The year is 2000, and North America is a tense place. The biggest events of the 20th century, most notably the World War which lasted just over a decade, as well as the shifting of power from Europe to Asia, has left the North American continent in distress. Decolonisation movements of the 1980's and 90's grew to a fever point in 1995 when the French Empire released some of its American colonies, including Tejas and Centroamerica. As well, French troops pulled out of Mexico City and King Eduardo III announced his intent to restore the Mexican constitution and abdicate the throne, hoping to lead, by 2004, Mexico into a modern republic. After this, the floodgates were opened.
Since 1979 there has been conflict in Louisiana. The government, focused mostly in the southern part of the country and along the Osarque Ridges near the Mississippi, had begun to loosen surveillance and interference with the Tribal Trusts. A number of parishes are made up of native majorities, but property, wealth, and political power seems to be centered on the white minority. Although Louisiana is francophone, immigration means that large populations are not French. Germans, Scandinavians, and Greeks populate the countryside in their own ethnic enclaves, with their differences cut short by the label of "white" and the only acceptable spoken tongue being relegated to French. A war is being fought in the underdeveloped north, far from the infrastructure and ease of access from the Mississippi. Violence has spilled over after Tejan support for native terrorist cells has created a real problem of accountability for bombings and assassinations.
The powerful American Commonwealth is facing its own problems. In 1965 when the Association of the Thirteen Colonies (ATC) started to change, the push for freedom was strongest in the south. Slavery, which was not totally abandoned until the 1850's, left its mark on the economic development. As well, British attempts to appease native populations led to resentment from these populations. Georgia had long been a rebellious territory, and won its independence in 1969 after a referendum was held. Soon after, Georgia supported the Anglo population of Florida's (British protectorate) panhandle to secede and form the Republic of Freedonia, which is soon to hold its own referendum to join Britain. The Canadian Commonwealth is respectably British, and continues to aid the empire, while the Miskito Commonwealth has exceeded expectations. Immigration filled it with the best from Europe, and willing to accept foreigners as Miskitians, including Slavs and Muslims, meant that the Commonwealth grew. Creating its own canals independent of London's interference solidified the power. Its main focus is competing with Venedichia, the Germanophone republic whose recent transition to a democracy left the military in control, means the British can focus elsewhere in the world.
Russian America is being granted devolution from Saint Petersburg everyday. The release of the primarily native Republic of Sonoma was a victory for devolutionists across the expanse of Slavic America, and the Principality of Aliaska itself is seeking to distance itself from the Motherland everyday, as tensions rise again between the French Empire and Russia. As well, exploitation of oil is benefiting the Aliaskans little, especially the rising middle class in the lower, Or'gon region of Aliaska. The environmentally conscious
poczvaniki are civilly protesting deforestation and hunting.
In the west, the dictatorship over the Pueblo is hardening as resources run dry. The thaw period of the 1990's came to an abrupt halt with the death of Republican Chief Tuba Talayesva and replacement with his lieutenant Dextru Naha, who has begun an effort to extort and drive out non-Pueblo settlers, including rival tribes and white settlers. The Republic of Draka faces issues which cannot so easily be solved. A state propped up only by British interest in the area, many consider the underdeveloped and underpopulated land to be of little value, if not for corporate interest in its fertility. The Drakans are starting to get better living conditions as the government moves away from the Traditional People's Party and peacefully changed to the Unity Party in 1998. Large farms have begun to spring up, and San Francisco has invested in infrastructure to help its citizens travel outside of the city. Speaking of SF, the city-state, or Free State as it calls itself, is entirely a British construct. Captured out of fear of Russian absorption of Draka in 1869, the Free State was recently released by the British in 1987 after conditions for a referendum were met. It is an economic giant on the Pacific, and suffers from overpopulation, pollution, and incapacity to meet tourism's demands of the city.
