Euro-Middle Eastern War

The Euro-Middle Eastern War was a military conflict that is considered the beginning of the Resource Wars.
==Background==
The war was a result of Europe's dependence on oil imported from the Middle East. Price hikes made by Middle Eastern exporters led to hostility and then war, following the United States invasion of Mexico in 2051, which had a similar goal of securing exports of oil from Mexico to the United States.Fallout Bible 0: "2051: Seeking to protect business interests and their oil supply, the United States begins to exert increasing pressure on Mexico, citing the political instability and pollution stemming from Mexico as a threat to the United States. Various economic sanctions serve to destabilize Mexico, and the United States military enters Mexico to keep the oil refineries running and making sure oil and fuel continue to make their way north across the border... at Mexico's expense." The war began in April 2052, immediately causing oil prices to skyrocket and forcing many smaller nations into bankruptcy.Fallout Bible 0: "2052 April: The Resource Wars begin. Many smaller nations go bankrupt, and Europe, dependent on oil imports from the Middle East, responds to the Middle East's rising oil prices with military action. The long drawn-out war between the European Commonwealth and the Middle East begins." Already beleaguered due to a deteriorating international situation, the UN tried keeping the situation contained. However, between May and July, a string of heated debates caused nations to withdraw from the UN, leading to its disbandment in July, three months after the Commonwealth invaded the Middle East.Fallout Bible 0: "2052 May-July: The United Nations, already suffering, begins to collapse. In a series of heated debates, many nations withdraw from the organization as the UN tries to keep the peace. At the end of July, the United Nations is disbanded."
The major casualty of the war was the United Nations, which disbanded on July 27, 2052.Capitol Post terminal entries; Capital Post Top Stories -- July 27, 2052, Nations Disbanded! The European Commonwealth subsequently dissolved into bickering, quarreling nation-states fighting over the world's remaining resources.Fallout intro:"In the 21st century, war was still waged over the resources that could be acquired. Only this time, the spoils of war were also its weapons: Petroleum and Uranium. For these resources, China would invade Alaska, the US would annex Canada, and the European Commonwealth would dissolve into quarreling, bickering nation-states, bent on controlling the last remaining resources on Earth." The conflict would only escalate. In December 2053, Tel Aviv was wiped out by a terrorist nuclear weapon.Fallout Bible 0: 2053 Dec: "Like an exclamation mark on the end of a very bad year, a terrorist nuclear weapon destroys Tel Aviv." In January 2054, limited nuclear exchanges took place across the Middle East, starting a nuclear scare worldwide.Fallout Bible 0: 2054 Jan: "Limited nuclear exchange in the Middle East raises fears throughout the world." 
In 2054, the war had become so widely known and feared that it managed to scare the United States into setting Project Safehouse in motion. The project, financed by junk bonds, was designed to create shelters, called vaults, for the populace in the event of a nuclear war or deadly plague.Fallout Bible 0: "2053: The socially transmitted "New Plague" arises, killing tens of thousands. The United States closes its borders and the first-ever national quarantine is declared. The source of the plague is unknown, but rumors persist that it is a genetically engineered weapon."Fallout Bible 0: "2054: In light of the Euro-Middle-Eastern conflict and the plague scare, the United States sets Project Safehouse in motion. The project, financed by junk bonds, is designed to create shelters, called Vaults, for the populace in the event of a nuclear war or deadly plague. Construction begins late in 2054 and proceeds rapidly due to advances in construction technology."Fallout: The Roleplaying Game Rulebook p.250: "Publicly, Project Safehouse was a nationwide effort to build a series of underground bunkers, or Vaults, in which the United States population could hide if the unrest of the Euro-Middle Eastern War, the New Plague, and the collapse of the United Nations accelerated into outright nuclear holocaust. " The conflict would only stop in 2060 when the oil fields in the Middle East ran dry.Fallout Bible 0: "2060: The Euro-Middle Eastern War ends as the oil fields in the Middle East run dry... there is no longer a goal in the conflict, and both sides are reduced almost to ruin." Both the European Commonwealth and the Middle Eastern powers were reduced to ruin with no victor.
==References==
Non-game
Category:Resource Wars conflicts
Category:European Commonwealth
es:Guerra Comunidad Europea-Oriente Medio
fr:Guerre Euro-Moyen-Orientale
pt:Guerra Euro-Oriente
ru:Война Европейского Содружества и стран Ближнего Востока
uk:Війна Європейського Співтовариства та Середнього Сходу