase the financing flowing into his organization.
As a result, his international organization managed to recruit and equip large amounts of extremely well-trained operators from his huge political movement and gathered millions of unemployed former soldiers as well as civilians rallying to Raul Menendez's cause such as the Mercs and Militia. Powerful non-state actors would also ally with Cordis Die, such as the ex-Pakistani ISI operating within the Af-Pak UN zone, granting access to advanced secret factories for war material.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_river_reversal
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Rivers_Inter-link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecocanal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canal_Istanbul
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasia_Canal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonglei_Canal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterranean%E2%80%93Dead_Sea_Canal
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Sea–Dead_Sea_Canal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Water_and_Power_Alliance
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahara_Sea
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicaragua_Canal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seine%E2%80%93Nord_Europe_Canal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sethu_Canal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sethusamudram_Shipping_Canal_Project
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South%E2%80%93North_Water_Transfer_Project
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamirabarani%E2%80%93Nambiar_link_canal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_Canal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Proposed_pipelines
- Might the above mentioned canals get built as shipping demands increase, national economies grow, and ice in the poles melts and raises the sea level?
What if The UN established a peacekeeping force tasked with cordoning off the environmentally sensitive areas of the planet that are close to war? Out of a desire to "protect the global interest"? Might this force become the new role for a marginalized UN, whose own targets for "protection" end up arming themselves or seeking exempt status?[1][2]
United Nations Standby Administration and Stabiliation Force (UNSASF)
NEW FGC OR US FIGHTER BASED ON THIS?:
The F/A-37 Talon is a near-future, single-seat fighter aircraft of the U.S. Navy in the 2005 film Stealth. In the film's fictional world, the only Talons are operating as a three-plane flight for field evaluation, from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (although actually filmed on the USS Carl Vinson[3]).
The Talon is capable of hypersonic flight with two combined Pulse Detonation/Scramjet engines. As the film's title suggests, the Talon has stealth capability, along with movable, forward sweep, switchblade wings, an internal cannon for close-in fights, and an internal rotary launcher with a wide variety of ordnance, including GAU-12 Equalizer, AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, AGM-88 HARM anti-radiation missiles, AGM-130C air-to-surface missiles (called "Blue Ferret" in the film), FAEs, or fuel air explosives, of an unknown variety, and Truncheon implosion bombs.
It has a Common Integrated Processor (CIP), a central "brain" capable of making damage assessments, not just on enemy forces, but on collateral and civilian casualties as well. The CIP can make complex calculations, like estimating nuclear fallout, or projecting odds of survival.
The Talon is capable of precise attacks with minimal destruction. Each pilot has a view-screen for each wingman. Controls are streamlined; the computer communicates through voice and projection displays. The Talons had transponders that directly linked with the pilots homebase or a carrier's advanced flight center. The Talon has a self-destruct system in case of system failure.
F/A-37 unique switch-wing design closely resembles patent #5,984,231 for "Aircraft with variable forward-sweep wing", issued to Northrop Grumman Corporation in 1999. This patent caused a wave of rumors about actual aircraft build with that design, with fictional name "Switchblade", that was publicized in November 2000 issue of Popular Science magazine. Moreover, according to aerospace journalist Steve Douglass, Northrop Grumman was one of the technical advisors for the Stealth film. Yet another plane sharing design characteristics with the Talon is the VF-19 Excalibur.
The cinema Talons also can perform a front-to-back flip-over (Pugachev Cobra) while in flight, per the Russian Su 37 Flanker-F. However, the Talon does it as a complete 360 roll, at high-G.
Technically, the F/A-37 should be called "Talon II", as the name "Talon" has already been assigned to the T-38 trainer aircraft.
The game Empire Earth features a fighter called the Talon in the "Digital Age Epoch". It is almost identical to the F/A-37, although it is a white land-based fighter instead of a black carrier-based one.
Specifications[]
Crew: 1 pilotPowerplant: 2 × Pulse Detonation/Scramjet enginesrange: 4,000 nmiMax Speed: Mach 4+Armament: 1 × General Electric M164 Vulcan cannon and a wide assortment of missiles and bombs
REGARDLESS OF WHAT THE REASON FOR THE GLOBAL WARMING SCARE ARE, THE FEAR IS MOTIVATING SOME VERY INTERESTING RESEARCH INTO CONTROL OF CARBON DIOXIDE. MIGHT SUCH TECHNIQUES ACTUALLY AID IN THE COLONIZATION OF VENUS BEFORE MARS? TERRAFORMATION WOULDN'T NEED TO OCCUR, JUST CONSTRUCTION OF FLOATING HABITATS IN THE LAYER O THE ATMOSPHERE WHERE TEMERATURES EVEN NOW ARE HABITABLE.
- the habitats are constructed of pure diamond; they expand by the utilization of a process that intakes carbon dioxide through vents and then uses energy drawn from the Venusian environment to compact the CO2 to such extremes that the carbon becomes pure diamond and the oxygen separates into breathable air. Most is stored for usage in breathing, combustion-intensive activities, and agriculture.
- The top of the habitat is a highly reflective white surface, designed to maximize the albedo and reflect as much heat into space as possible, while the underside of the habitat is pitch-black opaque to intake as much heat as possible from the surface for use in the habitat.
ARTICLES TO BE RE-WRITTEN/EXPANDED:[]
Hesperian Alliance
BQ-3 Ghost (REALISM CHECK)
Demographics of the Franco-German Commonwealth
First State of the Association (2011) (OFAS)
Franco-German Air Force
Franco-German Brigade
Franco-German Commonwealth
Military of the Franco-German Commonwealth
Nighthawk-Class Plasma Missile (REALISM CHECK)
Treaty of Berlin (FGC)
Nicaraguan Canal Initiative
Khmer-Singapore Confederation
Commonwealth Confederation(combined with Union of Free Zones at some point?)
Union of Free Zones (see above)
Liberators
ARTICLES TO BE CREATED AND WRITTEN:[]
Atlas Southern Pole Dynamo
Neuralizer
Project Magnus
Quantum Energy Transfer System
Wallbreaker Space Pod
Crown Incident
Guyanan Cooperative Union
Association of Lesser Antilles
Pacific Union of Insular States
Source Material From My Old Projects[]
This TL has numerous PODs. It is meant to illustrate the many twists and turns that history can take. What if the Russian Federation itself fragmented after the Soviet collapse in the early 90s, after a nuclear warhead was detonated in Moscow? What if European integration were further along? What if numerous wars in the Middle East yielded different outcomes, like Iraq achieving its aims in the Iran-Iraq War? What if Israel expanded its borders further through its numerous wars, becoming far more powerful than in OTL in relation to its neighbors?
What would the world look like if these events took different turns?
Differences[]
Former Soviet Union: After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the numerous wars that gripped the crumbling Eastern Bloc created fractures within the Russian Federation itself. By 1989 the Russian Republic, albeit still fairly large, was reduced in size to around an eighth of its former size, the final nail in the coffin being a nuclear detonation in Moscow by Chechnen terrorists. The rest of the federation had either declared independence or been annexed by neighboring nations, from Finland to Mongolia. [COULD BE USED AS BLUEPRINT FOR RUSSIA AFTER TEPID ERA?]
United States: On account of the circumstances surrounding the end of the Cold War, the United States has turned more inward, out of fear of befalling a similar fate as Russia. It still is the largest economy in the world, yet refuses to send its troops overseas on combat missions, instead using its arsenal of advanced weaponry to project its power, from unmanned bombers to tomahawk missiles. All exertions of power, however, are covert and anonymous. [BASIS OF US FOREIGN POLICY AFTER THE EXHAUSTION OF THE TEPID ERA?]
Middle East: After a decisive victory in the Iran-Iraq War, thanks to the Iran-Contras deal never occurring, Iraq gained the territories of Khuzistan, the Kurdish regions of Iran, and the islands of Abu Musa, and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs. Iraq is the dominant Arab state, its only real rivals in the region being Israel and Turkey, all American allies. [DOES IRAQ RECONSOLIDATE ITSELF IN THE FUTURE INTO A COHERENT REGIONAL POWER?]
Europe: The old European colonial powers fought to keep their colonies after WWII, supporting the efforts of one another. In spite of this, most colonies were lost-but not all. Portugal, Belgium, and France all managed to hold on to their colonies long enough for the borders to conform to the wishes of the native populations. A close relationship between the former colonial masters in Europe and the associated states of Africa developed, leaving the two more economically competitive in the world. Eventually, however, with the sudden collapse of the Soviet Union, much of the OTL chaos of the late 80s and early 90s ensued in the former Warsaw Pact nations; however, much of the military hardware was held onto by the Eastern European nations-including nuclear weaponry. These states formed an economic and military alliance and began pushing eastward. The threat of a powerful new bloc in the East led by Poland led to a closer integration of the European Union nations of the West. NATO was re-organized and merged into the EU's structures, giving it a powerful military. The UK decided to grow closer with its former colonies, namely Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. [DO THE FGC AND VISEGRAD PACT SPARK AN ARMS RACE WITH ONE ANOTHER?]
Nuclear Weapons: In the aftermath of the chaos that engulfed Eurasia as the USSR and its power base collapsed, many nuclear physicists found work in regimes around the world, from Taiwan to Argentina, all seeking to secure their national security from the perceived threat of a sole superpower, the United States, or some neighboring belligerent. Nuclear weapons are in the possession of anyone who has the industrial capacity to develop them, and the nonproliferation movement has turned into the US trying to balance nations by giving as many as possible nuclear weapons. [STATE OF AFFAIRS POST-TEPID ERA?]
Africa: The impoverished continent is even more fragmented than in OTL because of the American preoccupation with other parts of the world, leading to the loss of funds to nations dependent on American aid. Sudan broke apart early on, as did the Congo, Somalia, and many other states, creating new nations, like Biafra, Darfur, Somaliland, Katanga, and many others. [DOES THIS HAPPEN TO AFRICA IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE TEPID ERA AND AMERICAN PREOCCUPATION ELSEWHERE?]
Southeast Asia: The Vietnam War takes a surprise turn when the 1964 Race Riots in Singapore inspire Western politicians to pool thir efforts in the region to balance rising Soviet-aligned powers. A plan is hatched to form a Southeast Asian variant on the EU, a personal union between South Vietnam and the Federation of Malaya, intended to contain the Domino Effect in Southeast Asia with a Right-Wing puppet regime. The new nation, known on paper as the M-V Project for "Malaya-Vietnam," would become known as the Malay-Vietnamese Republic, or more commonly, the MVR. This nation would, as intended, dominate trade through the Strait of Malacca and into the South China Sea, generating considerable wealth domestically. But it would also grow into a pariah state, cutting its links with the Western powers and growing quickly into a prosperous rogue state. It would push forward a Third Way bloc of any nations in need of a patron against regional adversaries, funneling cash into their pockets, as well as supporting separatism and violence in Indonesia so that people would continue using the Strait of Malacca the MVR depended on for its wealth. Kampuchea, Burma, and the MVR formed ASEAN in 1967 to pool their collective resources toward development projects, one of which included a clandestine nuclear program. [WORKABLE INTO THE KHMER-SINGAPORE SCENARIO?]
Global Trends: The multipolar world that emerged in the aftermath of the Cold War has made the world an incredibly more complex and elaborate place. Every power wants its time in the light, and the UN reflects this now more than ever. It has become more of a forum for squabbles than a place where action actually gets done. This actually allows the US to worry more about domestic affairs and rely on supporting regional powers against one another. These regional balances of power have become the primary means of controlling the world. [POST TEPID ERA INSTEAD OF POST COLD WAR?]
1956[3][]
-After the Suez Crisis is resolved, the peace agreement makes the Suez Canal a UN-administered international zone, Africa a "Non-interference Zone" that neither the USA or USSR could interfere in by supporting different factions in post-colonial affairs, and allowed only the European powers to work together in deciding how to best manage decolonization in Africa. [AFTER ANOTHER ARAB-ISRAELI WAR?]
-The European Decolonization Authority is founded, which allows member states to call on other members to assist in conflicts related to decolonization, and handles the economics of decolonization(the organization's primary focus is in Africa, however). [SIMILAR BODY DEVELOPS IN AFRICAN UNION? AFRICAN SOVEREIGNTY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY?]
1960[4][]
-July 11, Katanga secedes from Congo, receiving the recognition and military support of Belgium and France through the EDA. The French veto a resolution sending peacekeeping troops into the Congo, preventing the further spread of the dissolution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with South Kasai declaring its independence on August 8, and two Congolese republics, East Congo and West Congo, both claiming sovereignty over each other's territory. The First Congo War ends 3 years later with a ceasefire and a DMZ established between the two, with peace efforts to be led by the French. [BASIS FOR FUTURE CONGO WAR SCENARIO?]
1964[]
Riots in Singapore attract the attention of the Americans to the region, seeing an opportunity to contain Communist influence further yet. A covert campaign against both Soviet-sponsored North Vietnam and Malayan socialist simpathizers led to the CIA giving guns and support to the Malay government, which is victorious and suppresses the unrest. In South Vietnam, the war is eventually fought to a standstill as Malayan troops poured into South Vietnam and helped force a settlement by capturing Ho Chi Minh. Following the first peace talks, the Viet Cong launched a surprise attack on Coalition positions, but were swiftly repelled. In the ensuing chaos, a military officer known only as "the Grand Dragon" seized power in South Vietnam and declared a personal allegiance to Malaya. The Majapahit Federation was established the following week under his leadership. A surprise military genuis, he managed to convince the Americans to fly bombing raids over North Vietnamese cities so as to have a better position at the negotiating table. The border stood where it had before the conflict and was recognized by both opposing parties. [USABLE IN KSC?]
1973[]
-The two Koreas, under political pressure from both the PRC and the USA, agree to confederate, with each Korean state agreeing to maintain their respective political and economic system until 1999, at which time a consensus on a single unified system of government. [OCCURS AFTER WEAKENING OF CHINA POST-TEPID ERA?]
-At the end of the Yom Kippur War, Jerusalem is declared an independent city-state (under UN administration until 1983), and the Palestinian territories become an independent state of Palestine. This new state is still fairly subservient to Israel, due to economic ties. They sign the Jerusalem Accords, a treaty meant to formalize any remaining disputes. [AFTER A FUTURE ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT?]
1978[]
-A push for closer ties with other members of the Commonwealth leads to the establishment of a Commonwealth Confederation between the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. This causes the UK to cut all political ties with the EC and other European integrationalist organizations, except for NATO. [[[Commonwealth Confederation|COMMONWEALTH CONFEDERATION]]?]
1982[]
After invading Iran two years earlier post-revolution, Iraq receives a welcome surprise in a Soviet invasion of northern Iran. By the end of the year, an isolated Iran negotiates a settlement with the Iraqis and Soviets, ceding to Iraqis Khuzestan and declaring a fatwa against terrorism in Soviet borders (this surprisingly is heeded by only a few groups and doesn't prevent the eventual destruction of Moscow at the hands of Chechen terrorists). Iran is required to demilitarize its border with Iraq or face another invasion. [FUTURE WAR AGAINST IRAN? DOES ANOTHER POWER BACK IRAQ AGAINST IRAN?]
1991[5][]
-The Visegrad Pact is signed by Poland, Romania, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Finland, establishing a defense and economic alliance between its members, who agree to share all military technology with one another and work towards the further weakening of the Russian state. [[[Visegrad Pact|VISEGRAD PACT]]?]
1993[6][]
-A suitcase nuclear device of 6 kilotons is detonated in Moscow by Chechen terrorists. This kills the President Boris Yeltsin, leading to widespread panic throughout the already unstable Russian Federation. The Visegrad Pact then launches an invasion of Russian territory, annexing Karelia to Finland, Kalingrad to Poland, and St. Petersburg to Estonia. [PART OF RUSSIAN WAR OF COLLAPSE?]
-In response, President Clinton declares the Clinton Doctrine, which calls for a more isolationist stance for the US, focusing instead on domestic affairs and only intervening through autonomous long-distance means( like missiles and drones). Unmanned systems receive a massive increase in funding, and clandestine intervention abroad is given over to a new Department of Overseas Covert Operations. This organization received a tremendous amount of funding and resources. A network of satellites is placed into orbit to monitor the world's oceans, and numerous Skylab space stations are constructed in orbit to maintain personel who maintain the expensive satellite network. [FOREIGN POLICY OF US AFTER TEPID ERA?]
-Gaza declares independence from Palestine. [PALESTINE NEEDS TO GET INDEPENDENCE FIRST; POST ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT?]
1994[7][]
-In the wake of the chaos to the east in Russia, the western European countries sign the Treaty of Rome, establishing a joint defense agreement within the structures of the EU, the integration of nuclear capabilities into one shared stockpile, the establishment of international naval battle groups around the member states' aircraft carriers, and the creation of a common monetary currency, the Euro, adopted by all members before the end of the century. [POST TEPID ERA?]
-Romania and Moldova formalize their union into one nation. [WITHIN VISEGRAD PACT AND POST TEPID ERA?]
-At a peace conference between Israel, Gaza, Palestine, Jerusalem, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, and Syria, the attending nations grudgingly agree to put aside their differences and form a military alliance against Iraq, the Levant Association. The organization would be headed in the Free City of Jerusalem. The organization grants the Israelis basing rights in Jordan and Syria, among other things. [DOES TURKEY'S RISE INSTEAD SPARK SUCH AN ALLIANCE? HOW COHERENT AND SUCCESSFUL IS IT?]
1995[8][]
-The federal government relinguishes control of the region of Chechnya, seeing this as the only move to avoid any further unrest. Other regions throughout the Caucasus declare their independence following Chechnya's, leading to a weak and vulnerable southwestern border. [PART OF RUSSIAN WAR OF COLLAPSE?]
-After the Hanish Islands dispute between Yemen and newly independent Eritrea, the Levant Association grants membership to Eritrea. The organisation's name is changed to the Association of Levant and Red Sea States (ALRSS) in order to account for the new addition. [OCCURS AFTER CIVIL WAR IN YEMEN?]
1996[]
-Turkey becomes the first nation to recognize the new states and signs the Grozny Charter, formalizing an alliance between Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Crimea, Gaugazia, Chechnya, Abkhazia, Ingushetia, Ossetia, Transnistria, North Cyprus, and Crimea. This allowed Turkey to stage military personel in the allied regions, and essentially turned them into protectorates. Their economies were linked to the Turkish through an FTA and a customs union. [TURKISH RISE AMIDST RUSSIAN COLLAPSE?]
1999[]
-The Transitional Confederation of Korean Nations agrees on a constitutional monarchial form of government, the Democratic Confederal Republic of Korea, with the Kim dynasty given symbolic powers, a capitalist economy throughout, and the Juche ideology manifesting in a Juche Party, a nationalist isolationist political party that has enough support to prevent the posting of foreign military forces on the Korean penninsula, much to China's pleasure. [POST-REUNIFICATION VIA CONFEDERATION?]
2001[9][]
Pakistan opens the port of Gwadar to Korean investment, after which dredging begins to deepen the port, and a Special Economic Zone open only to Korean investment is established in the city. [KOREAN RISE?]
2005[]
-Kosovo, Albania, and Bosnia join the Grozny Treaty Organization. [TURKISH RISE?]
2009[]
-Belgium is partitioned between an independent city-state of Brussels (run by the EU as a capital district), Luxembourg, France, and the Netherlands after the governmental strife that lasted since 2007. [INTEGRATED INTO FGC'S FORMATION PROCESS AND BELGIAN CIVIL WAR? ALLIANCES WITH SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES?]
FGC Ideas[]
Despite its name, the Franco-German Commonwealth consists of France, Germany, and Belgium, forming alongside Russia one of the core-states in the Eurasian Union.
Unification[]
Originally, the Treaty of Berlin was supposed to be the culmination of over half a century of diplomacy and agreements, finally unifying the European Union into one giant federation; but this was not to be. The new federation would require the relinquishment of all sovereignty and religion, forcing the removal of national and religious symbols everywhere. All nations within the new federation would be forced to give up their monarchies, a requirement that broke the camel's back in regards to relations with the states in the Commonwealth of Nations, most notably the UK.Too many separate national identities had evolved over many centuries. This resulted in what became as the EU Civil War, a series of revolts throughout Europe calling for the disbanding of the Union. However, after three years of negotiations by the member states, the Union was reformed as described by the Treaty of Berlin. The Franco-German Commonwealth and Russia would be at the top of a hierarchy that would govern EU affairs. The rest of the EU member states would be subject to the same status quo as during the earlier years, including usage of the Euro, membership in the free trade zone, and a say in European affairs. However, the UN demanded that the Eurasian Union only have one veto, forcing Russia and the Franco-German Commonwealth to share one veto.
International Relations[]
The Franco-German Commonwealth, along with Russia, are at the level of superpower, while the Eurasian Union is one of several hyperpowers, alongside The United States of America, the Republic of China, the United Kingdom, the Bolivarian Alliance, the Japanese Corporate Republic, the Federation of Judea-Israel, the Republic of India, the General Electric Megaconglomerate, the Kurtzweilian Martian Technate, the Anon Combine, and the Babelite Collective.