With the untimely death of Stalin, the Soviet Union was struck with a leadership Crisis, with a sucession of weak leaders coming in and out of power for several years. While the country never came close to actual collapse, Soviet influence in Eastern Europe was almost destroyed. With the Soviet forces marching back from Berlin to quell dissent in the homeland, the decision to follow the Morganthau Plan became a no brainer, and was implemented soon after Hitler's execution. The execution of this hated dictator allowed a lot of the tensions between the various combatants to cool, helped by the new democratically elected governments in Eastern Europe. The victory of the KMT in the Chinese Civil War can perhaps be placed at the feet of the conflict arising in the USSR. With Truman sending aid to the Vietmanese, a Pacific Defense treaty was organised, and soon included China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Australia and the US. With equal balance in US influence across both Atlantic and Pacific, it was felt that a more Eastern orientated UN Headquarters would be needed to join the existing one in Geneva, leading the UN to remain in San Fransico. The large number of returning soldiers looking for work led to the development of the US National Service policy. However, the failure of the Walter-Murray-Dingell Bill, and the split the in US Labour partys, meant that there was some conflict between the various pro and against groups in the country.
Decolonisation began its slow spread after the War, with European Countries founding the United Nations Council for the Development of Africa, the UNCDA. This did much to help remove the sting from further European presence, though conflicts did arise in Algeria, over Suez and in the Belgian Congo. While there was some call for rationalisation of Borders, in the end the agreement was made that it would just lead to a lot of disputes.
By the mid 60s, the Soviets had recovered, but were unable to make any sort of headway in expaning their influence in Europe or the Far East. In Europe, the EEC contained just about everyone of value, though Yugoslavia remained outside the block, while the Pacific Treaty Group, now including Korea, India, Pakistan, Bengal (all of Bengal), Tibet, Burma, Siam, Punjab and Malysia, blocked expansion there. As a result, Soviet influence instead was focused South, into the Middle East.
The 70s would see great changes. The State of Isreal had been created after WWII, and now after incredibly protracted peace agreements, the final decision had been made to create the state of Isreal-Palestine, constiting of the Autonamous Republics of Isreal, Palestine and Gaza and with the capital at Jerusalem. However, though Africa was gaining increasing independance under stable regimes, Europe was becoming a place of conflicts and crises. The Death of Tito in '76 led to a destbalisation of Yugoslavia. Czechoslovakia dissolved, and the German states sought reunion. In the Middle East, the Shah of Iran was deposed and a communist government declared.
The issues of the 70s came to a head in the 80s. Public opinion led to the recreation of Germany after a referendums in Belgium, Holland, Poland, Czechia. Austria, France and Britain showed that the European population were not adverse to this. With great pomp, the Federal Republic of Germany was declared, though it wouldn't be until the close of the century the France would return the Saar. Ruthenia seperated from Slovakia to join Poland, while the Soviets became increaingly agitated over their desire for Modavia and Afghanistan.
By the 1990s, however, civil war would strike the USSR and Yugoslavia. Ethnic strife tore through the Balkans, though the States of Slovenia, Kosovo and Macedonia were protected by UN peace keepers. Croatia and Serbia fought for control of Bosnia, which evetually declared itself the state of Bosnia-Herzegovina as a biracial state on the Isreali-Palestinian model. When Montenergo declared independance in 1996, Serbia was forced to conclude a humiliating peace. The EU thus grew to incorporate new states, though the UK, Ireland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Switzerland and the Microstates were merely economic partners, increasing federalisation not being felt attractive for them.
The USSR would fare even worse. By the end of a long and bloody civil war, numerous new republics were seen: Karelia joined Finland, Kaliningrad, Estonia, Lativia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine and Crimea joined the EEC, Chechyna, Ossetia, Dagestan, Georgia, Abkhazia, Armenia, Azerbijan, Adyega, Adjara, Ingushetia, Cherkessia, Balkaria, Nagorno-Karabakh, Krasnodar, Nakhchivan and Stavropol formed the Transcaucasian Defence Group, Central Asia saw the appearence of Kazakhstan, Uzbeckistan, Tajikistan, Turkmeninstan, Kyrgistan, Tartarstan and Bashkortostan, and Siberia declared independance as a seperate nation, though they would eventually rejoin Russia proper.
The US would face many issues also in these years. By 2000, Social rights movements had succeeded peacemeal, due to a lack of a unifying force, and around half the states had instituted government run healthcare systems. However, the internal difficulties manifested themselves in a long isolationist phase, with the result that the US was not quite the world's sole superpower, more of a 'first among equals.'
The dawn of the 20th Century therefore sees a situation where there are domant conflicts in the Balkans and Russia, the still present urge for political reorganisation among the African nations, though there at least a democratic route may become viable, worries over the fate of the nuclear stockpiles of the USSR, a US wracked with domestic crises and a Middle East where a communist Iran could start a chaotic war in the one area which is still prone to ethnic and sectarian violence.