Great Interlude

The "**Great Interlude**" was the period between the end of the **First Cold War** in 1993 and the beginning of the **Second Cold War** in 2022.

Despite the relatively short period of time, the period held many changes to global society and the standing geopolitical order worldwide. The decline of petroleum-based energy became fully contested by clean energy and would begin to be fully phased out by the end of the Interlude. The growth of automation and computers would result in the Third Industrial Revolution by the end of the 2010s, however this was followed by a global recession in the mid 2020s.

Politically, this era coincided a rise in global cooperation, starting with the European Union and Andes Cooperative Union in the 1990s, and ended with the rise of authoritarianism, particularly in Eurasia, Turkey, and South America. Throughout the 2000s, China was marked with a period of intense sociopolitical upheaval and civil war. Meanwhile India experienced a wave of ultranationalism and militarism which pitted it against the rest of the world order. Terrorism played a huge part in international affairs, with the events of October 1st and June 26th being pivotal in shaping global affairs.

Space became an ever-increasing area of interest during the Great Interlude. Multiple nations landed humans on **Luna** in the 1990s and 2000s for the first time, and colonization of Luna began in the 2000s, eventually opening up to full colonization in the early 2020s. Humans also began to reach farther out into the solar system. The first manned landing on **Mars** was made by an international mission in 2019, and by the end of the Interlude three missions had landing on the surface, with the creation of a permanent surface base being feasible.

## Developments

### War & Politics

* The **Soviet Union** partially collapsed, with the release of the Baltic states, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, and Turkestan. In 1997, it reformed into the **Union of Eurasian Republics**.
* China collapsed into civil war in 2003, ending in 2016 with the independence of Tibet and the emergence of the **Chinese Second Republic**. This allowed **Japan** to more-or-less become the dominant superpower within East Asia.
* **India** became increasingly more militarized and ultranationalist, absorbing the smaller states on it's periphery in the 2010s.
* The European Community reformed into the **European Union**, rapidly expanding across the former Soviet sphere.
* Major world powers became heavily involved in the Middle East between the late-1990s and late-2010s as part of the **War on Terror**. Beginning with intense military operations against perceived threats, the war more-or-less ended in 2019 with the exit of most major foreign forces from the region and the expansion of the **Union of Mashriq Republics** as a regional superpower.
* The **United States of America** would maintain strong relations with the nations of the western hemisphere, particularly it's immediate neighbors. In 2023 and 2024 the United States would participate in major military operations in Mexico, and in 2025 Canada would join the country as new states.

### Culture & Entertainment

* Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Amsterdam would emerge as the entertainment & arts capitals of the world.
* The internet would come to dominant world culture, eventually developing it's own subset of virtual culture.
* LGBT rights and issues would come to the forefront of society beginning in the 2000s. Same-sex marriage would become legalized in much of the Americas, Europe, Oceania, and small parts of East Asia. Discrimination would continue to be fought, but would exist well into the 2020s and 2030s.
* The Cannabis Legalization movement saw marijuana become an accepted recreational drug in much the Americas, Europe, and South Asia, along with a few other select narcotics. Anti-addiction technology developed in the early 2020s would also be pioneered.
* In film and television, alternate history and superhero genres would gain immense popularity. Social commentary would also gain popularity in the late-2010s and early-2020s.
* Electronic music and Eurobeat would take off in the late-2000s. In the United States and Anglosphere, Folk music and sea shanties would see a revival in the mid-2020s.

### Science & Technology

* The discovery of exoplanets would confirm the existence of other star systems similar to Sol. A variety of space telescopes would measure the orbital characteristics and physical makeup of these planets.
* The proliferation of personal computers would lead to a digital boom in the late-1990s and early-2000s, particularly with the advent of the internet.
* Luna was visiting by multiple countries, and colonization would begin in earnest.
* Mars would be visited for the first time, leading to the creation of a surface base and eventually terraforming.
* New modes of transportation began to proliferate, such as the bullet train, electric car, and supersonic passenger jet revolutionized travel.
* Technologies such as virtual reality systems and 3D printing began to enter public use.
* Genetic engineering allowed for a revolution in medicine, leading to the eradication of many diseases in humans, as well as rudimentary cloning technology.

### Environment

* Increased awareness in global climate change led to the germination of a worldwide effort to combat climate change, especially as scientific data regarding the human impact on the climate soon solidly pointed to a direct correlation between increased use of fossil fuels and the warming of the planet, along with a general effort to combat waste and pollution of all forms.
* Peak Oil in 2023 would coincide with increased dissemination and use of "green energy" systems and biofuels, leading to a rapid collapse of the international oil industry.
* The **Third Industrial Revolution** would begin near the end of this period, marking a major period of transition towards ecologically-friendly and sustainable methods of production the world over and a dramatic shift in economic policy by many world governments to cope with increased mechanization, automation, and the proliferation of new systems requiring intensive engineering and development.