cross posting with the one-shot scenario presenting the completed version of my map with some modifications and the long write-up
The 21st Century was supposed to be the American century an era of unquestioned Western and more prominently American dominance following the fall of the USSR and the emergence of the US as the sole superpower. Only a year into the 21st Century and the United States was subjected to one of the most horrific acts of terrorism in recent memory as planes brought down the Twin Towers and hit the Pentagon. Soon American and allied troops were deployed to Afghanistan to rout out the perpetrators of the attack, and the United States would be drawn in into two decades of conflict in the Middle East and Africa. As costs and body counts rose, and the West declined economically while new crises emerged around the world, they just couldn't keep up, and the US and its allies would slowly withdrew from the region entirely.
As the west declined, China rose despite a few hiccups Chinas economic growth continued unabated. Chinese corporations expanded into the Middle East and Africa and when the West withdrew China moved in taking advantage of entrenched business interests who while the West was fighting its war on terror China businesses were busy making contacts and profits, and soon Chinese troops and bases replaced former American.
The United States burned by the War on Terror and dealing with a declining economy looked inwards in a series of isolationists administrations more focused on domestic issues rather than foreign policy. Defense budgets were slashed, and the US slowly began withdrawing from its overseas deployments. NATO slowly withered on the vine, and US troops withdrew from Japan, Korea, and Austrailia, and for the next two decades retreated for global affairs.
It's now 2048, and the world has a new Commander-in-Chief. China reigns supreme as the worlds premier superpower having surpassed the US economy in the late 2020s, and as the American giant drew inwards, China moved to replace it. From Berlin to Canberra Chinese influence can be seen everywhere. The Yuan is the premier global currency, and the new language of business is Mandarin. The People's Liberation Navy can project power into the seven seas, and Chinese carriers bestow legitimacy on local rulers, having monopolized cross-continental trade. When one walks through the streets of Hong Kong and Shangai one sees a modern country the mix of free-market economics and state capitalism with progressive social programs and the tyranny and backwardness of the 20th century put long behind them.
Yet life in China is far from Idyllic censorship is still heavy, and while the great firewall may be down surveillance remains, and even if the government isn't monitoring things 100% of the time, enough pages are fire-walled, and by this point, many nations have their own internets. In the Chinese interior, many still subsist off of subsistence farming little better than their ancestors of the previous century and who haven't felt the benefits of those on the coast. In Africa Chinese business interests ruthlessly exploit the continent for resources and exotic goods backed by local elites who line their pockets with a cut of Chinese profits, while in Asia the Chinese dominated Asian Union serves to solidify the South China Sea under Chinese dominance. Chinas local enforcer in the region is Indonesia a democracy and a significant economic force whose leadership is increasingly demanding more say in the Chinese system.
China holds allies throughout the world which often serve as local enforcement for Chinese rule, while Japan meanwhile was roped into the Chinese sphere due to the Chinese economic pull and Korea after US troops left, Kim died and the peninsula reunified. Russian is an interesting case and acts independently but cooperates with the PRC and holds its own sphere of influence. The Russian Federation is still under autocratic rule though now it's more of a council and not one shirtless guy on a bear. Iran meanwhile jumped in with China due to economic ties and now is an actual democracy and relatively secular though they do follow sharia law. Germany just decided China paid better following the fall of the EU.
The fall of the European Union in 2032 following the twin withdrawals of Germany and France and sent much of Europe into a short but nasty economic recession whose aftermath would see two Europes form. Chinese Europe consisting of Germany and the Balkans takes advantage of the Chinese financial system and despite a declining population has done very well for itself. The other Europe, the slightly weaker and far more anti-Chinese Europe, consists of the European Commonwealth and is dominated by France and Poland. The EC is split into Eastern and Western Portions dominated by the French-led League of Europe and the Polish-led Międzymorze (Intermarium). The EC hopes to avoid the problems that led to fall of the EU and is a free trade and free movement area similar to Schengen in addition to serving a mutual defense Initiative.
France meanwhile spent the 2020s and 2030s attempting to turn the French world into a real global power, and they have succeeded somewhat forming Françafrique. French investment and economic growth have helped turn the nations of Françafrique into some of the most prosperous in Africa though in many places French-backed local strongman resort to harsh measures to stay in power. France prevents most of its regimes from getting too nasty though with too many extrajudicial killings, and the French Army gets deployed.
The United Kingdom has done relatively well for itself plugging into the Indian Ocean economies and partnering up with India along with the rest of the Anglosphere though they remain pretty close with the European Commonwealth and have turned itself into a pretty potent military power. Italy has finally reformed its government after the crash of 2032 and has seen several years of excellent economic growth Poland meanwhile is doing very well for itself as the new power in Eastern Europe. Romania has absorbed Moldava and split Transnistria with Ukraine once the Russians decided to leave.
The United States having been gone for a generation is now tentatively taking its first steps back onto the global scene. Securing a new power base and grouping of allies for itself. The Chicago Pact is the result initially an alliance formed between the United States and Canada, two states which still espoused democracy and remain doggedly opposed to Chinese dominance. The Chicago Pact has grown into a union of American states seeking to resist Chinese influence and whose recent courting of Brazil one of the most influential economies in the region have made them a force to be reckoned with.
In addition to the pact, the other American alliance system the South-West Pacific Agreement was formed at the behest of Austrailia and New Zealand neither wanting to fall under Chinese dominance and eventually grew to encompass most of the South Pacific who had not yet fallen under Chinese dominance.
In the United States itself, Living standards and income inequality have both gotten significantly better, universal healthcare is finally a thing and Protectionist Capitalism, and huge tariffs have in some ways isolated the U.S. from International corporations and kept local businesses and manufacturing alive. In the political scene, gerrymandering is a thing of the past, and the Republicans have fallen from grace due to a series of party fiascos in the 2030s have been replaced by the Libertarians in the two-party system.
India is the worlds 2nd biggest economy but is surrounded by a China with the upper hand, India however, holds quite a bit of soft power, and Indian foods, music, and movies are seen throughout the World. India is less chaotic than in the early years of the 20th century though only slightly so. Poverty and income inequality have gotten much better, and the Indian military has finally learned to procure equipment correctly, and the recent indigenous Indian combat aircraft isn't an entirely unless so progress. Chinese economic and military might trumps it outright though and to counter India has turned to the US.
The other powers in this world are the East Africa Federation which is a democratic state that is somewhat peeved at Chinese influence and exploitation in Africa. South Africa which has finally overcome the legacy of apartheid race problems and is now a force to be reckoned with and is slowly drawing closer with Britain and India. Saudi Arabia which to everyone's surprise has successfully transitioned from a petrostate into an economy based on services, and Argentina a substantial economic force in its own right yet not powerful enough to contest Brazilian or Chinese influence. Egypt meanwhile is under an autocratic Islamist government albeit a fairly sane and law-abiding one.
Green tech is big and has matured very well. Solar is widespread and is the primary means of generating power, supplemented with nuclear fission and fossil fuels in the developed world. Fusion is now ten years away instead of twenty.
Computer tech is noticeably more advanced but has plateaued since the late 2030s, due to concerns of learning AI and to difficulty getting Moore’s Law to advance without making three-dimensional multi-layered microchips. True AI is in its infancy and technology companies developing it are being closely monitored by their respective governments to prevent a paperclip scenario, no matter how unlikely. Even with a lot of automation, human- level intelligent AI is still in the lab, so there isn't a debate over AI rights. The main issue with AI is that after it is written, learning software needs several years to learn, and it is difficult to copy.
A lot of research has gone into nanomaterials, and nanotech is finding its way into the medical and material field. The exorbitant cost, however, is putting a dampener on its use.
Biotech is huge. Big pharma has a lot more funds to allocate toward research now that recreational drugs make up a significant portion of their sales as the slow legalization of recreational drugs occurred throughout the Western world in the 2020s and 2030s. Drug epidemics have been prevented with the invention of cheap anti-addiction medicine and a much-improved system for treating addicts.
Most organs and limbs can be replaced with augmentations in the event of catastrophic damage as advancements in robotics and medicine have allowed many to recover from what would have been disabling injuries. Recreationally augmentation is a thing, but the limits of technology have meant that they can only improve the human body so far. Augments for the Brain are still in their infancy though some prototypes have come out in recent years that boost your thinking. Augmentation is still controversial throughout the Western world with the regulation and legality being a case currently being debated in the supreme court and across the country. In the East, however, augments aren't given much attention and are mostly legal.
Genetic engineering is advanced, with most babies being screened and edited for diseases in the 1st World. However, designer babies are limited and in most countries that allow them only genes from the mother and father can be used. People are relatively wary about said technology and its a hot-button issue throughout the developed world.
The economy is more automated though the impact is less than as one would think. While self-driving cars and commercial trucks work well on the highway, paranoia about accidents means its law to have a person operating with a vehicle at all time in case of any mechanical difficulties. Some have called laws unnecessary until a car crash or malfunction kills some innocents and gets them to shut up.
Exo-skeletons and military combat suits are now a thing and have seen much employment in logistics, logging, construction, and occasionally sees some use as a heavy weapons platform with the newer military models.
There have been significant advances in geoengineering, reducing the effects of global warming significantly. The tech was innovated and implemented en masse by the developed world. CO2 scrubbers and cloud seeders are used en masse and investment into the field have only increased. Oh, and everyone has finally accepted climate change is a thing save for some holdouts and loggerheads.
On the military side of things not too much has changed. Tanks and armored vehicles are still in use now packing guns in the 130-150mm range mostly with unmanned turrets and armored capsules for crew survivability. Unfortunately, nobody has managed to develop a power source big enough to power a railgun and small enough to fit in an AFV. Point Defence lasers are now a thing though mostly mounted on specialized vehicles though some newer AFVs have them pre-installed. Magnetic weapons are now a thing with railguns and gauss guns are seeing substantial use on ships to serve as air defense and for shore bombardment. Advancements in ABM systems have also been made, and they are now capable enough to do some damage to any first strike and sufficient to take down any missile from a rogue state.
Hypersonic jets and space planes are seeing widespread use. Anti-satellite weapons are a significant thing though the damage they would cause to global communications has somewhat discouraged their use. Low Earth Orbit has been pretty heavily developed and man has landed on the Mars there are a few bases on the Moon two Chinese one American and one Indian with a joint European base under construction. A Mars base in the works but is about a decade or two down the line.
The world has become more prosperous, more populous, and in some ways a better place, but in others worse. Democracy is no longer on the decline; where it remains it is firmly rooted, but the vast majority of states that were in the democratic-autocratic grey area back in the 2000s have moved solidly into the autocracy camp. With systems of government similar to Chinas to family dynasties and everything in between.
Chineses culture increasingly replacing Westernization with Sinification almost everywhere. Globalization though seems to be diminishing in its effect, even as Mandarin is challenging English for the title of Lingua Franca. Still, most strongly in India, Europe, and Africa but also to a lesser degree in the U.S. and Chinese dominated lands like Vietnam, Kongo, and Japan, movements to end Chinese dominance are quietly growing in strength and popularity. Will the era of Chinese dominance last the century?