alternatehistory.com

I have a wee list here of 1980's PODs. The challenge is to come up with a short TL running to 2008 for any that take your fancy...

In no particular chronological order:

1. Carter puts together a larger expeditionary force to snatch the hostages in Iran, and it actually succeeds (well, only a _few_ of the hostages die in the rescue, and only a couple helicopters crash and burn in the desert).

2. Thanks to the UK selling off more of their fleet (which if IIRC was in the works OTL when the crisis broke out), Thatcher finds she doesn't have the necessary naval projection power to rescue the Falklands. This can go either of two ways: impotent fuming, or sending in what forces exist, and losing.

3. Reagan is assassinated, 1982. Hinkley's girfriend is still unimpressed.

4. Gorbachev fails to get the job. Pick your favorite alternate choice.

5. It's just another day on the job at Chernobyl.

5. Mario Cuomo, not Dukakis, is the 1988 democratic candidate.

6. Iranians beat the Iraqis. Probably don't occupy all of Iraq, since this would get them in a fight with the Turks, who are serious badasses.

7. Iraqis beat the Iranians. Probably don't occupy all Iran, because even Saddam would realize that lethal indigestion would follow.

8. Indira Ghandi avoids pissing off the Sikhs, lives to a ripe old age.

9. Chinese government clears out Tienamin sqaure before the protest becomes an international spectacle. Hoses and police are used, not tanks.

10. NAFTA negociations fall through.

11. Nelson Mandela dies in prison, mid-80's.

12. Margaret Thatcher assassinated by the IRA, 1986.

13. On his visit to to Kosovo in 1987, Slobodan Milosevic dies in an unfortunate accident while visiting a pig-fattening facility. (There was some dispute afterward as to where the pigs concerned should be sold for meat or not).

14. 1984 -alarmed by what they see as a headlong plunge into capitalism, hardliners in the party manage to remove Deng from power, and put the brakes on the pace of economic reform.

15. Able Archer ends up leading to an accidental nuclear war, 1983. Can the Brazilians make it as the world's leading power?

16. Iran-Contra remains secret.

17. Reagan fails to end the grain embargo on the USSR (1981 OTL)

18. John Paul II is assassinated, 1981.

19. After the Challenger disaster, NASA makes a more determined effort to develop a more reliable successor to the Shuttle.

20. Prince Charles and Diana Spencer fail to hit it off.

21. Anwar Sadat survives the assasination attempt (1981).

And just a couple of ASB ones:

22. Gorbachev is more successful at economic reform and political dickering than OTL, and in 2008 a rump Union of Russia, Belorus, the Ukraine, Kazakhistan, Armenia and Mongolia* still exists and enjoys the luxurious living standards of Hungary.

23. Pons and Fleischmann actual _do_ discover cold fusion in 1989. It has its limitations - given low power densities, it's not very useful for anything smaller than a major power plant. OTOH, it essentially runs on water.

* - facing total economic collapse, Mongolia joined up in the mid-90's in hope of subsidies and protection from the Chinese

add more, if you like.

Bruce
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