Earth, 2174

[Hawksguard]

Love the overall style. Very crisp & clean. Also very interesting to see some of the 'futurist' choices you made...like Cuba becoming part of the U.S. Also thought it was interesting how you made a huge chunk of Saharan Africa part of your Islamic superstate. What with global warming and desertification, you could just as easily have labeled it "Empty".

Very nice.

[Juggernaut1981]

Politically and Socially Xinjiang is a highly Islamic-influenced society in China. It would make sense if it was an Islamic Union-aligned almost breakaway segment of China.

[bartmoss]

Thanks for the feedback, guys.

Xinjiang is indeed a semi-breakaway segment of China, the 22nd Century version of Taiwan, in a way. Of course the details differ.

Hawksguard, for this setting it is necessary for me to assume that global warming is non-catastrophic, merely "problematic". But, yes, the Islamic Union is poor, hungry, and desperate, which is why it was able for them to put their squabbles aside and actually unify under a strong leader.

[RogerStenning]

The way things are going over here with the EU at the moment, it's highly likely that a few governments wil fall out of the EU due to economic problems - just look at the trouble Greece is in right now, for example; others, like Great Britain (why on Earth do folks insist on calling us the "UK"? Fagh!), may well secede from the EU over the sovereignty question - there are still a lot of naysayers with regard to a 'federal' Europe, after all, particularly the Danes, from what I've read - just idle comments, but the map's looking good - more power to your drawing arm!

[bartmoss]

Thanks for the input.

Well, the problem is: What is a short term fad, and what a true long term trend? It's really, really hard to say, and my Future History contains almost no short term predictions. Still, you got to make certain assumptions.

Like so: The recent trouble with Greece were solved, since the alternative was a framentation of the EU. All of Europe realized that it was probably better off with the EU than without it, and rolling back the Euro simply wasn't practical without causing a major economic meltdown. So the Europeans sat down, gritted their teeth, and did what was necessary. Part of that included more centralized power - and a unified fiscal policy. When riots by naysayers escalated and resulted in several deaths, the EU police forces began a "no tolerance" policy towards rioters. In the long term, the demonstrators were proven wrong: The measuers not only saved the European Union, it strengthened the Union. Eventually, as the EU emerged as a true economic, political and military superpowers, the last holdouts were forced to acknowledge that complete isolation was not sustainable. Even Great Britain, the last hold out, was forced to cede sovereignty to the EU in order to remain relevant in European and Global politics when the Briggs dictatorship made a continued alliance between London and Washington impossible.

[RogerStenning]

No problem

Hmm... interesting NFH (Near-Future History) there; not sure I actually completely agree with it, but what the heck, always good to see other opinions on the topic, it being a movable feast, and all that

Briggs dictatorship? Ooooo... wanna hear more

[Hai-Etlik]

why on Earth do folks insist on calling us the "UK"? Fagh!

"Great Britain" is physical geography (The name of the island). "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" is political geography (The name of the state). And in this particular context, it's political (You're talking about the political entity, not the lump of rock) so "United Kingdom" is more appropriate.

[bartmoss]

No problem

Hmm... interesting NFH (Near-Future History) there; not sure I actually completely agree with it, what the heck, always good to see other opinions on the topic, it being a movable feast, and all that

Well the moment you create a FH you create an AH, unless you are psychic So I figure, let's make it interesting. And I do have some specific design goals, I am not simulatiing simply to simulate; simulation is a means for me to get to where I want to go. If I make sense?

Briggs dictatorship? Ooooo... wanna hear more

Religious dictatorship under F. E. Briggs, United States of America, circa 2086 until 2101, ended by the 2nd American Civil War and resulting in the foundation of the Second American Republic. At least ~10 Mio dead, due to ruthlessness of belligerents and high population density in contested areas. "it could never happen here" was a popular theme used by pundits, analysts and reporters before the war. Liberation led to reforms in US political system, strict separation of state and church, a culture of Atheism and Rationalism, and a renewed awareness in the general populace that politics is serious business and must be treated as such. "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." - Thomas Jefferson

[RogerStenning]

"Great Britain" is physical geography (The name of the island). "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" is political geography (The name of the state). And in this particular context, it's political (You're talking about the political entity, not the lump of rock) so "United Kingdom" is more appropriate.

Hmm. And this demonstrates why I think so little of polititians and their "citizenship" ideas. We're blinkin' *subjects* lol

Well the moment you create a FH you create an AH, unless you are psychic So I figure, let's make it interesting. And I do have some specific design goals, I am not simulatiing simply to simulate; simulation is a means for me to get to where I want to go. If I make sense?

Yep, makes sense; I follow FH/AH and AW theory alright

Religious dictatorship under F. E. Briggs, United States of America, circa 2086 until 2101, ended by the 2nd American Civil War and resulting in the foundation of the Second American Republic. At least ~10 Mio dead, due to ruthlessness of belligerents and high population density in contested areas. "it could never happen here" was a popular theme used by pundits, analysts and reporters before the war. Liberation led to reforms in US political system, strict separation of state and church, a culture of Atheism and Rationalism, and a renewed awareness in the general populace that politics is serious business and must be treated as such. "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." - Thomas Jefferson

Wow. Messy. And rather... worryingly... plausible!

[Hai-Etlik]

Hmm. And this demonstrates why I think so little of polititians and their "citizenship" ideas. We're blinkin' *subjects* lol

So am I; Canada may not have "Kingdom" in its name, but it is one. I kinda like having a monarch though as long as she doesn't actually do anything but wear funny hats and wave at people (And admittedly, she doesn't actually live here). It really bothers a lot of Americans when they find out . One would think that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, or the Queen's portrait on all our coins and our $20 bill would give it away but it still comes as a surprise to a lot of them.