Great topic!
So in light of that map and the 4e expanded timeline project, I’ve been doing some deep reading into the political histories of a lot of nations lately. Huge shoutout to Chico as well for hooking me up with some amazing background documentation, btw - the sheer amount of data so many of you work with, as a relative newcomer to it, is staggering. While I can’t speak much to South America and Africa yet (though I’m looking forward to getting to those continents), I feel like the 90s were a much, much more fascinating time than I remember as a teenager. Some of the hotspot areas I’ve come across include:
The Balkans - the break up of Yugoslavia had enormous repercussions for the entire region. The rise of Milosovic in Serbia, the fighting in Bosnia, etc, I think is an area that probably doesn’t get enough love in most campaigns. Most all of those former pact nations were grappling with their own identities all through the 90s, trying to determine who they were and who they wanted to be in the “ashes of an empire”. I suppose this area may hold less or more interest depending upon the timeline you’re playing in, though.
Southeast Asia - I don’t even know where to rightly begin here. Vietnam looking at reform and Laos following it move for move, Cambodia still grappling with identity and insurgency (at least early in the decade) after the horrendous actions of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. Myanmar and Bangladesh with their own wild political exchanges, illegitimate elections, and transference of power. It’s a wild area just begging for a campaign or two. Hell even Sri Lanka was dealing with the Tamil Tigers at the time. And on top of all of this, ASEAN was slowly trying to expand their influence of economic cooperation throughout the entire region.