Future Nations of SMAC

[MysticWind]

In any of the canon background info for SMAC (that is, the instruction booklet, the game box, and the novels) is there much information about the future geopolitics of Earth? I know it mentions several specific countries:

Christian States of America (Miriam's country)
Great China (Sheng-ji Yang)
West Indies Co-Prosperity Sphere (Sinder Roze)
Russian Commonwealth (Prokhor)
Free Scotland (Deidre)

Anything else?

[GeoModder]

Mmm, the UN is mentioned as well...
and appearantly influently enough to launch a starship.

O yes, Morgans' Namibia still exists as well, and Svensgaard's home country Denmark.

[Maniac]

Originally posted by GeoModder
and Svensgaard's home country Denmark.

http://www.firaxis.com/smac/pirates.cfm

Background:
Captain Ulrik Svensgaard was born of a fisherman father and barkeep mother in Glousester, Massachusetts. He spent his early 20s following in his father's footsteps before he suddenly joined the Navy in 2042, causing a rift with his family that was never repaired. He served with distinction in the various Pax Decay wars, earning himself a berth at OCS and an eventual appointment as navigator with the William Jefferson Clinton battle group. During the disastrous 2053 Battle of Baffin Bay, he single-handedly rescued the flag admiral and three other senior officers trapped below decks when the Clinton's magazine exploded, costing Svensgaard the use of his left eye. For his heroics, he was offered his choice of assignments; he chose the fledgling Unity project, thereby bringing a lifetime of seamanship to the stars.

[Illuminatus]

Australia (Domai), Norway (Aki). India seens to survive, but it is not sure since Twelveminute war is mentioned, as well as India Border conflict. Also, I heard that Zak has a Ukraine accent, so it is possible that Ukraine is part of Russian Commonwealth.
(nice to see two brothers arguing )

[GeoModder]

Sorry, keep on thinking of him as a Dane...

[smacksim]

I doubt there are 100 people with the last name Svensgaard in the USA, let alone in Glousester, Mass. Clearly they just made that story up right out of their ****, rather than trying to give a believable background.

"Svensgaard has the rugged determination and self-reliance of a man who has repeatedly conquered the elements on their own terms. He can be sensitive to his lowly origins, and seems to take pleasure in humbling those who believe they possess more impressive pedigrees or credentials. Svensgaard ascribes to no known ideological beliefs, distrusting inflexible dogma and rhetoric, but instead chooses to wield his influence and power in the service of his own advancement and those who choose to follow him. He prefers to remain connected to the ocean when he can, despising the soft life led by 'landlubbers'. Although not truly malicious, Svensgaard will remove those individuals who stand in his way without a second thought. Anyone venturing into the ocean would do well to avoid or befriend this unique human."

Here's a funny Svensgaard: http://www.teamschmidt.dk/english/carsten.html

So is it a Norwegian name or a Danish name?

[GeoModder]

Can be both. Both nations citizens have the same ancestry.

[#endgame]

As if Domai sounds Australian! He sounds English to me.

[GeoModder]

Lot's of immigrants to Australia the last 200 or so years, didn't it?

[#endgame]

True.

[MysticWind]

Heh. Apolyton¡¦s community is great. I hardly expected anyone to answer my strange, arcane question about SMAC, which has a storyline that hardly mentions earth. I¡¦m interested in future history of games like SMAC, and I don¡¦t know what is ¡§canon¡¨ as far as the story is concerned.

1. Is the online novella the same as the published books, like Centauri Dawn? In the book there are different events mentioned, like the plague on earth. Also, I never knew datalinks were holographic crystal transparencies.

2. Why are the character profiles from the Firaxis site different from the ones on the game box? I remember that somewhere Sheng-ji Yang was named the Executive Officer on Unity, but another source said that he was just a doctor, and the Firaxis profile says he¡¦s Chief of Security.

3. By the way, Prokhor was born in Cherskiy, Russia. He may be ethnically Ukrainian, but that doesn¡¦t mean his country is part of the Russian Commonwealth. This isn¡¦t the Ender¡¦s Shadow series.

Interestingly, in the GURPS Ogre game (I got this from sjgames.com) there is a Twelve Minute war. Since SMAC came after, I wonder if it¡¦s inspired from that.
2020:
12-Minute War. Tel Aviv, Cairo and Damascus are all blasted by concealed nuclear weapons. Interim governments patch up a truce immediately.

Anyhow, I¡¦m trying to come up with SMAC¡¦s history of earth for future reference in fan fiction or mods. Lots of the networknode.org sets have backgrounds that veer strongly from the original SMAC material, incorporating characters from places like ¡§the United East States of America¡¨ and ¡§Montana Free State¡¨. If I ever actually work on a set, I want my stuff to be very close to the original.

Here¡¦s what I know so far:

Countries existing in the 21st century:
Free Scotland (I saw it as Deirdre¡¦s nation, can¡¦t remember from which source)
Great China (Don¡¦t know where I read it from)
Christian States of America (ditto)
India
Switzerland (Go figure)
U.S.
Russian Commonwealth
Norway
Australia
Trinidad, West Indies Co-Prosperity Sphere (nation/alliance? Province/nation?)

Events:
-There were radiation disasters (war?) that caused Deirdre to develop bioengineered-resistant strains of wheat.
-In China there were two Golden Revolutions, involving a Golden Emperor, and then it was followed by a Crimson Succession. I¡¦m assuming that it were two failed attempts to reestablish the imperial system with mysticism (a la the Taiping), and the Communists won.
-There was a reason for Combat Engineers to be posted along the Bering Strait.
-The Sahara Burst Wars happened.
2058- Russian economic system crashed again.
2034- East Side Riots in Mexico City. Santiago joined Jade Falcons, survivalists who
would one day rise again in MechWarrior.
-There is a New Los Angeles, and it is scary enough to create a community security force, the NLA Red Panthers. Also, there was a City Guard; perhaps it was a rebel city state. Anyway, the city imposed martial law in 2050.
-What is a psych chaplain, anyway? And why are librarians significant on Alpha Centauri?
-There is an Evangelical Fire in Georgia, whatever it is. Appears to be a church group.
-There are countries decimated in Crusader Wars, where nuclear arms were used.
-Radiation-involved fighting in the Twelve Minute War and the India Border Conflict.
-Markethack Crash of '49 happened.
-The Pax Decay wars happened to the U.S., leading to the disastrous 2053 Battle of Baffin Bay. Clinton is named after not just a ship but an entire group of ships.

[GeoModder]

It does sounds like the US has fallen apart. Christian States might be the midwest of the US, and China has grown for sure, but nothing is known in what direction (Siberia? Japan?) Certainly not towards India.

Free Scotland let me think that, within the European Union, some of the known nations dissolve but stay 'united' in smaller regions under the EU. I see a likewise movement towards such a situation in my own country. That Prosperity Sphere sounds like at least an economic union in the Caraïbian. Makes sense if US falls partly apart.

[smacksim]

I don't know if you've done so, but a lot of fan fiction has been written as well. If you are seriously trying to compile a future history of earth, you would do well to read and search all in the fiction and archives sections. Googlie and Kassiopeia have written a lot and are still regulars around here. I believe Alinestra_Covelia still posts too. If you PM them, they may be able to point to resources or discussions about the history. I believe that there is some consensus about what is likely to have happened in certain events....

[Quezacotl06]

Free Scottland (Deidre).

And, considering the state of afairs today, India and China will become very powerful nations in the future. "Russian Commonwealth" sounds pretty cool. Maybe its from pan-slavism and the Yugoslav breakup. Russia has a few separatist groups within its borders as well. I love Zakharov.

[Ossettian]

China has grown for sure, but nothing is known in what direction (Siberia? Japan?) Certainly not towards India.

It's not a secret that China is becoming one of the most powerful economies in the world (it's the most atractive market in the world: more than a 1,000,000,000 habitants, and has the cheaper labor force).

However, to support such a big population you need a lot of energy!!, so if China needs to expand itself it will be towards central Asia (Old Soviet republics, Kazahkstan has huge oil reserves) and by doing this they will have access to the middle east too (another player there!!, I won't be too comfortable if I l were there, seriuosly, for me the ecuation: Israel+Arabs states+United States+CHINA sounds to me like WWIII)

There are countries decimated in Crusader Wars, where nuclear arms were used.

Look back and there you have your "Crusader Wars" or maybe "Holy wars"

The Sahara Burst Wars happened.

For me, I don't see this happening, maybe a "Sub-Saharian Burst Wars", most the The countries of Central Africa have a lot internal conflicts.

All this makes me think: ¿What will happen in South America?