In the show Dark Angel and Blade Runner 2046, nuclear weapons are detonated in orbit, causing EMP blast that knocks out the communications and computer networks of the First World temporarily... While most of the Northern Hemisphere is able to get networks and electricity in a few days, imagine the chaos that would take place in the aftermath...

How would they be able to get nuclear weapons? I think they would just nuke New York City, wouldn't that be more devastating? Like in some ATL I can't remember, where Osman Bin Lan basically got the nukes from the dying Soviet Union and destroys New York City with them.
 
How would they be able to get nuclear weapons? I think they would just nuke New York City, wouldn't that be more devastating? Like in some ATL I can't remember, where Osman Bin Lan basically got the nukes from the dying Soviet Union and destroys New York City with them.
Consider that in the ATL, this boosted technological development worldwide. By proxy, imagine Russian orbital nuclear weapons being obtained by a collapsed and corrupt Russia, giving it to Russian ultranationalist nutjobs (e.g. Goldeneye), Japanese cults (e.g. Aum Shirinkyo) or even Osama bin Laden...
 
Consider that in the ATL, this boosted technological development worldwide. By proxy, imagine Russian orbital nuclear weapons being obtained by a collapsed and corrupt Russia, giving it to Russian ultranationalist nutjobs (e.g. Goldeneye), Japanese cults (e.g. Aum Shirinkyo) or even Osama bin Laden...

Wouldn't that start a nuclear war by default?
 
Wouldn't that start a nuclear war by default?
It depends. For instance, if it is in the context that there is a border conflict or military conflict going on, yes, it would trigger a war. If it was seen as a terrorist strike/ black out, consider there would be calls for the government hosting the terrorist group to surrender the offending parties, but there is little incentive to destroy the country. Consider that like Osama bin Laden's attack on 9/11, the terrorists were from Egypt and Saudi Arabia, but the military strikes were launched against Afghanistan. The host government turned out to be Pakistan's military, so there is little incentive to launch strikes into the region,...
 
It depends. For instance, if it is in the context that there is a border conflict or military conflict going on, yes, it would trigger a war. If it was seen as a terrorist strike/ black out, consider there would be calls for the government hosting the terrorist group to surrender the offending parties, but there is little incentive to destroy the country.

How will they be able to boss around the wackos that runs the hostile governments?

Consider that like Osama bin Laden's attack on 9/11, the terrorists were from Egypt and Saudi Arabia, but the military strikes were launched against Afghanistan. The host government turned out to be Pakistan's military, so there is little incentive to launch strikes into the region,...

...unless the countries have oil, in which case, there's plenty incentive for our greedy ass government to invade.
 
How will they be able to boss around the wackos that runs the hostile governments?

...unless the countries have oil, in which case, there's plenty incentive for our greedy ass government to invade.

Consider that the governments of those countries also would be undermined if the terrorist leader is killed. Consider this was the case of Pakistan and Afghanistan...
 
So the question becomes what group do you feel would be most successful in not only obtaining nuclear weapons, launch them , and cause EMP blast. If anything, I am thinking Aum Shirinkyo and/or Russian ultranationalist leaders would certainly have the means and motives. Also this will help prevent too many analogues and events from taking place...
 
So the question becomes what group do you feel would be most successful in not only obtaining nuclear weapons, launch them , and cause EMP blast. If anything, I am thinking Aum Shirinkyo and/or Russian ultranationalist leaders would certainly have the means and motives. Also this will help prevent too many analogues and events from taking place...

I'm choosing Aum Shirinkyo.
 
Consider that Aum Shirinkyo always planned to trigger an apocalyptic war between the United States and Japan starting in 1995. Maybe one of the cult's weapons destroys a Japanese city, while another devastates an American city...

Have them assassinated before they can put that into action.
 
Have them assassinated before they can put that into action.

That would happen in c. 1996, when the Aum Shirinkyo attempted to assassinate the G-7 leaders. Consider that conservatives will point out that Aum Shirinkyo would try to recruit gamers into their numbers. This could be a major threat to Japanese and American video games...
 
That would happen in c. 1996, when the Aum Shirinkyo attempted to assassinate the G-7 leaders. Consider that conservatives will point out that Aum Shirinkyo would try to recruit gamers into their numbers. This could be a major threat to Japanese and American video games...

I didn't mean Aum Shirinkyo assassinating the leaders, I meant the other way around.
 
I didn't mean Aum Shirinkyo assassinating the leaders, I meant the other way around.
Following a Jerry Bruckheimer/ Michael Bay sensibility, what if the Secret Service stops the assassination attempt, leading to a massive police raid/ gun battle on Aum Shirinkyo, killing its leaders?
 
Here are a few PODs to flag the TL:

April 17, 1996: U.S. President Bill Clinton and Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto are the targets of a failed assassination attempt by Aum Shirinkyo in Tokyo; Tokyo Metropolitan Police and U.S. Secret battle the terrorists outside the Diet, sparking international attention,...

April 18-19, 1996: Tokyo Metropolitan Police raid Aum Shirinkyo forces at their main compound in Kamikuishiki, killing cult leader Shoko Asahara in the process, sparking international attention,...

May 25, 2001: Darkfall directed by Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay, starring Nicholas Cage, Ben Affleck and Cuba Gooding Jr., details the "true story" of the U.S. Secret Service and Navy SEAL effort to prevent Aum Shirinkyo from causing a global blackout using EMPs from nuclear weapons from the former Soviet Union,...

March 7, 2007: Fumihiro Joyu, former member of Aum Shirinkyo establishes Hikari no Wa ( a.k.a. "Rainbow of Light") in Nagano, reviving the teachings of Shoko Asahara, sparking international attention,...
 
Consider that Japan is going to get its armed forces back in c. 1964. This would certainly panic all the other nations from China to Vietnam. It might be helpful to show the many reactions people will have in the region to Japanese militarization...
 
Even if its JSDF is kept at our levels, if the tech levels are rising as fast as they are in the TL, people will see Japanese rise as a space faring power in a negative light and most certainly with suspicion.

This is something that can be alleviated by apologizing for WWII and admitting to war crimes,...
 
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