Timeline (The Fire Rages On)

NOTE: This is no longer accurate. 
This timeline was made from the perspective of 13 June 2024, and consequently these predictions can be made null and void within days. The following predictions have been made based off polling data, expert opinions, and my own personal opinion, so they may not be 100% accurate. 
==2024==
[[File:Gabriel Attal1.jpg|thumb|328x328px|French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal]]
The far-right continues to make gains in Europe, as the 2024 European Parliament elections show strong results for the Identity and Democracy group in France, Austria and Germany; French president Emmanuel Macron decides to take a gamble and hold a snap election on 30 June 2024, which, to no one's surprise, ends up with Marine Le Pen's National Rally winning the most seats in the National Assembly, with 229 seats, however short of the required majority. Because of this, Macron reappoints Gabriel Attal as Prime Minister, who attempts to form a coalition between Ensemble and The Republicans; however, due to party leader Éric Ciotti's support for an alliance with the National Rally, talks fall through, and Attal then realigns his cabinet towards the left, entering negotiations with the New Popular Front. Due to their unified disgust for the far-right, they are able to broker a left-wing coalition government with 301 seats in total, preventing Le Pen's party from leading the country for now. Meanwhile in the Netherlands, a new cabinet consisting of New Social Contract (NSC), the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), the Party for Freedom (PVV), and the Farmer–Citizen Movement (BBB) is inaugurated in early July after a lengthy government formation, with independent Dick Schoof serving as Prime Minister. In the United Kingdom, the 2024 election takes place on 4 July, resulting in Rishi Sunak and his Conservative Party being voted out in favour of Keir Starmer's Labour Party with the latter party winning 401 seats, while Nigel Farage's Reform UK shockingly takes fourth place behind the Liberal Democrats, winning 63 seats. Later in July and August, the Summer Olympics are held in Paris, with the United States topping the medal table once again, its fourth time in a row, while China comes in second.
The wars in Ukraine and Gaza meanwhile continue raging on, with Russia's recent invasion of Kharkiv Oblast being halted by Ukrainian forces. Russian president Vladimir Putin once again threatens the United States with "the might of Russia" in response to further U.S. delivery of equipment to Ukraine, most definitely hinting at nuclear war, although as per usual, the man is bluffing. The scheduled peace summit in Switzerland is held, demanding Russia to return Ukraine's territory, pay reparations, and allow a United Nations investigation into possible war crimes; Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov laughs the summit off as "a complete joke", requesting to the West that they accept "the new reality in Eastern Europe". In mid-July 2024, Ukraine manages to conduct a small counteroffensive in Kharkiv, slightly pushing back Russian forces in the region, while Russia also makes some small advances in eastern Ukraine, taking some small, unimportant villages and towns; overall, the war is still a stalemate, for now. Meanwhile over in the Middle East, Israel continues its Rafah offensive despite demands from the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court, various countries and human rights organisations to halt such actions; the ICC officially issues arrest warrants for Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, and Ismail Haniyeh, and Israeli leaders Benjamin Netanyahu (Prime Minister) and Yoav Gallant (Minister of Defence) in early July, which results in both support and criticism, with Netanyahu continuing to dismiss the arrest warrants and any allegations of Israeli war crimes as "antisemitic". 
[[File:Trump Truth Social 2024 sentencing.jpg|left|thumb|402x402px|Donald Trump ranting on Truth Social following his sentencing]]
Political tensions in the United States meanwhile only continue to grow, especially in the aftermath of the conviction of former U.S. president Donald Trump, who attempts to appeal the ruling. On 27 June, incumbent president Joe Biden arrives on CNN to debate Trump as scheduled, but the man doesn't show up; Trump later defends his decision by claiming he was too busy trying to focus on appealing the court's decision, although many experts suspect that Trump was actually afraid of Biden smashing him at the debate. The real crap comes on 11 July, when the sentencing takes place; due to falsifying business records and defying the gag order issued by Judge Juan Merchan, Trump is officially sentenced to two years in prison. This results in many protests against the ruling and sentence, with many Republican Senators and lawmakers criticising the act as politically motivated; however, Trump is still in the race, albeit with a slightly reduced number of supporters; 1 in 10 GOP voters no longer support Trump, opting to vote either for Biden, independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr., or simply not voting. Trump refuses to accept his prison sentence, and issues one last post on Truth Social before being dragged off to state prison. However, despite the clouds appearing slightly brighter for Biden, they're still pretty dark, with his "unconditional support" for Israel harming his reputation among Muslim and young voters.
In Africa, things remain dark, with not many seeing a silver lining. Despite talks between the Government of National Unity and the Government of National Stability, Libya remains divided between the two governments, with skirmishes along the border escalating into the Third Libyan Civil War in August 2024. The United Nations and the African Union encourages both governments to come together and form a unified government to prevent Libya from being dismantled, but their calls are ignored. The African Corps (the name of the Wagner Group units in Africa since late 2023) assist the Government of National Stability, making slight advances against the Government of National Unity. An attempt at sending a peacekeeping mission to Libya through the UN Security Council is vetoed by Russia. The African Union and the European Union, in one of the rare moments of collaboration between the two blocs, decide to jointly authorise a peacekeeping mission themselves, dubbed the "European and African Union Peacekeeping Mission in Libya", with France and Kenya leading the operation; this brings Kenya further into the international spotlight, as Kenya also leads a UN-authorised intervention in Haiti in early September 2024. Meanwhile, in Sudan, the civil war continues raging on, with no clear end in sight; same goes for Syria over in the Middle East, which still is fighting among itself, although Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan begins hyping up a fourth Turkish offensive even more after two years of no information.
The Chinese economy in the latter half of 2024 finally reaches pre-Covid levels after a long turbulent four years of recovery, growing 5.7% from September 2023 much to experts' shock, who had predicted a much slower economic recovery. Regardless, China is still authoritarian, so nothing has changed on that front. However, internationally, China makes some huge financial investments in Central Asia and Africa, while foreign investment in China itself plummets; instead, foreign investment flows more to India, which investors from across the Western world seeing India as a more reliable economic partner and a better investment than China, especially due to India having more economic growth than China. Over in Myanmar, the civil war still rages on, albeit with significant advances by the People's Defence Force and other opposition forces. Japan also faces economic growth and foreign investment, with some economic experts predicting that Japan could perhaps become the world's third largest economy in the world behind India and the United States by 2030, although others argue that Japan isn't growing, but China is weakening. Back in the Middle East once again, Israel finally begins finishing up its operations in Gaza, with most of Hamas' leadership either killed or gone into Lebanon or Egypt. Regardless, Netanyahu declares the "main operation" over on 29 October 2024, with military occupation scheduled to begin. 
Back to Europe, things continue to happen. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer finds himself in controversy surrounding the UK's continued support for Israeli actions regardless of allegations of war crimes, with continued protests occurring across the United Kingdom; however, one good thing he does is scrap the controversial Rwanda plan in August 2024, ending the process of sending countless of refugees and asylum seekers to perish in Rwanda. Rishi Sunak meanwhile resigns as Tory leader following his party's catastrophic defeat at the 2024 election, with Penny Mordaunt succeeding him as Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition. Over in Austria, the far-right Freedom Party dances through the polls following the European election in Austria, and in an upset victory wins the September election; however, due to President Alexander van der Bellen's opposition to leader Herbert Kickl over his pro-Kremlin and far-right positions that also undermine the rule of law in Austria, the party doesn't get invited to form a government. Instead, the Social Democratic Party, led by Andreas Babler, is invited to form a government. A center-left to left-wing coalition between the Social Democrats, NEOS, the Greens, and surprisingly the Beer Party, successfully preventing the far-right from coming into power in Austria for now. Back in Ukraine, in September 2024, the Ukrainian army conducts a low-level counter-offensive in Eastern Ukraine, this time with its supplies replenished by the United States and the EU, and despite fierce Russian resistance, manages to regain some small villages and even retakes Avdiivka from Russian forces, albeit in utter destroyed condition. This sends a message to the international community; Ukraine is not yet lost, and Ukraine isn't going to surrender to the Russian invaders anytime soon. Back to Germany, three state elections are held, which results in the Alternative for Germany winning all but one - the election in Saxony; however, due to most parties' policy not to cooperate with the AfD in any government, the party is not included in any state coalitions. On 1 October, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg follows through on his promise not to seek another term, and Mark Rutte, the former Dutch prime minister, is selected to replace him. Armenia meanwhile fully withdraws from the CSTO on 5 October after having previously announced to do so in June 2024. 
[[File:2024 election prediction (ThatAltHistGal5).jpg|left|thumb|318x318px|The 2024 US election results in incumbent president Joe Biden winning reelection with 287 electoral votes]]
And lo and behold, the 2024 US election is held, after years of fierce anticipation from the international community. This is it - this is the moment that defines US politics for the next four years. After a tough campaign from both Biden and Trump, with Biden's unconditional support of Israel harming him while Trump's conviction also harming him, especially since he's not able to appear in public at all for the election due to serving in prison. So, who will win this tough race? Ultimately, Biden wins reelection with 287 electoral votes behind him, while Trump wins 251 electoral votes. While not getting any electoral votes for states for himself, independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wins 17.1% of the popular vote, the best result for a third-party candidate since Ross Perot in 1992; he takes disillusioned voters from both Biden and Trump. His relatively successful candidacy may inspire him to run again, with some political experts predicting a potential return of the "Sons of Camelot" to the presidential office, although it's hard to say as of now. Meanwhile, the Democrats lose the Senate to the GOP, but barely retake the House of Representatives. Trump, as promised, refuses to recognise the results of the election, once again claiming electoral fraud and encouraging his voters to "start a crusade against the Dems" to prevent Biden's second inauguration.
==2025==
The 119th Congress is inaugurated on 3 January, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries now becoming the Speaker of the House of Representatives. On 6 January, many fear of another Capitol insurrection akin to 2021; however, due to increased security around the perimeters, only a few protests around the Capitol take place, with no one able to breach its defences to interrupt the certification of Biden's second victory. A similar number of GOP lawmakers oppose certifying Biden as the victor, but nobody cares about them - Biden is officially certified, and is inaugurated alongside Vice President Kamala Harris for a second term on 20 January 2025. In his inauguration speech, Biden thanks the American people for staying with him, even "In these trying times", and also thanks them for "having faith in democracy". A pro-Trumpist attempts to assassinate Biden, but misses and instead shoots an innocent bystander, and is quickly apprehended by security forces. Following his second inauguration, Biden travels to Brussels and meets with Mark Rutte in a show of solidarity with NATO institutions. Meanwhile, on 2 February 2025, former US president Jimmy Carter dies at the age of 100, becoming the first former president to reach that age and the most recent former president to pass away. A proper funeral is held for him, with Biden and former presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama attending the session; Biden makes a speech at the funeral, stating that Carter "was a huge proponent of peace, love, and cooperation in the world", and that the world would now "feel empty without our beloved Jimmy Carter".
[[File:News article Israel 2025.jpg|thumb|345x345px|The Guardian article written by Labour member Naama Lazimi]]
Israel finishes off the remainder of Hamas leftovers, fully occupying Gaza. Netanyahu declares an election scheduled to be held on 27 January, which then results in Netanyahu's Likud retaining the largest amount of seats in the Knesset despite polls indicating that he would lose. This results in anti-Netanyahu protests with claims of electoral fraud, which the international community remains pretty divided on. Regardless, Netanyahu forms a government with the far-right Otzma Yehudit, the National Religious Party, and the right-wing United Torah Judaism, Yisrael Beiteinu, and Shas, becoming the most right-wing government in Israeli history, much to public scrutiny, with opposition parties National Unity, Yesh Atid, and Labour all denouncing the move as an attempt by Netanyahu to maintain his grip on power, warning of a possible Putin-style dictatorship in the country. Regardless, the new coalition begins encouraging Israeli settlers to colonise Gaza, which is condemned by the international community, including Biden, who remarks, "now the war with Hamas is over, the region should be returned to stability, not more instability".
Meanwhile, over in France, Attal resigns on 13 January after a disagreement over the 2025 economic budget; as a result, Macron decides to appoint Olivier Faure as Prime Minister; Faure becomes the first left-wing prime minister in France since Bernard Cazeneuve in 2017. In the UK, Mordaunt resists calls from the more right-wing members of the Conservatives to enter negotiations with Reform UK for a potential merger. Back in Ukraine, after a stalemate in Winter, Russia attempts a "spring offensive" in eastern Ukraine; however, due to the fierce Ukrainian defence lines set up during the Winter season, only a few villages are captured by the Russian advance. The media dubs the attempted offensive an "utter failure", showing how tired Russian soldiers are getting on the frontlines. All the while, Putin is trying to increase his power back home in a desperate attempt to maintain his now-fragile hold on power, while also limiting the rights of the Russian people; he is clearly getting more stressed, and stress isn't good for your well-being. Rumours start arising in February that Putin is becoming more and more ill; the Kremlin of course denies this, claiming that "the President remains in good health", most likely to keep public morale and support for Putin and the war high. However, in most rumours there's always an atom of truth, and this rumour didn't come out of nowhere. Now, it's not a question of whether Putin will die, but when he will die. Kazakhstan meanwhile announces its intention to withdraw from the CSTO in a similar fashion to Armenia, citing that Putin could no longer guarantee its security. 
In Syria, after many months of hyping an operation, Turkey launches "Operation: Restoring Peace" on 18 March against the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, sweeping through northern Syria; the United Nations urges a ceasefire in the region, but Turkey moves on. capturing important positions across the north; Turkey also launches an offensive against the Islamist Syrian Salvation Government, supporting rebels in the region. However, Turkey avoids directly fighting the Syrian government due to a 2020 ceasefire agreement between Turkey, Syria and Russia, and for now Turkey wishes to respect that agreement...for now. Biden also condemns Turkish actions in the AANES, but it doesn't do anything. On 2 May 2025, Minister of National Defence Yaşar Güler declares the objectives of the offensive to be complete, having created a mostly unified front while creating a new one in northeastern Syria east of Qamishli. Due to the Turkish offensive in the north, Syria is also able to retake some territory from the AANES.