Of Droughts And Flooding Rains
@Bennett, calm down, I'm going as fast as I can!
The United States presidential election, 2016 was the 50th American presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The Union Democratic ticket of West Florida Senator Jeb Bush and Puerto Rico Governor Luis Fortuño defeated the National Progressives and their candidates Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and former Rio Grande Governor Julián Castro.
Bush quickly emerged as the front-runner in the wide field of Union Democratic candidates, while Bernie Sanders, in a shock upset, defeated Vice President Amy Klobuchar to win the National Progressive nomination. Both nominees picked Hispanic running mates, in an attempt to appeal to what most polls predicted would be the most significant voting group of the election. The campaign centered around economic issues, primarily the best approach to the United States' ongoing economic crisis; other notable issues were the US's role in the Americas and concerns about immigration.
Bush held the lead in most early polls against Sanders, as Klobuchar was the more popular National Progressive candidate among the broader population, but Bush's lead narrowed as the campaign progressed. Ultimately, the result was far narrower, with Sanders winning the key swing state of California, and Bush edging out a narrow popular vote victory. Thanks to to the recent ratification of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact by Deseret, Arizona and Panama, the Compact entered into force at this election, resulting in all but two states pledging their electors to Bush; this resulted in Bush obtaining one of the largest Electoral College wins in history. If all goes as planned, the election will be the last presidential election in US history conducted by the Electoral College, with indications that a constitutional amendment abolishing the College will now be ratified by three-quarters of the US's 52 states.
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'Twas done rather quickly, so I hope it's okay.
EDIT: Now retconned and replaced by this.
The United States presidential election, 2016 was the 50th American presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The Union Democratic ticket of West Florida Senator Jeb Bush and Puerto Rico Governor Luis Fortuño defeated the National Progressives and their candidates Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and former Rio Grande Governor Julián Castro.
Bush quickly emerged as the front-runner in the wide field of Union Democratic candidates, while Bernie Sanders, in a shock upset, defeated Vice President Amy Klobuchar to win the National Progressive nomination. Both nominees picked Hispanic running mates, in an attempt to appeal to what most polls predicted would be the most significant voting group of the election. The campaign centered around economic issues, primarily the best approach to the United States' ongoing economic crisis; other notable issues were the US's role in the Americas and concerns about immigration.
Bush held the lead in most early polls against Sanders, as Klobuchar was the more popular National Progressive candidate among the broader population, but Bush's lead narrowed as the campaign progressed. Ultimately, the result was far narrower, with Sanders winning the key swing state of California, and Bush edging out a narrow popular vote victory. Thanks to to the recent ratification of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact by Deseret, Arizona and Panama, the Compact entered into force at this election, resulting in all but two states pledging their electors to Bush; this resulted in Bush obtaining one of the largest Electoral College wins in history. If all goes as planned, the election will be the last presidential election in US history conducted by the Electoral College, with indications that a constitutional amendment abolishing the College will now be ratified by three-quarters of the US's 52 states.
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EDIT: Now retconned and replaced by this.
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Does anyone ITTL sleep at night, you ask?
The answer is no.
(Ignore Eswatini, I forgot to decolour it before shrinking the image and couldn't be bothered to fix it.)
First i have to say that i quite like these infobox as they were made from scratch and are distinct from those that are made with the inspect element tool/editing wikipedia.
Do the associate members have nuclear weapons? I guess all the full members have some. Some are surprising, i guess germany was allowed to get some by britain to counter french influence in the rhineland? Japan was allied so it makes sense they would get some as they would still be an universally recognized great power, Brazil is unsurprising, Now poland is interesting, i guess they were helped by france to get nukes to counter orthodoxist russia, and to a lesser extent Britain-Alligned Germany.
Burma is ttl's North korea, so it makes sense, you said that egypt(+sudan) is the home to islam, so it's likely the most influencial in the middle east, IRL turkey or iran but more hegemonic, makes sense they would have some nukes. North nigeria, that's interesting, i guess it's the usual Islamic/Christian split, but how tf did an impoverished north nigeria get nukes? Who helped them? Egypt?
Actually maybe associate members do have nukes, maybe through nuke sharing, that would explain canada and Australasia having some, and i guess spain and italy are french-aligned and have french nuclear weapons on their soil, TTL's New Zealand is ironically maybe home to some nukes. If this is the case then why doesn't auralia have french nuclear weapons?
I guess Argentina has some to counter Brazil, and chile is linked to this.
I've tried my best to guess, hope i didn't get too much wrong
For the elections, goddamn that's an electoral college landslide with only 2% of popular vote difference, good thing it is getting abolished, Jeb and Bernie are a bit meme-y (as is Joe Biden) but i guess it's ok, It's nice that panama is accepted as a state,
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@KaiserEmu: How do the people of that Australia see each other? Is there a general sentiment of living on the same land, or do they see each other as foreigners despite the Australian Union?
Thanks a lot!
All the full members have nuclear weapons. Associate members have weapons-sharing agreements with one of the full members, which usually entails the stationing of nuclear weapons in that country by the allied full member. Normally there is an agreement that in the event of a direct attack on the host nation, the commander-in-chief of the host nation can order a nuclear strike if the regional commander of the owning power agrees - i.e. if Canada is directly attacked, the Canadian PM can order a nuclear strike, and if the highest-ranking British officer in Canada consents, then the nukes are launched without any input from the British PM. Some nations don't have this agreement (i.e. Argentina, where a direct attack is a distinct possibility, and no one wants nukes to start flying, so they have to check with the US first).
Germany and Britain got their nukes at the same time. Because ITTL the Nazis never took power, scientists like Einstein never fled Germany, and so the German nuclear programme advanced much further ITTL, at the expense of Britain and the US. When Britain discovered the Germans were also building nukes (just after the peace treaty), they decided to work together against the French.
Japan and Brazil are spot on. The order of Poland's targets is swapped, but also pretty accurate.
Yep. Sokoto is a fundamentalist Islamic state and best friends with Egypt. France initially aided their struggle for independence, but when they started going a bit wacky (and threatening their colonies) Egypt filled the vacuum left by France.
Yep, pretty much. Auralia doesn't need nuclear weapons because of Baudinia. And no one wants to give nukes to them because they're just a bit too unstable for that.
New Zealand does not host any nukes (Australasia's main base is near Parkes), but they're far from being a nuclear-free zone like OTL.
Yes. A mini-Silent War is basically raging in the Americas between Brazil and America.
No. Chile is... interesting.
No, you did pretty well! I try to cram as much information into my boxes as possible, especially in the form of little hints, and I like it when people extrapolate that out.
The electoral college landslide is because it's being abolished. The constitutional amendment wasn't ratified yet, but most states pledged their electors to the winner of the popular vote. Jeb and Bernie are a bit meme-y IOTL; ITTL it was seen as two random old white guys fighting it out for the Presidency.
Not 100% JEB!
HERESY!
Yup. Americans are heretics.
It's generally a similar attitude as to that between European nations pre-EU. Foreign nations, with different peoples, and not without hiccups in their history, but generally inhabiting the same landmass, but with a similar history and a shared future.
Islamic Republic of Egypt
Egypt, officially the Islamic Republic of Egypt, is an African country in the northeast corner of Africa, bordered by the British Sinai to the east, Libya to the west, and Darfur, Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea to the south. Across the Red Sea lies Arabia, and across the Mediterranean lie Greece, Anatolia and Syria, although none share a land border with Egypt.
Egypt has one of the longest histories of any country, tracing its heritage back to the 6th–4th millennia BCE. Considered a cradle of civilisation, Ancient Egypt saw some of the earliest developments of writing, agriculture, urbanisation, organised religion and central government. Iconic monuments such as the Giza Necropolis and its Great Sphinx, as well the ruins of Memphis, Thebes, Karnak, and the Valley of the Kings, reflect this legacy and remain a significant focus of scientific and popular interest. Egypt's long and rich cultural heritage is an integral part of its national identity, which has endured, and often assimilated, various foreign influences, including Greek, Persian, Roman, Arab, Ottoman Turkish, and Nubian. Egypt was an early and important centre of Christianity, but was largely Islamised in the seventh century and remains a predominantly Muslim country, albeit with a small Christian minority, against which dozens of human rights abuses have been alleged.
From the 16th to the beginning of the 20th century, Egypt was ruled by foreign imperial powers: the Ottoman Empire and the British Empire. Modern Egypt dates back to 1922, when it gained nominal independence from the British Empire as a monarchy. However, British military occupation of Egypt continued, and many Egyptians believed that the monarchy was an instrument of British colonialism. Following the 1952 revolution, Egypt expelled British soldiers and bureaucrats and ended British occupation, nationalized the British-held Suez Canal, exiled King Farouk and his family, and declared itself a republic. Following Egypt's loss in the Sinai War in 1956, a coup ousted the pan-Arabist government of Gamal Abdel Nasser, and replaced it with a fundamentalist Islamist government – an anti-Western totalitarian theocracy governed by a "Supreme Guide". Islam is the official religion of Egypt and Arabic is its official language. With over 126 million inhabitants, Egypt is the most populous country in North Africa, the Middle East, and the Arab world. The great majority of its people live near the banks of the Nile River, where the only arable land outside the far south can be found. The large regions of the Sahara Desert and the Sahel, which constitute most of Egypt's territory, are sparsely inhabited. About half of Egypt's residents live in urban areas, with most spread across the densely populated centres of greater Cairo, Alexandria, Khartoum and other major cities in the Nile Delta.
The sovereign state of Egypt is a considered to be a regional power in North Africa and the Middle East and one of the leaders of the Muslim world. Egypt's economy has historically been strong, however it is now suffering from international sanctions, prompted by its totalitarianism, human rights abuses, and alleged support for terrorist groups. Egypt is a member of the Union of Nations, Islamic Bloc, and Khartoum Pact.
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Avez-vous des questions?
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@KaiserEmu, why there are Coptic Christians had fled and is Egypt has low or impoverished scores in terms of press freedom index?
@KaiserEmu, I'll have questions regarding Egypt:
- Is there any alt-Wahhabism?
- Has press freedom index still impoverished or remained quite low?
- How LGBT rights fare or worse?
ST15RM
Banned
I’m pretty sure he means:I don’t quite understand the question, sorry.
Why have the Copts fled, and does Egypt have low scores in the press freedom index?
Okay. Thanks for the clarification.
Many Copts have fled Egypt because it's really not a pleasant place to be - for anyone, but especially non-Muslims. Many poorer and impoverished Copts are unable to flee Egypt though, and they face heavy persecution.
Egypt, on paper, has great press freedom; there are two independent news sources, neither government-owned, and guaranteed complete freedom constitutionally. In practice, they each rely on government funding to stay afloat, and so each news channel is competing to push out as much propaganda as possible. The most popular TV show in Egypt at the moment is one about a pair of imams who in their spare time are special agents for the Egyptian government, fighting against the "Western infidel spies". The reason why it's so popular? It is the least propaganda-y of all the shows in Egypt.
There is actual Wahhabism (the POD is too late to butterfly it away completely). It's not quite as widespread as OTL, but most of it is made up for by the presence of Egypt.
See above.
A lot worse. Egypt is kind of like OTL Russia in that publicly, "there are no gays in Egypt". Obviously, there are, although they are very well hidden, due to the fact the death penalty is still in place - and enforced - for homosexuality.
Basically, modern Egypt ITTL and Russia half a century ago ITTL would be best friends - in fact, they're practically identical - save for the small detail of the religion that they take to its absolute extreme when turning their countries into totalitarian theocracies.
Any other questions?
Tourism brochure for Victoria, FCT
A thing I made.This is a tourism brochure issued by the government of the Federal Capital Territory, promoting visits to the nation's capital, Victoria, and its satellite cities of Nowra and Ulladulla. It depicts (from top to bottom):
- The Australasian Houses of Parliament
- Yerriyong National Park
- The Australasian War Memorial
- St George's Basin in the southern suburbs of Victoria
Orthodoxist Russia has its origins in the interwar period, where many conservative Russians began to organise around the Orthodox Church, in opposition to a steadily liberalising Russia. Nothing much happened until the depths of the World War, when at the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives, Russian forces finally recaptured Tsaritsyn from a Turkish seige. Russian forces were advancing (very slowly) down the Caucasus, when a group of reactionaries seized power in a coup in Petrograd. Russia was forced to sign an armistice with Turkey and focus on its internal problems, and with the promise of a return to order, the Orthodoxists eventually emerged triumphant in a phyrric victory. Life there was absolutely horrible. Economic development was never really considered by the government, first focusing on rebuilding the military and other key assets, so the average Russian lived in conditions we would consider to be Third World. If you were not the average Russian (i.e. not Orthodox), then you would face very heavy persecution. If you were a Muslim Uzbek, if you did not turn up at church on Sunday, you could expect secret police officers at your door on Monday. "But I'm not Christian!" was not a good enough excuse. Anyone else deemed "subversive" (i.e. atheist, homosexual, socialist or even Protestant) would probably find themselves in a labour camp. Over time, Russia slowly liberalised certain policies (in order to keep the country with an actually functional population). As more opponents of the system became integrated into society while the economy spiralled into oblivion, the regime eventually collapsed from the inside.
Sound pleasant?