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Description

The Promise Of Eternal Youth:
A request by traveller76 for a post-story take on the 1965 book (which should explain quite a few things), Not With A Bang. In 1980 a British scientific project affiliated with the NHS discovers a formula that can regenerate and rejuvenate tissue. One member of the project takes samples, acquires a patent and markets it to several wealthy interest groups as a drug that can reverse ageing. Juvenex, the product derived from the formula, is sold at an exorbitant price that excludes it to almost strictly the wealthy upper class.

Investigations discovering Soviet ties to one of the investors in Juvenex production shortly after it debuts essentially see it appropriated by the UK government and then distributed around the world. The communist bloc, however, restricts Juvenex and declares it a contraband item. Tensions rise between the western and eastern powers once again, the Warsaw Pact – run by different and far more aggressive people compared to OTL – reinforces their borders and positions whilst China falls under the control of Quo Heng, the self-styled ‘second Mao,’ who reinstates somewhat more conventional Maoism with barely enough pragmatism to keep China relatively stable. Despite the shared rejection of juvenex relations between the two great communist powers does not improve and both belligerent governments continue to become more hostile.

Things also degrade in the western nations (and many in the Third World) as access to juvenex and the hypothetical ‘eternal life/youth’ it provides becomes a huge issue. There is some economic growth and technological process, even a little ahead of OTL in the case of the latter, but on the whole things start to stagnate and the wealth disparity becomes even more noticeable as disproportionate youth is added to the mix. Religious and civil rights groups both end up protesting it – though obviously for different reasons.

Then, in 1995, a terrible discovery is made. Researchers discover that people who have consistently taken Juvenex treatments develop a physical weakness to higher radiation levels than a normal person, developing tumours and other symptoms of radiation sickness at far higher rates than those without access to the drug. Efforts are made to find some means of reversing this problem but the news quickly leaks out to first the public and then over the border to the eastern powers – who are in very different places to OTL, for starters the USSR is still going moderately strong under a slightly liberalised but highly nationalist regime.

In a bid to weaken their enemies and tip the (still ongoing) Cold War back in their favour the USSR begins seeding the atmosphere with light radioactive fallout that, with careful planning and a lot of luck, spreads across most of the planet. It isn’t too harmful – in a relative sense – to most people though cases of radiation induced cancer do rise but the members of the western elite who have taken Juvenex are crippled with many dying. Most of NATO goes into panic, martial law is declared in the UK with many European nations following suit. The USSR then makes several diplomatic overtures demanding the pullback of US influence in key hotspots the new Soviet government wants to expand into.

The USA, also reeling from the death or mortal sickening of most of their leadership and wealthiest citizens, give a desperate response. Slipping into martial law themselves the remnants of high commands put together a final, desperate gamble. A false-flag operation is launched, seeding radioactive material from the upper atmosphere over China’s primary agricultural regions. Harvests, which had already been contaminated by the lower radiation doses from the USSR, are ruined in China and the USSR is implicated.

China and the increasingly dictatorial Quo Heng launch a ground invasion of Siberia and Central Asia in response. Russia withholds their nuclear arsenal in fear of a full, destructive war and simply deploys the Red Army. Thus begins the Great Fratricidal War of 96-98 and the greater radiation crisis.

By 2020 the world is still recovering from the scars of the 1990s but stability has finally been achieved.

Technologically this world is a bit all over the place. Some fields were much more advanced than OTL compared to 1980, particularly in the fields of biotechnology. Medicine, both as derivatives from Juvenex research and the needs of addressing radiation poisoning is ahead of OTL, at least in terms of accessibility. Computers, on the other hand, ended up becoming massive and cyberpunkish and remain similar to those found in the 80s and early 90s. Personal computers and mobile phones are still very chunky devices but power-cells for the latter have, at least, become as efficient as OTL batteries.

A lot of technology has been developed or focused on more in response to the irradiation and environmental damage caused by the Fratricidal War and the actions that led up to it. Hydroponics is being expanded as a farming technique primarily because it can be conducted indoors, protecting crops from the fallout that is still quite prevalent along with the construction of massive greenhouses, some of which are now tiered with UV lights to promote further growth. Roofed public gardens and parks are also becoming common in major cities (that have green spaces, anyway) in order to reduce risk of contamination. Then, of course, there’s the medication to deal with the problems caused by the side-effects of Juvenex – that leave survivors in states of horrible agony and deformity but do help keep them alive. Cancer may not be cured any time soon but advanced surgeries and treatments for it have also been pioneered, with mixed and gradual results.

Testing of produce for radiation contamination is practically mandatory for every nation that isn’t at risk of imminent famine. Of course, reality has forced many governments to ignore some of these tests or risk not providing enough food for their populations – minor irradiation is considered acceptable until hydroponics takes up the slack (unlikely).

Economically this world is, of course, poorer than OTL with the world at large still recovering from the events of the 90s. Many prominent companies collapsed after their leaders, most of whom took Juvenex, died or were incapacitated with the events of the Fratricidal War dealing final blows to many corporations who survived that upheaval (Disney is clawing its way back from the brink but barely). Whilst the traditionally developed world have been hit hard, especially Europe, Russia and China, they are still doing better than the Developing World which almost fell apart completely due to the loss of global trade – and the loss of Soviet and Chinese financial backing in the case of the socialist states.

The doubling down of Maoism in China also saw Western corporations look to other spheres in the Developing World to provide cheap labour and laxer regulations for international business. The World Trade Organisation also never got off the ground in this world so no global regulations on trade practises has existed with each bloc doing their own thing and developing nations receiving terms independently when looking for investment. Both of these practises have been revived in the post-Fratricidal War world, often to the detriment of said developing nations as the reopening of trade lines has also led to refugees and immigrants fleeing for the more stable nations of North America, Europe and East Asia.

Industrial intellectual piracy is a big problem as many developing nations have stolen or bootstrapped modern technology to help with their rebuilding. There’s an entire espionage culture based around this particular form of theft.

With so much fallout still in the atmosphere the global environment has generally taken a hit. Though weather patterns did force some of it south, most of the worst damage from the Warsaw Bloc’s attempts to weaken their enemies and the Fratricidal War primarily ended up hitting the Northern Hemisphere. Ecological clean-up campaigns are taking place with massive popular support from public and religious institutions but most governments just let those groups do their thing, not participating and only interfering if the environmentalists get in the way of their economic recovery.

Though they took the earliest blows in the chaos of the 1990s, the western world has largely rebuilt and is leading the world’s recovery.

Out of every nation on Earth the United States embraced Juvenex more than any other – even the UK, where it all started. Celebrities, corporate elite, politicians and countless desperate poorer people who sunk their finances into the wonder drug suffered and died. Despite avoiding the worst of the Fratricidal War’s fallout the loss of public morale with the death of many iconic leaders coupled with the poor harvests did a number on the United States. Social paradigms were shook up and after a brief fallback on old values the nation ultimately went through a massive change as it emerged into the 21st Century.

A massive wave of immigration, primarily from Africa, Latin America and China, has defined the last few decades for the United States. The current political policy is one of acceptance and integration of these new arrivals with many of the new companies that sprung up in the wake of the collapse of many older, established corporations aggressively headhunting new talent. A post-crisis baby-boom has also taken place though tragically so has an increase in infant mortality from the global irradiation. Current efforts to expand the scope of protected agriculture exist primarily because of the population increase and the need to keep the nation fed – rationing is even in place in some of the more populous cities.

Current American social trends could be described as ‘progressive’. The generation that has grown up in the wake of the Fratricidal War supported all kinds of social support programs, particularly universal healthcare and environmentalist initiatives. Politics also leans in decidedly more left-wing directions compared to OTL though there has been a sort of left-wing religious revival due to increase in membership from the Christian immigrant community. The American right-wing has moved in a more libertarian and civic nationalist direction and has found a surprising amount of support from later generation immigrants, many of whom take issue with the recent wave of large-scale immigration and the benefits they receive (that their grandparents didn’t get or need when they arrived, thank you very much).

With the slight cooling in Euro-American relations and the subsequent shrinking of American military assets on that continent, most of the USA’s attention has turned to the Pacific and the after-effects of the Fratricidal War. They are still a member and primary financier of NATO but most US military attention is focused on their allies in East Asia. Continued instability in the Chinese mainland is America’s biggest foreign concern and efforts are being made to beef them up a bit should the worst happen.

The USSR won the Fratricidal War but lost their superpower status. Up until the turn of the century it even looked like the lengths the Soviets went to achieve victory would ultimately defeat them as their economy practically collapsed, the worst of the fallout hit their territories, several years of famine starved the population and a few spitefully launched Chinese nukes struck some major cities.

In order to survive a lot of changes have been made. The first is the relaxation of government control of both the economy and regional politics. Now politicians who are not members of the Communist Party (but still vehement and dedicated communists) are allowed to run for office in the SSR administrations. The Politburo is still the demesne of the Party members and authoritarianism is still prevalent but these changes, along with a new tolerance for – explicitly peaceful and carefully regulated – public petition and protest against government policy are seeing real changes take place in the USSR. Of course the KGB are still in operation but they have to be a bit more subtle than they were in the war itself.

Businesses and farms are still state owned but the personnel responsible for managing them now have permission to sell surplus goods freely. This hasn’t reduced the black market too much yet but a decrease in illegal purchases will be noted in a few years. Unfortunately the Soviet economy remains primarily an extraction based one and the greater chance of radiation contamination in their crops means the chances of selling them overseas has been drastically reduced. The international need for rugged weaponry, construction equipment and agricultural gear has seen an increase in exports on new Soviet products that have been developed in the years leading up to and immediately after the Fratricidal War where workers needed things that would last and not need replacing.

Unfortunately even with these changes the USSR is in dire straits. The economy is still barely recovering from the events of the 90s and the slight liberalisation of local governments, combined with the blow to national morale from the Fratricidal War and the abandonment of the Warsaw Pact states has galvanised public unrest. Communists angry with the introduction of minor state-capitalism, disgruntled nationalists looking to win independence in the SSRs, revanchists who want to dismantle communism, syndicalists and more have clashed in the streets with police and KGB personnel and even one another. At the rate things are going something in the USSR is going to give way.

Despite the utter dog-pile of disasters that struck them during the 90s the PRC is technically still around. In order to survive the Communist Party has been forced to employ some almost schizophrenic national policy in order to rebuild what’s left of their nation.

Maoism has been dropped. After the damage Quo Heng’s policies and leadership did to the nation the Politburo has instead turned to an odd combination of ideas (and squaring of circles) to stabilise what’s left of the PRC. The army holds a lot more power, having fought to keep the government in power but only on the provision that High Command receive positions in the Politburo as well. Whilst the government is still highly authoritarian they too have adopted a form of state-capitalism and opened local administrative positions to elections but oversight is everywhere. Most candidates for openly elected positions usually have to be vetted and people considered problematic or unpatriotic tend to be arrested on one trumped up charge or another.

Chinese society, despite the liberalisation of local politics, is swimming in propaganda. A lot of it is based on demonising the Soviets for the Fratricidal War (conveniently leaving out that they started it) and promoting distrust of the Western nations for sitting it out – or goading the Soviets with Juvenex and the medical weaknesses it brings, take your pick. Trade is mostly focused on the Western nations, despite the animosity, with a number of experimental Special Economic Zones to revitalise productivity. Rebuilding the damages from the war is still ongoing and has been combined with efforts to modernise and upgrade the national infrastructure and fortify it for the inevitable round-two: or the grab-fest that will follow the USSR’s collapse should that happen instead.

After the Fratricidal War the USSR pulled out of Eastern Europe, paving the way for the European Community to annex/extend offers of membership to them. Unfortunately between their own economic woes, the loss of many important members of the elite and the state of unrest in the former Warsaw Pact almost overwhelmed the EC and they had to pull out of numerous other commitments, cooling their relations with the USA and almost splitting NATO.

Though they have absorbed a lot of territory the EC is considering further integration. Bringing their new members up to their standards is holding these proposals back but the more they recover from the 90s crises and the worse relations with the USA become the more these particular talking heads get attention. With the current state of NATO in question the biggest point of contention is the formation of a single ‘European’ army to defend their borders. Since the current deal with the USSR forbids the placement of NATO affiliated forces on their borders the need for a separate military to defend their new territories is quite dire. Ongoing immigration from former Yugoslavia, the Middle East and Africa are the other issue. Like most other Western nations the Europeans have been quite welcoming – as long as they integrate. Backlashes are beginning to form, though, and with so many ongoing projects there may be trouble in the future.

Africa took the worst hits in the crisis. Though they’ve avoided the worst of the fallout the intentional radiation seeding by the Soviets has still contaminated vast areas of the continent and the economic troubles that followed collapsed numerous rickety African regimes. The subsequent migration of practically anyone who can has also left the continent with a serious case of brain-drain that can’t be countered since most stable governments still have so many other problems to deal with. Foreign investment by Europe and India is picking things back up a bit but its also seriously starting to look like neocolonialism, especially in the less stable nations that have become dependent on foreign military support.

Socially this world is a bit of a mess, things having progressed very differently compared to the OTL 1960s and onwards. The planet is essentially more left-wing with government run medicare programs being essential for nearly every state with a functioning economy and social welfare networks being common across the developed world. The civil rights movements took off roughly on schedule but didn’t see a significant boost until the 90s and its aftermath. Racial equality is much further progressed and seeing less of a backlash compared to OTL in Europe and the Anglosphere. An artistic revolution has also taken place since the catastrophe though it tends towards either the garish – in an attempt to project colourful, positive ‘vibes’ into the world – or ‘artificially natural’ - to showcase the beauty of nature to populations practically locked in their environmentally safer cities and homes.

At the same time nationalism and ‘bloc politics’ have never been stronger and there isn’t as much international cooperation. Fears of another Cold War style scramble for influence look more and more real even as the world gradually recovers from the damage of the 90s. Whilst much of the developed world is more open to immigration there isn’t significant support for multiculturalism. If people want to take up residence in Europe or North America they’re expected to integrate and adapt to the dominant culture. Whilst organised religious politics has taken a huge hit with the death of much of the Christian lobbyist leadership and the discrediting of Islamic extremism (the US not funding many of them as counter-communist insurgents and the collapse of Saudi absolutism in the 90s primarily contributed to that) there has been an upswing in religiosity again. The Catholic Church, entrenched opponents of Juvenex, are probably one of the most influential religious organisations of the 21st Century and fund a lot of charity missions in the developing world to help deal with the ongoing environmental problems.

If there’s one new problem that defines the early 21st Century its the rise of populism. Populist leaders and movements are rising up across Africa and parts of Latin America and China has seen a quiet unrest develop as dissatisfaction with the CCP bubbles more and more. In the developed world a backlash few expected in this more inclusive age is growing as well. Nothing has escalated to dangerous levels but the fragile status quo that is trying to survive in this irradiated world is developing cracks – cracks it won’t survive if they grow any wider.

Description

The Promise Of Eternal Youth:
A request by traveller76 for a post-story take on the 1965 book (which should explain quite a few things), Not With A Bang. In 1980 a British scientific project affiliated with the NHS discovers a formula that can regenerate and rejuvenate tissue. One member of the project takes samples, acquires a patent and markets it to several wealthy interest groups as a drug that can reverse ageing. Juvenex, the product derived from the formula, is sold at an exorbitant price that excludes it to almost strictly the wealthy upper class.

Investigations discovering Soviet ties to one of the investors in Juvenex production shortly after it debuts essentially see it appropriated by the UK government and then distributed around the world. The communist bloc, however, restricts Juvenex and declares it a contraband item. Tensions rise between the western and eastern powers once again, the Warsaw Pact – run by different and far more aggressive people compared to OTL – reinforces their borders and positions whilst China falls under the control of Quo Heng, the self-styled ‘second Mao,’ who reinstates somewhat more conventional Maoism with barely enough pragmatism to keep China relatively stable. Despite the shared rejection of juvenex relations between the two great communist powers does not improve and both belligerent governments continue to become more hostile.

Things also degrade in the western nations (and many in the Third World) as access to juvenex and the hypothetical ‘eternal life/youth’ it provides becomes a huge issue. There is some economic growth and technological process, even a little ahead of OTL in the case of the latter, but on the whole things start to stagnate and the wealth disparity becomes even more noticeable as disproportionate youth is added to the mix. Religious and civil rights groups both end up protesting it – though obviously for different reasons.

Then, in 1995, a terrible discovery is made. Researchers discover that people who have consistently taken Juvenex treatments develop a physical weakness to higher radiation levels than a normal person, developing tumours and other symptoms of radiation sickness at far higher rates than those without access to the drug. Efforts are made to find some means of reversing this problem but the news quickly leaks out to first the public and then over the border to the eastern powers – who are in very different places to OTL, for starters the USSR is still going moderately strong under a slightly liberalised but highly nationalist regime.

In a bid to weaken their enemies and tip the (still ongoing) Cold War back in their favour the USSR begins seeding the atmosphere with light radioactive fallout that, with careful planning and a lot of luck, spreads across most of the planet. It isn’t too harmful – in a relative sense – to most people though cases of radiation induced cancer do rise but the members of the western elite who have taken Juvenex are crippled with many dying. Most of NATO goes into panic, martial law is declared in the UK with many European nations following suit. The USSR then makes several diplomatic overtures demanding the pullback of US influence in key hotspots the new Soviet government wants to expand into.

The USA, also reeling from the death or mortal sickening of most of their leadership and wealthiest citizens, give a desperate response. Slipping into martial law themselves the remnants of high commands put together a final, desperate gamble. A false-flag operation is launched, seeding radioactive material from the upper atmosphere over China’s primary agricultural regions. Harvests, which had already been contaminated by the lower radiation doses from the USSR, are ruined in China and the USSR is implicated.

China and the increasingly dictatorial Quo Heng launch a ground invasion of Siberia and Central Asia in response. Russia withholds their nuclear arsenal in fear of a full, destructive war and simply deploys the Red Army. Thus begins the Great Fratricidal War of 96-98 and the greater radiation crisis.

By 2020 the world is still recovering from the scars of the 1990s but stability has finally been achieved.

Technologically this world is a bit all over the place. Some fields were much more advanced than OTL compared to 1980, particularly in the fields of biotechnology. Medicine, both as derivatives from Juvenex research and the needs of addressing radiation poisoning is ahead of OTL, at least in terms of accessibility. Computers, on the other hand, ended up becoming massive and cyberpunkish and remain similar to those found in the 80s and early 90s. Personal computers and mobile phones are still very chunky devices but power-cells for the latter have, at least, become as efficient as OTL batteries.

A lot of technology has been developed or focused on more in response to the irradiation and environmental damage caused by the Fratricidal War and the actions that led up to it. Hydroponics is being expanded as a farming technique primarily because it can be conducted indoors, protecting crops from the fallout that is still quite prevalent along with the construction of massive greenhouses, some of which are now tiered with UV lights to promote further growth. Roofed public gardens and parks are also becoming common in major cities (that have green spaces, anyway) in order to reduce risk of contamination. Then, of course, there’s the medication to deal with the problems caused by the side-effects of Juvenex – that leave survivors in states of horrible agony and deformity but do help keep them alive. Cancer may not be cured any time soon but advanced surgeries and treatments for it have also been pioneered, with mixed and gradual results.

Testing of produce for radiation contamination is practically mandatory for every nation that isn’t at risk of imminent famine. Of course, reality has forced many governments to ignore some of these tests or risk not providing enough food for their populations – minor irradiation is considered acceptable until hydroponics takes up the slack (unlikely).

Economically this world is, of course, poorer than OTL with the world at large still recovering from the events of the 90s. Many prominent companies collapsed after their leaders, most of whom took Juvenex, died or were incapacitated with the events of the Fratricidal War dealing final blows to many corporations who survived that upheaval (Disney is clawing its way back from the brink but barely). Whilst the traditionally developed world have been hit hard, especially Europe, Russia and China, they are still doing better than the Developing World which almost fell apart completely due to the loss of global trade – and the loss of Soviet and Chinese financial backing in the case of the socialist states.

The doubling down of Maoism in China also saw Western corporations look to other spheres in the Developing World to provide cheap labour and laxer regulations for international business. The World Trade Organisation also never got off the ground in this world so no global regulations on trade practises has existed with each bloc doing their own thing and developing nations receiving terms independently when looking for investment. Both of these practises have been revived in the post-Fratricidal War world, often to the detriment of said developing nations as the reopening of trade lines has also led to refugees and immigrants fleeing for the more stable nations of North America, Europe and East Asia.

Industrial intellectual piracy is a big problem as many developing nations have stolen or bootstrapped modern technology to help with their rebuilding. There’s an entire espionage culture based around this particular form of theft.

With so much fallout still in the atmosphere the global environment has generally taken a hit. Though weather patterns did force some of it south, most of the worst damage from the Warsaw Bloc’s attempts to weaken their enemies and the Fratricidal War primarily ended up hitting the Northern Hemisphere. Ecological clean-up campaigns are taking place with massive popular support from public and religious institutions but most governments just let those groups do their thing, not participating and only interfering if the environmentalists get in the way of their economic recovery.

Though they took the earliest blows in the chaos of the 1990s, the western world has largely rebuilt and is leading the world’s recovery.

Out of every nation on Earth the United States embraced Juvenex more than any other – even the UK, where it all started. Celebrities, corporate elite, politicians and countless desperate poorer people who sunk their finances into the wonder drug suffered and died. Despite avoiding the worst of the Fratricidal War’s fallout the loss of public morale with the death of many iconic leaders coupled with the poor harvests did a number on the United States. Social paradigms were shook up and after a brief fallback on old values the nation ultimately went through a massive change as it emerged into the 21st Century.

A massive wave of immigration, primarily from Africa, Latin America and China, has defined the last few decades for the United States. The current political policy is one of acceptance and integration of these new arrivals with many of the new companies that sprung up in the wake of the collapse of many older, established corporations aggressively headhunting new talent. A post-crisis baby-boom has also taken place though tragically so has an increase in infant mortality from the global irradiation. Current efforts to expand the scope of protected agriculture exist primarily because of the population increase and the need to keep the nation fed – rationing is even in place in some of the more populous cities.

Current American social trends could be described as ‘progressive’. The generation that has grown up in the wake of the Fratricidal War supported all kinds of social support programs, particularly universal healthcare and environmentalist initiatives. Politics also leans in decidedly more left-wing directions compared to OTL though there has been a sort of left-wing religious revival due to increase in membership from the Christian immigrant community. The American right-wing has moved in a more libertarian and civic nationalist direction and has found a surprising amount of support from later generation immigrants, many of whom take issue with the recent wave of large-scale immigration and the benefits they receive (that their grandparents didn’t get or need when they arrived, thank you very much).

With the slight cooling in Euro-American relations and the subsequent shrinking of American military assets on that continent, most of the USA’s attention has turned to the Pacific and the after-effects of the Fratricidal War. They are still a member and primary financier of NATO but most US military attention is focused on their allies in East Asia. Continued instability in the Chinese mainland is America’s biggest foreign concern and efforts are being made to beef them up a bit should the worst happen.

The USSR won the Fratricidal War but lost their superpower status. Up until the turn of the century it even looked like the lengths the Soviets went to achieve victory would ultimately defeat them as their economy practically collapsed, the worst of the fallout hit their territories, several years of famine starved the population and a few spitefully launched Chinese nukes struck some major cities.

In order to survive a lot of changes have been made. The first is the relaxation of government control of both the economy and regional politics. Now politicians who are not members of the Communist Party (but still vehement and dedicated communists) are allowed to run for office in the SSR administrations. The Politburo is still the demesne of the Party members and authoritarianism is still prevalent but these changes, along with a new tolerance for – explicitly peaceful and carefully regulated – public petition and protest against government policy are seeing real changes take place in the USSR. Of course the KGB are still in operation but they have to be a bit more subtle than they were in the war itself.

Businesses and farms are still state owned but the personnel responsible for managing them now have permission to sell surplus goods freely. This hasn’t reduced the black market too much yet but a decrease in illegal purchases will be noted in a few years. Unfortunately the Soviet economy remains primarily an extraction based one and the greater chance of radiation contamination in their crops means the chances of selling them overseas has been drastically reduced. The international need for rugged weaponry, construction equipment and agricultural gear has seen an increase in exports on new Soviet products that have been developed in the years leading up to and immediately after the Fratricidal War where workers needed things that would last and not need replacing.

Unfortunately even with these changes the USSR is in dire straits. The economy is still barely recovering from the events of the 90s and the slight liberalisation of local governments, combined with the blow to national morale from the Fratricidal War and the abandonment of the Warsaw Pact states has galvanised public unrest. Communists angry with the introduction of minor state-capitalism, disgruntled nationalists looking to win independence in the SSRs, revanchists who want to dismantle communism, syndicalists and more have clashed in the streets with police and KGB personnel and even one another. At the rate things are going something in the USSR is going to give way.

Despite the utter dog-pile of disasters that struck them during the 90s the PRC is technically still around. In order to survive the Communist Party has been forced to employ some almost schizophrenic national policy in order to rebuild what’s left of their nation.

Maoism has been dropped. After the damage Quo Heng’s policies and leadership did to the nation the Politburo has instead turned to an odd combination of ideas (and squaring of circles) to stabilise what’s left of the PRC. The army holds a lot more power, having fought to keep the government in power but only on the provision that High Command receive positions in the Politburo as well. Whilst the government is still highly authoritarian they too have adopted a form of state-capitalism and opened local administrative positions to elections but oversight is everywhere. Most candidates for openly elected positions usually have to be vetted and people considered problematic or unpatriotic tend to be arrested on one trumped up charge or another.

Chinese society, despite the liberalisation of local politics, is swimming in propaganda. A lot of it is based on demonising the Soviets for the Fratricidal War (conveniently leaving out that they started it) and promoting distrust of the Western nations for sitting it out – or goading the Soviets with Juvenex and the medical weaknesses it brings, take your pick. Trade is mostly focused on the Western nations, despite the animosity, with a number of experimental Special Economic Zones to revitalise productivity. Rebuilding the damages from the war is still ongoing and has been combined with efforts to modernise and upgrade the national infrastructure and fortify it for the inevitable round-two: or the grab-fest that will follow the USSR’s collapse should that happen instead.

After the Fratricidal War the USSR pulled out of Eastern Europe, paving the way for the European Community to annex/extend offers of membership to them. Unfortunately between their own economic woes, the loss of many important members of the elite and the state of unrest in the former Warsaw Pact almost overwhelmed the EC and they had to pull out of numerous other commitments, cooling their relations with the USA and almost splitting NATO.

Though they have absorbed a lot of territory the EC is considering further integration. Bringing their new members up to their standards is holding these proposals back but the more they recover from the 90s crises and the worse relations with the USA become the more these particular talking heads get attention. With the current state of NATO in question the biggest point of contention is the formation of a single ‘European’ army to defend their borders. Since the current deal with the USSR forbids the placement of NATO affiliated forces on their borders the need for a separate military to defend their new territories is quite dire. Ongoing immigration from former Yugoslavia, the Middle East and Africa are the other issue. Like most other Western nations the Europeans have been quite welcoming – as long as they integrate. Backlashes are beginning to form, though, and with so many ongoing projects there may be trouble in the future.

Africa took the worst hits in the crisis. Though they’ve avoided the worst of the fallout the intentional radiation seeding by the Soviets has still contaminated vast areas of the continent and the economic troubles that followed collapsed numerous rickety African regimes. The subsequent migration of practically anyone who can has also left the continent with a serious case of brain-drain that can’t be countered since most stable governments still have so many other problems to deal with. Foreign investment by Europe and India is picking things back up a bit but its also seriously starting to look like neocolonialism, especially in the less stable nations that have become dependent on foreign military support.

Socially this world is a bit of a mess, things having progressed very differently compared to the OTL 1960s and onwards. The planet is essentially more left-wing with government run medicare programs being essential for nearly every state with a functioning economy and social welfare networks being common across the developed world. The civil rights movements took off roughly on schedule but didn’t see a significant boost until the 90s and its aftermath. Racial equality is much further progressed and seeing less of a backlash compared to OTL in Europe and the Anglosphere. An artistic revolution has also taken place since the catastrophe though it tends towards either the garish – in an attempt to project colourful, positive ‘vibes’ into the world – or ‘artificially natural’ - to showcase the beauty of nature to populations practically locked in their environmentally safer cities and homes.

At the same time nationalism and ‘bloc politics’ have never been stronger and there isn’t as much international cooperation. Fears of another Cold War style scramble for influence look more and more real even as the world gradually recovers from the damage of the 90s. Whilst much of the developed world is more open to immigration there isn’t significant support for multiculturalism. If people want to take up residence in Europe or North America they’re expected to integrate and adapt to the dominant culture. Whilst organised religious politics has taken a huge hit with the death of much of the Christian lobbyist leadership and the discrediting of Islamic extremism (the US not funding many of them as counter-communist insurgents and the collapse of Saudi absolutism in the 90s primarily contributed to that) there has been an upswing in religiosity again. The Catholic Church, entrenched opponents of Juvenex, are probably one of the most influential religious organisations of the 21st Century and fund a lot of charity missions in the developing world to help deal with the ongoing environmental problems.

If there’s one new problem that defines the early 21st Century its the rise of populism. Populist leaders and movements are rising up across Africa and parts of Latin America and China has seen a quiet unrest develop as dissatisfaction with the CCP bubbles more and more. In the developed world a backlash few expected in this more inclusive age is growing as well. Nothing has escalated to dangerous levels but the fragile status quo that is trying to survive in this irradiated world is developing cracks – cracks it won’t survive if they grow any wider.