4e What happened to the rest of the world?

[Rainbow Six]

Originally Posted by Heffe

To me, there's clearly a few differences between the old editions and 4e, but overall the layout of the world is likely pretty similar. Command, control, and communications have basically broken down the world over. Any kind of fuel is incredibly hard to come by, even more so in continental Europe. I would imagine "industrial centers" could easily mean oil production facilities depending on the Ref's interpretation, etc.

Yeah, that was my take on it as well, that they're trying to recreate the 'feel' of the original V1 timeline, with a gradual nuclear exchange that starts in Europe then escalates without tipping over into outright mutual assured destruction.