America's Funniest President: Mo Udall Presidency & Beyond
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Thank you very much! But yeah, early post-Cold War is a pretty productive time
Political Retrospection: 1990- 1994 Part 2
Political Retrospection: 1990- 1994 Part 2
Western Europe
France has been doing quite well for itself entering the 1990s. More than a few people humorously note that this is due to increased French and American relationships due to the US patterning their public rail expansion and similar projects after France's high quality rail system along with both of them collaborating on the expansion ont usage of nuclear power, partially because of said rail network. At the same time, France has also been trying to deal with its economic troubles and while the increasing money going into the technological sector and the like was helping, it was still a complicated time in ironing out the bugs along with that the social democratic-based economic plan of the new European Union. Germany meanwhile would be experiencing their own shift. The CDU/CSU coalition would end up losing over to the SDP and their new alliance with the FDP over in 1994. While originally planned over to have a coalition with the Greens, the Greens began suffering serious internal divisions over the topic of nuclear power. Said topics became more to the forefront out of the talks of the urgent need to transition away from fossil fuels. Despite this pragmatism though, a good chunk of the Green Party has refused to compromise and leave it a bit locked. The FDP maintain their push toward economic liberalization , but in an attempt to expand their voter base, have also begun leaning further left on the political spectrum, especially when it comes to social issues, a move that has appeared to paid off. However, it remains unknown how long this coalition betwee the two parties will last beyond this run.
Italy meanwhile would continue seeing their own leftist elements continue their gradual rise and manage to start making their way to more power, continuing on the trend. Even the disbandment of the Italian Communist Party was not enough to totally halt this rise. Many saw this due to the need of economic stimulation or just the trends that have been active for the last while, especially with the end of the Cold War. Spain meanwhile would see the ruling PSOE take some hits in popularity and no longer being the majority party though still being the ruling party. Despite the issues with the corruptions and concerns, they were able to bounce back thanks to working with some of the more nationalist parties while looking to further methods to address the concerns of the Spanish people. Working with the IU especially became the case though a new hope was seen in studying renewable energy to help with the economy though another was the changing stance on social issues, especially conflicting with stances of the Catholic Church on stances like abortion, same-sex romance and other social issues. The Netherlands meanwhile continued on with their reforms and the liberalizing social agenda that they were on, which was earning them a fair bit of attention. Overall though, with the end of the Cold War, Western Europe was slowly moving on back to their own agendas while dealing with the new status quo created with the new European Union.
Central Europe
The Cold War and Central Europe was fully free from the constraints enforced on them by the Warsaw Pact. Now liberated, they would rush to become part of the growing new social democratic global paradigm that was being established. Poland would have the lead out of the former Warsaw Pact to partake in this paradigm shift and has been enjoying growing American support and opening up to the world. It was quite alot to take in on how much has changed as well as the new movements and discussions. Beyond just this new era of peace, there was the vast movement of ecological responsability with human development along with new social movements. The SATMIN rights movement would arrive over for Poland and many were wondering how it would be dealt with, especially as the strongest powers were pushing for such civil rights to be pushed over on a global scale, including discussions in the UN. Given how they would be undergoing a period of democratic consolidation, Poland would be going out to do what was needed for it. While not on hostile terms with the SUSR, they were still looking into joining NATO and the EU, even with the former possibly being restructured though at the same time, they also were talking about plans for a third option in the vein of NATO and a new election coming up.
The Velvet Revolution would see Czechoslovakia also break free from the yolk only to later peacefully split apart into their own constinuent nations, if maintaining close ties with one another. They would also begin following in Poland's footsteps regarding their future plans to try and join up with the EU and or NATO in some form or fashion. In fact, they would end up forming a sort of cultural alliance between one another along with Hungary to cooperate with their future growth and endeavors, especially in matters of cooperation with defense, patents and other certain matters along with assisting one another in their goals for joining the EU. Hungary in particular was having a rougher time regarding managing their economy and only began recovering after reversing the initial austerity measures. At the same time, they have also begun rebuilding closer ties to their neighbor in Austria, who began doing the same while assisting Hungary in their EU plans. The Nordic nations meanwhile continued on their more independent path for the most part though some of them would plan to join the EU such as Finland and Sweden while the social democrats were remaning prominent.
Lastly, there was the Yugoslavic Wars, which saw the violent end of Yugoslavia due to the rise of irredentist-flavored nationalism, most notably among the Serbs. Having split apart into smaller nations, they fought for being able to be independent though the biggest issue came regarding Bosnia-Herzegovina. It would be the first major instance of intervention needed in the post Cold War world and said intervention was needed to prevent escalating atrocities and the like. However, by the middle of the decade, the dust seems to have settled for right now and were trying to rebuild. However, Serbia's Yugoslavia still remains shaky and many wonder how long before Macedonia would leave Serbia while the circumstances of the war would see the Bosnian Serbs remaining become embittered by being abandoned and would now double down to embracing a Bosnian-centric identity. Various neighboring nations were assiting with repairs and aid to Yugoslavia.
Eastern Europe
The Cold War was over. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics had fallen and its place was the State Union of Sovereign Republics. A confederated republic, it consisted of Russia, the various Central Asian nations, Belarus and even Azerbaijan, with the whole affair in practice resembling how the United Kingdom conducted its affairs and made of smaller nations though with one nation in particular being at the heart of it (England for the UK and Russia for the SUSR). This was not an easy process and required alot of hard work, compromise and even pragmatic actions like purging many corrupt politicians and having to do unsavory practices like placing bounties and the like on those who tried to exploit the chaos. Currently, they were ironing out the details and trying to proceed in order to have successful future elections along with finishing catching up to the US when it comes computer technology and development. They too also were roped into the environmentalist situation given their size and scope. While they had the large advantage of mass public transportation and so on, the key aspect was now energy as well as diversifying their economy given the mediocre aspects of long-term further investment in petroleum and the like, shifting to them looking for various options. However, while not everyone was on board for the SUSR, many people were having hope that they could move past these problems and into a better problem.
Beyond the SUSR though, the other former nations of the SUSR were looking for their own path. While Lithuania does have a bit of a special relationship with Poland, they would be going closer over to the Nordics, especially Estonia, regarding their own leanings though it was looking likely that EU plans along with similar arrangement would be goals for the Baltics. Further on south, Ukraine is balancing its precarious decision though managed to come to a positive concensus thanks to federalizing and while there would be some attempts to increase relations with the SUSR, more also went toward the rest of Europe and the US. This would especially help as some of the other nations, such as Bulgaria and Romania, would be having its fair share of corruption and issues. While not having completely letting so of socialist ideals, some of the attempts of shocking the economy failed and would need support from the US and SUSR to help in exchange for the corruption problems present in the area. Romania was still unable to get Moldova to join them though some note the future possibility remained. Greece was managing to rebuild and do well. They have also been notable for being a strong block in Turkey's potential joining in the EU, with their decision seemingly being validated with the rise of the Iranian-Turkish War, the result of tensions over Turkey's mishandling of the Turkish Kurds and Iran's response to said antagonism.
This is actually reminded me of something. How would everyone feel if I made a fan contribution thread, kinda like a couple of the other timelines are doing? Where some of the stuff could be elaborated and expanded upon, especially in stuff I am not an expert in and whatnot.
Maybe I didn't get into enough details into a certain thing or there are some lungering questions or reexamine and so on. Your chance to add and or ask here, especially when it comes to the changing cultural trends and socioeconomic effects.
So, should I make one?
Political Retrospection: 1990- 1994 Part 3
Political Retrospection: 1990- 1994 Part 3
The Middle East
Conflict would start erupting over in the Middle East once more. Initially, there was a bit of peace there, especially as Israel and Jordan finalized their plans, the creation of the city-state of Jerusalem and of course the growing prosperity over in Iran. However, the end of the Cold War would come with its own messy affairs. Kartvelia (formerly known by the exonym Georgia) was dealing with conflicts from potential secession states while Armenia raged on in its war over with Azerbaijan. However, both of these conflicts would be resolved by none other than Iran, who was becoming a predominant regional power. With Karvelia, they would come in and assist diplomatically (with some other help from the SUSR), resulting in the would-be South Ossetia remaining in a newly federalized Kartvelia while Abkhazia would manage to split on their own though with less than half of their desired land and given how their violence would render them fairly isolated, they would end up ultimately instead annexed by the Russian Federation, with Kartvelia having making its peace with it. With Armenia though, things got bitter when Turkey would support Azerbaijan and thus, compromising chances for Iran to work something with them. As such, they would support Armenia and after a potential civil war nearly came about, Azerbaijan would be forced into a humbling defeat, with Armenia annexing the desiring land and Azerbaijan under new leadership who took the offer laid out by the SUSR and ths Azerbaijan becoming the last constinuent country of it. Iran would not be able to celeberate for long as their tensions with Turkey would finally boil over. With Turkey's membership in NATO suspended, there was nothing else stopping the escalation into outright war as Iran, Kurdistan and Iraq would declare war on Turkey, with the main goal being to unite Turkish Kurdistan over with Kurdistan proper and finalize the creation of a state for the Kurdish people though some suspect Iran may have larger goals than such. As for Iran itself, it has continued to grow closer to the West and began its own social reforms in consideration, the influence of them spreading across to their regions. Turkey on the other hand, is a approaching a crisis point regarding
Further south meanwhile, the remains of the Baathists have emerged from hiding, reborn with new numbers and changes in their ideology, predominantly taking inspiration from Afghanistan. They would make their presence known after getting close to the crown prince of Qatar and assisting in his coup, resulting in Qatar becoming a republic. After helping to reinforce a rebellon in Bahrain, they began looking for their next target of retaliation after stopping the counter-coup attempt. While the UAE was making strides to peace there, many think Saudi Arabia may be the next target, especially with the increased tensions there over dissatisfication with the royal family and the rule. Though speaking of Afghanistan, they would be quite relieved with the Cold War having concluded, allowing them to more openly pursue peaceful relations with the SUSR, the USA and even China as they continue their reforms and modernization attempts, especially with the raw materials while dealing with the concerns for a potential opioid problem there. Khalistan, the new kid on the block, would be born from the ashes of Pakistan, the result of many unlikely factors and circumstances coming together by the will of many ambitious individuals. However, the Sikh homeland was much more content on getting along and domestic affairs, including balancing ecological needs with modernization efforts though they enjoyed plenty of American support and financial backing, resulting in a large boom in the technological sector for Khalistan in the hardware and software front. India meanwhile has been a more complicated case. Due to the more complicated and byzantine levels of their economic problems, it has been a slow and steady lurch in trying to liberalize their economy enough to grow quickly, but not so to cause so much of a disruption. However, they have been getting plenty of help from the SUSR and they have even been getting an increased amount of support from Europe, especially the British. On the political side of things, it is still quite a slow mess of sorts as Hindu nationalist groups keep causing some trouble for some of the other religions in the region. Despite this, there was hope that India would be able to pull themselves from their lurch and stabilize, especially with the massive push for thorium-based nuclear power regaining international ground.
Asia
Further out east, the end of the Cold War would be having its own shockwaves across there. The People's Republic of China was able to face the paradigm shift well thanks to the changes they have spent the last decade working on and thus was incentivized to maintain said reforms. However, while finishing the basic groundwork for their economic reforms, they were also introducing the beginnings of political reforms. Zhao Ziyang would press forward with democratic reforms, at least on the local level while letting much of the student reformers and those desiring for change taking the reins and helping to push into easing China into more democratic means of politics. Zhao's ultimate hope would be doing so all the way to the top though even he knew it would be a bit of a long shot, if mainly because of the concerns of the party elite, and thus he would entrust the hopes of tomorrow onto the next generation to finish the work here. Beyond this, the economy needed to continue to evolve, especially past the normal meanings of industry. The plans to shift out coal as fast as possible remain a herculean task and while nuclear power stations are in the works, the need for continued growth has made this more difficult and is only balanced out by the Chinese government's ambitious levels of support toward these projects. The Koreas meanwhile have been quite a large project. While South Korea has been finally recovering after years of autocracy and corruption, North Korea would be facing an uncertain future. With the founding Kim now on death's door, he spent the last months of his life trying to secure a legacy with working with the SUSR and China, amending ties with the US and so on. His son would all but inherit the position, but would he fare better? Would he honor his father's dying wish to pursue Korean reunification or would his own ambitions get in the way. Such questions would lead to not only concern in the Korean upper echelons, but also for China, who have been wondering if more forceful means would be needed in the event this new leader becomes a liability.
Meanwhile, Japan has been fairing a bit roughly. The decade of prosperity would come to a grinding and gradual halt due to a recession with the housing market and other troubles such as financial corruption and the like. While it has not been massive doom and gloom, it would be quite a sobering experience over for the next decade or so, especially since Japan has been also struggling to adapt to the growing digital age and its international prospects. That said, it has still been fairing quite well as its car companies are the de facto best man standing in what some believe is the last era of automobiles. Additionally, it has been expanding to other ventures such as assisting other companies with the so-called "Toyota method", a variation of the "just-in-time" manfuacturing, albeit more cautious regarding supply chains and inventory if to take into account potential disruptions, especially important given the memories of the Panama Canal Crisis from more than a decade prior. This along with automating and sreamlining manufacturing would help out in some facets though other countries were of varying degrees of wanting to learn. Over in Southeast Asia, the other nations have been trying to balance their own various reforms, such as Vietnam with the transition to market socialist Đổi Mới project or the restoration of the monarchy in Cambodia. Thailand meanwhile would struggle with some of the political issues and the like, to where it would be threatening some of their economic prosperity that they have been enjoying so far. Some have been worrying about potential financial troubles down the line for the region. This is especially the case for the corrupt rule over in Indonesia right now and many seeing it as coming to its end there.
Africa
The Cold War was also affecting over Africa as well. Over in northern Africa, being part of the greater Arab world of sorts, they would be influenced by the events of the Middle East. With a changing status quo and the introduction of new ideologies, they were starting to change and trying to adapt. Libya was trying to best utilize its oil resources in a time where oil was starting to lose its value. Morocco meanwhile was starting do deal with some growing pressure in regards to the issue with the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. The ongoing efforts to reform and help the economies were all there. Of course, one of the rising powers was none other than Ethiopia. Having shaken off the Deng and overcoming the issue with the transitional government, it would see the return of the king after the previous one becoming a martyr. With the rise of the Ethiopian Empire as a constitutional monarchy, it was leveraging his position to help grow the nation and have people invest in it while working with their neighbors, such as potential deals over with Somaliland. Additionally, with Eritrea ultimately deciding to remain part of Ethiopia, a result that came about because of the collapse of the seperatist party and the improving status of the nation. Further reforms and hopes were being seen over in western Africa, especially as they would be feeling driven to try and ensure fairness and equality when dealing with foreign companies such as Nestle for their questionable buisness practices, resulting in other corportations feeling some other different types of pressures.
Further south, the big story would be the end of apartheid over for South Africa with Nelson Mandela going on to become the first President of the nation and signalling a massive shift over for the country in the hopes of a better tomorrow. From massive reforms to redistribute land to the poorer folk to the plans to invest heavily in ecological ambitions tied with economic growth, South Africa looked to capture alot of people's attention in the next few years. One action they would do would be cooperating over with Ethiopia to handle over the chaos happening in Rwanda and with French reinforcements with the PMC there, they were able to minimize the slaughter though they would be tied up also in investigations with the likelihood on how the assassination went down and thus the responsability of the French crew of the plane. Of course, many were noting that they were seeing a sort of butterfly effect going on right here. The Hutu-Tutsi conflicts would be spilling over to the controversial state of Zaire and many were wondering what would be coming over a result of this. Over all, more and more change would becoming over to Africa and it would seem more conflcits would be coming for the continent before prosperity could really start coming.
So it sounds like a couple people are interested in it!
ANNOUNCEMENT: Fan Contribution Thread
All righty then, that settles it!
Here we are, everyone: https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...esident-udall-fan-contribution-thread.529920/
Winter 1995- Whole Lotta Changes
Winter 1995- Whole Lotta Changes
USGS ShakeMap for the 1995 Kobe earthqauke
USGS ShakeMap for the 1995 Kobe earthqauke
The beginnings of 1995 would see the Askew Administration continue their need for reform and change. As Janie L. Shores would replace Shirley Ann Mount Hufstedler as a Supreme Court Justice, three more replacements would be needed with the retirements of Harry Blackmun, William Rehnquist and John Paul Stevens as a result of the new term limits instituted. Unsurprisingly, it would be a bit of a process and while they did have a list, the fact that so many would have to be replaced meant that the whole process had to be slightly rushed as some viewed it. Nonetheless, it did help encourage some of the Court Justices to possibly consider retirement prior to their term endings to make the process easier regarding the choosing of the Court and not leave such gaps. As such, the Askew Administration did go to some of the others in the administration and found some good choices. Jimmy Carter would recommend Charles Hughes Kirbo over to President Askew, with Kirbo ultimately deciding to go and accepting the role. Another one would be Bruce Edward Babbitt, former govenor of Arizona during President Udall's adminstration and someone who Udall got to during that time. Also a former head of the League of Conservation Voters, he would be chosen to help provide another voice in ecological sustainability, especially over in the judicial wing. The last choice would be found from one of the list, Laurence Tribe. Tribe was known for being involved in two prominent cases involving SATMIN+ civil rights prior to the Second Civil Rights Act being passed. The first one was the 1985 National Gay Task Force v. Board of Education, where Tribe represented the National Gay Task Force who had won the ruling against an Oklahoma law that would have allowed schools to fire teachers who were attracted to people of the same sex or spoke in favor of civil rights for LGBT people. The next one was the 1986 Bowers v. Hardwick case, regarding Georgia's sodomy laws, which he represented Hardwick and would win the case. [1] As such, he would be well-regarded as a good choice. As such, 1995 would see Jordan Court consisting of Chief Justice Barbara Jordan along with Justices Patricia Wald, Stephen Gerald Breyer, Amalya Lyle Kearse, Richard Riley and the newcomers in Justices Janie L. Shores, Charles Kirbo, Bruce Babbit and Laurence Tribe.
However, in other places, more radical changes would be coming. Over in the United Kingdom, political tensions have reached a boiling point. Prime Minister Geoffrey Howe and the Tories would find their coalition government with the Liberal Democrats suddenly petering out when the Liberal Democrats proceeded to call a vote of no confidence. Many speculated that this was the result of the Tories' hesitance on the question of Scottish devaluation and given the prominent Scottish influence of the Lib Dems at the time. The Labour Party ran on the promise of it in the previous election, but would hamstrung over by other issues, such as hesitance of involvement with the European Union. However, it appears they would get a second opportunity as a snap election would be called as a result of the vote of no confidence and the loss of the support of the LibDems. Unsuprisingly, many were expecting the Labour Party to start swinging back in regarding the question of Scottish devaluation and having managed to gain a form of unity on the front of supporting the European Union or at least the appearance as such. The LibDems meanwhile would also focus on Tory areas and hoping to gain some seats. Ultimately, in late Febuary, the Labour Party would take control once more of the British government with the rise of Roy Hattersley as the new Prime Minister. While he considered retiring from politics sooner, he put it off until unity would be restored in the Labour Party and many were speculated he would likely retire around the time of the next election, with many of the potential leaders already preparing to aim at the seat when the time came. Speaking of retirement, upon the painful loss of the Tories, Geoffrey Howes would announce his retirement and thus would begin the elections for the new leader of the Conservative Party. All eyes were wondering who would be elected though some of the leading figures were Sir Anthony John Charles Meyer and Kenneth Clarke for Tory leadership.
Of course, while international politics would be abuzz with further news regarding various global organizations. The World Trade Organization (WTO) is established to replace the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The European Union would increase with the addition of Austria, Finland and Sweden. [2] Meanwhile, NATO would announce the planning of a sister organization based on Central Europe to help the new nations stand together in an alliance. The idea was done to provide a degree of protection for the former Warsaw Pact members, due to painful memories of Russian imperialism. This new organization would function very much like NATO though the contract did include special rules, including on being able to easily cooperate with NATO and the implied notion of calling for help. There would also the fact that this did not prevent other nations of this new organization from joining NATO. Of course, such a plan was in its infancy and there was wondering if it would go anywhere or if it would be scrapped in lieu of just letting in the Central European nations join NATO on their own right. Meanwhile, the Iranian-Turkish War is raging on as Iran and their allies make significant gains over in the "Turkish Kurdistan" region with support from the freedom fighters though people wonder if this strong start may be a fluke. North Korea would mourn the loss of their beloved leader in Kim Il-sung. His son, Kim Jong-il would now in ascendence to take the seat of power, much to the wariness of the Chinese. The continuation of North Korea's Juche philosophy was becoming a problem, especially with the implementation of Songun, the "military first" policy that would be implemented in North Korea. As such, the concerns were that Jong-il would exacerbate the preexisting problems of North Korea, especially since some noted he did not possess much knowledge of the economy. The focus would return to Japan in because of the devastating Great Hanshin earthquake, become the second deadliest earthquake in the 20th century after the Kanto earthquake. With Kobe as the center, thousands of people were displaced and many more displaced by the disaster.
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[1]- Infomation and phrasing from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurence_Tribe
[2]- Infomation and phrasing from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995
Maybe the Republicans ITTL will turn to Colin Powell in '96 if he still has the influence he had from OTL in the Army. Just putting it out there. I have no idea if he was appointed Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by Askew ITTL or not.
Well, we will see with 1996. 1995 is gonna be interesting with trying to figure out how everything happens.