[Heffe3737]

7 years ehh? As recent events have shown us, that's time enough for quite a bit to take place. This is a high level outline of what I could imagine:

EurAsia:
Due to political will in the US, the US government scales back and potentially drops out of NATO altogether, leaving the EU scrambling to rebuild their militaries. In it's bid to gain additional fuel reserves and more access to continental Europe, and in the absence of serious western opposition after the changes to NATO, Russia invades and annexes the remainder of the Ukraine. Lacking sufficient military strength yet, the EU talk a lot about taking action against Russia but no significant actions are taken outside of some minor sanctions. Russia takes this as a nod and moves in to secure Georgia as well, followed by a quick acceptance of Belarus back under Russian political control.

Meanwhile, sensing Russia's growing aggression with America's increasing isolationism, the EU prepares for the worst and begin stockpiling weapons. Facing increasing internal and financial pressure, Greece and Turkey pull out of NATO and quickly thereafter join the SCO. A hard Brexit happens with the UK, further straining the EU close to the breaking point.

In the Middle East, tensions escalate as Israel and Iran continue fighting a proxy war using terrorist factions. Syria and Yemen sign a mutual defense agreement with Iran. Israel calls upon the US for aid which is slow to come.

India and Pakistan...just continue being India and Pakistan.

In the far East, China continues to build in the South China Sea, prompting fiercer denunciation from the Philippines, and after China decides to use the same tactics elsewhere in international waters, the Philippines is joined by Japan and South Korea. Malaysia and Vietnam also join in condemning Chinese actions, but to a lesser extent. China continues providing relief and begins sending arms to North Korea. Pressure builds.

North America
Relations between the US and Canada degrade somewhat, but the two countries continue to trade and communicate. The US political scene is in turmoil, with GOP and Dems fighting over competing ideologies. The GOP ideologies eventually win over when a bio weapon suddenly explodes over a major US city, and is sourced to a terrorist group with ties to Iran. This leads to the US adopting a near entirely isolationist stance similar to pre-WW2, though there is still a sizeble amount of unrest in the US's liberal coastal cities. Mexico, angry about the political machinations happening to the north and feeling used by the American government, elects a strong anti-American president.

South America
Brazil's corruption reaches a crescendo and the economy collapses wholesale, leaving millions in poverty which cascades out to other countries on the continent. Similar events take place in Venezuela. Soon, most of South America is reeling from the influx of refugees from those beleaguered states. The cartels use this as an opportunity to gain more power and start setting up regional districts of their own, slowly pulling the populace away from any modicum of central government.

Australia
Somewhat of a bulwark in the South Pacific, the Aussies pick up somewhat where the US leaves off, and signs a mutual security agreement with Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, and Malaysia. They sense a storm is coming and begin preparations.

Africa
As American isolationism deepens, Chinese influence starts to encroach. Most of the continent is still fairly unstable, outside of a few outliers (Egypt, South America, and Morocco).

Outcome
When the bio weapon hits American soil, the suddenly united US population lashes out in rage and agrees to a joint operation with Israel to attack Iran. Bombs fall. Iran declares war on the US and Israel and blockades the Gulf. Syria and Yemen soon join in, followed by Saudi Arabia. Turkey joins in on the side of Iran as well when the US starts flying sorties through their airspace.

This slowly and inexorably draws in the remaining members of the SCO. The EU gets rapidly pulled in as well when Turkish ships open fire on an EU aid flotilla heading to Israel.

Simultaneously, China begins limited hostile actions against the Philippines which rapidly escalates into full on war with the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, and Australia. North Korea crosses the 51st parellel.

Conclusion
From there, while the sides are somewhat different than legacy T2k versions, the rest of the story happens fairly as normal. Russia invades the EU, the EU fights back. The US puts troops in Europe to help protect an endangered Europe. Nukes begin to fall. Society collapses on a scale never before seen. Etc. etc.

Thoughts?