Last part.
Act III: The New Order
Moderate governments in Tayloristan helped keep conflict in Africa to a minimum; believing Africa’s well-being exceeded the need for Africa to be entirely self-sufficient, newer governments of the Triple Alliance signed deals to avoid interference in numerous African countries provided the people were well taken care of by new suzerains. It was an idealistic series of agreements that also showed incredible pragmatism; Tayloristan could not hope to run the continent alone, the African Union having fallen apart during its Civil War period. Peace became all the more frequent in Africa following the withdrawal of Azerbaijan from most areas, the once-mighty Azeri Caliphate having become non-existent in favor of its Antiochan rivals.
In South America, peace likewise reigned, the PACIFIC alliance having expanded to include the powerful Zetas. The Zetas able to command the resources of the regionally-potent Argentines, it went without saying that PACIFIC ruled over the Americas with ease. Peace was assured when the Leth led a movement (working with the Confederates, Zetas, and 501st) to moderate the Syndicates’ aggressive diplomatic expansion. The records clearly showed the Syndicates’ forces, both public and private, attempting to undermine the Confederate States of America despite the alliance, and to make sure PACIFIC stayed strong, such firmness was necessary. Reluctantly, the Syndicates quietly ceased antagonism of Confederate assets in favor of securing its footholds in Europe and the Pacific. While many Syndicalists resented what they saw as a betrayal, more pragmatic leaders understood that it made sense most of their friends weren’t exactly fond of unrestrained syndicalism around the globe; other prominent leaders in the country began to see foreign powers as being corrupted by capitalism, either needing stamping out or necessitating the Syndicates focus on perfection within rather than trying to save everyone else from the Gospel of Greed.
The threat of nuclear annihilation, however, necessitated greater cooperation between the world’s leading powers. Bosnia had managed to regain its position as suzerain of Europe, and it swiftly disposed of attempts by the Syndicates and Leth to push into most of the continent. Antioch’s grip on Africa was firm, and with their newfound Azeri clients they wielded considerable influence on the world stage. When Britain managed to negotiate a defensive alliance between the Bosnians, Germans, Antiochans and Arstotzkans, it was clear there was a counterweight to PACIFIC power, and the world more or less settled into a status quo of East versus West.
Ever ambitious, however, Britain sided with the liberal consensus in a stronger Union so as to preserve security. It thus found itself aligned with its former archrivals in the Syndicates, picking up help from Bosnia’s vast diplomatic realm as well as the Leth. To seal the deal, the 501st was bribed with the premise of how much power it could gain in a stronger Union, given its vast array of allied states.
Forming a “Security Council” between themselves, these powers began the long, arduous task of reforming the Union. First, to reduce enmity, Britain agreed to end the slave trade within its borders, support an international ban on the trade, and even applied pressure to end enslavement within its sphere; Spartacus thus was able to work with them in good conscience.
Bosnia’s old proposals were drawn up and amended; INTERPOL (having absorbed the South American organisation of the same name) was formally established in 2235 to give the Union a security branch. The Goon Squad were convinced to abandon their worthless crusade against the British and French in favor of becoming part (and leaders) of this enforcement arm… in a Machiavellian maneuver, however, the 501st worked with the British and Syndicates to cause ripples within the organization until it collapsed into itself, Goon Squad’s resources soon becoming subject to UN authority thanks to new leadership. Suddenly the Union was very potent indeed, monitoring the world for threats to its (and the Security Council members’
interests.
INTERPOL funded itself through donations from Security Council members and the many front businesses that the Goons had established… in particular they secretly continued to operate the vast drug rings that the Goons had started around the world. The Albertians, a more public order, soon found themselves within INTERPOL as well, serving as a source of funding and as a public face of INTERPOL. Given time, however, the Albertian parts of INTERPOL were spun off to the UNAID department (founded 2241) instead, setting up businesses around the world that fostered development of infrastructure in the world’s most needy countries… while also cementing UN influence there and securing a future stream of profits. Armed with nominally effective intelligence and social service branches, the Union looked increasingly like a world government rather than an international organization, but such a transition would still take some time.
As part of increasing centralization, General Secretary Zemetrius Daarin II (son of a candidate in the 2223 Secretarial election) was elected in 2247, assuming office New Years’ Day 2248. Born in the 501st Legion, it was no secret he had an assertive “get it done” attitude much like his father. However, whereas his father was more concerned with preserving international law and order, Daarin was more concerned with expanding it. From a state governed by the military, he saw the successful model of the 501st’s government and wanted to expand such across the entire globe. As soon as his celebration party had died down, he was already drawing up plans for a stronger Union: a standing army, a global tax to fund UN operations, and the ability of the Assembly and International Court of Justice to overrule and overturn all lower government decrees. He desired to make the Union one of nations, not of nation-states.
While he had the support of the “internationalist consensus” in the Leth, Spartacus, Syndicates and Bosnia, he still ran into opposition from such powers as Tayloristan and the Golden Horde… and even his homeland of the 501st was unsure whether or not to support his proposals.
What would soon follow would lead to Daarin later being referred to as “Earth’s Lincoln.”
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Yeeeeup. Cliffhanger.
Nuclear Launches 
