The Warring State of Libya - A Country at War

[ShahAbbas1571]

Author's Note:

I'm gonna publish the following piece concerning both the recent post and the last one about ISIS. For now, I need some sleep.

Goodbye, folks!

 

[ShahAbbas1571]

Third Libyan Civil War: Wikipedia Page - A Follow-up

Introduction

Caption: The screenshot doesn’t do it justice, but you get what I mean.​

Wikipedia is such a staple template when it comes to alternate history. No matter where you go, you’ll likely be witnessing an edited piece of a wikipage; It’s either about New England’s 3042 Presidential Election or a biography piece of Bernie Sanders being the 205th president of the American Commonwealth. If you’re lucky, you eventually stumble on a generic battle prompt about a conflict between two shades of tricolor.

If you can’t tell by the tone, I don’t like these templates. While it has some merits, most of the spoofs I’ve read are relatively generic and have little nuance added to their description. Coupled with the topics accompanying it being derivative, I find no joy in reading these shallow infographics. Thus, I was a bit reluctant to make my own piece, especially since we already have many of them. So it was to my surprise that despite the slog, I actually enjoyed designing it, especially when I can cram a lot of information into a single infobox.

So, here’s a small behind-the-scene piece I thought might be worth sharing, especially about the little details and the challenges I have to deal with.

From Battle-Box to Illustrator

Caption: Having only three belligerents isn’t enough for me.​

At first, I thought of using the Battle Box Editor that some folks keep talking about, which kinda explains the plethora of this content being saturated across Reddit. I was under the impression that it was an easy endeavor to deal with: Just add some images, write a couple of text, and let the whole feature generate a clean export of it.

I thought it was that simple, and it is, but then I realized there’s a handicap to how many belligerents you can shove into the page. Since I can’t convey how much of a clusterfuck the Third Libyan Civil War is, and I thought the template needs some fine-tuning to look good, I might as well add my spin to the scene. However, I can’t do the latter since I don’t know how to edit a wikipage, and I lost a large amount of know-how concerning HTML or CSS to make an original template.

So, I went to the tried-and-true software piece that I’ve been using since 2018: Adobe Illustrator. The wikipages look vectorized enough, and since I can shove in as many belligerents I need without going through the hassle of editing the syntax in Wikipedia, it was pretty much a no-brainer for me. Plus, the freedom to adjust anything with a click of a mouse gives me a lot of leeway without banging my head over some case sensitivities.

There aren’t any drawbacks in Illustrator that is worth mentioning. Besides the timely wait to render a good export and some occasional lags, it doesn’t amount to anything other than being a nuisance problem to solve.

Designing a Template

Caption: The one for Libya is too long, IMO.​

With the tools laid out, the next course of action was to base out the template, followed by filling the blanks with details and ending the piece with fine-tuning when it comes to spacing and padding. There was a lot to go through with the process, but I might as well comment on the structure itself first.

When it comes to the structure, I only took two examples from the wiki: the Syrian Civil War and the Second Libyan Civil War. Both wars are pretty sporadic in nature, so their format is a good inspiration for what I have in mind. Studying it gave me some insight into how to design the infographic piece with more than two belligerents and details which I’ll discuss in the next section, so it was neat to learn and replicate the design as your own.

At first, I was considering making a radically different design, something that branches from the usual wiki-style. It’s mostly in my head instead of a comprehensible concept, but what I have in mind was a bicolor scheme ranging from black to white and doing some CRT-level post-effects to flesh it out. I initially thought that was a good idea until I realized that implementing that sort of nonsense is detrimental; you can’t see through the visuals without peering out your eyes or giving you a headache. So, having to choose between style or substance, I’d rather choose the latter and went with the usual aesthetic.

Another element I have to consider is the miniflags representing each major faction. Now, while I already have designs for groups such as the Green Army and the Islamic State, I have to make the other few from scratch. The most interesting piece is the Free State since it went from a California-Esque ripoff to the minimalistic design I have now. There’s nothing much to say about the LNA design other than I yanked it out from Wikisource, so there’s that.

Besides that, I was having some issues when staying true to the main inspiration, mostly involving spacing and scale. I thought the uneven spacing for each column looked terrible, even though it looks pretty fixable with a couple of tweaks. Another problem I have was the sizing of the text since I want it smaller than was typically, but I got nothing substantial to say around this area.

Writing the Contents​

Designing the templates and graphics is good and all, but it wouldn’t be worth anything without the proper context to flesh it out. Here, I'll be discussing a lot from this segment, ranging from the larger premise of the wiki box to the smaller details concerning citations. Thus, please bear in mind that I’ll be all over the place, especially when I’m rather keen on rambling over this part of the process compared to the previous two.

No. 1: Belligerents

Caption: Loving it in retrospect, tbh.​

The first thing in mind is how to depict the war as a geopolitical clusterfuck, or better, a clusterfuck that people can grasp properly. I don’t want to write a Biafra-type situation where the belligerent section looks like a terrible rendition of a battle royale. So, when writing the foreign supporters, I have to keep in mind that they made sense within the historical context I’m taking inspiration from.

Take the Libyan National Army, for example, the country with arguably the most amount of foreign benefactors. Premise-wise, supporters of the LNA are essentially countries that have their own agenda in mind, especially such as the likes of France, Russia, and Turkey. It’s the same thing when it comes to OTL, where you get to witness both France and Russia support Khalifa Haftar instead of an UN-recognized institution. Turkey is an oddball in this situation since I contextualized them as a supporter in contrast to their actual position IOTL; I thought that a modern Franco-Ottoman analog would interesting to explore.

This is in contrast with those who support the Presidential Council, where the countries supporting them are US-aligned. I merely included major players such as Japan and Germany since they’ll be more prominent in the future, and I don’t want to pile the section with minor countries such as Romania or the Baltics into the scene. Concerning the leaders representing them, I added Santiago Ascabal since he’s the only interesting politician I could think of, especially when the personalities in Spain are pretty lame. Also, I added David Cameron merely out of spite; there’s nothing elaborate behind his inclusion.

Also, I want to address the elephant in the room, mostly concerning ISL and the Free State being on the same coin. Back then, I was considering adding another one for either of them. However, I have no intention of including more than four columns since I don’t want to turn the piece into a mess, so shoving them into the same room is merely a compromise of design instead of something concrete. Besides, since they’re pretty tolerant of each other, I don’t really mind such an inclusion.

No. 2: Citations

Caption: [Citation Needed].​

Writing the citations is one of the most underrated design processes I get to experience, especially when you can cram a lot of storytelling devices there than anywhere else. Even though there might be some technical explanation as to why they can’t, it seems odd to me that most people would neglect this sort of detail and leave it jarringly barren. Maybe there are examples on the internet that suggest otherwise, but from my experience, it’s truly lacking.

From what I’ve read from Wikipedia concerning contemporary conflicts, the most prevalent features range from the lack of sufficient citations and the preliminary discussion concerning it. It’s one of the reasons why you’ll get to see plethoras of ‘[citation needed]’ or ‘[disputed]’. That level of detail is what I need if the piece is going to be authentic.

Again, writing these citations into the scene is fun. Adding this sort of detail gives the implication that there are some sorry sods who are willing to monitor the quality of such a page and make discussions, and you’ll notice this fact if you jump into the talk section. Plus, I get to add some references such as the Nothern Front or the Mediterranean to provide a semblance of continuity in the setting, so that’s fun.

Conclusion​

Well, that’s enough incoherent rambling from yours truly. I’m really sorry if I backed out from my promise of being more active. My laptop broke for the 5th time and I can’t really do anything about it, which is pretty self-evident by the lack of screenshots from my Illustrator files. Meaning, that I just lost my entire data and template for the 5th time as well. Then again, it’s a 7-year-old relic that I unintentionally keep overclocking, so I shouldn't have any high hopes for it in the first place.

However, with the blessing of the supreme being and my sister’s nagging insistence, I managed to purchase a brand-new computer set that fits my needs. With this powerhouse, I can finally shank Vivec in Morrowind repeatedly while experiencing the sleek frames of 60 FPS…

And it allows me to make more updates efficiently and smoothly, that too.

Anyway, I hope you find this update relieving. I’m still finishing my work and some client commissions, but I’ll eventually update the project since I still have a lot of ideas and I want it to end so the timeline could move forward.

Goodbye, my dudes! I’ll see you soon.

 

[ShahAbbas1571]

Author's Note

Sorry if it's not a full update. My client work is still a thing, unfortunately.

 

[Spamavalanche]

Third Libyan Civil War: Wikipedia Page - A Follow-up

Introduction

Caption: The screenshot doesn’t do it justice, but you get what I mean.​

Wikipedia is such a staple template when it comes to alternate history. No matter where you go, you’ll likely be witnessing an edited piece of a wikipage; It’s either about New England’s 3042 Presidential Election or a biography piece of Bernie Sanders being the 205th president of the American Commonwealth. If you’re lucky, you eventually stumble on a generic battle prompt about a conflict between two shades of tricolor.

If you can’t tell by the tone, I don’t like these templates. While it has some merits, most of the spoofs I’ve read are relatively generic and have little nuance added to their description. Coupled with the topics accompanying it being derivative, I find no joy in reading these shallow infographics. Thus, I was a bit reluctant to make my own piece, especially since we already have many of them. So it was to my surprise that despite the slog, I actually enjoyed designing it, especially when I can cram a lot of information into a single infobox.

So, here’s a small behind-the-scene piece I thought might be worth sharing, especially about the little details and the challenges I have to deal with.

From Battle-Box to Illustrator

Caption: Having only three belligerents isn’t enough for me.​

At first, I thought of using the Battle Box Editor that some folks keep talking about, which kinda explains the plethora of this content being saturated across Reddit. I was under the impression that it was an easy endeavor to deal with: Just add some images, write a couple of text, and let the whole feature generate a clean export of it.

I thought it was that simple, and it is, but then I realized there’s a handicap to how many belligerents you can shove into the page. Since I can’t convey how much of a clusterfuck the Third Libyan Civil War is, and I thought the template needs some fine-tuning to look good, I might as well add my spin to the scene. However, I can’t do the latter since I don’t know how to edit a wikipage, and I lost a large amount of know-how concerning HTML or CSS to make an original template.

So, I went to the tried-and-true software piece that I’ve been using since 2018: Adobe Illustrator. The wikipages look vectorized enough, and since I can shove in as many belligerents I need without going through the hassle of editing the syntax in Wikipedia, it was pretty much a no-brainer for me. Plus, the freedom to adjust anything with a click of a mouse gives me a lot of leeway without banging my head over some case sensitivities.

There aren’t any drawbacks in Illustrator that is worth mentioning. Besides the timely wait to render a good export and some occasional lags, it doesn’t amount to anything other than being a nuisance problem to solve.

Designing a Template

Caption: The one for Libya is too long, IMO.​

With the tools laid out, the next course of action was to base out the template, followed by filling the blanks with details and ending the piece with fine-tuning when it comes to spacing and padding. There was a lot to go through with the process, but I might as well comment on the structure itself first.

When it comes to the structure, I only took two examples from the wiki: the Syrian Civil War and the Second Libyan Civil War. Both wars are pretty sporadic in nature, so their format is a good inspiration for what I have in mind. Studying it gave me some insight into how to design the infographic piece with more than two belligerents and details which I’ll discuss in the next section, so it was neat to learn and replicate the design as your own.

At first, I was considering making a radically different design, something that branches from the usual wiki-style. It’s mostly in my head instead of a comprehensible concept, but what I have in mind was a bicolor scheme ranging from black to white and doing some CRT-level post-effects to flesh it out. I initially thought that was a good idea until I realized that implementing that sort of nonsense is detrimental; you can’t see through the visuals without peering out your eyes or giving you a headache. So, having to choose between style or substance, I’d rather choose the latter and went with the usual aesthetic.

Another element I have to consider is the miniflags representing each major faction. Now, while I already have designs for groups such as the Green Army and the Islamic State, I have to make the other few from scratch. The most interesting piece is the Free State since it went from a California-Esque ripoff to the minimalistic design I have now. There’s nothing much to say about the LNA design other than I yanked it out from Wikisource, so there’s that.

Besides that, I was having some issues when staying true to the main inspiration, mostly involving spacing and scale. I thought the uneven spacing for each column looked terrible, even though it looks pretty fixable with a couple of tweaks. Another problem I have was the sizing of the text since I want it smaller than was typically, but I got nothing substantial to say around this area.

Writing the Contents​

Designing the templates and graphics is good and all, but it wouldn’t be worth anything without the proper context to flesh it out. Here, I'll be discussing a lot from this segment, ranging from the larger premise of the wiki box to the smaller details concerning citations. Thus, please bear in mind that I’ll be all over the place, especially when I’m rather keen on rambling over this part of the process compared to the previous two.

No. 1: Belligerents

Caption: Loving it in retrospect, tbh.​

The first thing in mind is how to depict the war as a geopolitical clusterfuck, or better, a clusterfuck that people can grasp properly. I don’t want to write a Biafra-type situation where the belligerent section looks like a terrible rendition of a battle royale. So, when writing the foreign supporters, I have to keep in mind that they made sense within the historical context I’m taking inspiration from.

Take the Libyan National Army, for example, the country with arguably the most amount of foreign benefactors. Premise-wise, supporters of the LNA are essentially countries that have their own agenda in mind, especially such as the likes of France, Russia, and Turkey. It’s the same thing when it comes to OTL, where you get to witness both France and Russia support Khalifa Haftar instead of an UN-recognized institution. Turkey is an oddball in this situation since I contextualized them as a supporter in contrast to their actual position IOTL; I thought that a modern Franco-Ottoman analog would interesting to explore.

This is in contrast with those who support the Presidential Council, where the countries supporting them are US-aligned. I merely included major players such as Japan and Germany since they’ll be more prominent in the future, and I don’t want to pile the section with minor countries such as Romania or the Baltics into the scene. Concerning the leaders representing them, I added Santiago Ascabal since he’s the only interesting politician I could think of, especially when the personalities in Spain are pretty lame. Also, I added David Cameron merely out of spite; there’s nothing elaborate behind his inclusion.

Also, I want to address the elephant in the room, mostly concerning ISL and the Free State being on the same coin. Back then, I was considering adding another one for either of them. However, I have no intention of including more than four columns since I don’t want to turn the piece into a mess, so shoving them into the same room is merely a compromise of design instead of something concrete. Besides, since they’re pretty tolerant of each other, I don’t really mind such an inclusion.

No. 2: Citations

Caption: [Citation Needed].​

Writing the citations is one of the most underrated design processes I get to experience, especially when you can cram a lot of storytelling devices there than anywhere else. Even though there might be some technical explanation as to why they can’t, it seems odd to me that most people would neglect this sort of detail and leave it jarringly barren. Maybe there are examples on the internet that suggest otherwise, but from my experience, it’s truly lacking.

From what I’ve read from Wikipedia concerning contemporary conflicts, the most prevalent features range from the lack of sufficient citations and the preliminary discussion concerning it. It’s one of the reasons why you’ll get to see plethoras of ‘[citation needed]’ or ‘[disputed]’. That level of detail is what I need if the piece is going to be authentic.

Again, writing these citations into the scene is fun. Adding this sort of detail gives the implication that there are some sorry sods who are willing to monitor the quality of such a page and make discussions, and you’ll notice this fact if you jump into the talk section. Plus, I get to add some references such as the Nothern Front or the Mediterranean to provide a semblance of continuity in the setting, so that’s fun.

Conclusion​

Well, that’s enough incoherent rambling from yours truly. I’m really sorry if I backed out from my promise of being more active. My laptop broke for the 5th time and I can’t really do anything about it, which is pretty self-evident by the lack of screenshots from my Illustrator files. Meaning, that I just lost my entire data and template for the 5th time as well. Then again, it’s a 7-year-old relic that I unintentionally keep overclocking, so I shouldn't have any high hopes for it in the first place.

However, with the blessing of the supreme being and my sister’s nagging insistence, I managed to purchase a brand-new computer set that fits my needs. With this powerhouse, I can finally shank Vivec in Morrowind repeatedly while experiencing the sleek frames of 60 FPS…

And it allows me to make more updates efficiently and smoothly, that too.

Anyway, I hope you find this update relieving. I’m still finishing my work and some client commissions, but I’ll eventually update the project since I still have a lot of ideas and I want it to end so the timeline could move forward.

Goodbye, my dudes! I’ll see you soon.

Love these updates! They provide great insight and I wish some other TL's did this as well.

 

[ShahAbbas1571]

Love these updates! They provide great insight and I wish some other TL's did this as well.

Thanks, my dude!

I thought some folks might be interested in the behind-the-scene process. I always wonder how people designed their maps and graphics but you have to scrounge the know-hows at the comments to detail a little semblance of detail. So, I imagine that it'll be neat if I share some transparency to you folks.

 

[Yankeewolf]

The behind-the-scenes look is really interesting. Thanks for showing us a bit of your process!

 

[Stretch]

The behind-the-scenes look is really interesting. Thanks for showing us a bit of your process!

And his Reddit subscriptions! (It's nice to see someone else who refuses to switch to New Reddit)

 

[ShahAbbas1571]

And his Reddit subscriptions! (It's nice to see someone else who refuses to switch to New Reddit)

I'll never surrender myself to the ugly machinations of Reddit's new user interface.

 

[Stretch]

I'll never surrender myself to the ugly machinations of Reddit's new user interface.

Oh, 100% agree! The only downside is that the more complex typing settings (eg bolding, italics etc) is only on there, but that is a small price to pay.

 

[ShahAbbas1571]

The Rise of China and the Shanghai Pact: A Teaser

Yes, I'm back... Again!
Believe it or not, it took me longer to write the script than to design the map, mostly because I wasted my time proofreading it.
But it's almost done since there's only a single paragraph left for me to fill.
Anyway, the next piece will be about China, the Shanghai Pact, and their influence across the world.
I'm still working on the title, btw.​

 

[Gillan1220]

The Rise of China and the Shanghai Pact: A Teaser

Yes, I'm back... Again!
Believe it or not, it took me longer to write the script than to design the map, mostly because I wasted my time proofreading it.
But it's almost done since there's only a single paragraph left for me to fill.
Anyway, the next piece will be about China, the Shanghai Pact, and their influence across the world.
I'm still working on the title, btw.​

Shanghai Pact is the same as the SCO?

 

[CorSun]

The Rise of China and the Shanghai Pact: A Teaser

Yes, I'm back... Again!
Believe it or not, it took me longer to write the script than to design the map, mostly because I wasted my time proofreading it.
But it's almost done since there's only a single paragraph left for me to fill.
Anyway, the next piece will be about China, the Shanghai Pact, and their influence across the world.
I'm still working on the title, btw.​

China will grow larger

 

[ShahAbbas1571]

Shanghai Pact is the same as the SCO?

Yes, the Shanghai Pact is just the western moniker for the SCO ITTL. I thought the name is both simple and memorable, so yeah.

 

[ShahAbbas1571]

Rise of China and the Shanghai Pact

Title: Rise of China and the Shanghai Pact
Author: Hubert Douglas - The Mediterranean
Date: 26th November 2026

Introduction

---

In 2017, Indonesia participated the 17th Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, with president Joko Widodo as its Head of State guest. Nearing its conclusion, he declared the country’s interest in joining the SCO, albeit without ascending itself as a full-time member. Despite sparse evidence, the invitation coincided with the country’s ban on nickel and bauxite export in 2018, followed by Freeport’s forced divestment from the Grasberg Mine shares from 49% to 23%.

Regardless if this was due to Chinese influence or their domestic policy, it brought the ire of the United States, especially under President ███████. Many of its reprisals are extremely unwarranted: It canceled Indonesia’s acquisition of 43 F-15ID Fighters, imposed a limited arms embargo on critical components, and, more bafflingly, raised the subject of West Papua and implied support for the region’s right to self-determination.

While it seemed negligible for the last two administrations, particularly at first glance, local political trends began to show Jakarta’s pivot from Washington. Such a shift cost the United States its influence over Southeast Asia dearly because, in 2024, its current president - Prabowo Subianto, declared Indonesia as the latest acceding member of the SCO, followed by the ratification of the Indonesia-China Strategic Cooperation Agreement in 2025 and the Indonesia-China Maritime Recognition Treaty in 2026.

Despite the brief euphoria enjoyed by the United States during the 90s and the early 2000s, which assumed that liberal democracy would become the most dominant political system in the world, they failed to consider China’s growing presence on the world stage, rearing such a perceived notion on its head. Many countries, with economic and even political incentives to do so, slowly but steadily align themselves with Beijing, especially in Asia and Africa. Such a pivot presents the United States with its most existential challenge since the Soviet Union, one they have yet to form a cohesive strategy against.

Big Incident in the Little Spratlys

---

While contentions between the two countries persist despite Deng Xiaoping's reforms, it wasn't until Xi Jinping's inauguration that the country's ties with the United States were completely strained. China became more assertive in its foreign policy, especially over the South China Sea, which coincides with the rapid modernization of its military. While it does become a concern to its neighbors, particularly Japan and Taiwan, countries in Southeast Asia nevertheless seek de-escalation to prevent a wider conflict and the economic consequences that follow.

Despite the call for dialogue, such rhetoric fell on deaf ears because in April 2020, one of the flagship carriers of the Seventh Fleet - USS Reagan, was destroyed by a discriminative barrage of ballistic missiles. Even more surprising is that despite being capable of retaliating, as most of the fleet is battle-ready in both Guam and Japan, ███████ refused to consider any military response in hopes to de-escalate the situation.

Initially, many nations condemned China’s strike against the carrier, and even its strategic partners expressed their concerns. Some European states, primarily Germany and the U.K., considered imposing fierce reprimands: Divesting themselves from the country, sanctioning military personnel involved in the strike, and even downgrading their diplomatic consulate. International sentiment also showcased public condemnation against China; Porto Research & Analytics released an impromptu study indicating that 77% of the 57,000 participants sympathized with the United States.

However, such international sympathy was brief as an increasing number of countries are beginning to question the United States’ ability to defend their interest. During Emmanuel Macron’s visit to the European Parliament in 2022, he addressed the subject of Europe’s overdependency on the United States' security guarantees and its established logistical system, proposing a joint continental military as a solution to such concern. While Pentagon condemned Macron’s speech, with its chief spokesperson asserting that the United States will never abandon its obligations to NATO, it resonated with a few countries, especially Turkey and Hungary.

Regardless, the Spratly Incident is a watershed event in international relations, an affair that plunges the bilateral ties of two powers to no return. Cyberespionage, electronic arms race, and economic strongarming became prevalent consequences of such an incident. Former state secretary Josh Kimmens will later term such geopolitical tension in his memoir published in 2021, one that will eventually become the widespread moniker of the conflict - the Quiet War.

Rise of the Shanghai Pact

---

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, later known by its western moniker as the Shanghai Pact, was a muted endeavor during the 2000s and 2010s. It was relatively stagnant despite the entry of observer states such as Iran and Uzbekistan, and it initially centered around Eurasia. The alleged overreach of Chinese influence on the organization and the lack of institutional consistency seemed to be a crippling factor of its past complacency, resulting in India withdrawing after Narendra Modi’s inauguration in 2017.

However, it wasn’t until the 2020s that the Shanghai Pact rapidly grew. Even before the Spratly Incident, regional powers akin to Iran and Pakistan became approved members since its 20th summit, and many countries expressed interest in the pact in conjunction with Xi Jinping’s expansion of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Some outlier states, such as North Korea and Syria, expressed their interest in joining, albeit complicated by their current predicament.

The United States once formed its equivalent under ███████’s presidency - the Washington Accord and managed to attract a few members, such as Libya and Liberia. However, it was unsurprisingly shortlived as both countries succumbed to civil wars, lasting for over five months. However, it was later revived by President McCallum in 2026, generally to oppose China’s growing influence across Europe and Africa.

It’s somewhat moot to interpret whether the pact is a genuine organization or one of China’s geopolitical ruses, especially when the United States fails to maintain a lasting alternative that could oppose the Shanghai Pact. Xi Jinping’s China has proven its diplomatic guile in courting developing and emerging countries into the fold while both the ███████ and █████ administration struggled to maintain its foothold in Europe against both Xi Jinping’s growing ambitions and Macron’s Pro-European rhetoric.

The New Chinese Order

---

The Spartly Incident not only demonstrated the United States’ fallibility but also established China’s role as an alternative model, especially in countries of the southern hemisphere. The calamities of military interventions and hypocritical pomposity over human rights endorsed by Washington’s rule-based order made the Chinese rhetoric of self-sovereignty and developmentalism far more appealing to developing and emerging countries.

In Africa, such a sentiment is rather apparent because, according to the Kwame Nkrumah Institute study at West Africa, China has a positive public reception aggregating over 67-75% compared to its jarring American counterpart of between 42-72%. China’s relations with many countries in the continent are cordial, with Nigeria being the most recent example as president Muhammadu Buhari designated the country its ‘Most Valuable Partner’, allowing Chinese companies to bypass certain red-tapes for infrastructural development. Countries such as Chad, Djibouti, and Niger also presented China with similar privileges, much to the dismay of the United States.

Since the dawn of the recent decade, Beijing’s ambitions over West Asia threaten the integrity of the so-called petrodollar. While the Yuan doesn’t pose a threat to the American dollar, it drove certain net exporters, such as Iran and Saudi Arabia, to accept the purchase of their oil with Chinese currency. Iran benefited from the cooperation agreement as China invested US$175 billion in its oil infrastructure and facilities, and Saudi Arabia sought a similar deal after President McCallum imposed limited sanctions over human rights concerns, with even the crown prince showing interest in joining the Shanghai Pact.

China also showed interest in investing in ports shoring over the Indian Ocean, particularly after India departed from the Shanghai Pact. Regardless if the investment in Sri Lanka and Tanzania is purely an economic endeavor or a ploy to secure the ocean for Chinese naval projection, it arguably invested over US$450 billion in coastal infrastructures and possessed sizable shares over multiple ports, most notably the Port of Djibouti and Mombasa Port. Such an investment raised concerns for the United States as China could increase its military presence similar to its acquisition at Djibouti, worsened by Iran and Pakistan’s entry into the Chinese sphere of influence.

Indonesia and the Falling Dominoes

---

After years of aspiring for diplomatic neutrality and multilateral harmony, Indonesia quietly embraces China through the combination of cordial investments and the United States' diplomatic mishaps, with the latter being arguably the decisive factor. According to Kimmens, Indonesia's pivot towards Beijing and entry to the Shanghai Pact is China's most impressive geostrategic triumph since the Spratly Incident and, unfortunately, America's greatest blunder.

China has invested over US$200 billion in the Indonesian mining, manufacturing, and transportation sector since the ratification of the Indonesia-China Strategic Cooperation Agreement. South Kalimantan experiences rapid infrastructural development regarding the extraction and refinement of nickel and bauxite, resources instrumental to the rising electronic vehicle manufacturing. Following the established agreement, the Chinese Development Bank injected US$35 billion into projects such as the Jakarta-Surabaya High-speed railway and Prabowo Subianto’s Medan-Palembang equivalent and receive additional technology transfers from Chinese railway companies.

It also established growing ties between the Chinese and Indonesian military, especially after the demarcation agreement over the Natuna Sea in 2026. The Indonesian Navy and Air Force benefited from the growing joint exercise with their Chinese equivalent, with the program becoming more common after their lukewarm performance during the Timor Crisis. China also provided US$75 billion to the local defense industries across Java and Sumatra and certain technology transfers, which led to ambitious programs such as the manufacturing of 15 Malahayati-Class frigates and the research for an indigenous drone-centric amphibious assault ship design.

While the ties are at their closest since the 50s-60s, the whispers of an allianceship are dubious. Despite its pivot to Beijing, Indonesia still maintains the pretense of advocating institutional neutrality, demonstrated during the 70th Anniversary of the Bandung Conference and the 2026 Non-Aligned Movement summit. Few contingents within the Indonesian military are conflicted over China’s involvement in its military development; some welcome the Chinese after the maritime borders agreement, while others attempt to court Prabowo to pivot back to the United States. And despite the deep bilateral ties, only 41% of Indonesians view the country with a positive outlook, at least according to the 2025 ASEAN Regional Report by the Yusof Ishak Institute.

However, it’s the potential implications of such allianceship that should concern the United States, not China’s diplomatic reach. It’s disingenuous for █████ to scoff at Indonesia as a mere economic backwater when it's rapidly industrializing compared to its neighbors; the World Bank forecasted that the country would produce the 6th largest manufacturing output in 2040, surpassing countries such as Russia and the United Kingdom. Half of the world’s shipping lanes cross through Indonesian seas; the country is strategically-positioned between two of the busiest oceans in the world - the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.

Indonesia demonstrated its strategic value after its entry in 2024: countries such as Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, and Timor Leste expressed their interest in joining the Shanghai Pact. It’s a domino effect that slowly pivots even countries such as Thailand and Singapore into the Chinese fold as either the position of neutrality or a U.S.-aligned perspective becomes unsustainable. And Vietnam and the Phillippines sought prospects similar to the maritime demarcation agreement over the Natuna Seas, one that China took advantage of tremendously with Indonesia.

The Red Dragon in Blue Europe

---

In January 2020, Italy and China signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) concerning further economic cooperation under the umbrella of the BRI. While the exact details are limited and establish no ownership over the Port of Trieste, the agreement was troubling to countries such as France and the United States, especially when Greece ratified a similar MoU over the Port of Piraeus. Giuseppe Conte scoffed over such a notion, asserting that the agreement is limited to economic affairs.

Despite his early rhetoric, the bilateral relations between the two countries later progressed to the point that in June 2023, the Prime Minister attended a summit in Tehran to announce the country’s entry as an approved observer of the Shanghai Pact and seek to become a full-time member. If the process approves its application, it will make Italy the first European member within the broader union, a situation feared by Washington since Xi Jinping’s visit to Trieste.

With Asia and Africa predominantly aligned with China, Europe has become a final theatre over its geopolitical tug-of-war with the United States. It’s the only continent that still generally aligned with its American partners, especially when the country’s logistical support is essential to curb the still troublesome piracy crisis engulfing the Mediterranean Sea.

Regardless, China gained a foothold over Eastern European countries, especially the Balkans. Being relatively the most pro-Chinese country in the region, Serbia expressed its interest in joining the pact as they are one of many beneficiaries of the Belt and Road Initiative and a key strategic partner. Greece also joined the fold: Chinese shipping companies wield a significant presence over its shipping lanes, and telecommunication companies such as Huwaei help the development of its 5G infrastructure. Eventually, countries such as Bosnia, Montenegro, and Macedonia also expressed pro-Chinese sentiments due to being beneficiaries of the BRI.

As of late, the United States still maintains its position as a natural partner to Europe due to its historical and security ties. Xi Jinping and Emmanuel Macron have yet to broker any significant changes threatening American interest in the continent. As long as the logistical support still flows to contribute to Operation Maria against Libyan pirates, their position within Europe still stands.

China’s Triumph or America’s Folly

---

China is the geopolitical boogeyman of the United States - the enabler of tyrants and the greatest threat to the American way of life since the Soviet Union. But despite the institutional scaremongering advocated by the White House, the country is less powerful than many career analysts would assume, especially the Chinese have their own challenges to overcome.

Chinese investment in Africa is marginal compared to private investments by western countries, despite Xi Jinping's ambitious plan for the BRI; France and the U.K. hold 38% of the continent's foreign direct investment stock compared to the 11% held by China. The BRI system is also frequently abused by many countries and tends to favor the borrower, with Pakistan being the most notorious example; they neglect many financial and environmental regulations that the Chinese are unable or unwilling to enforce. And despite the debt trap and neocolonialism myths, such a notion can be accused of France as they exploit the relations over their former colonies to wage aimless security operations across West Africa.

Militarily, Chinese naval projection merely applies to their current predicament against United States allies such as Japan and South Korea. Despite their presence in Djibouti and the Neo-Barbary Crisis, the country has yet to demonstrate any interest in global power projection. Xi Jinping even proposed a joint naval mission against Libyan pirates, but the United States refused due to security reasons.

China's ambitious streaks didn't enable its rise but rather the callous policymaking by the United States. Despite 35 years after the Cold War, the country still maintains its excessive advocacy for liberal internationalism to the detriment of its position as hegemon. The United States imposes sanctions against Saudi Arabia under president McCallum, a country that wields substantial influence over the Muslim world and is a significant net exporter of crude oil. It is not due to any calculated reasonings but under the official pretense of treasuring human rights. However, such grandstanding coincides with the crown prince's refusal to join the revived Washington Accord.

It fails to present any meaningful alternative against the Shanghai Pact and the BRI and only relies on established security ties to coerce countries to its ends. Indonesia, a military partner of the United States since Suharto's inauguration, quickly pivoted to China after president ███████ canceled its F-15IDs arm deal, despite the financial transaction made by the Indonesian Bank. Such unwarranted reprisal against the coincidental mineral ban left the Indonesian military in a precarious state, allowing the Chinese to fill the vacuum. The United States also applied a similar reprisal against Turkey as it sanctioned the second-largest army in NATO from its logistical support and canceled its F-35 export deal, inadvertently leading Erdogan to pivot toward Moscow.

The country is diplomatically inflexible in its liberal rhetoric, being succumbed to the whims of its domestic politics. Despite both the Democrats and Republicans seething over China, they do not formulate any meaningful bipartisan strategies since the Spratly Incident. Instead, both the ███████ and █████ administration wage their own diplomatic schemes while sabotaging each others' foreign policies for their partisan ends.

The White House's incoherent foreign policy benefits China greatly, exploiting its pitfalls and courting with their disgruntled allies. If such politicking continues and yet to form any cohesive stratagem, the Chinese might as well be able to land their influence across the Americas, especially over South America and the Caribbeans. It'll be a matter of time before Brazil and Mexico turn their backs on Washington as they peer toward Beijing instead.

 

[ShahAbbas1571]

Concerning My Wellbeing
Hubert G. Douglas

Hello, everyone!

It’s me again, Hubert G. Douglas.

I’m sorry for keeping the article longer than promised, especially when I know some of you are keen on reading the subject. Being commissioned to write 10 articles for the Mediterranean isn’t as straightforward as most would think, especially since it has to go through a series of editorial proofreading and review. In some cases, I have to defend my writings against Charlotte - the chief editor, from being edited or cut entirely due to the sensitivity of her patrons, which I assume most of you would understand by what I’m implying.

Aside from finishing commission pieces, I was moving away to Salt Lake City after receiving a faculty position at the University of Utah. Instead of packing my belongings entirely, I left the house for my daughter to live in. Right now, I’m living in an apartment in the South Jordan area because it’s affordable and has good scenery of the mountains. The landlord seems to have a chip on his shoulder against me, but he keeps it to himself for now.

Anyway, I imagine some of you are wondering why it took me months to finish this article. Well, the illustrator I’m working with - @ShahAbbas1571, was a bit obsessive with the design. It took him three months to finish the map and another month because the map wasn't too good for him, despite being the contrary.

Well, that’s pretty much all that I have to say. If you have any particular questions you need answering, even the ones unrelated to the article, please do! Interacting with you people is the only good perk I have since my commission order by the Mediterranean.

I hope you people have a wonderful time. Goodbye!

 

[CorSun]

God speaks chinese

 

[ShahAbbas1571]

SOCOMGATE:
The Ghat Incident

Special Operations Command emblem since 2025​

The Mediterranean: Unidentified bodies recovered near Airbase 201, Authorities announced

---

December 07, 2024 - 12:58 -- Nigerien authorities discovered three unidentified bodies near the vicinity of Airbase 201, a former United States drone airbase near Agedez, before being transferred to the Niger Armed Forces on December 12, 2023.

“We discovered them near our entrance. It looks deliberate since someone placed their bodies into a single pile,” local quartermaster Alkassoum Mody said.

Local authorities claimed to discover the bodies 2km away from the airbase during the morning, placed directly on the paved road leading to Agadez. Three of the bodies have been identified as Caucasians, while the last two are of Asian and African descent. The victims’ national affiliations are currently unidentifiable due to insufficient identification and inadequate facilities.

“As of now, we can’t resolve the investigation for indiscernible reasons,” lead investigator Massaoudou Tandja said.

Investigation authorities request support from Interpol due to its potential links between the growing human-trafficking schemes across Africa and the mass exodus of White Americans crossing through the Sahel region to Libya.

DIA Intelligence Report: Communique 48-03/21/2025 - Concerning the Ghat Incident

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[Exceprt from Communique 48-03/21/2025 - Concerning the Ghat Incident, Section Conclusion, Page 13.]

Local accounts of the incident, satellite imagery intelligence, and thorough interviews of suspected persons confirm Herny D. Matthew’s hypothesis concerning an unauthorized operation. Neither Commander Brant Howard nor Deputy Commander Julian C. Sharp approved any clandestine endeavor taking place in Ghat, with commanders of their respective units expressing similar sentiments. Thus, an unwarranted group of agents could be a culprit in such an indiscernible operation.

More interestingly, some local pedestrians suggest more than five agents fought during the incident. Details of such rumors weren’t precise, however: Some claimed two people were captured and sold by Tuareg raiders, albeit lurid on specific details, and a few suggested that the rest of the remains were buried 100 miles away from Ghat.

The goal of such an operation is indiscernible; South Libya poses no strategic threat to warrant any actions by our military. The New Transaharan Trade Phenomenon (NTTP) and the Free State of Sabha have yet to pose any threat to the United States' interest besides related humanitarian crises.

President McCallum authorized a retrieval mission to recover the Robinsons and a joint investigation with the CIA for intelligence support. He expects an articulate report by April 1st, at least before the senatorial hearing commences.

C-SPAN: CIA Deputy Director Adrian Hollis Hearing on Foreign Intelligence and Clandestine Service

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[Exceprt from senatorial hearing between Deputy Director Adrian Hollis and Virginia Senator Mark Warner]

Mark Warner: “I can vouch for everyone here that the discovery of Ghat concerns us, especially when neither our intelligence agencies nor armed forces are even aware such an operation took place. However, I think we should leave the personal side of the incident for a moment to understand the technical aspect, or more specifically, how did they reach the city? As far as I’m aware, we don’t have any base of operations bordering Libya or the Sahel region. So here’s my question, Mr. Hollis: How did they fly over to Libya despite the lack of support and infrastructure?” -- [02:48:11]

Adrian Hollis: “Thank you for the question, Senator Warner. We can confirm that they used the Robinson R44 helicopter to cross through the region, and its capabilities are well-suited for such an operation since it has a range of 350 miles. We discovered that there were a few inventories of fuel reserves, and the fuel storage was modified, which could mean they planned to exfiltrate when they concluded the mission.” -- [02:53:33]

Mark Warner: “Did the retrieval mission reveal anything that merits our interest? You did confirm the helicopter returned to a French forward base from a joint operation, am I correct?” -- [02:54:16]

Adrian Hollis: “Yes, senator. Communication and satellite-based navigation equipment is stripped out from the control panel, which we could assume is that they’re committed to keeping such an operation clandestine to even our own. They also fly at a low altitude due to the excessive damage made to the landing skids. What’s more interesting is that this was a helicopter model the Nigerian Armed Forces claimed to have lost in Kastina.” -- [02:54:48]

Presidential Daily Brief: 48-98 - 04/28/2025

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[Exceprt from Presidential Daily Brief: 48-98 - 04/28/2025, Section Progress on Operation Sherlock, Page 21.]

The joint investigation by the CIA and DIA discovered that Franklin Al-Kabeer and Mann Sutton could be the other two alleged operators in the Ghat Incident. Their disappearance during Unite States' collaboration with France in Operation Serval, local testimonies of their whereabouts in Agadez, sightings of an armed Caucasian and African wandering together across the Djado Plataeu since April 17, 2024, and their sudden departure on November 28 make them very likely suspects.

However, the investigation over Southwestern Libya has yet to produce results: Local accounts provide no meaningful leads to their remains aside from conflicting directions, and satellite intelligence of both agencies made another error of identifying a boulder as helicopter wreckage.

Lead Operator John V. Murphy also recommends an immediate withdrawal due to the growing whereabouts of his men’s presence in Ghat. His team confronted a Tuareg raiding party at 02:30 PM, being told to leave the premises in 24 hours. The exchange almost led to a firefight until Murphy de-escalated the situation by negotiating with the lead raider. It also coincides with France’s withdrawal from the investigation, which means we’re no longer allowed to station in Madama.

McCallum’s Journal: April 30th, 2025

---

A bunch of chuds gathered in front of the White House yesterday, trying to scream their lungs out over the whole SOCOMGATE thing. I didn’t pay attention to those geezers until one of them climbed over the fence perimeter, and impressively enough, they almost lunged at me. Funny these morons keep yammering about how I’m a Chinese sleeper agent when they keep sucking off to █████ like a grungy Paddle Pop.

Still, I can't blame them for thinking there’s more to the incident other than someone gone rogue. Like, from what I’ve read from the dossier Matt gave me, almost all of them are pretty normal and don’t really have much of a problematic background besides the other two. Then again, it doesn’t explain why they would even fly to some desert backwater in the first place, and we don’t know if the other two agents were even there at all, so it’s we’re speculating at this point.

Although, this makes me wonder who killed them. Matt and Hollis gave a reasonable answer: It’s the Tuaregs. I wouldn’t be surprised if they mistook them for some Galt-larping farts from the Free State; they’ve been at each others’ necks since Geoff took over Ubari. That doesn’t explain why they would make a whole scene out of it, in our old base, no less.

Illi’s Diary: December 17, 2024

---

I can’t stop thinking about Sabha since we stopped there. The place feels like Disneyland and way more fancy than home. I asked father when will we head to the city again, and he said never. I asked father again why he frowned as if he was disappointed in me again.

But today was an interesting one because someone new just joined us.

A black man emerged from the high dunes while we were crossing by. He was waving his hands from the distance as if he was trying to say hi and tried to reach us, but father shuffled me back since he thought the man was up to no good. Father told me to stay put with the caravan folks while he, Brahim, and Aksil take a look at him. At first, he looks like one of those friendly servants from Sabha, but he has a lot of pockets in his chest, and there’s a huge gun on his back. He's also covered in sand too, so he might be playing in the desert for too long.

He seems friendly enough to give up his gun to father and let him join the caravan, although people keep staring at him. Father forbid me to talk to him unless I wanted to eat a block of salt for dinner, so I asked Brahim and Aksil. Asking Brahim is no good since he doesn’t want to talk about it, but I did make Aksil speak after throwing sand at his face over-and-over.

Aksil said that he’s not one of those people in Sabha and said he speaks English. I said everyone talks English there, but he said he was way better than Brahim and the servants, and he looks out of place for being one. When I asked where he wanted to go, he said as far away from Libya.

 

[ShahAbbas1571]

SOCOMGATE: The Ghat Incident - Author's Note

After looking back at how long the writing for my last update is, I tried to experiment to create some interesting formats. Instead of typing ordered segments that plainly explain the premise, I try to depict it as a series of accounts that people can piece together and make the writing more engaging.

Fortunately, the fact that you can change fonts in this forum enables me to do something creative with it, which I can't say the same for DeviantArt and possibly Reddit.

And yes, I'll be including my Author's Notes on the thread now. I'll do this when writing a follow-up is not warranted.

 

[Yogurtslavia]

CURRENT TIMELINE - September 2026​

Did you make the map template yourself? Its amazing.

 

[ShahAbbas1571]

Did you make the map template yourself? Its amazing.

Yeah, it's basically a culmination of three iterations. The former two were terrible while the third and current version is one of my best pieces yet.