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[I had thought about posting this one in the ASB forum, but decided that many of the James Bond movies were realistic enough that it could be discussed here]

What would have happened if the Bond Supervillains had managed to succeed in their nefarious schemes? (I mean this on a movie by movie basis) Would they be able to launch a second attack, or would the world outcry be sufficient to ensure that they are down for good, or would global politics have swept them into the fold?

Ones that come to Mind:
Goldfinger
The Plan: Auric Goldfinger detonates a nuclear weapon inside of Fort Knox, contaminating much of the USA's stash of hard currency and making a killing on the gold he does have.

What I think would happen if it worked: Goldfinger makes his financial killing, but the damage dealt to the US Gold Reserve is less than expected. The Gold isn't destroyed--but it is in need of cleaning and detoxing. The Effect of a 10 Kiloton Nuclear Attack on Fort Knox outside the confines of the structure is fairly minimal, but Goldfinger has just given the finger to a large number of his own minions (not that this matters to him) and his own network is already hurting. Goldfinger remains a most wanted criminal that must pull a "Bin Laden" to avoid the wrath of the US government.

Thunderball

The Plan: Emilio Largo of SPECTRE steals two NATO nuclear weapons and ransoms the US and UK governments for a massive fortune.

What would have happened: Perhaps more insidious than the money itself, SPECTRE now has nuclear weapons. Optimistically, this amount of money might be sufficient to appease SPECTRE and the organization might simply disband. Much more likely, however, SPECTRE attempts to go for two against the Soviets, who might well be unable to pay, with sadistic consequences.

Moonraker

The Plan: Hugo Drax of the Moonraker facilities seeks to create a master race of his own people by evacuating to a space station and launching a massive poison gas attack on Earth.

What would have happened: The World is getting hit with WMDs, and decides to respond with its own. Although the death toll ranges in the tens of millions, a ICBM blows up Drax's own Space Station. Yes, Jaws dies too. The Casualties result in increased co-operation between the Soviet Union and the USA, but the losses leave a hard mark in human history.

The Living Daylights

The Plan: Pretty Simple. A Troika of Three People (Soviet Army Col. Koskov, Arms Trader Brad Whittaker and a Ex-KGB hitman Nekros) make a killing trading Afghan Opium for USA guns--a deal eerily reminiscient of various acts in the USA's own history.

What would have happened: A Russian Variation of the USA's own Iran-Contra situation, where the CIA created drug channels in the United States. In this reversed scenario, now Afghan Warlords are selling opium to the Soviets. Much like our own history, the drug channels that are created fall into the hands of Criminal Syndicates. It's possible that with the later collapse of the Soviet Union that these might become so powerful as to emerge as the Post-Soviet governments in some of the neighboring Istan countries.

GoldenEye
The Plan: Alex Trevelyan seeks to hit London with an EMP attack from a nuclear weapon variant. The resulting loss of data will conceal a massive electronic cash theft. Finally, there is some politics going on here as well--Trevelyan is operating in Cuba, probably with the tacit approval of Fidel Castro.

What would have happened: Unfortunately for Trevelyan, the Internet doesn't work in the way he had hoped. Information of many of the bank actions is retrievable from outside London, although this consolation does the people of the greater London Area no good as a result of a massive power outage. That said, the UK Utilities company is able to restore power within a couple of weeks to the area, resulting in a large inconvenience but little permanent damage. Trevelyan keeps his ill-gotten gains but considers whether he's really done enough damage to the UK--his grudge against the country is very personal. I think we have some kind of rematch here.

Tomorrow Never Dies

The Plan: Media Mogul Elliott Carver seeks to create a major war to benefit himself and his corporate empire, a throwback to the Yellow Journalism of the 1890s. Through a combination of provocations and atrocities guided by stealth and sociopathic mercilessness, Carver intends to pit the UK and China into a major war to the benefit of his own media.

What would have happened: The UK and China would enter a war essentially for attacks allegedly committed against each other. Carver succeeds in getting the UK and China to limited attacks, but Simple Logistics makes this plot hard to fathom. After a limited war that consists of little more than a naval skirmish and the Chinese seizing Hong Kong, both China and the UK agree to a UN mediated agreement urged on them by most of Europe (including Russia) and the United States, all of whom have watched the stock market take a major dive on the news. In what would be an act of Poetic Justice, Carver's plan doesn't work out as well as he had intended either--China and the UK would both note how inflammatory and how aggressive his media had positioned itself. China would respond by outright banning Carver's Media Networks, while the UK would ironically grill Eliott Carver for being "irresponsible" without ever knowing how responsible he actually was. That said, Carver's a man with a plan, and the next one is likely to be as sad and grim as the previous one.

These are my own opinions on what I think would happen if the Bond Supervillains had got their way. What would the others do? Or, for that matter, does anyone disagree with my analysis of these events?
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