AHC- Bruneian Great Power

SunDeep

Banned
Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to conceive of an ATL where Brunei's economy becomes one of the largest in the world. Specifically, raise Brunei's place in the rankings of nations by their total GDP (PPP) up until it's at least on a par with its place in the rankings of nations by GDP (PPP) per capita IOTL (either 5th or 7th). How could this come to pass? And how far back would you have to go with your POD to make this possible? (ps, having the Brookes become the new ruling dynasty over the entire Bruneian Empire is permissible)
 
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Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to conceive of an ATL where Brunei's economy becomes one of the largest in the world. Specifically, raise Brunei's place in the rankings of nations by their total GDP (PPP) up until it's at least on a par with its place in the rankings of nations by GDP (PPP) per capita IOTL (either 5th or 7th). How could this come to pass? And how far back would you have to go with your POD to make this possible? (ps, having the Brookes become the new ruling dynasty over the entire Bruneian Empire is permissible)

A pod of 1500 or later would be good. If Brunei has got OTL Borneo, Philippines and Indonesia until present day and maintain the OTL gdp per capita of Brunei, you got yourself a great power, Population and economy almost equal to the US.
 
If you want the Brookes to take power, have Charles Brooke completely annex Brunei before the early 1900s. He wanted to OTL, but was stopped by the British because they thought it would cause a lot of trouble for such a small area.

If you don't want the Brookes, for god's sake do not install Pangiran Indera Mahkota as lord of Kuching in the early 1800's. It was his personal style of rule and the area's instability that lead James to get Kuching in the first place!

If you want Brunei as in "the entire North Bornean coast", have the Sulu Sultanate not take sides during the Bruneian Civil War. This will make Brunei own all of Sabah plus OTL Sarawak.
 

SunDeep

Banned
A pod of 1500 or later would be good. If Brunei has got OTL Borneo, Philippines and Indonesia until present day and maintain the OTL gdp per capita of Brunei, you got yourself a great power, Population and economy almost equal to the US.

Indeed, it would be good, and you would certainly have Brunei as a great power this way. But the challenge wasn't anywhere near as ambitious as this; you'd just need Brunei to have a higher GDP than Brazil, roughly 18% of the USA's GDP. In fact, if you go by PPP, then all you'd need to do would be to combine the present day economies of Indonesia, the Philippines, East Malaysia and Brunei IOTL and you'd already be there. You don't have to make the region wealthier at all- all you need to do is unite it somehow under the rule of Brunei. That's going to be the tricky part...
 
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