Tensions were high, with completley different, but radical leaders in Pakistan, India, China, and the USA. It all started when China, makes a secret deal, with Pakistan, and North Korea. Pakistan would invade India, while North North Korea invades the South, and China, Taiwan. The plan was to overwhelm the USA, who was all ready tied with forces still in Iraq, Afghanistan, and recently Chechnya, after the terrorist there were found to be hiding many top Al quaida operitives.
When the invaison begun, the USA, recognized it's pledge and sent forces to Taiwan, and South Korea, along with Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. China also responded by invading Afghanistan, Mongolia, and many other of its neighbors. Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia joined China, rather then be occupied.
on the Indo-Middle Eastern front, Iran also joined, and sent forces into Iraq, and India. Though the Indians had a much larger army, their forces quickly succumbed to the whirlwind Pakistani-Chinese attack.
In the USA, the war had become extremly unpopular, due to the extremly high casulty rates, and horrible effect on the econemy. When the President and his supporters refused to pull out, the country plunged into civil war, ironically adding to the bloodshed, which it was meant to prevent. Though the USA was technically still at war with China and it's allies, it essentially had pulled out.
The result of the civil war was a victory for the goverment (pro-war), and defeat of the rebels (anti-war), though it wasn't clear cut. The defeated North-Eastern, and Far Western states joined Canada. The victores objected but were too weak to make any move to stop it.
In Asia, China and North Korea made the mistake invading the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin, which it claimed were harboring Japanese bases, this dragged Russia into the war, and at the same time in India, the tide had turned with the Pakistani failure to capture Hydrabad. The Indians managed to advance, and push Pakistan back, while Iran, having territory gains in Iraq, pulled out completley. China now fighting the super power of Russia, while still having failed to completley defeat Japan, and Australia, was forced to pull out of Taiwan. India continued it's advance on South East Asia, and set up non-threatning puppet goverments in all of its occupied nations. the democractic forces in Taiwan also took this as the time to strike back, and invaded the mainland. Almost as soon as troops arrived revolutions broke out across China. With China now in civil war once again between Nationalist and Communist, and North Korea just defeated by the Russians, all the other nations decided their had been enough suffering for one lifetime and the war was over. With a united Korea, a China likley to go back to democracy, a collapsed USA, and India the dominate power in Asia, WWIII was over.
However like every major war, when one conflict stops, there are always issues left unsolved. Back in the USA, the former head of the CIA, managed to take a peice of the US army, and convince them he was the true head of state. In fear of being trailed for treason, he fled to Mexico, where through a bloody coup, he managed to take control of the country. Similar things sprang up all through out Latin America, where CIA agents managed to take control of goverments. Though still independant nations, they formed tight bonds with their former leader located in Mexico City. Eventually all of Latin America and parts of Africa were under their control except Brazil.
In Europe, with the collapse of the USA, and Japan's econemy devestated by war, Germany was the Earth's dominate economic power, and begain asserting its dominance over the European Union, making most nations in it, effective German puppets. It wasn't long before Germany begain transforming its economic power into military power, building up influences in oil rich middle eastern countries, and Africa. However this wasn't enough, and it soon was forced to look to oil and raw material rich Africa and Russia. When Britian declared that German influence and Imperialism were getting too much, they were expelled from the EU, and declared a "rogue state" by Germany.
In south Asia again, though India was still the dominate power, former Pakistan, Iran, and Muslim China, united to keep Islam balanced with Hindu India in the reigon.