Thanks for the info.
Right now, I'm looking into the possibility of four possible flashpoints for a modern war.
1) Iran: If Iran were to join forces with say, Turkey - and the two of them playing NATO against the Russians, I could see that environment destabilizing easily enough into a single theater of war.
2) China: With the aggressive posturing made by Chinese political powers, I could see the possibility of China playing hard ball throughout the local theater. I can also see China making use of North Korea through manipulation, as a sort of puppet to get nations to watch North Korea more than China. Throw in a developing war on that theater and...
3) Russia: it is already playing games trying (rather successfully it seems) to get the Philippines away from a close relationship with the United States. Add to the mix Turkey, and to Iran - and we have the potential for a world player miscalculating things and a war starting unexpectedly when no one really wants one. What is happening on the borders of Russia today, might foretell what is to come as an emboldened Russia pushes harder.
4) Middle East seems to be crazy positioned for an unexpected event to light the fuse on a powder keg. Saudi Arabia could easily change with the change in government with the royal family. We could see an escalation in low level insurgencies in Syria and Iraq and the entire area coming into a fusion with hardline Islamics.
Toss in a few extra minor things - plagues, financial melt-down, etc - and we could see something akin to Twilight 2020 (God, that sounds like an alternative universe to Cyberpunk 2020 doesn't it?!!!).
Imagine the following:
Fanatical Terrorist Organization (FTO) funds a secret educational program of devout members of their sect learning the ins and outs of biological genetic engineering. Universities selling as second hand equipment, lab facilities required to modify the Pandemic Flu Virus of 1917-18 and adding a few modifications to make an old viral template all the more effective. The FTO might even have multiple tailored diseases and release them in a manner intended to implicate Russian culpability or to simply disrupt trust between western nations so as to shut down trade and mass transits between nations (air travel, train and sea transportation). Have this happen two or three times, and suddenly, every nation is going to want to secure its borders against the transmission of diseases. A few nukes get slung about - but not enough to destroy the world in general, along with financial melt-down and such - and we might have conditions similar to the T2K setting - just some 20 years later...
Thing is, I'm not very GOOD at this kind of speculation. Speculation on China's potential economic melt down is one thing. Trying to determine what China might do is another. Maybe China begins to push on the Korea's pointing out the history of Ancient China included the Korean land as part of their empire?
Ah well, maybe this kind of thread wouldn't get too far. Maybe it might. A lot will hinge upon who gets the Presidency within the next few weeks, for the United States.
It is one thing to have to worry about nuclear strikes and stuff per T2K in its original form. What if there were entire cities rendered uninhabitable due to biological warfare? Imagine the FTO mentioned above developing a Rice blight and loosening it into the Eastern portion of the world as well as the southern states in the US of A? Would a Starving China expand outwards to secure foodstuffs? Just some thoughts...
|