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How plausible is Malaysia-style, semi elective monarchy in newly independent Pakistan? I realize Jinnah had originally supported the Congress party and so might be weary of monarchism, but perhaps influential generals or aristocratic, right-wing politicians would support a monarch chosen by...

Or technically, reverse Janissaries; (predominately) Muslim Central Asian warriors, forcibly recruited at young age, converted to the Orthodox church and rigorously trained in warfare and administration. At least initially,the troops would be directly loyal to the Tsar and thus a useful...

Tricameralism (three legislative houses) has been employed by several Constitutions, often with each chamber meant to represent a distinct class. However, most of these arrangements proved ephemeral and some, like Bolivar's final constitution for Gran Colombia were never implemented at all...

A few days back, I was skimming the (contemporary) Greek elections thread, and Thande likened Pasok to the fate of the "national" or coalition element of Labour that broke with the party in the 1930's over spending retrenchment, etc. Although I realize national Labour sailed in the wake of the...

As in "strength through joy"; the nazi propaganda organization fronted cruises, cars, radios and so on. Given the supremely choreographed pageantry of Leni Riefenstahl's films, Goebbels' broadcast tirades and similar, theme parks would seem a plausible extension for a longer-lived regime, with...

I've recently been employing "Power in the Kremlin" (Michel Tatu) as a postprandial read. Toward the beginning,the author, a French journalist, suggested Khrushchev favored attending the 1960 Geneva conference even after the U-2 incident, perhaps in part to utilize his augmented leverage after...

If Lincoln survived, Johnson was removed from office, or the radical Republicans simply dominated the party more thoroughly than was the case during the OTL 1860's , would an article V convention have perhaps been held? In particular, I meant augmenting the powers of the federal government and...

please delete-posted in wrong forum

How might Egypt fare if WWII was averted-would the monarchy have persisted over the long term; how long could/would it have remained a British satellite state? Perhaps more importantly, would Egypt have remained diverse like it was through the 1940's, when it had sizable Greek, Jewish and...

Exactly what it says on the tin-if the US Marine and French Paratroop headquarters/barracks are not attacked by Hezbollah truck bombs in 1983, how much longer would the multinational force have remained in Lebanon? Also, to what degree would a more sustained peace-enforcement mission have...

Some present-day democracies, like the UK, USA, or Spain had restricted, property-based voting rights in the 19th century. Arguably, a limited, incrementally expanding franchise helped foster rule of law in what were then very poor, profoundly unequal societies. Universal suffrage, while...

I recall seeing FPTP Wiemar being mooted here, but it was rejected as too much of a stretch for or too foreign to German political culture c.1920. First past the post (which has its own flaws) might not have been plausible, but what about single transferable vote, AKA "Australian ballot" (ranked...

Former senator John Tower http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Tower , (of Tower commission fame) was George H. W. Bush' original nominee for secretary of defense, but was voted down 47-53 amid ethical difficulties. House minority whip Dick Cheney was mooted as a replacement and handily approved...

The British decision to return to the gold standard at (US) $4.86 is frequently cited as a major economic error and possibly a factor in bringing on the Great Depression. That said, most 1920's economists opposed simply going to a fiat currency. Fear of financial instability and loss of...

In early June 1880, he came within 75 votes of receiving the nomination at the longest ever Republican convention in Chicago. Although his two terms had been lackluster, the 'stalwart' faction backed Grant, probably because they sought a prominent standard bearer/figurehead. OTL many of the...

"Iron Destinies, Lost opportunities (Charles Morris)" which I read several months back, mentioned that the Carter then the Reagan administrations had serious misgivings about the Pershing II IRBM because it interfered with the "flexible response" doctrine preferred in Washington. It was felt...

Egas Monizhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egas_Moniz, pioneer of the lobotomy, was awarded the Nobel prize for Medicine in 1949, greatly boosting the practice of that infamous procedure. If he had had not been so honored, would treatment of the mentally ill have developed in a more humane...

...as a POD for abolition(or at least defanging) of the Electoral College in the USA? 1. Perot selects a more sensible/sane vp nominee in 1992 and does not briefly drop out of the presidential race. He goes on to win a few states and sufficient electoral votes to throw the election to the house...

We have had threads on how a post-1991 USSR might have reacted to the internet, etc, well how would it would have reacted to the rising prevalence of HIV during the early 1990's? IIRC contemporary Russia has notably higher HIV/AIDS infection rates than W. Europe or N. America.

Awhile back, I read Jeremy Black's book on the US revolutionary war, where he noted that a drawn-out, bloody, but ultimately successful (think Latin America OTL)conflict was the most likely trigger for a Social Revolution. Offhand, the RN defeating De Grasse in 1781 and then reinforcing...