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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaï https://www.zef.de/fileadmin/webfiles/downloads/zefnews/No8-9-2001-engl.pdf In the past generation, there has been a bit of a revolution in the agricultural practices in marginal Sahel lands. There is a traditional agricultural technique called Zai, which is...

This will hopefully be a fairly free wheeling discussion, inspired by my thoughts in a thread in the FH subforum that was pursuing the tried and true formula of the US as the new Rome. My position boiled down to this: if America is the new Rome, it needs its own Socii. There's no reason for them...

Suppose the following: - We have a great butterfly net - While still granting the Philippines independence, the US formally sets a few islands aside to keep. If we’re being more modest, then something like Palawan, Mindoro, and/or their outlying smaller islands. If we’re indulging some 51st...

Stirrups are a staple of AH, simply due to the fact that they seem so obvious in hindsight. Of course, like any good writing trope, they're usually overdone, but I didn't realize just how much until I saw that the debate over them actually has its own wikipedia page...

The holy grail of any timeline in which the Roman Republic survives is the Republic making a successful transition from a city-state that happens to rule over a Empire into some form of Federal government, in which outlying regions are not only allowed self government, but also allow to formally...

Awhile back, I had a somewhat similar discussion going: https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/rome-never-goes-east-which-successor-state-triumphs.474932/ This is slightly different. We are going to assume the following: The Roman Republic unifies the Western Mes more or less on...

Let us suppose that Germanicus lives long enough to become Tiberius’ successor. Let us also set aside the more fanciful speculation of all that the battle proven, dashing, charismatic young general could do as Emperor. What might Claudius’ role in his brother’s regime be? Almost certainly not...

I picked that age because that is how long August lived. So let us assume that Alexander avoids poison, illness, dying in combat, or anything else that could kill him until he is 75 years old (that gives him an extra 43 years, so he’ll die around 280 BC). We do not have to assume that he goes on...

Surprisingly, I cannot find any examples of this scenario on the board. Of all the countries people have suggested the US annex, Panama is one of the most logical. It had a low population, was strategically vital after the canal, and was a relatively rebellious part of Colombia. The US had...

Suppose that either Alexander or another Hellenistic king conquered the cities of the Tarim basin. Perhaps the most plausible would be a Bactrian ruler, as they’d be the closest. Regardless of who does it, the region is conquered by a Hellenistic army well before the Han conquer the region...

There is often enough discussion of 'what if America was discovered earlier?' usually featuring the Romans getting the job done. We know that sailors in antiquity had the ability to circumnavigate Africa in principle - Phoenicians did it, but had to do a stop over to literally grow their own...

Another one of my high concept questions, and technically one that would have a POD in the 19th century, but I'm mainly interested in the impact in the modern era. So, let us assume that China has the following national borders: Let us also assume that, at minimum, Burma/Myanmar (whatever it...

This discussion would require lots of handwaving around, but I hope we can indulge ourselves. It is generally assumed that, had the Bulgarians ever conquered Constantinople, that so long as they were Orthodox Christians and embraced Greek culture, they would have been seen as a legitimate...

Feel free to assume this is adopted in a current major country or some historical country that has survived to the modern era (looking at you, Industrialized Roman Empire), or a full on Starship Troopers proto-federation. Bare minimum, all men are required to serve a year or so, with alternate...

This one has the follow up question of “what took so long, historically?” The main question is what if the trans-Sahara caravans that connected the Mediterranean world with West Africa were developed earlier? Historically, camels had been used in the Middle East for over a millennium before...

Suppose the lands we recognize as Russia came to be dominated by East-Iranian speaking Sarmatians, rather than Slavic peoples - for purposes of this discussion, we’ll accept the Alans and Ossetians as close enough to Sarmatian. This requires, of course, some huge changes to Eurasian history in...

Been going down a rabbit hole lately. First, I started studying Integralism: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integralism From which I found an example in Portugual: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integralismo_Lusitano Which lead me to National Syndicalism...

Just in case you want some reading material: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qattara_Depression_Project https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qanat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Greek_and_Roman_architectural_records#Tunnels...

Suppose that Germany retains its pre-WW1 borders through whatever means you think most plausible. Perhaps WW1 is avoided entirely, perhaps it is shorter, so that the peace is less harsh. Whatever the case may be, it is a much larger state than Germany of the present day in reality, about one and...

Imagine, if you will, that the western allies (France, UK, and US) end up fighting the Soviets alongside Nazi Germany. I'm very flexible on the specifics, especially when it comes to just how the US enters the war (perhaps a Communist Japan still pulls a Pearl Harbor?), and just how the Soviets...