A conversation from a newsarticle on how the supposed arrival of the year 2000 was gonna go and bring calamity onto the world, referring to how the Y2K bug caused some serious problems since while some companies and workers, such as those in HP, were working to resolve the issue, others didn't take it so seriously. This led to a crash within the economy and with Bush winning the election via electoral college vote through Supreme Court, the early 2000s were a tough time, it being "game over" for the status quo. While the internet and computers would be restored relatively well, the shockwaves were alot more permanant. The US two party system ended with Russia, China and the Middle East falling into disarray soon after.
By 2004, populism had spread, explaining the victory of US representative turned independent presidential candidate Bernie Sanders for US presidency, who's dark horse victory attracted plenty of attention and would declare a state of emegancy, using the vast executive powers to work to pass various intense reforms. Pushback from the corporations and other interest groups was meager, due to being heavily weakened by the Second Great Depression. Bernie would win reelection in 2008 and continue his work to help the US and also with the rest of the world, causing a massive shift toward economic intervention and cooperation along with leftist politics. His vice president in John Robert Lewis would continue to win in 2012 and 2016 as the first president of the Progressive Party (it's revealed he became VP as a deal with Sanders though noted they decided who would be president and who would be vice president with a coin flip.)
Russia meanwhile would itself having to go through reforms and struggles with leadership. China would see the CCP fall and have differing parties take control, mainly the Chiense Democratic League to make some reforms to restore more local ordinances and deal with corruption, though they were also forced to give Tibet and Uyghurstan their independence. They would get rid of the Kims in North Korea and begin the long process of Korea unification (starting in 2003 and finished Phase 3 out of 5 by 2021). The Middle East would see the governments collapse under the Arab Spring or the fallout of the Iraqi-Syrian war while Iran underwent another Revolution and ending the "Islamic Republic", embracing secularism. The Saudi dynasty collapsed and ultimately Jordan, the last man standing, would end up having the Hashemite dynasty help bring in order in a somewhat unified Kingdom of Arabia, barring a smaller Iraq and a new Kurdistan (the Americans' new close ally). Many saw this as the end of neoliberalism and the rise of neoprogressivism.
"The Second Ethiopian-Italian War saw Ethiopia win again and they would annex Italian Eritrea and Italian Somaliland. And that was just the start of how Ethiopia would become a potential superpower alongside Brazil, India, China and the Kongo. They've already got good relations with the sole superpower in the United States after all."