Restoring order in Africa
In 1984, order was restored in the two largest cities of the Upper Nile region (in formerly Malian central-east Africa), Nioro and Walata. Military leaders were of two minds on the best strategy to secure the region against the real possibility of Malian insurgents, but, this time, Chairman Afzali was convinced by his advisors that the stability of the region would be better served by handing over control to local governments. Thus, the military occupation was formally ended, with only a residual force of military police remaining, and combat troops were ferried back to Asian from the port of Gogana. The traditional power structure of viceroys (closely advised from CenTO headquarters in Parsa) was re-established.
The containment of Carthage
In 1986, another long-simmering conflict in Africa resurfaced, with the warlords of the Carthaginian fiefdoms re-uniting and proclaiming themselves the Emirates of Carthage. The region was woefully underdeveloped and not likely to be a traditional military threat, yet the Persian military kept a wary eye for signs of hostility.
The Emirates of Carthage re-form
They did not have to wait long. In September 1987, Carthage proclaimed a 200-km exclusive economic zone extending from their ports into the Mediterranean, within which they asserted full authority and toll-rights, even going so far as to demand that all ships in the region (military or commercial) would have to gain clearance from the Carthaginian Coast Guard before entering the area. Persian admirals and captains scoffed at the outlandish demands, and proceeded as usual along their shipping lanes and patrols. There were no incidents for the first few months, but in December, a Persian transport fleet with destroyer escort was intercepted by speedboats near the port of Kerkouane. Several minutes after the Persian captain communicated by radio that his navy did not recognise the Carthaginian claims, the Persian boats were trapped in intense machine-gun fire from several directions. As no rules of engagement had been decided upon in the event of such a brash action, the Persian captain directed his fleet to make haste for the port of Mekke, to consult with his superiors.
Carthage lays claim over the international waters of the Mediterranean
Several retaliatory actions were considered, including invasion. However, as the price of domestic stability would far outweigh the gains from conquering the impoverished region, he Central Command decided upon a policy of vigorous containment. War was declared on the rogue Emirates of Carthage, and a campaign of aerial bombing, sea bombarment, and small-scale precision landings began. The intent was to weaken the defences of the Carthaginian cities so that the Satrapy of Mali, and of Russia (which had formerly held Argos), could invade and occupy the cities.
The limited campaigns against Carthage
After 4 years of limited war, Russia had retaken Argos but the Malians were making no progress. The new Chairman, Noureddin Kianouri, argued at Central Command that the urgency of the situation required the unprecedented step of militarily supplying and training the Malians with Persian armoured tanks. So, in 1992, the tanks from an older armoured division were transferred, and an intensive training programme set up at the Malian Army base in Hippo. The hope that the Malians would use this tremendous advantage were dashed, however, when it became apparent that all supplies of petrol in Hippo had disappeared into the black market. Eventually, it was Malian cavalry regiments that took the city of Qart Hadasht after Persian airstrikes had already reduced most of the city to rubble.
Military aid and training to the Satrapy of Mali
After the fall of Qart Hadasht, the Persian airforce continued its strikes against the remaining emirates of Oea and Kerkouane, but, for lack of resolve on the Persian side and lack of leadership among the Malians, the war became a slow-motion stalemate. The main goal of enforcing naval rights in the Mediterranean had been accomplished, and so the war faded from the public's attention.
The 'United' Nations
After a long process reaching back to the end of the African wars in the early 80s, diplomats from the five major powers (Persia/CenTO, USA, Spain, Portugal and Japan) finally hammered out the constitution of an organisation that, it was hoped, would become the arbiter of any future international disputes. In fact the constitution was so filled with exceptions and concessions to the varying interests of the great powers, that it was regarded by many as meaningless, except perhaps as a forum for expanding economic cooperation. The organisation was to be housed in a modern headquarters in Lahore (the location a sign of where power really lay), and the first meeting was held in the summer of 1991, where the 6-month election campaign for UN Secretary-General was announced. Two retiring leaders - the former US President Franklin Roosevelt and Persian Chairman Bahram Afzali (just ending his third term) were the main candidates, and the Persian won handily with the support of the Central Treaty Organisation and important voting alliances with Spain and Portugal.
Retired Chairman Bahran Afzali is elected Secretary-General of the UN
The lunar programme and the space race
As Secretary-General, Bahram still exercised considerable influence over his successor, the mild architect Noureddin Kianouri. This was seen most evidently in the priority which Persia's space programme enjoyed. Although late to the race (shamefully late in many scientists' views), Persia in the early 1990s effected an almost complete transformation of its industry, from military equipment to the development of engines and other hardware for space exploration. In the suburbs of practically every city, new research labs and industrial parks were becoming the dynamic engines of Persia's economic and industrial growth. A career in the space industry was now the most prestigious imaginable.
The change was not merely due to one man, no matter how much of an influence he still held. In 1992, an event in the forests of Tajikistan (northeast of Samarkand) did much to impress upon the Persian people their vulnerable position in the cosmos. Known as the Tajik Phenomenon, a large extraterestrial object (whether a comet or an asteroid is still hotly debated) exploded in the atmosphere above the remote area, flattening trees and the few small settlements in vast area with a 80-km radius. The only surviving witnesses were those that saw the event from a considerable distance. Persians from every walk of life now felt that, somehow, it was their duty, as leaders of the earth's peoples, to lead the way into space, to harness its treaures, to protect from its perils, and perhaps, to meet the peoples of the plains of faraway planets. In late 1992, the project objective was set - the moon in 5 years, and the nearest star within 25 years.
The Tajik Phenomenon
In addition to research and industry, the espionage community was also targetted towards technologies that could be applied to space travel. Chief among these was the elusive fusion engine, which was envisoned as the only means of the rapid interstellar travel necessary to reach a neighbouring star in a matter of years, rather than decades or centuries. Industrial spies, with their well-established contacts in the Scandinavian city of Reykjavik, made an important advance in 1997 when they smuggled the secrets of fibre optics technology into labs in Parsa. Now it was hoped that the goal of controlled fusion power could be attained in 5 years.
Persian spies transfer fibre optics technology to Parsan laboratories
According to schedule, Persian men and women walked on the moon on Nowruz 1997. Their feat was not considered remarkable in the rest of the world - indeed it was viewed as rather quaint, as many other nations had sent multiple missions by this date. Yet when these same nations looked at the frenzy of the spaceship industry in the Persian heartland, their smug smiles faded. And when the mayor of Kermanshah announced that his city would be the site of the world's first 'Space Elevator', the world was awed at the audacity of Persian ambition. It was clear that only one nation had the sheer capacity to put together a project of this magnitude.
The industrial heartland produces parts for the Alpha Centauri Project
Work on the Space Elevator commences in Kermanshah
Other nations were silent on the question of whether they, too, had similar plans. But the backers of the Space Elevator were confidently projecting that their project would be completed first, and by the first year or two of the new millennium. However, this was clearly a risky prediction, as this timetable relied on the efforts at a labaoratory in Beijing where engineers were rumoured to be nearing a breakthrough in materials science that would save time and expense in the elevator's construction.
Engineers in Beijing nearing possible breakthrough on space elevator technology
Now finish it! 
