Update 1
AD 2102
(OOC: From now on, one turn count as one year)
Caliphate cartoonists present the world's conflicts in a light-hearted way. The art of political cartoons is making a come-back in such places as the Caliphate and California.
The events of the past year (2101) produced mixed reactions. On the one hand, it was a year of rapid economic development and increasing standard of living worldwide. Though the world has all but fragmented into a patchwork of independent states once again (indeed, five new nations have declared their independence), there were promising signs of international cooperation, such as the trade agreeements which were signed by the Carthaginians, the Poles, the Central Europeans, the Caribbeaners, and the Spanish, among others. However, tension between the more belligerent members of the international community has once again taken the world to the brink of war.
Violation of human rights are widespread. In one of the most horrific stories, a thousand people were tortured and drowned in Denmark for crimes against the state, in a mass execution proudly reported by the Danish State Press. But it was just one of the hundreds of reported cases of human right abuses, not to mention the many more which occurred out of sight. Might makes right in this brave new world. Persecution of minorities is rampant. The oppression and expulsion of "Undesirables" in various countries have seen massive population transfers around the world. Refugees fled to countries like the USSR, Brazil and the Ottoman Empire, but there are many who could not escape, or did not make it to the safe havens.
It is said that in times of crisis people tend to turn to extremism. The present is certainly not the best of times, and many of the newly independent states have to institutionalized extremist ideologies. Many parts of the world are undergoing a religious revival, while in others (such as the Ottoman realms) the trend is towards increasingly aggressive secularization. The Danish fascist leader, taking a cue from 20th century dictators, opted to suppress all religions and impose a cult of personality surrounding himself in their place.
Most of all, it is the competing expansionist programs of diffferent states that is the main source of conflict in the past year. Despite the 21st Century horrors of the Cataclysm, many states are now exploring war as a mean to resolve these conflicts. Some states have demonstrated themselves to be aggressively territorial, often with tragic consequences, as with the shooting down of a Siberian civilian airliner by Great Japan.
The world is now divided into two camps: the anti-fascist camp, whose members are now meeting at the Democratic Convention in Berlin, and the Union of Fascists, with their headquarters in Copenhagen.
Espionage
An unknown nation has attempted
Counter-Espionage against
Australia and
SUCCEEDED. Australia loses its ability to conduct spy missions this turn.
Great Japan attempted to
fund rebels in New South Wales against
Australia and
FAILED.
All other espionage missions last turn failed but were not discovered.
Territorial Disputes
All countries (except suspended players) please vote to award the territory to one of the conflicting parties. Please
bold your votes in
red.
GM Comment:
Request to all Players: please edit your country description posts and keep them up to date (I have links to them next to your country descriptions on the front page). Include your flag, census info, military info, any diplomatic agreements your nation has. It'd be easier for all of us to keep track of them that way.
It'd also be good to summarize your current diplomatic agreeements in your post in the Claims thread as well.
Link16: If you want to join please post your claims again and I'll add you in next update.
Comment on historical discussions: History up to 2010 is the same as OTL. But the world has changed so much that it has little relevance to the world situation in 2101. So please avoid history discussions. Likewise, the world situation in 2010 is not necessarily the same as the world situation in 2101. Population statistics from 2010 maybe used as a very rough guide, but it is not accurate for 2101 due to the enormous changes which took place in the 9 decades after 2010.
Please remember House Rule #2: "Stay on topic. Make sure all comments are relevant to the fictional world of the current IOT." Be careful when talking about RL history or 2010 statistics and the like because they are borderline or actually OT and I will start to hand out suspensions for the worst offenders.
If there are mistakes in this update, drop me a message and I'll look at it.
It is now Turn 2 (AD 2102)
Edit: Darth Caesar is suspended for this turn.