how powerful is China militarily compared to OTL China? In a standup fight with either the Soviets or the US near it's homeland and water, how would it fare?
Asami
Banned
The People's Liberation Navy is still pretty D-class; and while they would have leverage domestically, any projection outside of the South China Sea is basically suicide in a conventional war against the United States.
The People's Liberation Army is rather well-seasoned, and could probably go toe-to-toe with the Soviets in the Amur if the Soviets decided to play some games with the Chinese.
The PLAF is world-class, and would give the USAF and Soviet Air Force a run for their money. China is the #3 power in the world, and it shows.
And the world experiences a mini-apocalypse. I imagine that the southern Indian regions that haven't yet been pupetized have gone full warlord with no end in sight. 
Bangladesh stronk! I can see them, Vietnam, and Korea being China's little buddies similar to the bigger countries in Western Europe's (Germany, France, ect.) relation to the U.S.
And Yugoslavia looks awesome. STRONK!
Bangladesh stronk!
I can see them, Vietnam, and Korea being China's little buddies similar to the bigger countries in Western Europe's (Germany, France, ect.) relation to the U.S.And Yugoslavia looks awesome. STRONK!
Culture: The West Wing
Asami
Banned
Qilai! Qilai!
A history of Modern China
Culture: The West Wing
A history of Modern China
Culture: The West Wing
"When we were concepting this show in late '98, we had intended for the first episode to focus around Josh, the Deputy Chief of Staff, to get into some hot-water after offending the far-left factions such as the AFL-CIO... however, in May '99, we kind of changed everything, as everything had changed at the hands of madmen.
The Pilot episode was completely rewritten to be a walk-in to the aftermath of the Kargil War. It was so fresh in everyone's mind that it was impossible to avoid it. It really fundamentally set us up. The night after it aired, we got a telephone call and... well, the President of the United States talked to me for a few minutes, and said that our interpretation of the Oval Office during such a crisis was insanely accurate, and that the Public Relations offices would be sending people to help coordinate the show to accuracy. The White House Press Secretary and a few others came down the next week and sat down with Allison Janney and the other actors and well, history was made."
- Aaron Sorkin, 2003The Pilot episode was completely rewritten to be a walk-in to the aftermath of the Kargil War. It was so fresh in everyone's mind that it was impossible to avoid it. It really fundamentally set us up. The night after it aired, we got a telephone call and... well, the President of the United States talked to me for a few minutes, and said that our interpretation of the Oval Office during such a crisis was insanely accurate, and that the Public Relations offices would be sending people to help coordinate the show to accuracy. The White House Press Secretary and a few others came down the next week and sat down with Allison Janney and the other actors and well, history was made."
...
The West Wing was an incredibly popular political drama created by Aaron Sorkin for broadcast on NBC. The first episode, "Pilot" aired on September 22, 1999; less than six months after the Kargil War. The show had been initially adverse to adoption by the NBC network after many felt it was inappropriate to depict such a sensitive topic so fast.
However, NBC took a chance on it, and aired it to fantastic ratings. The President of the United States, John Conyers, spoke up and said the show gave a "rather accurate insight to the West Wing and the way things work around here."
The actor James Earl Jones, famous for his performances as Mufasa in the 1994 animated film The Lion King, and in the 1970s for his voice work as Darth Vader in the Star Wars trilogy, played Andrew Jefferson, the incumbent President of the United States. Jones' character was the first African-American president, and was controversial in some circles for being depicted as the African-American descendant of Thomas Jefferson. Jones' character is a noted leftist Democrat, elected in 1998 after beating the incumbent President's third term bid. It wasn't very hard to see that Jones' character is practically an expy of the incumbent President.
The actor Harrison Ford, also famous for his work in the Star Wars trilogy, and in the Indiana Jones films, was cast as Vice President Benjamin Wilson. Wilson, like Ford, is of Jewish faith. Similar to Jones' character, Wilson is practically an expy of Bernard Sanders, the incumbent Vice President. Wilson hails from the state of New Hampshire, a neighbor to the real Vice President's Vermont.
The cast includes others such as Allison Janney as C.J. Cregg, the White House Press Secretary, Richard Schiff as Tobias Ziegler, the White House Communications Director, Bradley Whitford as Joshua Lyman, White House Deputy Chief of Staff, Sally Field as Irene McGarry, the White House Chief of Staff, and Rob Lowe as Sam Seaborne, the White House Deputy Communications Director.
The fictional staff attempted to fit into the current appearance as best as they could. Originally in the early drafts, John Spencer had been considered to be the Chief of Staff character, however, it was decided to be faithful to the real world, and select a female to portray the Chief of Staff.
The West Wing aired from September 1999 until 2010, when it concluded after the end of the Jefferson administration, having served three terms in the White House. (The West Wing universe runs on a system where elections are held in 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2010, so on and so forth.)
The show remains one of the most popular programs on American television to date.
((Vader/Indy 2016?
))I may have missed this earlier, but it seems like the Middle East is much more stable than OTL, with Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan firmed lock inside either the US or USSR spheres, rather than overrun by radical muslims. How did the Middle East manage to achieve this level of stability ITTL?
Asami
Banned
First, let me post this. Official chapter listings.
Secondly, the Middle East is more stable, yes. This is implied as a result of America being far less motivated to pursue radical agendas overseas. Iran's democratic government was maintained in the 1950s and 1960s, and closely aligned to the United States. With the Soviet Union being far more moderate, America feels significantly less threatened by the Soviet Union; it's part of the whole "far more liberal world" concept.
There is still strife in the Middle East, but it is far more reduced than historically.
Wouldn't Bangladesh be also severely hit here, even if they were not hit by nuclear weapons? The Ganges run through India and goes to the sea in Bangladesh, and with the massive fallout of the catastrophic Kargil War, many, I mean many, many people would die.
Asami
Banned
The topic of the Kargil War ends almost immediately with the end of the nuclear hostilities. The full-scale nuclear fallout ramifications have yet to be seen yet. But yes, there will be a lot of chaos in many nations afterwards.
The survivors in India would probably call this the Kali Yuga.
I spat my coffee laughing after reading this
With a less zealous and no-longer quite anti-communist US, there was no need to overthrow the Iranian Shah or station troops in Saudi Arabia, and no Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, meaning Osama is less inclined to hate the US ITL and more content with his rich and comfortable life in Saudi Arabia.
What's with the apparently off-topic coup d'etat in Laos? Something is afoot there.
And speaking of nukes, does the apartheid regime in rump South Africa still hold on to them? With the devastation in the Indian subcontinent, there will be now more scrutiny on them, seeing as they would be desperate to cling onto power at any means possible now that SA is fragmented.
As for Han Solo and Darth Vader reuniting, we already have that in two Jack Ryan movies OTL. Though with a colder Cold War TTL, John Clancy's focus will have less to write about. With no Korean War and Vietnam War, the US would have less combat experience compared to OTL.
I spat my coffee laughing after reading this
With a less zealous and no-longer quite anti-communist US, there was no need to overthrow the Iranian Shah or station troops in Saudi Arabia, and no Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, meaning Osama is less inclined to hate the US ITL and more content with his rich and comfortable life in Saudi Arabia.
What's with the apparently off-topic coup d'etat in Laos? Something is afoot there.
And speaking of nukes, does the apartheid regime in rump South Africa still hold on to them? With the devastation in the Indian subcontinent, there will be now more scrutiny on them, seeing as they would be desperate to cling onto power at any means possible now that SA is fragmented.
As for Han Solo and Darth Vader reuniting, we already have that in two Jack Ryan movies OTL. Though with a colder Cold War TTL, John Clancy's focus will have less to write about. With no Korean War and Vietnam War, the US would have less combat experience compared to OTL.
Here's another interesting thought: With Muslims undoubtedly less marginalized in the US ITTL, is it possible that they form a significant block in the Republican Party? I can easily see moderate Muslims and the Christian right finding common ground when it comes to social issues like gay marriage and abortion.
MrP
Banned
With no culture wars and no offputting xeonophobic rhetoric from the GOP, it's probable that upwardly mobile immigrants vote with their pocketbooks and that a much larger proportion of them find their socio-economic interests adequately represented by the Republican Party.
Which ties in with an observation: the chaos in the Asian subcontinent is certainly going to send large waves of Indian and Pakistani refugees to Europe, the US and Australia.
Well, the 2nd millenium ends with a bang.
An Unholy Alliance.
Another interesting thing would be American Muslims making names in politics.
An Unholy Alliance.
Another interesting thing would be American Muslims making names in politics.
Asami
Banned
My timelines are concise and tactful? It's an improvement I guess. I just don't have the attention span or willpower to write entire novellas in a chapter. Which is why none of my alternate history work will ever make it to publication unless somebody convinced me to and I was able to do it as a career (because LOL TIME MANAGEMENT?)
Kali Yuga? Hmm.
^^
Allllll of that.
Well, there might be a superpower that has been trying to net Laos in her sphere of influence since the 1950s...
ATL South Africa never developed nuclear weapons; so no.
Yeah, those movies and books don't exist ATL because of the vastly different scenario. However, there is a pretty popular newsgroup in the United States, China and Soviet Union that talks about alternate history...
Well, abortion and gay marriage are still right about where they were historically. Abortion is permitted under Carson v. Turner (1973), in which the SCOTUS ruled that no state can infringe upon the right to bodily autonomy. Gay marriage is a gray area because DOMA doesn't exist in this timeline; so it's primarily left up to the states.
Of the current 50 states in the United States as of 2000, approximately 16 of them have legalized gay marriage.
New Hampshire, Oregon, Nevada, Florida, Maryland, Connecticut, Vermont, Massachusetts, New York, Maine, Louisiana, Wisconsin, Illinois, Colorado, California and Michigan.
Currently, the Islamic population of the United States votes primarily with the Democratic Party. As Pakistani refugees come into the country, this may change, and may pose a problem in the future.
Yes, yes it does.
An Unholy Alliance.
Another interesting thing would be American Muslims making names in politics.
I can't particularly think of any famous American Muslims in the 21st century... unless you guys want me to go with right-wing conspiracy cliches and make Barack Obama a Muslim... which is possible considering butterflies and all; but I'd rather not feed a circlejerk
Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali come to mind; but Malcolm X was radical and should be, by all intents and purposes dead by now; and Muhammad Ali has Parkinson's. A President with a degenerative illness may pass for okay in The West Wing, but not in IRL.
Asami
Banned
Amendments to the US Constitution
I - X. Bill of Rights (you know these)
XI. Sovereign Immunity
XII. Procedure of Electing POTUS/VPOTUS
XIII. Anti-Slavery Amendment
XIV. Equal Protection
XV. Can't Deny Black People The Vote
XVI. Congress Can Levy An Income Tax
XVII. Senators Are Now Popularly Elected.
XVIII. Prohibition
XIX. Women Can Vote
XX. January 20 Is Now Inauguration Day
XXI. No More Prohibition
-- all following amendments are post-POD --
XXII. D.C. now gets to vote in Presidential Elections.
XXIII. Poll Taxes Are Not Constitutional.
XXIV. Presidential Line of Succession & Incapacitation
XXV. You Can Now Vote At 18.
XXVI. Amendment To the 14th Amendment (Equal Rights Amendment)
XXVII. Congressional Salary Changes Don't Take Effect Until Next Term
XXVIII. Repeal of 22nd Amendment, change of terms, D.C. now treated as proper member of United States--now has 2 Senators.
XXIX. Tight regulatory policies on campaign contributions and political action committees and groups.
XXX. Decreases required age to hold political office.
I - X. Bill of Rights (you know these)
XI. Sovereign Immunity
XII. Procedure of Electing POTUS/VPOTUS
XIII. Anti-Slavery Amendment
XIV. Equal Protection
XV. Can't Deny Black People The Vote
XVI. Congress Can Levy An Income Tax
XVII. Senators Are Now Popularly Elected.
XVIII. Prohibition
XIX. Women Can Vote
XX. January 20 Is Now Inauguration Day
XXI. No More Prohibition
-- all following amendments are post-POD --
XXII. D.C. now gets to vote in Presidential Elections.
XXIII. Poll Taxes Are Not Constitutional.
XXIV. Presidential Line of Succession & Incapacitation
XXV. You Can Now Vote At 18.
XXVI. Amendment To the 14th Amendment (Equal Rights Amendment)
XXVII. Congressional Salary Changes Don't Take Effect Until Next Term
XXVIII. Repeal of 22nd Amendment, change of terms, D.C. now treated as proper member of United States--now has 2 Senators.
XXIX. Tight regulatory policies on campaign contributions and political action committees and groups.
XXX. Decreases required age to hold political office.
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I can't particularly think of any famous American Muslims in the 21st century... unless you guys want me to go with right-wing conspiracy cliches and make Barack Obama a Muslim... which is possible considering butterflies and all; but I'd rather not feed a circlejerk
Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali come to mind; but Malcolm X was radical and should be, by all intents and purposes dead by now; and Muhammad Ali has Parkinson's. A President with a degenerative illness may pass for okay in The West Wing, but not in IRL.
How about Louis Farrakhan or Keith Ellison?