Hello, hello, haven't commented here yet but I have followed this timeline for quite a bit and I just want to commend you,
@KingSweden24 for the great work you have done. Thank you for your effort.
Now, onto the latest update itself, it is riveting indeed to see the shift in the USSR that comes with Andropov's meteoric rise to the top. It is very much shown that this KGB man is a ruthless, cold calculator who will stop at nothing to assure the survival of the Soviet state, pulling back from foreign entanglement on the contrary to the Brezhnev doctrine IOTL. Of course, this reform inititative is also out of self-interest (eliminating obstacles to his rule), as shown by his tolerance of certain apparatchiks while purging others, and it is a great detail that to show how its impact is analyzed in the future of TTL. Also, love the touch of crudeness in there, fits very well.
Andropov's consolidation, does mean, sadly, that Eastern Europe will most probably be crushed even more under the iron heel of Soviet oppression than IOTL, but if I think of Solidarity in Poland and etc. I'm just getting ahead of myself.
Overall, the late Soviet period is fascinating in many ways, a reflection of a failing society and a crumbling empire, not completely unsalvageable but very much in trouble. Andropov coming to power earlier than 1982 means that most of his changes will take root more forcefully, creating a more gradual change than Gorbachev's attempt at
perestroika and
glasnost, which came too much too soon and accelerated the unraveling of the Eastern Bloc. Really, IOTL could have been much worse, Gorby is a key factor in that it collapsed in a mostly peaceful manner, but I digress.
Coming back to the update, the Middle East is going through interesting times indeed, in the Chinese sense of the phrase. A cauldron of seething tension ready to explode at any time is not good news, but for the moment it remains still. Afghanistan will probably remain a Communist dictatorship firmly secured in its urban centers, with trouble from the countryside, much like in the later years of the Soviet-Afghan War before the fall of the USSR iirc. Iran remains the American ally of choice, but its military regime is not very popular and it is uncertain how that may hold up over the next few years. It will be seen with great interest how the region turns out.
Once again, thank you for the effort you put into this. The Seventies are quite the wonderful time period to work with, and your timeline is truly a tidy piece of work. Terrific job you've done.