And thank God for that bright spot, though I wouldn't mind the Soviet Union wasting its resources away on that misadventure.
No Soviet Vietnam ... not in Afghanistan at any rate.
I don't think the 2 Yemeni governments would meet in Muscat. The communist one is presumably still funding the rebellion in Dhofar. Baghdad would be a better location.
That revolt is mostly over by 1978 in both TLs, and in the event they have a bigger common problem right now, much. much more threatening to all of their regimes.
Why did the Lao government leave for Thailand rather than, say, Savannakhet?
Following the ancient art of war -- if the enemy is advancing from three sides, probably best to retreat the other way.
I assume the PSOE is still illegal in Spain. Mitterrand could meet Gonzalez or whoever is in charge as a fuck you to the Falange. Might even help Gonzalez's attempt to move the party away from Marxism, presuming he's still trying that.
Just how much closer to the US is North Vietnam moving? And what does it mean for maybe having a united Vietnam in the future?
And again, what of the Aegean islands under Turkish occupation?
Stay tuned.
What's the situation of China's minorities? Is there any possibility of the Soviets, Americans, Indians, North Vietnamese, and/or Thai using them to gain insights into the working of the regime and maybe even causing some instability? Has there been any flight of people, Han or otherwise, from China's less populated frontier regions?
You will be seeing a lot of Chinese boat people fleeing the PRC, along with refugees coming over the mountains. However, other governments in the area, suffering from economic problems of their own, won't be so happy to see them and there will be a definite political downside in many western countries for taking in large numbers of destitute refugees.
There could well be internal revolts, all the better for the Lesser Mao to prove what a tough guy he and his friends are. Of course, the protests/revolts are the result of Chouist conspiracy and/or American-Russian Imperialist adventuring, all designed to destroy the People's Revolution. So says the Great Helmsman from his contemplative retreat.