Zhirinovsky's Russian Empire
- Thread starter Pellegrino
- Start date
This Update was so full of creative AH American politics it'd make hchallega and Drew proud! Using Paul Hackett (who I'd never heard of) was inspired as was JC Watts and Elizabeth Dole (so we know who Engler picks!). And this wacky TL is a perfect place for JFK Jr to survive to the Presidency. Perhaps the Return of Camelot is a sign that things ITTL really are improving (except for the WWZ fiasco).
And then you get the President aborting the Burbullis coup without realizing!
At least we know that Burbullis will make it to the UK Embassy, and that (unfortunately) Zavidiya does too. But what of the other plotters?
And then you get the President aborting the Burbullis coup without realizing!
At least we know that Burbullis will make it to the UK Embassy, and that (unfortunately) Zavidiya does too. But what of the other plotters?whitecrow
Banned
Earlier in the tread we speculated on how the Kosovo Crisis might impact post-apocalyptic fiction like Fallout and Metro. But it might also be interesting if you looked into what might the following look like in your TL:
C&C Generals video game
GTA IV video game
James Bond films
Probably not much. As much as I think he and Zhirinovsky have a natural alliance, the fact of the UIS's involvment in Zaire coupled with the UIS support of the Equitorial Guinea coup, it is hard to see Mugabe and Zhirinovsky getting along much.
Most likely Mugabe remains dictator of a pariah state with few friends outside of Zimbabwe.
Thanks Edward! I think towards the end I will put in the all-AH update which would act as a really interesting review of all of the things that went on in this TL!
As for the scandal involving laying a wreath, the South Korea/China/Japan thing was actually where I got the idea. It seems to be a fairly common political "incident" for President's to be honest. Ronald Reagan got into trouble for laying a wreath at a memorial for German soldiers at a cemetary where SS officers were buried, and as you mentioned there was the incident with Japan as well.
As for Reds!, there are quite a few TL's I need to catch up on when I'm done, I will be sure to add that one to the list!
Good point! You know, the Bond films were somewhat...flat in the 90s. I think that film (I forgot which one) where the North Korean general's son got plastic surgery and passed himself off as a British playboy was the low point of the Bond franchise. But a tweak in TTL, where a Russian war criminal uses a Nabakov Passport to pass himself off as a British playboy would actually work much better.
And I can imagine the scandal over the Serbian connection in GTA IV in TTL!
This Update was so full of creative AH American politics it'd make hchallega and Drew proud! Using Paul Hackett (who I'd never heard of) was inspired as was JC Watts and Elizabeth Dole (so we know who Engler picks!). And this wacky TL is a perfect place for JFK Jr to survive to the Presidency. Perhaps the Return of Camelot is a sign that things ITTL really are improving (except for the WWZ fiasco).
And then you get the President aborting the Burbullis coup without realizing!
Thanks Cylon! I do enjoy working with the American political spectrum on this TL as well, and I do recognize that the smallest butterflies from Moscow in TTL can change a lot in the United States in regards to its elections. The Bob Kerrey winning Florida in 1992 after Jewish Democrats became terrified of the UIS was the big one, but having Paul Hackett win his congressional race in 2006 in Ohio as a "Kerrey-Democrat" was another. I figured that Kennedy's lack of military experience coupled with the fact that Ohio is a major battleground state would make Hackett a very attractive candidate.
I remember reading about Hackett in 2006 in an article and thinking to myself "if this guy wins in the most solidly Republican district in America, he could go all the way to the White House."
As for Dole, she also seemed like a natural pick for Engler, although we don't know yet who Kennedy beat in 2012.
A quick rundown of the White House in TTL:
1992:
REP George Bush (TX) - Dan Quayle (IN) (Incmb)
DEM Bob Kerrey (NE) - Al Gore (TN)
REF Ross Perot (TX) - James Stockdale (IL)
1996:
DEM Bob Kerrey (NE) - Al Gore (TN)
REP Jack Kemp (CA) - John McCain (AZ)
REF Ross Perot (TX) - Pat Choate (TX)
2000:
REP George W. Bush (TX) - Rick Lazio (NY)
DEM Al Gore (TN) - ????
GRN Ralph Nader (CT) - Dennis Kucinich (OH)
REF ??? - ???
2004:
REP John Engler (MI) - Elizabeth Dole (NC)
DEM John Kerry (MA) -
GRN ??? - ???
REF ??? - ???
LIB ??? - ???
2008:
REP John Engler (MI) - Elizabeth Dole (NC)
DEM ??? - ???
GRN ??? - ???
REF ??? - ???
LIB ??? - ???
2012:
REP ??? - J.C. Watts (OK)
DEM John F. Kennedy Jr. (NY) - Paul Hackett (OH)
GRN ??? - ???
REF ??? - ???
LIB ??? - ???
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You know, it is funny you should ask, because I was just thinking I need to figure out if we have the EU or not (I know, that's a big one, but it was one that was never addressed properly in TTL). I did have a reference to the European Community early on, but it is hard to see the EU getting traction with all the insanity going on in the world. The Nabakov Passports would probably even make things more complicated.
MarshalBraginsky
Banned
Well with regards to the Command and Conquer game, I do hope that ITTL Westwood won't let Electronic Arts develop the later C&C games. Perhaps we might have the UIS in the C&C game as tech savvy. We already had a scandal with the Civilization game having Zhirinovsky as leader of Russia.
Incognito
Banned
Pellegrino Shots, what is the fate of UIS aircraft carriers? I think in an earlier thread you said the Kuznetsov was decommissioned in 1990s for some reason. What about the Varyag (the one that OTL was sold unfinished to China by Ukraine)? Or the planed supercarrier Ulyanovsk?
Another film that might be interesting to explore in this TL would be The Sum Of All Fears (if it is even made).
And instead of using a giant diamond space mirror weapon, the UIS war-criminal-turned-playboy would use the deadly Elipton
Another film that might be interesting to explore in this TL would be The Sum Of All Fears (if it is even made).
And instead of using a giant diamond space mirror weapon, the UIS war-criminal-turned-playboy would use the deadly Elipton
Another film that might be interesting to explore in this TL would be The Sum Of All Fears (if it is even made).
Maybe TTL "Elipton" repleaced "Golden Eye"satellite weapon
More serioulsy, I was thinking about Zairian War playing some role in TTL Bond movies. Congo is just big training base for various terrorists, full of ruthless Russian mercenaries (whose acting almost like filbusters) and arms dealers, not mentioned "blood diamond" trade. Good backround for plot in my viev.
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MarshalBraginsky
Banned
Not to mention that TTL's Behind Enemy Lines (if Owen Wilson is still the star actor) will now have deadly Russian snipers, Bosnian Serb guerrillas and UIS 'peacekeepers' hunting down for Burnett in either Bosnia or Kosovo. (Does America lose any planes ITTL's Bosnian conflict?)
Pellegrino Shots, what is the fate of UIS aircraft carriers? I think in an earlier thread you said the Kuznetsov was decommissioned in 1990s for some reason. What about the Varyag (the one that OTL was sold unfinished to China by Ukraine)? Or the planed supercarrier Ulyanovsk?
And instead of using a giant diamond space mirror weapon, the UIS war-criminal-turned-playboy would use the deadly Elipton
Another film that might be interesting to explore in this TL would be The Sum Of All Fears (if it is even made).
Ahh, I almost forgot about the Elipton! I could see that making a cameo in at least two or thre Bond films
And the Sum of All Fears was one I considered doing in my previous update (I decided to go with Die Hard 3 instead). But I wonder if the whole nuking Baltimore thing would get shot down by some studio exec worried about the backlash even if it did get made.
Maybe TTL "Elipton" repleaced "Golden Eye"satellite weapon
More serioulsy, I was thinking about Zairian War playing some role in TTL Bond movies. Congo is just big training base for various terrorists, full of ruthless Russian mercenaries (whose acting almost like filbusters) and arms dealers, not mentioned "blood diamond" trade. Good backround for plot in my viev.
You know, I think it would. Who knows, perhaps the 90s would be considered the Golden era of 007 films.
To be honest, I have not decided. A part of me thinks that with such economic turmoil going on, the UIS would downsize its military (especially considering the whole billion AK's and one Nuke philosophy they have). But another part thinks that with WWIII almost happening, it would be crazy for the UIS to downsize something that could give them a potential advantage over the United States. There is also the issue of a general lack of organization in the military in the early 1990s ITTL. It might be sitting in a dock right now looking like the Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang too.
That update already sounds like a suitably crowning moment of awesome for this TL.
As for Reds!, there are quite a few TL's I need to catch up on when I'm done, I will be sure to add that one to the list!
Hopefully this inspires a more optimistic TL out of you, with your interesting style brought along with it.
Course, it could cause an explosion of awesomeness that destroys the galaxy.