A Future Map Prediction
Explanation of some of the major changes by region (not necessarily in chronological order):
North America:
As its politics became less and less reflective of Canada as a whole, Quebecois nationalism began to grow, culminating in the government holding a referendum for Quebec become independent. It succeeded by a fairly large margin, and a gradual transition to independence from Canada took place over the following years, with the two countries remaining highly interconnected in many ways.
The United States, while still fairly important on the world stage, has nevertheless lost quite a lot of its power as China, India, and several other lesser regional powers have gained it. After several reactionary presidents under whose leadership the US fought to remain on top, America finally settled into its position in the new, multi-polar world. Puerto Rico and Washington D.C. both gained statehood, while Hawaii (whose Native people were influenced by the rise of the Neo-Traditionalist movement of returning to historical forms of government) established a sub-national restoration of the monarchy.
The Central American Federation, formed by a union between Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador (and, after the South American War (see below) Nicaragua), is federal republic created with the intention of increasing the influence of the Central American nations on the world stage. While the CAF aims to someday incorporate all of Central America, Costa Rica currently has no intention of joining, as it is already prosperous on its own thanks to its thriving tourism, and Panama has decided to wait in joining until a such a time in which Costa Rica joins.
In the Caribbean, the newly formed Caribbean Confederacy (consisting of most of the smaller Caribbean islands) has become a tourism powerhouse in the region, along with the newly democratized Cuba. Haiti, on the other hand, has closed itself away from the world à la North Korea under a highly authoritarian monarchical dynasty.
South America:
With the collapse of the Venezuelan regime, Colombia took over to help maintain order. While initially only meant to be a temporary occupation, both parties were fairly happy with the arrangement and remained united to form the Republic of Gran Colombia. Inspired by the success of this Union and that of the CAF, Guyana and Suriname (and later French Guiana, after gaining independence) united to form the multilingual Guyanan Union.
Most of the change in South America, however, results from the South American War. With the rise of far right, nationalist, authoritarian leaders in Brazil and Chile, the two countries found themselves allied with the BRICKPACT, an authoritarian alliance led by China and Russia. Influenced by the rise of Neo-Traditionalism (especially within BRICKPACT), an aging Bolsonaro reinstated the monarchy (although mainly as a puppet) and proceeded to conquer Uruguay in attempt to "reunite the Empire." The Uruguayan government in exile fled to Argentina, asking for assistance in retaking their country. However, because of Brazil's support by BRICKPACT, the Argentineans were wary about provoking a war they felt they could not win. However, after being angered by the results of the Arusha Conference (explained further below, but in it China and Russia agreed not to support Brazil, or any of their Western hemisphere allies, in conquest attempts), the possibly senile Bolsanaro foolishly attacked Paraguay, which called Argentina to action. Peru, Gran Colombia, and Bolivia (fearful of the power-hungry Brazil) also came to the aid of Argentina, while Chile, Cuba, and Nicaragua's authoritarian leaders all came to Brazil's aid.
After a hard fought, brutal war (much of which took place in the steamy jungles of the Amazon), Brazil and its allies were defeated. Several of Brazil's western provinces were handed over to Bolivia and Gran Colombia, while Peru and Bolivia took parts of Northern Chile. The Guyanan Union, who had helped to support the Argentine Alliance financially, took Portuguese Guyana, while Nicaragua was integrated into the CAF and Cuba was democratized under the care of Gran Colombia. Chile was temporarily occupied and democratized under joint Peruvian-Bolivian control, and the same went for Brazil under Argentine control. Argentina held on to the Southern Brazilian provinces for several years after Brazil was granted independence as a constitutional monarchy, although they were eventually released as the independent Republic of South Brazil. Finally, the Amazon was put under direct United Nations control to preserve its great biodiversity and natural resources.
Australia and Oceania:
Little has changed in this peaceful, often forgotten region of the world, although several small territorial changes and governmental restructurings have occurred, the most obvious of which center around Papua New Guinea. After a referendum declaring their intention to gain independence from the Papuan state, the island of Bougainville existed as an independent nation for a few years before integrating into the Solomon islands. Additionally, when Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei united under the Indonesian, or Malay, Union, the people of West Papua organized a mostly peaceful movement to be granted independence, which succeeded and led to their integration into Papua New Guinea, with whom the people shared more cultural connections.
As their allies in Europe and America grew more staunchly anti-Chinese, Australia and New Zealand, with their strong economic ties the East Asian Sphere, joined with Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and several other strong democratic powers in the East Asian Democratic Neutrality Pact, which promised neutrality in conflicts between NATO and BRICKPACT in exchange for close political and economic ties with both sides. This lead to a flourishing, highly advanced and democratic Pacific Bloc which leads the world in many technological advances and cultural media.
China:
With the rise of China as a global superpower, it is unsurprising that the center of much of the World Power shifted from West to East. However, rather than simply overtaking the existing powers completely, a multi-polar world power division developed, with various world powers allying with each other in a contently shifting balance of world power.
China stands at the head of one of the most powerful of these Alliance Blocs, BRICKPACT. While the meaning of the acronym has shifted over time, it is currently accepted to stand for Belarus, Russia, Iran, China, the Khanates, Philippines, Annam (or Vietnam with the "V" upside-down), Congo, and Thailand. However, the bloc contains more than these countries, and several are only included for the acronyms sake (Belarus, for example, is only a sub-national region of Russia and was included to fill in for Brazil after it allied with the Argentinean led Alianza del Sur following its defeat in the South American War). BRICKPACT started as an alliance between the Authoritarian regimes of Brazil, Russia, Iran, China, and Kazakhstan as a counter to NATO, but quickly became a more inclusive bloc which advocated for a dissolution of the Western, Democratic led world in favor of a more multicultural world with a wide range of governmental systems. This led them to embrace Neo-Traditionalism, which advocated for a return to old cultural values, structures, and government systems while still embracing most modern technology and some societal progress deemed by the people (or more often, their leaders) to be acceptable. However, Neo-Traditionalist are not central to all members of the bloc, nor are they exclusive to BRICKPACT. It is simply the alliance which most thoroughly embraced the ideology.
This evolution in BRICKPACT can largely be traced back to internal changes within China. When the pact was formed, China was an Authoritarian country under the control of the CCP, and thus focused mainly on other Authoritarian countries for allies, regardless of ideology. It sought to expand its economic, military, and cultural influence across the world. Under president Xi Jinping, China grew to huge international importance, while at the same time developing a nationalist sentiment which led to several laws and initiatives to purge China of what it saw as "Western imperialist effects" and replace it with more traditional Chinese ideas and objects. This included such initiatives as the Hanfu movement, which required traditional Han Chinese dress in some governmental and public positions, while encouraging modified forms of it for daily wear to replace Western clothing. As he aged, Xi Jinping became an almost legendary figure and, in the ultimate symbol of the what was deemed as "The Chinese Cultural Renaissance, " Xi was proclaimed Emperor, restoring China to imperial rule for the first time since the Qing. The new position of emperor was to be somewhat less powerful and more ceremonial than in the past for Xi's successors, while he was to retain his considerable powers as both president and Emperor until his death.
With this new political direction for the country, China (and BRICKPACT by extension) became a huge proponent of Neo-Traditionalist movements across the world, including their ally Russia, from whom they receive portions of outer Manchuria in return for support in the civil war between the Czarists and the Republicans. However, seeing the embrace of multiculturalism around the world by the newly rebranded CIP (Chinese Imperial Party), the ethnic minorities in Chinas own Tibetan, Xinjiang, and North Korean territories (explained below) began protesting against the Han Chinese culture and government being forced upon them. As tensions rose and independence motivated terrorists attacked Beijing, burning half of the Forbidden City, the Chinese government embraced the Imperial Federalization policy being pioneered in the Persian Empire, in which ethnic minorities and other such groups were granted large amounts of self rule in return for loyalty and tributary taxes to the Empire. The Dalai Lama was instated as the ruler of Tibet after years of exile and several other Chinese regions were granted new leaders (some democratic, like in Hong Kong, others monarchical).
East Asia:
Due to their close connections with China and India, many East and Southeast Asian Countries gained considerable power on the world stage. Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore (later joined by several Oceanian Countries) formed the previously mentioned East Asian Democratic Neutrality Pact, which let them prosper thanks to their connections with both NATO and BRICKPACT. Japan and Korea remain centers of world media, leaders in technology, and setters of cultural trends. While all of the nations do have large Neo-Traditionalist movements, only in Japan have these seen any real political success. Under the leadership of Atarashī Dentō, Japans Neo-Traditionalist Party, the government not only restored minor powers to the Emperor and encouraged the wearing of traditional clothing in formal settings, but even broke its promise of strict neutrality by supporting the Russian Czarists financially in return for Sakhalin island, an action which drew international condemnation. However, for the most part, these prosperous east Asian nations have experienced an era of peace and stability, with Taiwan and China even mutually recognizing each other as independent nations after years of fighting.
North Korea, however, is a different story. While originally nominally allied to China and BRICKPACT, Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Un's threats of nuclear war caused them to be seen as a stain on the blocs reputation. After several bloody skirmishes between the Koreas, the Chinese agreed at the Arusha conference to provide no support to the Kim regime and a promise to help contain them should they attack South Korea again. This scared Kim Jong-Un, leading a a desperate nuclear attack on South Korea which was luckily intercepted by a highly vigilant South Korean Air-force, who had been expecting an attack of some kind since the Conference. The rest of the World sprung into action, with China quickly neutralizing the North Korean Nuclear Arsenal, leading to a huge nuclear explosion at the storage area for the missiles. The horrifying effects caused by this explosion not only prompted an immediate surrender from the North Korean government (who had overthrown Kim Jong-Un and killed him and his family only hours after the disaster when they saw they had no chance of victory without horrific destruction to their country), but also sent a feeling of horror across the whole world at the destructive power of nuclear bombs.
As the Chinese occupied North Korea, anti-nuclear protests swept the globe. China, the US, and the EU led a national summit in Geneva calling for denuclearization. In what came to be known as the Armageddon Arguments, representatives from countries from all around the world, with the notable absence of Brazil (who was currently embroiled in the South American War and thus boycotted the summit), debated for nearly 2 months over how to denuclearize. This eventually resulted in a huge overhaul of the powers of the United Nations. In the final agreement, all the countries who had nuclear weapons were expected to limit their number to an absolute maximum of 25, with economic punishments for any nations with more than 5. No new nations could gain nuclear weapons, and all spare weapons were to be disposed of or handed over to the UN. The UN had the power to raise an army, collect funds from its member states, make laws that governed such things as fundamental human rights, and hold land (a power that would be put to use the next year with the Amazon Territory), among other powers. It was given a capital in Geneva to be administered entirely by itself, and was also given jurisdiction over many nuclear bases around the world.
North Korea, the country that started it all, was quietly placed under Chinese control, and eventually had a king reinstated to rule over it as a tributary state in the Chinese Empire.
South and Southeast Asia:
Much like China, India has grown its power considerably, becoming the leader of a mostly regional bloc of allied states. It bills itself as the more democratic, anti-Western, multicultural power. Among its close allies stand Myanmar, the Himalayan states, Afghanistan, and the Indonesian islands.
After the Armageddon Arguments and the decision to de-nuclearize, one major power refused to hand over its nuclear weapons - Pakistan. Mounting tensions with India in the Kashmir region caused led to a militaristic build up of weapons by the Pakistanis. Eventually, a small border disagreement between soldiers blew up into a full scale war. The Pakistani government requested assistance from the Chinese, who refused (despite previous alliances) due to their refusal to give up their nuclear warheads. Alone in its war, the Pakistanis started talks about denuclearization, but these ideas were quickly suppressed when an even more fascistic dictator rose to power, resolving to fight on alone for as long as possible. They secured a small alliance with Tajikistan and received some minor funding from a few Middle Eastern countries, but were for the most part on their own.
India, meanwhile, had the indirect support of much of the world, as well as a military alliance with the Afghans, who saw this as an opportunity to grab Pashtu land in Pakistan. Despite years of infighting and civil war, the people of Afghanistan united in their cause against the Pakistanis with an unseen fervor. Farmers and herders, in addition to soldiers, descended from the hills to invade their neighbor.
Threats of nuclear war hung heavy over all parties, and India was less vicious in their attack, holding back out of fear of provoking the Pakistanis into doing something drastic. They and the Afghans were able to take out several Northern nuclear sites, but the Pakistanis began moving their bombs south, into the well defended hills of Baluchistan. However, thanks to the influence of the Afghans, the people of Baluchistan rebelled, taking over the nuclear sites only days before a threatened launch.
Being attacked from all sides, the Pakistani government finally surrendered. The leaders of India, Afghanistan, and representatives from the self proclaimed Independent State of Baluchistan met with representatives from Pakistan in the Himalayan city of Thimphu to discuss the future of the defeated nation. It was eventually decided to award the Pashtu lands of Pakistan to the victorious Afghans, who had experienced a wave of nationalism in the wake of the war. The Baluchistan was to united with Afghanistan loosely for the benefit of both countries. Each would function mostly independently, but they would work together on foreign affairs. The rest of Pakistan was to unite with India to form the South Asian Federation. In this system, Pakistan and India would be equal partners in a greater federal government, while their constituent states would themselves be part of their greater country. Several Indian provinces, such as Kashmir, Sikkim, and Tamil Nadu would later also argue for equal status as India and Pakistan in the Federation.Bangladesh would quickly join the union, while Nepal, Bhutan, and Myanmar would join the looser, EU-like South Asian Sphere. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, would refuse, aligning itself more with China. The Chinese owned several port cities in the country, as well as some of the surrounding land, leading some to consider the country to be, for all intents and purposes, a colony of the Empire. Nevertheless, the Sri Lankan people experienced an era of great prosperity, acting as a major trade node for china in the Indian ocean.
In South East Asia, this sort of Neo-Imperialism by the Chinese Empire can also be seen. Thailand, styling itself as the Siamese Empire in an effort to remind others of its glorious past, has become a major player in the region. It first sponsored independence efforts of several non-Burmese peoples in Myanmar, quickly absorbing them into the Empire as client states, much to the displeasure of the Burmese. Emboldened by its success at expansion, it quietly made Laos its subject with only a few small battles in what would become anticlimactically known as the Siamese-Laotian Disagreement. Vietnam, a rapidly growing industrial nation, meanwhile, united with a struggling Cambodia to form Vietnam-Cambodia. However, due to the internal domination of Vietnam within the union, it is instead often known as the Vietnamese Empire, as Cambodia serves as little more than a client state.
However, despite the seeming success of these South East Asian countries, they, (along with the authoritarian, dictatorial Philippines [Yes I know I spelled it wrong on the map, it was done on Paint so there is no going back...] are all tributary states to China, held completely under its thumb in most foreign matters. The Indonesian, or Malay, Union, on the other hand, is both highly successful and far more independent thanks to its alliance with India. It had become a trade and industrial powerhouse and a naval power in the region. The three countries who united to form the Union (Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei) all maintain some amount of independence from one another (enough to keep the peace) while still remaining highly integrated with a system of extra fast, hydroplane ferries to shuttle between the islands. One of the only big disagreements within the Union is, rather humorously, the name. People from the Malaysian regions like to refer to it as the Malay union, while those from Indonesia and Brunei prefer the Indonesian Union.
