Proliferation of drugs, both hard and soft.
That's a given. Most hippies have probably graduated to hard psychedelics at this point.
Wide-scale anti-establishment protests, maybe with some new far-left parties. Active black nationalist movements in de facto control of urban ghettos.
Maybe an anarchist France, or Western Europe? Great idea with the black nationalists, I've got them covered with New Afrika.
Of course, for this to make sense/work you also need a firm "Leave it to Beaver" mainstream culture and strongly entrenched establishment for the counterculture to be opposing and getting muffled out by to the broader population.
Great suggestions! Maybe the Jetsons' vision of an urbanized atmosphere becomes a literal expression of social stratum. As for the G-Men, that also helps cover the themes of espionage found throughout techno-thrillers of the period: a lot of CIA, FBI, and maybe some oppressive departments in the American government ostensibly to unearth communist plots to further destabilize the west.
Eastern religions continue their rise in popularity, with India and East Asia replacing Europe as the No. 1 destination for college kids doing their overseas travel. Western philosophy is still taught, but most univerisities have entirely separate departments for Eastern philosophy, which rival if not surpass the western tradition in popularity.
Politicians actively court the votes of western-born Hindus and the more politically oriented Buddhists. On the somewhat negative side, the fringes of these communities link up, Boston Irish-style, with some of their more militant co-religionists overseas. Fundraising by Hindu-fasicst and Sinhalese militant groups becomes a thing in the trendy coffee shops of hip urban districts.
I guess India will be doing better than OTL given its cultural influence. Great suggestion with the eastern-inspired subversives.
Either there had been a soviet-chinese war or there is a US-SU alliance to contain China. On the other side, both superpowers disengage in Europe. Germany stays divided or just get united as a lose confederation. There are dotzend of nuclear powers, including both german states and Japan.
Tough one. Mao was such a prolific figure during the period, but then his society was also seen as incredibly unstable. Sino-Soviet War is probably the more likely of the two, and we all know who would win that one. Maybe Tibet got cleaved from China after the war and joined India's sphere of influence. Maybe violent anarchist revolutionaries have thrown both sides of the Cold War out of Europe, but West Berlin is secure under a dome and a few layers of energy shielding.