recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
Pan-Asian High Speed Rail System

The **Pan-Asian High Speed Rail System** is a system of primarily Chinese built and financed high speed train lines completed during the 2020s providing continuous 220+ mph service between China, South East Asia, Korea, India, Russia, the UIR, Turkey and Europe.

The **Pan-Asian High Speed Rail System** is a crucial part of the Eurasia wide trade network envisioned by China as part of the New Silk Road Project.
Treaty of Srinagar

The **Treaty of Srinagar** was a treaty signed between India and Pakistan in the capital of Indian Kashmir in March of 2018, as the latter nation Pakistan was on the verge of becoming a failed state having lost control over much of its territory to the Taliban and Shia rebels backed by the United Islamic Republic.

As Pakistan imploded, India broke the treaty seizing all of Kashmir and reuniting the disputed region as an Indian state.

The United Islamic Republic annexed the rest of Pakistan, now universally acknowledged as a failed state, in August 2018.
Self-Driving Cars

**Self-Driving Cars** are automobiles that have a self-driving option.

## History

### 2000-2035

Self-driving cars first appeared in science fiction movies in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

American search giant Google helped pioneer the development of self driving cars in the 2010s releasing the first Google self-driving electric car in 2022. The Google car used the Android Operating System modified for self-driving vehicles including Google's own brand name car.

German automobile giant Daimler, the owner of Mercedes-Benz worked with Google to push for the widespread adoption of cars with an autonomous driving option in the 2020s. Daimler worked with the German government in Berlin and other national governments to address safety concerns involving self driving cars such as their ability to recognize pedestrians and deal with adverse weather.

Consequently, most new Mercedes-Benz vehicles had an autonomous driving option by 2035 using Google's Android Operating System. Daimler set the goal of banning non-self driving cars from Germany's major cities and autobahns by 2050.

### 2036-2060

By the mid to late 2030s, most cars had an autonomous driving option. UIR finance and technology hub Dubai became the first major city to ban non self driving cars within its municipal limits in 2037, significantly increasing traffic volumes and speeds.

Many other major cities followed suit globally.
Pearl River Delta

The **Pearl River Delta** is one of the chief economic regions of China which fueled its four decade transformation into an industrial capitalist nation after 1978.

In 2023, Chinese President Hu Chunhua formally merged nine major cities in the region into the South China Megacity, merging the transportation, energy, water, telecommunications and medical infrastructure of the existing cities and creating a single metro pass for the residents to travel throughout the new urban conglomeration. The South China Megacity immediately became the largest city in the world and had a population of over 100 million people by 2030 after giving Chinese migrant workers urban status. The **Pearl River Delta** and the South China Megacity helped fueled China's transformation towards a more consumer driven high tech economy over the same period.

The formation of the South China Megacity also helped the **Pearl River Delta** wrest back some competitive advantage from highly developed Beijing and Shanghai.
Rare Earth Metals

**Rare Earth Metals** are metallic elements in the middle of the periodic table of elements crucial to the design of high tech electronic components including nano-electronic components that began dominating the consumers electronics and renewable energy industries during the 2020s. China and Korea controlled the mining and distribution of **rare earth metals** dominating crucial segments of the global supply chain for high tech manufacturing.
Second Yugoslav War

The **Second Yugoslav War** was a collection of wars fought in the Balkans by Serbia and Albania against Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Montenegro. The war also led to Greece occupying Macedonia and the annexation of Kosovo by Albania. The war is sometimes also called the Third Balkans war - the first and second being in 1912 and 1913 respectively.

## Course of War

### Macedon War

As Albanian troops stalemated in Montenegro and Croatian, Bosnian and Slovenian forces accepted that they had become unable to dislodge Serbian positions in Bosnia, Serbia and Albania decided to launch a simple and quick war against Macedonia to boost their troops morale. On 3 January, Albanian forces crossed the border into western Macedonia and begun a drive for the capital, Skopje. Greece, knowing that Serbia would invade to support Albania and pro-Albanian militias, invaded Macedonia on 4 January to ensure the Serbs and Albanians gained as little ground as possible. Two days after the Greek invasion, the Serbs followed with their invasion. This precipitated what became known as the “Race for Skopje”, with both sides competing to take the capital as soon as they could. In the evening of 8 January Serbian forces were slowly approaching the outskirts of Skopje and Greek special forces with NATO support, para-dropped into Skopje and captured several buildings in and around the centre of the city, including the Parliament building and the Presidential Palace. Serbian forces entered Skopje from the north and became involved in a fire fight with Greek troops, whose positions became compromised. Greeks troops in Skopje were surrounded by Serbian troops. Greek armoured forces arrived and quickly drove the Serbians out of Skopje. Albanian troops consolidated their control over western Macedonia. In February, Greece and Serbia agreed to stop fighting in Skopje and later signed a treaty in which Serbia agreed to withdraw their troops from Macedonia by the end of March. By 3 April, the Greek and Albanian forces agreed not to attack each other.
SolarCity

**SolarCity** is an American solar power company founded by Elon Musk in the early 2000s.

## History

### Solar Power as Fad for the Wealthy: 2006-2019

Although the solar industry and **SolarCity** saw growth in the first two decades of the 21st century, they were both heavily dependent on government subsidies. Most people saw solar power as a fad for the rich and environmentally concerned.

### Solar Power becomes Economical: 2020-2050

**Solar City** did not become profited able until 2026 due to technological breakthroughs that reduced the cost and increased the efficiency of solar power during the 2020s.

In the late 2020s and 2030s, **SolarCity** began constructing modern solar farms all over the southern United States. By 2035, **SolarCity** and other solar power companies supplied green electricity that met more than 10% of the energy needs of the U.S. and more than 15% of the energy needs of the sunbelt.
Somali Federation

The Somali Federation is a nation in East Africa.

## History

### Horn of Africa War: 2023-2024

The **Somali Federation** was formed from the unification of Somalia, Somaliland, Djibouti and the Afar and Ogaden regions of Ethiopia captured by the Somalis during the Horn of Africa War. It also included bits of Kenya captured from the East African Federation.
Anbar Crisis

While the Great Recession and the Second American Revolution distracted the world, the United Islamic Republic launched a rapid and successful invasion of Anbar which had seceded from Iraq and joined Syria during the formation of the UIR.

A rapid combined armed operation, using both Russian donated armor and American armor and humvees inherited from the Iraqi Army, helicopters and Iranian build drones, overran Anbar in days defeating Syrian forces in the region. Air strikes into eastern Syria prevented Damascus from reinforcing its troops in Anbar. Helicopter borne special forces wearing optical camouflage helped seize strategic locations from the Syrian Army. The UIR declared the annexation of Anbar less than a week after the invasion started, "securing the western flank of Baghdad.

Turkey launched a ground offensive against the Kurdistan Regional Government within the UIR, accusing the Kurds of harboring PKK. Some members of the PKK wanted to annex predominantly Kurdish southeast Turkey into the KRG and create a united Kurdistan within the UIR. Turkish jets bombed PKK training camps and command bunkers within the KRG. However, the Kurdish peshmerga, armed with sophisticated anti-tank and anti-air rockets and backed by Iranian advisors, blunted the Turkish ground offensive into Hasakah Province with heavy losses on both sides. Hasakah had counter-seceded from Syria into Iraq and joined the Kurdistan Regional Government in the aftermath of the defeat of the Islamic State in the region.

Within a couple of weeks, the two sides agreed to a status quo ceasefire minus Anbar which the UIR would keep. The UIR had demonstrated how far its military forces had come in only a few years and secured Anbar at little cost.
Ukraine War

The Ukraine War resulted in the rapid conquest of Ukraine by Russia in October 2015. The war caused relations between Russia and the west to plummet. Many analysts consider this was the end of the post-Cold War world order.

## History

### Ukraine Crisis

In 2014, after President Viktor Yanukovych of Ukraine fled as a result of a revolution, Vladimir Putin requested and received authorization from the Russian Parliament to deploy Russian troops to Ukraine. Pro-Russian rebels and in-uniformed Russian troops seized control of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula from Ukrainian troops. Following a Crimean referendum in which separation was favored by a large majority of voters but not accepted internationally, the Russian leadership announced the annexation of Crimea by Russia. On 27 March the United Nations General Assembly voted in favor of a non-binding resolution opposing the Russian annexation of Crimea.

In April of 2014, pro-Russian separatists launched an insurgency against the Ukrainian government to gain their independence as Novorossiya. Pro-Russian rebels seized control of much of the coal and iron rich and predominantly Russian speaking Donetsk and Luhansk regions in southeastern Ukraine. Under the leadership of newly elected Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, the Ukrainian Army and the Novorossiyan Army fought back and forth for control over the Donbass region for over a year.

In August of 2015, Putin begin implementing plans for a full scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. First, Russian military intelligence and Belorussian collaborators assassinated then Belorussian President Alexander Lukashenko replacing him with a Russian puppet who agreed to closer integration with Russia and cooperation in an upcoming invasion of Ukraine. Next, Putin ordered his Novorossiyan puppets to launch on offensive to distract the world and draw Ukrainian troops into the southeast away from other potential combat zones. Finally, Putin initiated a massive arms build up of over 85,000 men and thousands of tanks in Belarus under cover of annual military exercises.

### Russian Invasion

On 6 October 2015, the Russian army landed 8,000 troops outside of Odessa and quickly seized control of the city. Over the following days, Russia along with Belarus and Novorossiya, took control of most of Eastern Ukraine, and by 15 October, they had surrounded Kiev. Three days later, Kiev fell to Russian forces. On 29 October, the Russian Duma voted to annex Novorossiya, which by this point had control of most of Ukraine, while the Ukrainian government requested annexation as an autonomous republic to Poland.
Zachary McCann

**Zachary McCann** (21 July 1997 - 23 December 2045) was an Australian politician who served as Prime Minister of Australia from 2038 to 2040. McCann was leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, succeeding David Vadori's long standing tenure as Prime Minister for Labor. McCann returned the Liberal Party to office briefly after the party split in 2027 between the centrists and the conservatives. McCann is seen as a placeholder Prime Minister as he served only two years in office. He was succeeded by Campbell Bourke in 2040 following a double dissolution election saw Labor returned to office. He refused to resign as Liberal leader and was challenged by Lee Edward under two weeks later. After losing the leadership, he resigned his seat, his membership of the Liberal Party and formed a new, radical communist grouping. He died in Alice Springs in 2045 under suspicious circumstances. His supporters believe that his death his being covered up by ASIO.
Smart Grids

**Smart Grids** refer to the use of the internet and smart devices and smart homes to coordinate the distribution of power across entire towns, cities and regions.

By 2050 or 2060, this would apply to entire regions and even continents as many of the world's industrialized nations transitioned towards a post-fossil fuel economy.

Germany led the effort to construct a continent wide **smart grid** in Europe. China led the effort to build a **smart grid** in Asia.
Taiwan

**Taiwan** is an island province off the southeastern coast of China that has enjoyed de facto independence since 1949 when the Kuomintang fled there following their defeat by the communists in the Chinese Civil War in 1949.

## History

### Reunification with the Mainland: 2019

*See Full Article: Taiwan Strait Crisis*

As unemployment rose in China, the government once again tried to stir national fervor by invading **Taiwan**. The United States was rendered unable to assist the Taiwanese, being caught in the Second American Revolution. The PLA began mobilisation to seize the island. The PLAN mobilised its three carrier battle groups into the Taiwan Strait as well as preparing Chengdu J-20 Fighters, missiles and drones. On 9 March 2019, the PRC demanded that the ROC finally submit to the control of the mainland. Finally after nearly a month of threatening war, the ROC finally yielded to the mainland’s control as an autonomous region. However, Taipei maintained its own powerful military to defend its territory separate from the PLA. **Taiwan** only had to commit its armed forces to Beijing in the unlikely event of invasion by a third party. Taipei controlled and limited visitation by Chinese citizens from the mainland.

### 2020-2040

Taiwan continued to occupy a crucial place in the global supply chain after its formal reincorporation into the mainland, especially in the electronics and computer chip industries. Along with the mainland and Korea, Taiwan contributed to innovations that vastly reduced the costs and greatly increased the efficiency of solar power in the 2020s becoming an important supplier for the solar power industry. Tourism from the mainland to Taiwan increased dramatically.

Taiwan constructed an ultrafast maglev line along its western coast in the 2030s, making it possible to travel between all its major cities in a matter of minutes.

By 2040, China Railways began discussing plans to help fund the construction of a tunnel for maglev trains under the Taiwan Strait providing the first direct land link between the island of Taiwan and mainland China. Taipei did not approve the project, fearing the loss of its autonomy due to increased ease of travel by land from the mainland.
Eurasia

**Eurasia** is largest region comprising the continents of Europe and Asia.

## History

### Use of the Term "Eurasia" in the 21st Century

In the 21st century, the term also referred to the alliance between Russia, China, and the United Islamic Republic and Beijing's attempt to form a **Eurasia** wide transportation and trade network as part of the New Silk Road Project.
Elon Musk

**Elon Musk** was an American entrepeneur and innovator in the early 2000s who founded several companies including Paypal, Space-X, Solar City and Tesla Motors.

He promised to use his enormous wealth and influence to invest in modernizing American infrastructure during the Second American Revolution.

**Elon Musk** remained active in the commercial space industry conducting satellite launches for both the United States and India. Despite his visionary entrepeneurship, his plans for an entirely privately Mars colony never came into fruition.

However, **Elon Musk** succeeded in expanding the solar industry in the USA in the 2020s and 2030s after technological breakthroughs bastly reduced the costs of solar power and greatly increased its efficiency.
PetroChina

**PetroChina** is the state owned oil company of China and one of the largest corporations in the world.

## History

### 2000-2028

During the first three decades of the 21st century, **PetroChina** and Sinopec scoured the world in search of additional sources of oil and natural gas for the energy starved Chinese economy. The most notorious example of this is when **PetroChina** made the bankrupt nation of Angola a de facto Chinese oil colony in 2015 only to face a popular revolution that kicked them out in 2020.

**PetroChina** was heavily involved in the fracking boom that helped China survive the Great Recession and fueled Chinese growth in the 2020s.

### Transition to a Post-Fossil Fuel Economy: 2029-2060

After China committed to a transitioning to a hydrogen economy in the late 2020s, Beijing allowed **PetroChina** to use its immense earnings from oil and natural gas to build, own and operate a series of hydrogen fueling stations and supporting hydrogen infrastructure for the growing number of hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicles in the country. **PetroChina** continued to supply oil for the remaining gasoline powered vehicles in China and natural gas for natural gas power plants. By 2042, China removed the last gasoline powered cars from its roads. **PetroChina** became a green energy corporation with a historic name operating hydrogen infrastructure and fueling stations.

**PetroChina** also used its immense wealth to invest in solar power, nuclear energy and other forms of green to survive the end of the fossil fuel age.
Nano-Technological Weapons

**Nano-technological weapons** refer to swarms of nano-robots capable of taking apart enemy soldiers, vehicles, buildings and even entire cities atom by atom. The United Nations classified them as a weapon of mass destruction alongside nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

China, Russia, Korea, the United States and Japan began developing these weapons during the 2030s.
Taiwan Strait Crisis

The Taiwan Strait Crisis was a standoff between the People's Republic of China and Taiwan that occurred in March 2019 when Beijing pressed its claim to the island. As unemployment rose in China, the government once again tried to stir national fervor by invading Taiwan. The United States was rendered unable to assist the Taiwanese, being caught in the Second American Revolution. The PLA began mobilisation to seize the island. The PLAN mobilised its three carrier battle groups into the Taiwan Strait as well as preparing Chengdu J-20 Fighters, missiles and drones. On 9 March 2019, the PRC demanded that the ROC finally submit to the control of the mainland. Finally after nearly a month of threatening war, the ROC finally yielded to the mainland’s control as an autonomous region. However, Taipei maintained its own powerful military to defend its territory separate from the PLA.  Taiwan only had to commit its armed forces to Beijing in the unlikely event of invasion by a third party.  Taipei controlled and limited visitation by Chinese citizens from the mainland.
United Korean Army

The **United Korean Army** is the army of United Korean Republic formed from the unification of the Republic of Korea and Democratic People's Republic of Korea under the watch of China and the Shanghai Pact in 2019.

The **United Korean Army** combined the massive armies of both former Korean nations becoming one of the largest armies in the world. It also inherited the DPRK's nuclear arsenal.

## History

On September 18th, 2019, the two Korean nations agreed to reunification under the Treaty of Seoul becoming the United Republic of Korea. Seoul became the capital of the United Korean nation and the entire former DPRK agreed to initiate free market reforms and open to South Korean and other foreign investment. The armies of the two Korean nations merged into the **United Korean Army** with officers from both the ROK Army and the KPA retaining their current ranks leading to a lot of staunchly anti-American former North Korean generals holding high positions in the Korean Army.
Oman

**Oman** also known as the **Sultanate of Oman** was a nation in Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East. The capital of Oman is Muscat.

## History

### 2000-2024

**Oman** commands passage through the strategic Strait of Hormuz. The United States protected **Oman** for the first quarter of the 21st century. Oman joined the American backed Alliance of Arabian States.

### 2025-2050

**Oman** seceded from the Alliance of Arabian States on the eve of its war with Tehran hoping to avert outright invasion and conquest. **Oman** became an autonomous sultanate within the United Islamic Republic after Tehran's conquest of the Arabian Peninsula during the Third Persian Gulf War. Along with Dubai, Oman's capital Muscat served as one of the technology and finance hubs of the UIR due to its highly developed economy.

Oman became in a major player in the solar industry in the 2030s. The Sultan of Oman sponsored the construction of vast solar arrays throughout the Omani desert taking advantage of technological advances in the 2020s that had vastly reduced the costs of solar power while also greatly increasing its efficiency. Oman piped surplus electricity to India via HVDC cables stretching under the Arabian Sea supplying a significant percentage of Delhi's energy needs by 2035 with clean solar power.

Although part of the United Islamic Republic, the sultans of Oman exercised autonomy and largely ran their sultanate the way they had when it was an independent nation.
Karachi

**Karachi** is the largest city in the United Islamic Republic and the capital of the Sind region. By 2030, the population of the **Karachi** metropolitan area was rapidly approaching 40 million people.

Although much of the population is Sindhinese, **Karachi** had attracted migrants from all over the UIR becoming a melting pot of Iranian peoples including Punjabis, Pashtuns, Baluchis, Persians and Arabs.

**Karachi** was the headquarters of the UIR Navy and the home port of its aircraft carrier.
Shanghai

**Shanghai** is the financial capital of the People's Republic of China and emerged as the world's largest financial center in the 2020s, eclipsing New York, London and Hong Kong.

China's first thorium plant opened outside Shanghai is 2019 marking a major milestone in both the development of fourth generation nuclear power and China's attempts to expand nuclear generating capacity.

Once the largest city in China, Shanghai lost that status to the new South China Megacity in 2023. However, Shanghai remained one of the largest urban conglomeration in the world with a population of over 43 million in its metropolitan area by 2030.

Shanghai remained the largest container port in the world by 2030.
Qassem Soleimani

**Qassem Soleimani** was the architect of the Iranian led campaign to defeat IS in Iraq in the summer of 2016. After defeating IS in Iraq, he led the Eurasian campaign in Afghanistan to win over Taliban chieftains and route IS out of that country. Soleimani became president of the UIR for five terms between 2017 and 2042 with the support of the Mahdi helping to turn the UIR into a major world power.
People's Liberation Army

The **People's Liberation Army** is the armed forces of the People's Republic of China. It is also known as the PLA for short.

It is divided into the following branches:

* People's Liberation Army Ground Force
	+ People's Liberation Army Special Operations Force
* People's Liberation Army Air Force
	+ 15th Airborne Corps
* People's Liberation Army Navy
	+ People's Liberation Army Navy Submarine Force
	+ People's Liberation Army Navy Surface Force
	+ People's Liberation Army Naval Air Force
	+ People's Liberation Army Naval Coastal Defense Force
	+ People's Liberation Army Marine Corps
* Second Artillery Corps
Elizabeth Warren

**Elizabeth Warren** (22 June 1949 - ) was an American politician who briefly served as President of the United States between 2020 and 2021 following the assassination of Hillary Clinton. She also served as Vice President under Clinton between 2017 and 2020 and served as Senator for Massachusetts between 2013 and 2017. She is seen as a placeholder President as she was defeated by Paul Ryan at the 2020 Presidential election. Considered a firebrand and highly progressive, she was chosen to be Clinton's running mate at the 2016 election in an attempt to appeal to supporters of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders who ran against Clinton in the primaries.
Small Modular Nuclear Reactors

**Small modular nuclear reactors** are small nuclear power plants that first appeared in the 2020s.

They cost a fraction of traditional nuclear power plants and often featured designs that permitted modular expansions to increase generating capacity. They helped many developing and developing nations increase nuclear generating capacity and reduce fossil fuel consumption.

Japan and the nations of the European Union replaced their aging fission plants with **small modular nuclear reactors** during the 2020s.
Third Chechen War

The **Third Chechen War** was the result of a massive mainly Chechen Muslim rebellion that spread across the Caucasus region of Russia in April 2016.

Vladimir Putin brutally suppressed the rebellion deporting thousands of Chechens and other Muslim Caucasus peoples to camps in Siberia and the Russian circle for the insurrection. Kremlin puppet Chechen ruler Ramzan Kadyrov helped the Russian Army regain full control over Chechnya as well as neighboring Dagestan and Ingushetia.
Sind

**Sind** is an autonomous region of the United Islamic Republic carved out of former Pakistan. The inhabitants of the **Sind** region were known as Sindhinese and speak an Indian language of the same name. Although the Sindhinese were the native inhabitants of the region, many Punjabis, Pashtuns and other Iranian peoples migrated to its major cities.

The regional capital is Karachi.
Pashtun Regional Government

The **Pashtun Regional Government** is an autonomous region in the eastern United Islamic Republic also known as **Pashtunistan** inhabited and governed by the staunchly conservative Pashtun people.

It includes the southern provinces of former Afghanistan and the northwestern provinces of former Pakistan uniting the predominantly Pashtun areas of the region. Many former Taliban have de facto control over various tribal districts within the **PRG**. Although the **PRG** does include most of the core Pashtun areas, it does not include all the areas with large Pashtun populations. The Pashtuns had to compromise with the UIR conceding western areas that lacked territorial continuity with the rest of the Pashtun regions and Kabul, which had a mixed population with no single ethnic majority.

Kandahar is the current and historic capital of the Pashtun region.
Tibet

**Tibet** is a semi-autonomous region in the People's Republic of China.

## History

In 2024, the Roof of the World HSR Line opened for business linking Beijing to Delhi through **Tibet**. This led to increase in both Chinese and Indian investment and tourism in the region.

This project also linked **Tibet** to the wider Pan-Asian High Speed Rail System and made the region a hub in the Eurasia wide trade network China envisioned as part of the New Silk Road Project. Suddenly, goods from Germany and other parts of Europe passed through **Tibet** on their way to India.

However, many Tibetans feared economic development would lead to an even greater influx of Han Chinese and further erode their culture.
Tajikistan

**Tajikistan** was a nation in Central Asia that ceased to exist as an independent nation after the United Islamic Republic annexed the country on September 7th, 2017.

## History

In 2019, the Academy of Persian Language and Literature in Tehran declared Tajiks to be Persian speakers making former Tajikistan, most of former Afghanistan and predominantly Tajik parts of neighboring Uzbekistan part of Iran proper for all practical purposes.

In 2026, the UIR ended the use of Cyrillic forcing Tajiks to use Perso-Arabic script to standardize spoken and written Persian across the country.
Sukhoi

**Sukhoi**

**Sukhoi Company (JSC)** is a major Russian aircraft manufacturer, headquartered in Begovoy District, Northern Administrative Okrug, Moscow, and designs both civilian and military aircraft. It was founded by Pavel Sukhoi in 1939 as the **Sukhoi Design Bureau** (**OKB-51**, design office prefix **Su**).
Taliban

The **Taliban** are a fundamentalist Sunni Muslim organization in Afghanistan that ran the country for a brief period of time until their defeat by the U.S. Military in 2001.

They have an extreme interpretation of Islam and are known for their oppression of women and their hatred of things associated with the West. Much of the world considers them to be terrorists. Most Taliban are ethnic Pashtuns, an Iranian people living in Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan.

## History

NATO fought against a Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan and Pakistan between 2001 and 2016. NATO persuaded some Taliban chiefs to join the new Afghan government while targeting and destroying others. During his presidency between 2009 and 2017, Barack Obama escalated the use drone strikes to assassinate Taliban commanders.

Iran and Russia emulated NATO tactics in Afghanistan in 2016 and 2017 in an attempt to rout out the Islamic State which had infiltrated both Afghanistan and Pakistan and gained the allegiance of some Taliban commanders. After the annexation of Afghanistan by the newly formed United Islamic Republic in August 2017, Tehran granted autonomy to the predominantly Pashtun regions in what had been the provinces of southern Afghanistan giving former Taliban de facto control over their core territories and allowing them to continue their harsh, traditional Islamic way of life.
Yangtze River Delta

The **Yangtze River Delta** is one three most important economic regions of China located in the delta of the Yangtze River.

It includes the important cities of Shanghai, Nanking and Hangzhou as well as the largest container port in the world and a significant percentage of the world's manufacturing.

By 2030, living standards in the **Yangtze River Delta** had caught up to the most advanced nations as the region fueled the transition of People's Republic of China towards a consumer driven, high tech economy.

Shanghai was the world's largest financial center serving as its banking capital. Many of the China's and the world's largest companies and financial institutions based themselves in Shanghai, giving the city and the **Yangtze River Delta** a position of global economic and cultural importance once held by New York and the northeast United States. The inhabitants of the **Yangtze River Delta** and Shanghai in particular began thinking of themselves as being at the center of the world's economy.
Smart Homes

**Smart Homes** were homes in the developed world in which internet connected devices regulated things such as energy consumption and ordering supplies on the internet deliverable via drones.

They became common in the first world and among the wealthy in the 2020s. **Smart Homes** were also common in newly developed portions of China, South East Asia and India, regions which increasingly led the world technologically.
Yemeni Civil War

The **Yemeni Civil War** was a long multi-sided conflict between 2013 and 2025 pitting various factions against each other in the nations of Yemen. It saw Yemen become a failed state before the eventual Houthi takeover of the country and its incorporation into the United Islamic Republic during the Third Persian Gulf War.
Kurds

The **Kurds** are an Iranian people living in the Middle East.

Although they don't have a nation of their own, they run the Kurdistan Regional Government, an autonomous region in the northwestern United Islamic Republic.

The **Kurds** live in the northwestern UIR, southeastern Turkey and northern Syria. There are also significant Kurdish migrant worker populations in major Turkish and UIR cities.
Post-Fossil Fuel Economy

The term **post fossil fuel economy** refers to attempts by various nations to gradually wean off dirty fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas and replace them with various forms of green energy including solar power, wind power, tidal power, hydro power, geothermal power and nuclear power. Hydrogen fuel cells replaced gasoline powered engines in cars, buses and trucks. Various electromagnetic propulsion systems replaced chemical propellants for other vehicles such as aircraft and rockets.

By 2030, the major industrial nations including the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, the nations of the European Union, India, China, Korea and Japan hoped to build the necessary infrastructure to end the use of fossil fuels by 2050 or 2060.
Persian Gulf Crisis

The **Persian Gulf Crisis** was a standoff between the United States on one side and Russia, Iran and Iraq on the other in June 2017 over the proposed unification of Iran and Iraq. Russia and the United States mobilized land, sea and air forces including nuclear missiles in the Persian Gulf region.

The unification went ahead leading to the creation of the UIR.
Turkish

**Turkish** is the official language of Turkey and a member of the Turkic family of languages.

**Turkish** is mutually intelligible with Azeri, the dominant regional language in the northwestern portion of the United Islamic Republic.

During the Central Asian Wars, Russia, China and the United Islamic Republic partitioned the other Turkic speaking nations of Asia. Tens of millions of people in the northern United Islamic Republic, western China, portions of Russia and Bulgaria and can understand standard Istanbuli **Turkish**. They often listen to **Turkish** radio and watch **Turkish** cable television programs giving Turkey a certain amount of cultural and even financial influence among these far flung populations.
Palestine

**Palestine**, officially the **State of Palestine**, is a state in the Middle East. It shares land borders with Israel and Jordan. Palestine was for most of the last half of the twentieth and early twenty-first century occupied by Israel. Palestine also once had control of the Gaza Strip, which broke away and joined the North African Caliphate in 2021.
Shanghai Pact

The **Shanghai Pact** is a military and economic alliance formed in 2017 between Russia, China and the UIR. The **Shanghai Pact** evolved out of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization into a full military alliance. Korea joined in 2019. The Shanghai Pact nations are also known as the Eurasian powers and expanded militarily throughout Eurasia in the late 2010s and 2020s.

The **Shanghai Pact** is the military wing of the Eurasian block. The Eurasian Economic Union is the economic wing.
United Nations

The **United Nations** is an international organization which the victorious allied powers created after World War II to help solve international disputes through diplomacy.

## History

The **United Nations** survived into the 21st century but the rise of non-western actors such as the United Islamic Republic and the North African Caliphate which did not respect certain basic human rights threatened the ability of the **United Nations** to serve as an effective body of international governance.

Russia and the People's Republic of China, two permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, also had questionable human rights records. Some individuals even accused the United States of human rights abuses in its interrogation of criminals and its surveillance of its own citizens, leading many to question whether the principles on which the **United Nations** was founded are universal values.
Syrian Civil War

The **Syrian Civil War** was a multi-sided conflict in Syria between 2011 and 2016 that evolved into part of the War against ISIS in 2014 and saw Syria temporarily become a failed state with various factions vying for control of the country's territory. The war began during the 2011 Arab Spring, with Preisdent Bashar al-Assad responding with violent force. The Free Syrian Army was the main opposition to the Assad regime. The Islamic State invaded Syria in 2014.
Thorium Plant

**Thorium Power** refers to use of thorium in fourth generation nuclear power plants to produce electricity.

China completed the world's first thorium plant outside Shanghai in 2019. Both India and China made thorium power a major part of their respond five efforts to wean off dirty coal.

Siemens and Areva jointly developed a thorium reactor model for the European Union in 2027.
War of Ukrainian Independence

The **War of Ukrainian Independence** was a war fought in the western regions of Ukraine by insurgent separatist group, the Free Ukrainian Army against Russia and her ally, China. After the Russian annexation of Ukraine in the Ukraine War in 2015, the FUA had launched a war of low to mid-level insurgency against Russia, demanding independence. In June 2029, tensions flared up and the FUA launched a high-level attack against Russian control. The FUA received support from Ukrainian partisans who mirrored the 2014 Ukrainian Euromaidan Revolution by filling Independence Square. The war ended after France, Germany and Britain secured a peace deal.
South Korea

**South Korea** was a nation in East Asia. It joined with North Korea to form the United Republic of Korea in the fall of 2019. Korea joined the Shanghai Pact shortly after which had made the reunification of the Korean peninsula possible. The United States was unable to successfully prevent the Korean peninsula from drifting into Beijing's sphere of influence in part due to the Second American Revolution.
Pashtuns

The **Pashtuns** are an Iranian people in South and Central Asia with a reputation for leading a staunchly traditional Muslim lifestyle.

Many Pashtuns joined the Taliban movement which controlled parts of Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan in the early 21st century. After the annexation of both Afghanistan and Pakistan by the United Islamic Republic, the Pashtuns received autonomy in regions where they formed the majority of the population.
British Aerospace

**BAE Systems**

 **Predecessors** | British Aerospace

**BAE Systems** is a British multinational defence, security and aerospace company headquartered in London in the United Kingdom and with operations worldwide. It is among the world's largest defence contractors; it ranked as the second-largest based on applicable 2012 revenues. Its largest operations are in the United Kingdom and United States, where its BAE Systems Inc. subsidiary is one of the six largest suppliers to the US Department of Defense. Other major markets include Australia, India and Saudi Arabia. The company was formed on 30 November 1999 by the £7.7 billion merger of two British companies; Marconi Electronic Systems (MES) – the defence electronics and naval shipbuilding subsidiary of the General Electric Company plc (GEC) – and British Aerospace (BAe) – an aircraft, munitions and naval systems manufacturer.

BAE Systems is the successor to various aircraft, shipbuilding, armoured vehicle, armaments and defence electronics companies, including The Marconi Company, the first commercial company devoted to the development and use of radio; A.V. Roe and Company, one of the world's first aircraft companies; de Havilland, manufacturer of the world's first commercial jet airliner; British Aircraft Corporation, co-manufacturer of the Concorde supersonic transport; Supermarine, manufacturer of the Spitfire; Yarrow Shipbuilders, builder of the Royal Navy's first destroyers; Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, pioneer of the triple-expansion engine and builder of the world's first battlecruiser; and Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering, builder of the Royal Navy's first submarines. Since its formation it has made a number of acquisitions, most notably of United Defense and Armor Holdings of the United States, and sold its shares in Airbus, Astrium, AMS and Atlas Elektronik.

BAE Systems is involved in several major defence projects, including the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, the Eurofighter Typhoon, the Astute-class submarine and the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers. BAE Systems is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
Province of Hasa

The **Province of Hasa** is a Shia Arab controlled province consisting of former Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, Qatar and most of the United Arab Emirates formed by the United Islamic Republic after its victory in Third Persian Gulf War and its conquest of the Arabian Peninsula. The Province of Hasa contains a decent percentage of the world's easily recoverable oil and natural gas, helping to make the UIR the world's energy superpower after the Third Persian Gulf War.
Sahara Desert

The **Sahara Desert** is the largest desert in the world covering most of North Africa. It stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to Egypt.

By 2030, the North African Caliphate controlled the entire Sahara Desert and had begun constructing vast solar arrays hoping to harness the power the sun to produce electricity. The NAC sold surplus electricity produced from solar power to Europe via HVDC cables stretching under the Mediterranean Sea.
Soviet Union

The **Soviet Union** was a communist nation formed out of the ashes of the old Russian Empire of the czars in 1917. After the Allied victory in World War II, the Soviet Union was one of the world's two superpowers until its collapse in 1991. Russian President Vladimir Putin called collapse of the Soviet Union "one of the greatest geopolitical tragedies of the 20th century" and sought to restore the power of the former Soviet Union by expanding Russia's borders in the early 21st century.
Quantum Computers

**Quantum computers** are computers that use quantum mechanical states to perform trillions of times more calculations than classical computers at speeds orders of magnitudes faster than classical computers.

**Quantum computers** also allowed unbreakable encryption.

## History

The first viable **quantum computers** appeared in the 2030s and they became widespread by the 2050s.
Siemens

**Siemens** a German multinational famous for developing all kinds of high quality machinery and vehicles including high speed trains.

## History

### 2000-2019

Siemens helped build the HSR systems in Germany and other parts of the European Union. Siemens also helped construct HSR systems in Russia and China before China's China Railways also became an active player in the HSR industry in the 2010s.

### 2020-2030

Siemens and China Railways collaborating in constructing a HSR system in the Balkans in the early 2020s, helping to connect Siemen's European HSR network with China's Pan-Asian High Speed Rail System to allow HSR passenger service and freight across the Eurasian landmass between Europe and China. Siemens and China Railways also created a link between Berlin and Moscow allowing Russia to serve as a middleman for HSR freight transportation and travel between Europe and China.
Spanish

**Spanish** is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world and an official language in Spain and most of Latin America with the notable exception of Brazil.

By 2050, more than a third of the population of the United States spoke at least some Spanish as a first or second language making the United States the largest **Spanish** speaking country in the world even though it remained a predominantly English speaking nation.
Punjab

**Punjab** is an autonomous region of the United Islamic Republic carved out of former Pakistan. It is also a region in neighboring India. Punjabis speak Punjabi, an Indian language.

Punjab was the most populous region of the UIR comprising the core of former Pakistan. Punjabis were more numerous than Persians overall in the UIR although Persian speakers outnumbered Punjabi speakers Many Punjabis also spoke Farsi, one of the two languages official throughout the UIR that served as a language of government, education, business, aviation and inter-ethnic communication. Punjabis dominated all aspects of public life in their region. Although most Punjabis were Sunni before their incorporation into the UIR, an increasing number of them identified as Shia in addition to speaking Farsi as a second language because of Tehran's persification policy.

Lahore was the capital of the region and one of the largest cities in the UIR.
South China Sea

The **South China Sea** is a sea off the southern coast of China in which China and several South East Asian nations, including Vietnam and the Philippines, have overlapping territorial claims.

China claims almost the entire **South China Sea** and seized most of the disputed island chains during the 2010s sparking international outrage.
Xinjiang

**Xinjiang** is a semi-autonomous region in western China. The Uyghurs, a Muslim Turkic people, are the traditional inhabitants of this region.

## History

### Expansion of **Xinjiang**: 2017

*See Full Article: Central Asian Wars*

China added the Almaty region of former Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan to Xinjiang in 2017, creating a larger semi-autonomous western region with no single ethnic majority. Out of a population of roughly 32 million in 2017, **Xinjiang** included 11 million Uyghurs, 10 million Han Chinese, 4.5 million Kyrgyz, 4 million Kazakhs, 2 million Russians, 1 million Uzbeks and numerous other minorities becoming a melting of Eurasian people's.

Although China faced a long running insurgency among the Uyghurs who wanted independence, his became more difficult since the Uyghurs no longer constituted a majority and soon wouldn't even have a plurality in their homeland of **Xinjiang**.

### Shale Gas Boom: 2018-2025

The discovery of shale gas in **Xinjiang** brought an economic boom as well as an influx of Han Chinese fracking companies, workers and colonists, giving the region a much higher standard of living but also giving **Xinjiang** a Han plurality. Cities such as Urumqi, Kashgar, Almaty and Bishkek saw enormous growth during this period. The expansion of the Chinese HSR network and the creation of the Pan-Eurasian High Speed Rail System connected **Xinjiang** to the rest of the Eurasian land mass of made it a crucial link in continent wide trade network. The Urumqi-Baghdad HSR Line linked **Xinjiang** to the Middle East.

Disaffected Uyghurs and other Muslims unhappy with Chinese rule were drawn to ISCA, which was active on both sides of the Chinese-UIR border. Beijing and Tehran cooperated against what they both labeled as a terrorist group.

### Solar Industry: 2026-2050

After technological breatheoughs creased the efficiency of solar power in the 2020s, Chinese solar companies constructed vast solar farms throughout the Talikmakan Desert in **Xinjiang**. By the 2030s, HVDC cables provided clean electricity from these solar farms to cities in western China, eastern portions of the United Islamic Republic, Russia and even the Indian subcontinent. **Xinjiang** was also a player in the wind industry becoming a crucial part of Beijing's plans to gradually move towards a post-fossil fuel economy by the mid to late 21st century.