Association of Democratic African Republics

ADAR is one of the most recently formed countries in the world at a little over 50 years old. As the central african nations adjusted to the new world order several of the republics in the region agreed to band together to form a new alliance. Rejecting the currently successful political models ADAR has attempted to form the worlds first true democracy rather than simply a representative democracy. The countries that formed the alliance are the Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo, Angola, Gabon, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and the Central African Republic.

Whilst there is a hierachy of representational democracies, meaning each organisational level of ADAR is controlled by a council elected by the populace. ADAR also uses the most modern technology to conduct referendums on all the most vital issues that affect the country.

The jewel of ADAR is the capital Arana, which translates as Hope. Even more modern the New London and designed and built entirely by the labour of supers it is a true miracle of modern technology. It rises out of the landscape like a crystalline claw reaching to the sky. The transport and services systems within the city are second to none, and ADAR hopes that the city may at some point in the future rival the stories of cities on the central planets of the star empires.

ADAR has a slightly above average super population, and they have contributed much in the service of establishing the country both domestically and internationally. ADAR hopes to take a leadership role, both in the political scene of Africa and the world as a whole. They also hope to develop a space program that will vault the countries profile to the head of the world stage.

East African Union

The oldest alliance in Africa emerged out of the vestiges of the economic and tribal problems that plagued Africa or much of the latter half of the twentieth century. The complete collapse of Zimbabwe almost reopened the door to international colonialism, but rather than allow a extra-continental government to come in and prop up the ailing country several of the local powers banded together, overcoming ancient prejudices with the stark warning of the failure of Zimbabwe.

As the countries began to cooperate more readily the political and economic situations of the states began to improve. The prosperity led to popularity and petitions for membership began to grow. Adopting the EU model of governance the EAU quickly rose to prominence as the most powerful group of nations in the hemisphere at the time.

As the mini-ice-age and political turmoil in the northern hemisphere caused international chaos the EAU became a greater factor on the international stage. Though the rise of the two great East Asian empires have reduced the EAUs profile, and the increasing cohesion across the continent of Africa has created more local competition further diminishing its role.

The capital of the EAU was recently moved off the main continent from Maputo to Antananarivo. This served the dual purpose of moving the political centre further from the aggression of South Africa as well as smoothing over some political wrinkles in the most recent expansion. The EAU now consists of Madagascar, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda.

Egyptian Alliance

North Africa was relatively untouched by the rapid development of much of the rest of the world. Technology still spread rapidly around the world, and the mini-ice age, though the major effects didn't reach so far south, certainly provided some additional prosperity to the region, the relatively low super population and the low profile of these countries on the world stage meant that life continued much as normal.

The Nuclear War in the middle-east was much closer to home however. Egypt was almost drawn in to the conflict and their was palpable relief that the country had come through the problems unscathed when the dust finally settled. The sudden change in the local political situation led to sudden upheavals in the political climate of Egypt, and a realisation that as the world power structures shifted countries needed to group together to a greater degree in order to survive.

At the head of a new wave of political reality arose a charismatic and successful Alpha. He won the Egyptian elections in a landslide on a platform of international cooperation. Through diplomatic efforts he soon forged new bonds across North Africa. Modelling the political structure on the successful organisations of the EU and the UP north of the Mediterranean.

The Alliance now includes Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. Though the alliance still suffers from a low super population, and the difficulty that most of its territory consists of the sahara desert. But the countries have banded tightly together and their strength in unity still makes them relevant.

The Alpha who put the alliance together was continually suspected and accused of using mind altering powers to get the countries to sign the various treaties that now bind the countries together, and of exerting his influence to adjust attitudes of the citizens. These rumours eventually led to his arrest and trial at the World Court, but no evidence could be found of any wrong-doing and he was exonerated. However a delta chose to become an assassin with a grudge, believing the entire trial to have been a sham. Managing to catch the Alpha by surprise. He killed him, and though Egypt still misses his guidance his legacy lives on.

Other Areas in Africa

There are still plenty of independent smaller countries scattered across Africa. Most of them are looking to join one of the larger alliances, as almost all poltically aware people realise that such conglomeration is almost inevitable in the long term. But triablism and old rivalries die hard, and it may still take decade for the remaining small nations to be absorbed fully.

Reources are abundant in some places and scarce in others and across the continent of africa all types of nations and peoples can still be found, if one simply knows where to look.

Republic of South Africa

South Africa has had problems almost since the end of apartheid. It was held together for a long time with effective and charismatic leadership but their remained a problem with lawlessness in the big cities. As the 21st century dragged on and the world began to change these problems worsened. The economic situation became untenable and the crime problems were exascerbated.

Looking once again for a charismatic leader to lead it through some difficult times, the country elected a new president with some very extreme political leanings. At the time it seemed that he was the only man capable of leading them through the turmoil, and indeed so he did.

South Africa today is an extremely autocratic state, and though nominally still a democracy the single minded control of the ruling party as well as corruption at all levels of government means that the power has not changed hands for over 150 years. The rich can afford to live well, but in other areas of the country poverty and lawlessness are rife.

As the various incidents hit North America and Europe, South Africa spotted an opportunity and has begun to expand it's borders northwards, after first swallowing Lesotho and Swaziland. South Africa now controls most of Namibia and Botswana. Though it hasn't made any agressive moves against ADAR or the EAU, it has the largest and best equipped military in the region and has been posturing aggressively for a number of years.

South Africa has, potentially, a very large super population and it is very aggressive about recruiting it. However, the state instituted paranoia means that almost half of these supers never make it into the service of the government - as their loyalty is questionable. It is surmised that they are either locked away in some sort of purpose built facility or very possibly executed.

United States of West Africa

USWA was formed slowly and surely as a repsonse to the increasingly complex international situation as the world order began to shift. Some of the sub-saharan west african nations were the first to realise that in order to function in the 22nd century countries would need to band together in larger groups. A conference in Banjul founded the union a little before the turn of the century (USWA recently celebrated its centenary). And as a political entity USWA has been remarkably stable ever since. The membership has only expanded once and now includes the entire slate of coastal countries between Mauritiana and Nigeria, as well as Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso.

The shifts in the world's climate over the years along with the free trading between all these nations and the increasing prosperity have allowed USWA to become a very prosperous nation rich in all forms of natural resources. USWA has never achieved it's ambition of international relevance however, due to an almost vanishingly small super-population. The super manifestation rate in the USWA area is less than half any other region on Earth for no reason that anyone has been able to fathom. Most of the supers that do manifest have been recruited by the government, but there is no requirement to do so, and hence there are independents as well.

USWA is likely to remain as it is while this status quo holds. It has very positive international relations, and its geographic and economic situations mean that it is very unlikely to come into conflict with any other nations.

European Union

The European Union has progressed slowly over the last couple of centuries, not changing a great deal in the intervening years, but modernising gradually and becoming slowly more integrated. It has lost a few of the member states in the intervening years. The current roster of member states is Portugal, Spain, France, Luxemborg, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany and Austria and the Czech Republic.

The EU was the first country to perfect fusion technology, in concert with Japan before the emperor rose to power. Hence it had a jump start on the new world order early in the new phase of the worlds development. The EU ran a second space race against China, with the EU conducting successful probe landings on Venus and Mercury first as well as the first manned landings on a moon of Uranus.

The EU has absconded from its strong place in the world more recently though as if falls prey to political infighting, lacking the cohesion between memberships of some of the more recently formed alliances and the ambition of nations with less of a sense of history.

The EU has a slightly above average population of supers, involved in various governmental and non-governmental organisations. A lot of supers also tend to remain independent and try to live relatively normal lives or act in a freelance capacity. The EU still has a strong international presence, but it is no longer the force that it still is, it has the potential to return to a world leading state very easily, with an abundance of resources compared to many other areas in the world.

Free Association of Scandinavian States

FASS was formed as the first signs of the mini-ice-age were becoming apparent, and the association allowed the Scandinavian states to come through the incident much more successfully than the bigger northern countries of Canada and Russia. Despite a very low super population, FASS cultivates a very strong sense of civil obligation for supers, and without their assistance it would not have weathered the ice-age.

Since that time FASS has stayed a strong alliance, though with a great deal of autonomy for the member states. In the new world order the states realise the need to be part of larger nations in order to stay relevant on the world stage. FASS obtained Fusion power very early on after it was perfected and is one of the world leaders in the refinement of the technology, and they provide a great deal more electricity than they can use.

FASS includes the four major Scandinavian countries of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark, and more recently Estonia was accepted into the association as well. Economically FASS remains a strong force though they do not seek large scale involvement on the world political stage.

Greater United Arab Emirates

The GUAE was formed out of necessity. As the new world order began to take shape the UAE, Oman, Yemen, Qatar and the southern remains of Saudi Arabia banded together almost out of desperation. As oil became irrelevant and the lasting effects of the Nuclear War began to be felt the Arab states in the region were increasingly in danger of becoming sidelined. The states united together in order to survive.

They have a large super population, and that is the only thing that has kept them afloat. Devoid of most natural resources they have tried to remain a big part of world politics and contribute many of their supers to world organisations. They also technically have dominion over the nuclear wasteland to the north, but this claim has recently become disputed with the Ottoman Empire that controls the northern side of the wasteland.

The GUAE has managed to focus much of it's economic efforts on improving the quality of life of its inhabitants, as it has no direct neighbours and very little local competition. It is the foremost nation for research into nuclear fission technology, and whilst fusion technology is present as well it is one of the only nations that still uses a lot of fusion power. The super population has helped weed out some of the dangers of this technology and a couple of near misses have been avioded thanks to super intervention. The GUAE will likely continue to be a signigficant part of world politics whilst its supers remain a big factor.

New Ottoman Empire

The New Ottoman Empire is one of the newest nations on earth. An Omega level super recently arose in Turkey, claiming to have first existed in the ancient world and claiming kinship with the early rulers of the Ottoman Empire. Charismatic and powerful the super recruited others under him, conducted a coup in Turkey and quickly began to expand the countries military.

The Empire has begun to expand in all directions, conquering Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia as well as the southern parts of Russia between the two inland seas. The initial highly successful campaign was followed up with more aggression, and the Empire has expanded to include portions of Bulgaria and Greece to the west, the leftovers of Syria and Iraq to the South and large tracts of land to the east, now controlling significant portions of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Iran.

There has recently been a lull in the Ottoman's campaign, as international pressure has begun to mount and rumours of coordinated opposition have begun. The only territory they currently claim furter dominion over is the nuclear wasteland that covers most of the middle-east. Though the land would be entirely useless so this claim is mostly considered a distraction from the empire's true intentions.

Domestically the Emperor rules strongly, and the Empire is something of a police state, though the quality of life is high as the emperor has organised his limited number of supers effectively to help provide for them as he realises that is the best way to forestall any internal movement towards revolution. The Empire is yet to begin to participate in world politics, and though it is assumed that the empire is keeping up with developments that pertain to them.

Ukrainian Protectorate

The Ukranian Protectorate was formed after the mini-ice-age, when the influence of Russia waned in Europe. Feeling that the needs of eastern europe were under represented within the EU the Ukraine led a string of withdrawals, and only a couple of years later signed up several of these states to a very similar set of treaties. The UP has followed the pattern of the EU quite closely, though always with a slight twist, and has matched the level of integration shown by the other major european alliance. In the intervening period the rivalry between the two has died down, and now they have a reasonably successful working relationship.

The membership of the UP currently stands at Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Lithuania. Poland is currently petitioning for membership. The UP is a little more cohesive than the EU and hasn't suffered from the same internal divisions, and is finally starting to overhaul it's old rival in terms of political and economic relevance.

The UP has a strong military in response to the aggressive posturing of the New Ottoman Empire. It has a very visible super population, a large number of which work in the military or in other governmental organisations.

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom has oscillated somewhat between being more and less united over the last two centuries. After a brief experiment with indepenence, Scotland rejoined the UK and has been a solid part of it since. Ireland finally dropped out of the EU after a protracted series of international negotiations. The two countries gradually grew closer as they embarked on joint projects, including the most ambitious engineering project in history, aided by their supers.

The UK has three massive hydro-electric dams, two of them so huge they are visible from space. The dam across the Severn Estuary was constructed first, followed by Dams across the souther and northern ends of the Irish Sea with the aid of British and Irish supers. The land between Britain and Ireland was drained and water is still cycled through the dams, providing electricty, fresh water and extra land space for the large population of the Kingdom.

Ireland officially joined the UK at the conclusion of these projects and the capital was then founded in the newly drained land. New London is one of the most modern cities on Earth, built and designed with the aid of supers. It is a centerpiece of the increasingly prosperous nation. It also houses the modernised Houses of Parliament, which host an almost identical parliamentary structure as the UK has operated for almost a thousand years.

The UK takes a leading in world diplomacy, always attemptign to resolve international problems through diplomacy and cooperation. The country has one of the largest super populations in the world, though many of them are employed privately rather than by the government.

Other Areas in Europe

Europe remains somewhere where there are still plenty of small independent states with many and varied types of governmental structures. Switzerland has remained independent for centuries of the EU that surrounds it. Several Eastern European states remain sceptical of the UP, Latvia has chosen not to sign up to either the UP or FASS.

All the Balkan states remain highly sceptical of unification efforts and have resisted all attempts to be absorbed into any of the larger multinational cohorts. Greece withdrew from the EU, but is now moving towards reapplying after a disastrous Civil War and the recent invasion from the New Ottoman Empire. Bulgaria is hanging by a thread and only international pressure has kept the Empire from sweeping up the remainder of the country. Several of these states are losing central control due to the recent troubles in the region, and a powerful super could easily declare independence for a small city state.

Iceland was amongst the worst sufferers in the mini-ice age and is still trying to regain it's feet economically. Both FASS and the EU have provided aid to help out the citizens and both these alliances anticipate a diplomatic competition to recruit Iceland once the country is in a position to rejoin the international community once more.

Californian Protectorate

The Californian Protectorate includes all of the state of California as well as most of Nevada and parts of Utah and Arizona, again a product of the twin influences of the first incident when the North American map was initially redrawn as well as the subsequent mini-ice age that occurred later.

The protectorate retains most of the political structures of the old State of California, but most of the power is concentrated in the Executive branch, and California is still in thrall to the cult of celebrity. It boasts a very high percentage population of supers, and reamins a seat of a huge amount of the worlds entertainment industry, as well as being very high tech.

Supers have contributed a lot to California, including a massive increase in efficiency to Solar power and sea water purification, meaning that California is one of the few countries that doesn't rely primarily on fusion power, and it has priopietry advantages in water supply compared to many other countries with similar climate.

Mexican Alliance

The Mexican Alliance has developed a much stronger economy as Mexico has strong armed all the smaller central american states into coming under its political wing. The country has modernised rapidly and is now a match for any of the other North American powers. It has also suffered a great deal less from the two major occurrences that shaped the North American map.

Mexico still resents a lot of the history it built up with the old USA and hence, despite many working relationships across the borders political relations remain frosty.

Mexico has an average super population by proportion but has cultivated a sense of civic responsibility and hence it's supers have played a huge role in helping to modernise the country and giving it a level playing field against the older more established infrastructures of North America.

Texan Confederation

The Texan Confederation (often shortened to Texas or the Confederation) also retains much of the political organisation of the USA, though the States wield a great deal more power then the national structure, especially when compared to the UNAS. The Confederation acknowledges the debt it owes to the Confederate States of the American Civil War, but attempts to distance itself from certain parts of that legacy. Whilst racism continues to be a problem, the government still comes down hard on it to avoid greater problems.

The states of the Confederation are:
- Texas
- New Mexico
- Oklahoma
- Arkansas
- Louisiana
- Mississippi (which includes part of Tennessee)
- Alabama (which includes part of Tennessee)
- Georgia
- Florida

The major border that Texas shares is to the North with UNAS, which it is on good terms with, to the North East, it borders the Savage Land, which it has displayed no interest in claiming. To the South it borders Mexico, which it has a very frosty relationship with, despite numerous working relationships.

Texas has a lower than average super population, and many of them have something of an independent streak similar to the supers of UNAS. This has occasionally made things difficult for Texas, but in general the country hasn't suffered for this.

United North American States

UNAS is the successor to the USA, retaining most of the same political structure, though the balance between the national and state powers has moved towards the national. It comprises most of the states that managed to stay in touch during the communications problems of the first incident, as well as the territories of Canada that ceded after the mini-ice-age.

The states of UNAS are:
- New England (comprising the areas previously known as Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Conneticut, Rhode Island)
- New York (comprising both New York and New Jersey)
- Pennsylvania
- Virginia (comprising Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia)
- Carolina (comprising North and South Carolina)
- Kentucky (which includes parts of Tennesse and Indiana)
- Ohio (which includes parts of Indiana)
- Missouri (which includes parts of Illinois)
- Iowa (which includes parts of Illinois and Wisconsin)
- Minnesota (which includes parts of Wisconsin)
- Ontario
- Quebec
- Newfoundland (comprising Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick)

UNAS has good foreign relations with most of it's neighbours, bordering the Texan Confederation to the south, and the United States of Canada to the North East. Relations between UNAS and the Independent State of Michigan (which includes all of Michigan as well as the area bordering Lake Michigan) are somewhat more strained, but since it is entirely enclosed by UNAS the two countries are forced to work together.

The main Eastern border of UNAS is the Savage Land, which technically the UNAS has the strongest sovereignty claim over, but in practice is well agreed to be neutral territory.

UNAS has a reasonable supers population, many of which have an independent streak. UNAS has the most super hero teams that are independent of government control, though it also has a strong super presence inside government agencies as well.

United States of Canada

The USC has a similar history to the other North American states, finally declaring sovereignty at the end of the mini-ice age. Politically it is most similar to the old USA, with very similar balance between the different governmental arms. Though has redesigned and refined the constitution as a more modern document.

The USC states are:
- Oregon
- Washington
- Idaho
- Montana
- British Colombia
- Alaska
- Alberta
- Sasketchawan
- Yukon
- Northwest Territories
- Nunavut

The USC has very positive foreign relations with all other countries in the region. It cultivates the image of a strong supers presence, and has an excellent recruitment and training program, but actually by proportion it has a relatively low number of supers.

Other Areas in North America

The Carribean is much the same as it ever was, it has suffered a little more from weather over the last 200 years than previously. Though since it put some of the native supers on the case it has more or less solved this problem. Economically it is self-sufficient for the most part, though still not as strong as the major powers. It still relies on the generosity of some of these other states to improve the quality of life for the inhabitants, but these are on much better terms than previous as Mexico, Texas and UNAS all vie for increased influence on the islands.

The independent state of Michigan is a very densely populated area and came through the mini-ice-age almost untouched thanks to the intervention of a local super. The state senate in Chicago still occasionally raises the idea of petitioning UNAS for readmission, but so far there has always been a strong majority in favour of remaining independent. Michigan contains the worlds financial capitals, and its major export is fresh water to some of the more water poor nations in the world.

The Savage Land covers much of the area of the American heartland. It was created by the first incident, and due to the lasting effects of that even is covered in verdant life - forests and jungle. The foliage grows much faster than anywhere else in the world, the fastest growing plants almost seem to extend in front of one's eyes. Additionally it contains many unusual animals, many of which went extinct a long time ago, additionally some species grow much larger than normal size due to other left overs from the first incident.

The Savage Land covers areas of the southern portion of Sasketchawan, the eastern parts of Montana, almost all of North and South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Colorado and Kansas, as well as a small spur jutting out into Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. There are still human settlements in this area, but life is a constant stuggle against the encroaching forest/jungle, and transport in or out is nearly impossible, except by air and even difficult then due to the remaining magnetic fluctuations. The settelments in the region are by necessity self-sufficient, though still with a high level of technology where possible.

Hawaii, as most of the pacific islands, is an indepent republic, cut off from communications after the first incident, they've mostly learnt to be self-sufficient, and various islands cover a wide range of the political and economic spectra. A few of the pacific islands towards the asian edge of the pacific are claimed by one of the two great empires in the region, but so far those two nations turn their attention mostly to the asian mainland and the indonesian islands, so the claims have not yet been realised.

Brazilian Republic

The Brazilian Republic is pretty similar as it has been for the last few hundred years, though it has absorbed most of Paraguay and Uruguay as well as French Guiana. Much of the Amazon rainforest has been deforested to provide raw materials for the increasing population and the relatively aggressive government of Brazil that has been continually re-elected on a platform of raising the world profile of Brazil, which has become one of the major world superpowers.

Brazil has a reasonably stable relationship the Veno-Columbian alliance to the north but a highly volatile and contentious relationship with the Kingdom of Argentina to the South, with a border still under dispute. Bolivia, as the only independent country in the region, has seen its borders shrink under the aggression of these two powers and feels highly threatened by both of them.

Brazil has a large contingent of supers variously employed by the government and independent thereof. It also suffers, perhaps more than any other nation on the planet from internal resistance to the ruling party. Some have gone as far as attempting to declare themselves independent and conducting terrorism against the government.

Kingdom of Argentina

The Kingdom of Argentina is one of the few non-democratic countries remaining. Though it does have a council of representatives that advise the King and give a semblance of democracy at times. They certainly wield a great deal of influence on internal legislation.

Argentina annexed Chile very early on after the King seized power, and it has also expanded it's borders northwards a little way into Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia. The border between Argentina and Brazil is one of the most militarised in the world, and it is still disputed though open hostilities are rare.

The King of Argentina is an Alpha level super. He keeps an incredibly close watch on other supers within his kingdom, and all of them are either recruited or executed within days of activating. A scant few may escape into exile. The king has an effective brain-washing program and all the supers that remain join his own organisation and work for the crown either directly or indirectly, helping to ensure the security and effectiveness of the kings sovereignty.

Veno-Colombian Alliance

The Veno-Colombian Alliance was formed in response to the aggressive nature of the Brazilian Republic. It is a very loose alliance, though since it has been established for some time it has grown increasingly close, and a council meets to advise on monetary, military and foreign policy. Peru has only joined very recently, as a response to the increasingly pent up frustration and tension between Brazil and Argentina, it is angling for a bigger role in the alliance politically, but needs to prove it's commitment to the countries that have been part of the alliance longer.

Since forming the alliance, which includes Ecuador, Guyana and Suriname as well, the countries have made a concerted effort to become a highly responsible member of the world community, mostly in order to obtain military help in case Brazil should continue to try to expand its territory.

The Alliance has an average number of supers by proportion, though a large number of them work in the law enforcement sector of the alliances joint organisations. A much smaller number work in the military, as though the alliance wants to present a strong defensive front, they do not want to posture aggressively in the face of Brazil.

Other Areas in South America

The only independent area in South America is Bolivia, an increasingly small and paranoid country. It is coveted by both Brazil and Argentina, already having lost parts of its land to the two much larger powers. The Veno-colombian alliance is reluctant to accept Bolivia, as geographically it would be very hard for the alliance to offer much protection and it might be drawn into a war it would rather avoid. Bolivia has a very low supers population, and given the current political situation is unlikely to survive as a sovereign entity for much longer.