Post-Cold War

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The future is [almost] now!

"In an era of stress and anxiety, when the present seems unstable and the future unlikely, the natural response is to retreat and withdraw from reality, taking recourse either in fantasies of the future or in modified visions of a half-imagined past."

– Alan Moore's Watchmen

"IN MY EXPERIENCE, SUSAN, WITHIN THEIR HEADS TOO MANY HUMANS SPEND A LOT OF TIME IN THE MIDDLE OF WARS THAT HAPPENED CENTURIES AGO."

– Death, Thief of Time

You are here.

After the end of most communist regimes and the implosion of the Soviet Union in 1991 ended almost half a century of Cold War. The ideological, political and economical clashes between different ideologies that had had its apex during World War II had finally ended, taken a new form or gone underground depending on who you ask.

The New Cold War

"History repeats, first as a tragedy, then as a farce."

– Karl Marx

After the collapse of the USSR in the 90s, the general feeling in the West and the rest was one of semi-cautious optimism. At long last liberal democracy and capitalism had won the day, the ˝evil empire˝ was gone, and we have reached the end of history according to Francis Fukuyama, things were on the up swing it seemed as the USA was left as the only true superpower in the world.

However, this merry period was not to last long, after the 90s which are now ironically seen as somewhat of the last hurrah before the increasing shitstorm of the following century the USA got a series of rude surprises. First was the infamous 9/11 Islamic terrorist attacks which saw the first significant attack on American soil by foreign combatants in a century, and a grimly spectacular one at that with close to 3,000 people killed, 25,000 wounded, to say nothing of the damage to infrastructure and collective American psyche. This directly led to America embroiling itself in a series of wars in the Middle East that soon turned into quagmires with no clear winner, with many parallels being drawn to Vietnam. Seven years later the Great Recession of 2008/9 rolled around to further mess up the first decade of M3.

While this was going on and with America's attention arguably focused elsewhere, Russia and China were slowly growing in power and prominence. China was gradually thundering on ever since the late 90s, slowly surpassing Japan after the latter crashed and burned in 1991. By becoming the next ˝workshop of the world˝ China managed to accrue immense global economic influence and achieve economic growth that was nothing short of meteoric. Russia meanwhile was going through their own Age of Strife as the former USSR splintered into a dozen independent republics with all the economic and social turmoil that entails (exacerbated even worse by the rise of a new class of oligarchs hell-bent on plundering it for all it was worth), the ˝˝Russian 90s˝ still evoke fear and horror as young Russians were desperate to get into the universities of all things in order to avoid the poverty of everyday life or the military where one could get gang-raped among other things, all while the total lack of support from the West reminded a lot of Russians about why exactly they had opposed the US in the first place. Russia's GDP fell by more than 3/5ths between 1991 and 1998 and it would take until 2004 for it to recover to soviet levels. This all changed with Vladimir Putin, who managed to pull the country out of the gutter and started to build up its power again. All the while even though Communism had fallen in Russia Authoritarianism persisted under the new banner.

Arguably, the first signs that something was not quite right came in 2014 with the annexation of Crimea by Russia and the still ongoing war in Ukraine, something that was considered impossible in the prior decade (and ended 207-year-old Swiss neutrality). Additionally, while the Arab Spring saw the fall of many dictators from Libya to Egypt and Tunisia, in Syria the Assad dynasty managed to not only hold its own but push back the "moderate Islamists"(mainly Sunni Arabs who want to kill/rob/rape Shi'ites), ISIS/ISIL (Salafists trying to bring back the Islamic caliphates of old), and people who just don't want to be ruled by a despot, with no small amount of help from Russia (though this holding out is probably going the way of the dodo courtesy of Turkey due to dramatic developments in 2022). China meanwhile was acting far more subtly in exerting its geopolitical influence, making huge loans to other countries and its corporations branching out into all sorts of sectors in Africa, Australia and Asia all the while partnering up with Russia in a general though not overtly belligerent counter-western stance.

The sum of all of this is that as of the third decade of M3 the world is no longer unipolar with USA having to contend with resurgent Russia</ and China, whose imperial ambitions are seemingly once again stirring. While the three powers are not directly inimical to one another, they each are trying to exert their geopolitical interests and being less and less obliged to ask the USA for an opinion.

Cold War II: Electric Boogaloo was likely locked in as of February 2022 with the escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian Conflict into a full scale war with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. While we won't elaborate on details due to contemporary news being the most Skubby part of history, the responses afterwards seem to have drawn a line. One thing we have to note however, is the abysmal Russian performance (especially in logistics) with stories ranging from leadership incompetence in the field, difficulty coordinating waves of untrained recruits and even more humiliating logistical mistakes such as entire armored companies grinding to a halt outside invasion points because they ran out of fuel. Completely overturning wargaming with regards to post-Soviet competence (verdict: quite lackluster for a former superpower) and also demonstrating the horrific effectiveness of guided missiles used on both sides and especially drones like the Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drone. Not to mention the fucktons of NATO equipment being poured into Ukraine giving the country a true fighting chance against its bigger neighbor through a far superior military supply line. Based on available information current Russian victories are appear to be achieved through a combination of overwhelming force on key cities and targets with coordinated artillery/air-strikes with armored tank assaults' along with good old fashioned overwhelming numbers, Nevermind that most of these troops are minorities from poor and rural regions. While moderately effective it is a highly inefficient strategy especially with the Ukrainians far more effective use of strategic missile strikes and less wasteful offensive tactics being bolstered by tremendous material support from Europe, accomplishing in days what took the Russians months to do. This has led to reports of poor morale from Russian conscripts and even field commanders. For the moment, this has made any future hot war essentially suicidal without overwhelming numbers if enemy smart weapons aren't disabled first while reminding everyone just how important supply lines and morale are in any warfare (along with actually having a legitimate long-term plan to begin with). After all, what is steel compared to the hand that wields it?

On another note more than a few political and Military scientists have opinioned that this conflict may yet give insight on how major powers will have to counter modern tactics and capabilities. As open conflict with relatively first world nations has been quite rare in recent decades. Advances in the disabling of drone and guided missile technology will likely be a major point of interest for global powers, along with satellite recon and signal jamming. And has opened the door to new leaders in the field arms supply in the future (Germany in particular has stepped up its game on military expenditure not seen in generations in response to renewed Russian aggression). Along with the emboldening of other powers such as China. The lines in a future cold war may well start to draw themselves in the near future.

It should be noted that people have been yelling about Cold War II for the past 20+ years, and the term itself is controversial among political scientists and government officials. The former because they don't think we're there yet, the latter because it would inflame tensions with other countries. Leaving aside the significant differing details.

Other Regions

Asia

While China's rise has been commented on, it was not the only East Asian country to see a considerable change in fortune at the tail end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st. South Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Singapore, and Thailand have all emerged as prominent players on the world economy, with a rapid rise in standards of living and economic influence (though increasing political interference from China has negatively affected Taiwan). This has led to a rising China that until fairly recently was seen as a reliable trade partner with the United States. This started due widespread distrust of China over its handling of Covid-19 - exacerbated by China being the origin point of the virus. Accusations on China's cultural genocide on the Uyghurs akin to the lost generations on the Australian Aborigines also soured perceptions from the West leading calls for 'decoupling'. The results of this has been....a mixed-bag. Whilst news of Apple trying to relocate to India has been making rounds. The reality on the ground is that trade deficits has only increased after the Pandemic and FDI have recovered somewhat, suggesting that the old principle of "Money Walks Bullshit Talks" is very much still in play here. Nevertheless, the opposite ironically, rings true, as Beijing has been accelerating domestic chip and microprocessor production and increasing bilateral relations with ASEAN making Beijing less dependent on Western imports in the long term. Another interesting thing was that Xi removed the term limits for the Presidency. Whether this means he is trying to pull a Putin is unknown. Although given that he still needs to play fancy with the Party Elders and put the other cliques in line suggests that his power is overrated.

Speaking of ASEAN, Southeast Asia is stuck in a increasingly awkward relationship between China and the US. The age-old challenge of balancing US security relationship with Chinese economic relationship has reared its ugly head. Whilst for now, ASEAN Centrality is providing some measure of stability, the rise of Chinese naval power in contrast to declining US capability means that in the long term, Washington's ability to commit its forces on both Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia is becoming suspect given the reality of imperial overstretch. This constant long term worry alongside neglect from the Trump administration had already has an effect to some members. Brunei, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia are already in the 'China camp'. Even 'neutrals' such as Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia has been warming up towards Beijing despite ongoing disputes in the South China Sea. With Jakarta, US admonishment on the 2019 West Papua riots, the AUKUS announcement, the increasing toxicity of US domestic politics and increasing hostile rhetoric on the Taiwan Strait has made Indonesian authorities to trust China more than the US. Beijing in turn, is willing to capitalise on this given Indonesia's geostrategic position and large population. Even traditional US-friendly members such as Vietnam and the Philippines have been pretty careful in playing both sides. China has also recently warmed up the ideas and principles of ASEAN, so a positive is that the region is unlikely to see a repeat of Ukraine and Russia at the very least.

Notably, India has emerged as a major player on the world scene, particularly with food exports and the service sector (particular in the wake of growing issues with China). Not to mention they are an excellent rest stop for ships taking goods to and from the EU to China, and vice versa. However, the looming effects of climate change impacting South Asia (disruption of weathering, water loss crisis, environmental refugees, heavy chemical processing pollution fucking up the Ganges etc. in a subcontinent that is roughly 70% agricultural) as well as geopolitical threats (Pakistan and China) mean that India's future situation is likely to worsen as time goes by. New Delhi is also trying to eat into China's manufacturing market, although how successful India would be is up in the air, given that competition now is intense and that India's infrastructure is either simply lacking or is a mother of clusterfucks that makes it uncompetitive. If India had successfully tapped in its manufacturing potential during the 1970s where only China was the rival, New Delhi may have a chance. Now? India has to contend with the rise of East Africa, China, South Korea, ASEAN, Bangladesh and Automation, so it will be a tough mountain to climb to stand out given all the nodes of competition.

Afghanistan on the other hand, had finally gotten rid of the United States as Kabul fell to the Taliban. Whilst the US retreat has been an absolute shitshow, this does not mean that the ruling Taliban is celebrating as decades of fighting has made these fighters completely inexperience in handling civilian bureaucracy and governing. Afghanistan is now in a even more dire straits given the financial sanctions emplaced by Washington. For the Taliban who has turned from terrorist insurgents into the governors themselves, this is an existential threat. So they are trying to find anyone willing to relieve them economically. So far they only got the Chinese and Russians willing to talk to them. Although the Taliban's greatest goal is in international recognition of their rule.

Meanwhile, central Asia is...central Asia. After the US's withdrawal from the country following a 17-year occupation, Afghanistan fell back to the Taliban, leading to a diaspora of refugees from the country and a curtailing of all the liberal policies put in place there by the previous puppet government. In short, it went to shit just as you'd expect. Generally, most of the central Asian countries aren't doing much at the moment, although they are falling into the orbit of China given how unreliable Russia has been recently. There was a whole squabble between Azerbaijan and Armenia over dumbass reasons that would never be a thing to begin with if the Imperial Russian and Soviet regimes weren't literal cunts by stoking ethnic tension. Short version: Azerbaijan has oil, so the EU and America are unlikely to do shit given the whole Putin doing the funny in Ukraine.

Something alarming that some commentators have noticed is that for all Russia does wrong, their military strength and status preserved a type of "Pax Russica" in Central Asia. But since their military has dropped the ball pretty heavily, many central Asian nations might be tempted to revive dumbass ethnic tension and starting to get ideas about purging minorities and killing each other. This destabilization will provide an opportunity for China to further influence central Asia, eroding Russia's power and increasing Beijing's economic and political influence.

Europe

The biggest trend of Post Cold War Europe has been a push towards greater integration. The process had begun in the 1950s after WWII in which A: hard-line militarized nationalism was not popular for some fairly obvious reasons and B: economic cooperation was seen as a better way to achieve and maintain peace and prosperity. It started with the European Coal and Steel Community in 1951, with Germany, France, BeNeLux and Italy and was gradually built on. Eastern Europe was added to the mix after the collapse of the Warsaw Pact. The eventual result of which was the European Union. In 1995 the EU introduced the Euro as a Common Currency, which was widely adopted by 1999. Basically the EU exists to make business easier between member states via the 4 freedoms (freedom of movement for people, capital, goods and services), has frameworks for easier cooperation between members and some joint programs like the European Space Agency, some environmental projects and big research initiatives like CERN. Lastly the EU also provides funding for various projects via the Cohesion Fund and the like, enabling smart member states to improve the standard of living along with other benefits for their citizens.

Things however went rough for the EU following the GFC in 2008 as the EU went into the infamous decade-long Eurozone crisis with big EU players like Germany forcing austerity on smaller members, creating a rise in Euroskepticism, with opposition to the EU and pushback by various localist movements. Most notably Brexit which saw a member state leave for the first time ever, with mixed results for the British Economy and feelings both domestically and abroad...then Russia decided to stick its dick in a blender on February 2022 by creating the largest war in Europe since WW2 by waging a war of conquest on Ukraine. Europe now faces its biggest existential crisis in decades. With the current shitshow going on in the east of the continent several countries have started rearming themselves. This includes Poland, which had a similar history of conflict with Russia and some describe as the next European heavyweight on par with France and Germany, the latter of which also started rearming for the first time in years and allocated a whopping 100 billion euros for the endeavor.

Whilst NATO was revitalized, Europe now faces a daunting prospect of de-industrialization (or at least a shift away from fossil fuels) as Moscow stopped all natural gas and oil flows to the continent whether intentional or unintentional; forcing Brussels to try and keep as much of its industry as possible as European brands started to high-tail it to either the US or China. Nevertheless, despite the humbug with the US over their united front against Russia, increasing American protectionist policy alongside various responses to the Trump administration has made the EU increasingly wary over its reliance and dependence on Washington. Some like Macron have ambitions to make the EU a third 'superpower' pole and it may be possible....if Brussels manages to hold on, get its shit together and craft its own policies balancing Washington, Beijing and Moscow. Another point of worry is the rise of populist movements which Brussels fears could lead to pseudo-authoritarian countries like Hungary proliferating, that the aforementioned country has been giving Russia interested looks does not help matters either.

With the enforcement of article 13 restrictions of freedom of speech in europe have become widely embraced by government authorities with the excuse of copyright defense and counter terrorism.

Outside of the EU. Possibly the weirdest event to have occurred is the growing military and economic relations between China and France. Whilst relatively new, France has been engaging with the Chinese the most out of all the Great Powers in Europe. Analyst suspect that this budding relationship might have to do with the disastrous handling of AUKUS which plunged French trust to the Anglosphere to an all-time low. Since 2022 at least, Macron and Xi has been in lock-steps with one another and Beijing has been increasingly warming to the ideas of treating France as its special strategic partner in Europe. Of course, results are too early to tell and how far that relationship will go is unknown, but the effects are already there with Paris being the major influencer in driving the EU's approach to be more balanced with Beijing.

Oceania

The 2010s had been a political clusterfuck in the Land Down Under. Over a decade of Game of Thrones-style political backstabbings has led Australia to transition to six Prime Ministers. This levels of dysfunctionality has led the degrading of Australia's stature in the Oceania region and the rise of New Zealand being the only adult in the room. To make matters worse for Australia, rampant political lobbying has turned Australia's potential as a leader in renewable energy into a circus filled with coal and fossil fuel executives. Likewise, neglect and outright political corruption from the Australian liberal coalition had led to the worse bushfires in Australia since 2009, leading to over 1 billion Australian animals to perish in the fires. This neglect was not only restricted to the environment, as it also translates to Australia's diplomacy fails towards the Pacific Island Nations, as climate change is very much an existential threat for them. But Canberra's dismissive attitude towards them had cost Australia plenty of goodwill in the region. Suffice to say, the new labour administration has a lot of baggage to unfuck Australia's position, and it will take a long time to rebuild the lost trust with its island neighbours.

Africa

Within the past few centuries there have been widespread problems across the continent of Africa lingering even after the Cold War. The causes are numerous and include generational tribalistic conflicts, the slave trade, wars over resources and direct interference from European governments until the end of the Colonial Era during the Cold War. The most prominent example is the Scramble for Africa, which involved building plantations, mines and railways to support plantations and mines with white guys doing as much of the technical work as possible (and with the native inhabitants being deliberately kept uneducated and untrained lest they learn to use the infrastructure by themselves or make more). At the same time, it was a common practice to exacerbate existing tribal conflicts (and sometimes even create new ones!) in order to keep the locals too busy squabbling with each other to join forces against their overlords.

This dependence on a colonial regime running everything combined with the elimination of pre-colonial social structures led to power vacuums when the various foreigners left, which were often filled by authoritarian strong-men. Various nations also used countries of Africa as a dumping ground for obsolete weapons after the Cold War, which were eagerly seized by governments and warlords seeking to establish control over their newly seized domains. Unsurprisingly, this has led to a series of conflicts and civil wars, notably the Rwandan Genocide. This also discouraged governments of those countries from developing their own technologies when they could claim the cast-offs of Western or Eastern nations for much less effort. Despite that, there has been a gradual rise in standards of living in many countries of Africa, including fair and free elections, health care and stable economies. Algeria, Tunisia, and Rwanda to name a few have made significant improvements with their GDP and literacy rates. Several nations of Africa are also the world's leading exporters of various goods - for example, Nigeria has seen considerable GDP growth and industrial development over the last three decades. Even so, it has been a long and difficult climb and not without internal corruption in some places.

That being said, in many cases Western countries retain disproportionate influence over much of Africa via economic and cultural means (e.g., multinational corporations exploiting cheap labor while reducing countries' access to their own natural resources) while Middle-Eastern and Asian countries are making disturbingly similar in-roads. Some observers have dubbed this phenomenon "neocolonialism"; gaining/retaining control of a region without open use of military force. In this view, the aforementioned exporting is less of a sign of economic progress and more of an indication of their continuing role in extracting resources on the behalf of their former colonizers (this phenomenon is not uniquely inflicted on African countries or solely perpetrated by European nations).

The Americas

The initial years of the post-cold war have been swimming for North America/USA as the country was left as the only superpower on the planet (so much so that until about 2010s they could even have been considered a hyperpower - a polity that dominates all other states in every major metric). This period extended from about 1989 until 2001, when USA was hit hard by both the 9/11 terrorist attacks (to say nothing of the blowback from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, which collectively became the new Vietnam in terms of both length and unpopularity) and in 2008 the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. However, the country still remains ridiculously wealthy and powerful and has a military good enough to easily squash any other rising superpowers and probably wage war against two while defending the mainland from a third one at the same time. Still, the country has some serious issues - most notably the increasing wealth-gap and the ideological polarization of society not seen since the Vietnam War and the resulting civil unrest. Many of these wedge issues are in fact unresolved conflicts and dilemmas from the 1960s such as the incomplete work of the Civil Rights Movement to address the poorer living conditions of the African-American population, and the debate over the role of the United States on the world's stage and whether America needs to be the 'World's Policeman' has reached boiling point. There's also global events like climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic (and controversial lockdowns to quarantine people during the pandemic causing serious economic issues). Whilst, the USA seems to be in the best position to weather whatever geopolitical upheavals are coming in theory, concerns still abate on the growing political rifts and quite frankly, idiocy on domestic political and economic brinkmanship and what this means to the wider international community. Already, the US Dollar's usage has dramatically declined from a high of 75+% to below 50% for the first time in history. The combination of the GOP putting a gun over the US debt ceiling and the DNC's advocacy for constant increases in US spending was one part of the reasons for the decline. What really kicked off the acceleration was the widespread financial sanctions on Russia over Ukraine which, whilst while strategically justified, spooked the shit out of everyone else as from their point-of-view, the Dollar has suddenly been weaponised and is no longer a neutral arbitrator of financing. Although the Dollar isn't going away anytime soon and is still the most trusted currency in the world, its long term prospect is starting to look dire unless Washington does something to regain the world's confidence in its handling of its currency.

South America meanwhile has been a mixed bag. Aside from not really getting much attention or upheaval except for a few countries, it has enjoyed a relative upswing as industrializing Asian countries developed a need for the raw material exports coming out of S. America. Many nations also begun developing and truly industrializing like Chile or North Mexico though many more remain impoverished and forgotten. Of note venezuela's economy collapsed in part due to their dependency on petrol, embargoes and the far left ideologically minded administration of Maduro.

Technology

"We're living in the age of cellphone cameras. Fuckups ain't tolerated!"

– Smiling Jack, Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines

Storytelling, especially settings placed in a contemporary or "modern" era hit a major hurdle in the 90s and especially early 00s as this newfangled thing called "Internet" arose out of a USA government/military project to link computer systems the states and world-over in order to maintain communication after a hypothetical nuclear war. Thing is, once this was released to the general public the network expanded rapidly until it became a new paradigm of human existence, influencing everything from society, politics, economics, the arts, religion - you name it. Story-wise this made any masquerade or hidden "other world" that much more difficult to maintain as now a schmuck who saw that they shouldn't could blurp it out to thousands of other people. Irl-wise the internet revolutionised /tg/ as a community by... enabling /tg/ to exist in the first place by bringing all the isolated groups of fa/tg/uys and ca/tg/irls together weather on 4chan, 1d4chan (shameless plug, suck it) or dozens of other dedicated forums AND enabling them access to mountains of materials for their chosen hobbies.

The mass popularity of smartphones has made it increasingly difficult to write a plot that cuts characters off from the outside world. This has forced such plots to be moved further and further from civilization (which fights an uphill battle with ever increasing coverage), into massive disasters where cell phone coverage is disrupted and help won’t be coming anyways, or just straight up adding in supernatural disruption of communications.

The rise of mass CCTV and cellphone cameras of increasingly high quality and the ability to post the works taken with them on social media has made it increasingly implausible to keep a Masquerade going. The original World of Darkness just ends dramatically in 2004, the year before YouTube launched. The MCB of Monster Hunter International has all the resources of most of the worlds governments working together to censor the supernatural, but even then those in charge consider exposure an inevitability. Pretty much any conspiracy will be an open-secret, although it might still be popularly viewed as a conspiracy theory depending on how believable it seems. Paradoxically, in an era of limitless access to knowledge, what knowledge the individual chooses to subscribe to has itself become factionalized, and that can be a tool to uphold a Masquerade in itself. The rise of the "Fake News" paradigm means that a person can be looking at a vampire gouging a throat out of some poor bastard and going "meh" as it must be either CGI or some such, and woe betide any intrepid journalist if they don't have at least a good quality video as anything less will get the "photoshopped!" treatment.

Aside from the media and communications , other technological branches are seeing tentative emergence or applications beyond the lab. As of the New 10s (2010-2019) remotely controlled and autonomous UAVs and RPVs popularized as 'drones' have entered commercial usage alongside with multi-pedal robots able to walk, run and perform simple manual tasks while the militaries around the world are actively using aerial combat drones with land and sea variants in development. On another front virtual reality has become a viable entertainment and educational medium due to miniaturization of screens and processors though it still has ways to go in terms of improvement. Artificial intelligence (or rather a set of very adaptive and heuristic algorithms) are also making splashes with the most visible examples being AI capable of emulating speech to varying degrees and art AI capable of creating truly gorgeous and unique pieces of art, likely eventually giving rise to "Expert-Systems" predicted by many sci-fi works.

After the Information Revolution of the late 90s and early 00s biotech is set to become the next big thing. With the Human Genome project completed in 2003 the rate of tech advancement has lowered the costs of individual genomic sequencing from ~100 million USD in 2001 to around 1000 USD making individual genetic screening viable with a popular commercial application being the identification of one's genetic heritage and disease risk. Later during the 2010s a method for targeted genetic editing in-vivo called CRISPR caused a stir among the scientific community as now scientist could genetically modify organisms at any stage of development, not just before birth.

There also has been an increased awareness of humanity's impact on the climate. Co2 emissions, resource depletion and destruction of wilderness are increasingly pressing concerns. With them has come a push - especially from younger generations - towards sustainable development, decarbonization and other efforts to reduce humanity's collective footprint. Solar Panels and Wind Farms have become a lot more common, electric cars have come onto the scene along with a pushback against car dependent development, there is renewed interest in nuclear power (both in terms of small-scale fission reactors and promising developments into nuclear fusion) and coal power has been on the decline, among other things. Of course those who profit from said industries have also been fighting against the response, and there's a real chance that a full shift away from fossil fuels might not happen before the effects of said environmental destruction become irreversible. It might not be enough to end human existence outright, but the projections of how climate change will affect the world suggest that it'll screw over a LOT of people in very nasty ways. In the worst case scenario, we'll be unceremoniously driven back into the Stone Age- and since we used up nearly all the easily acquired ores and other natural resources on Earth the first time around we won't be advancing out of it again if that happens.

Related to the above, the development of alternative energy sources (to fossil fuels) has been advancing at a steady pace and picked up some speed in the 21st century with big gains in solar power which is now seeing full returns on investments in 5-10 years as of the 2020s, making installation for the average Joe more and more viable. Wind and sea power however has entered somewhat of a snag since these energy sources tend to be even more situational than power from the Sun. Aside from green energy, nuclear and hydrogen power have seen some expansion and development with new fission plants being built by a number of nations despite Fukushima and a few nations like Japan, China and EU making headways in developing hydrogen systems. Finally, after over 70 years of research and being "only 30 years away" we finally achieved nuclear fusion breakthrough at the end of 2022 with a lab based in California managing to produce more energy than was required to start the fusion reaction.

If the War in Ukraine is an indicator, things start to devolve a bit, at least on the symmetrical side of modern warfare. Artillery, combined with precision-guided ammo and reconnaissance via drones, again becomes the supreme weapon on the ground, as satellite intelligence and effective communications showcase how important it is for battalions to remain cohesive in the fog of war; that and Missiles and Shells fired with pinpoint accuracy nullify drawbacks of previous incarnations of artillery (such as an incredible volume of firepower required to destroy any given target, the logistical hassle of supplying a gun battery with enough ammo, in itself an art form, and the requirement to have a rough idea where the target you want to hit from 20 km away is without any visual contact on the ground or a live feed of information like drones provide) making them much safer and more cost-efficient than airstrikes or ground assaults as a result. Electronic Warfare will probably become central to any given military operation, as blocking surveillance, radar systems and guidance systems have become ever more important. At it's core, Ukraine and the reignited Karabakh War shows that anyone facing smart weapons with Cold War shit is going to get butchered like sheep. Unmanned systems are the defining 21st century paradigm shift in military science, while battles will mostly be resolved between smaller reconnaissance-in-force detachments seeking out concealed defenders in vague contested zones.

Lastly on the Space front - commercial space endeavors are picking up steam as private companies like Space-X, Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin are seeing wealthy tourists and corpo brass sent to space. Government initiatives are also getting in on the action with Artemis Accords updating the UN Outer Space Treaty, the Artemis Program succeeding the Apollo Program with ultimate aim of returning humans to the Moon by 2024 and the first test flight managing to get a capsule with dummies around the Moon and back to Earth safely. China has begun the construction and assembly of it's Tiangong space station which will be their equivalent of the Russian Mir and finally the James Webb telescope launched early in 2021 eclipsed Hubble in both size and capability. Improved launch vehicles mean that the cost of launching payloads into orbit per kilogram has significantly gone down. Humanity also managed to redirect an asteroid for the first time in history as well, giving the Earth a first workable and proven defense system against potentially dangerous asteroids. It is possible that we are seeing the beginning of a full fledged Second Space Age and the fulfillment of many of the promises of the last one.

Society

"The great paradox of the 21st century is that, in this age of powerful technology, the biggest problems we face internationally are problems of the human soul."

– Ralph Peters

The internet brought alien communities into contact with each other...

While technology has generally advanced in fits and bursts along the lines predicted by most sci-fi works (major exceptions being AI, mass genetic engineering, widespread cybernetics and space colonisation), society has become somewhat of a mix between prior trends and predictions made by said sci-fi.

The predictions that the world will become more united and liberal in addition to the waning of nations in favor of corporations or some other modes of society were only partially realized. Globalization has indeed made the planet more interconnected but the onus of international relations still rests on the state. Corporate entities have become more powerful and wealthy but they still cooperate with governments (if not slowly merging with them due to intertwining of corporate and political interests) while in places like China and Russia the corpos are merely another arm of the government altogether.

The trend towards social liberalism has held partially true with the increase in LGBTQ+ acceptance and diminishment of racism in some places. Political liberalization has however entered something of a slump with the traditional left in EU and USA being relatively dormant though grassroots left is seeing something of a revival in the 2020s. On the other hand Russia and China have moved more towards autocracy and their increasing strength has presented an uncomfortable alternative to the supposedly singularly viable liberal-democratic order, especially with Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Europe has also seen a resurgence of populist, if not hard-right political parties like the french Front Nationale or German Alternative Fur Deutschland with some countries like Hungary and Poland taking on an increasingly right-y colors. In short - politics be skub as usual.

Politically, it seemed that while the triumphant capitalist-liberal-democratic order was considered the ˝end of history˝, it left many people unfulfilled. Worse, it started showing flaws that were overlooked during the ideological fight against the USSR (hence the Russian joke how 'almost everything we were told about communism was a lie, and almost everything we were told about capitalism was true'). To not get too deep into the political theory of the whole thing, suffice it to say that the guy who predicted the triumph of this system (Francis Fukuyama) also noted that the people may get so bored of it that they may intentionally choose to 'restart the wheel of history'.

... And the results were hilarious.

Speaking of matters of the soul, religion - in an ironic twist, given it's the institute based around matters of the soul - was put in the crosshairs with a sharp spike in Western secularism and anti-theistic/anti-religious sentiment. Though this hostility had been brewing in niches of academia and media long before, now was when it was thrust onto the mainstream. This was mainly due to acts of religious extremism (most often Islamic ones such as the 9/11), failures of various religious leaders and ideological campaigns magnifying empiricism and subjectivism. A new wave of religious apologetics emerged in response to this with some arguments from both sides better received than others (more on the issue here). This shift in societal attitude towards religion either coincided with or influenced various other socio-political issues listed above and below.

On a more interpersonal scale, the rise of Internet in general and social media in particular has transformed society to a great degree. The ability to connect with people world over and find hundreds or thousands of people with similar interests has lead to formation of digital communities that can be not only as powerful as the ones irl but sometimes even supersede them to a great degree, for good and ill. This has also made how one behaves online as important if not more so than offline - if you take a dump on a city street at most a few dozen people will see it and forget it in a year without a reminder, if you take a proverbial dump online it has potential to be seen by tens of thousands of people and potentially stay there forever, just look at Chris-chan for example. *BLAM* This heresy shall not be tolerated here!

On a final note, the COVID-19 pandemic that hit in the late 2019 also had an unintentional effect of forcing vast segments of society to adopt online business and communication models. What this means is that instead of working in a typical cubicle-monkey office one could work from anywhere there was internet - a beach, cafe or a public toilet. While things seem to have calmed down in the latter half of 2022, the ˝work-from-home˝ model is now all but standard for many service jobs, a leap that redefines how a job is perceived before and after the New 10s.

Conclusion & Mineability

The Post-Cold war era is a strange one since it directly succeeds a period of history defined by a clear if at times clandestine fight between two superpowers who were politically and ideologically opposed with plenty of history and cultural distinction for each to have it's own strong flavor. A two-pole world collapsed into a unipolar one which is evolving into a multipolar with no clear ideological struggle to really differentiate the sides.

However, this also provides plenty of opportunities to introduce plots and conflicts that are unburdened by vast preset ideologies and factions. Political intrigues between modern state, corporate or even NGO actors, dissolution of countries or formation of new ones upon the collapse of the old order, global terrorism and radicalism, technological, sociological, environmental or neo-ideological struggles and positioning in order to build 'your' faction's or even personal vision of the future!

Admittedly the more exotic genres that lend themselves best to the age are Urban Fantasy, post-apocalyptic scenarios and '20 minutes into the future' science fiction. You can also go down the route of Shadowrun and have some sort of event return magic to the world though depending on the intensity, it may radically change the setting into something no longer resembling modern world. There is also a somewhat neglected genre of New Weird/Weirdpunk which allows for a variety of historical settings, including modern ones, while having a potential for being truly unique (for example see such works as the comic Shutter, Dysco Elysium, Persona 4/5, Psychonauts...).

Impact on /tg/

/tg/ is, traditionally, a very low tech hobby. Despite this, it still has managed to incorporate some of the new technologies of the era.

One big thing is the rise of e-books. Rather than have a big stack of massive heavy books, you can keep all your books on a small, handy, e-reader. One particular advantage of an electronic book is that the contents can be searched through to quickly get answers to rule questions. The low cost of electronic publishing also means many small groups can easily publish a book and sell it, but this comes at the cost of electronic storefronts being flooded with low effort, poorly written garbage. Electronics also, in theory, lower the need for wasted paper and dice. In practice however, many groups find including any electronics at the table a major distraction and disruptive of play, while many players refuse to trust electronic RNG. Acceptance of computer RNG is actually worse among players into video games due to that medium's documented history of RNG cheating via uneven RNG, poorly randomized number generation, and being easily manipulated. Another issue with electronic books is that some companies are Luddites, and refuse to release PDF versions of their books, while others are hamstrung by the IP holder's retarded prior licensing agreements made with the devil and legally can’t, or just plain old don't exist anymore and can't do a PDF re-release, but we have a solution to all those problems.

Another nifty creation has been 3D printers that can create a variety of objects desired from scratch for cheap. Currently 3d printers are only able to print small, inanimate, plastic things (unless you have a very expensive and large one that can do weak metal) and are a far cry from Replicator technology everyone panicking about "ghost guns" thinks they are. Fortunately the hobby has substantial use for small, inanimate, plastic things. Eventually there will be a reckoning for the entire minifigure gaming industry over the full implications of 3d printing, but for now the technology still remains a wee bit too bothersome if not expensive for the average user to churn out a thousand point army. However if you have the means and patience to experiment, your imagination is the only limit on what you can do for figure customization.

The appeal of Post-Cold War world

Do you want something which you could imagine yourself in? Not as some surrogate who was born in a castle or a Victorian slum or in a colony on Alpha Centauri IV or whatever, but You as an individual. Maybe some larger than life events roll through your door to spur you into action from your normal day-by-day routine and possibly you are idealized, but the person who's now running for their life and forced to deal with whatever outlandish thing has come your way is You.

Do you like stories of special force operators going on incredibly risky missions to take down terrorists, insurgents, and radicals of any ideological or religious flavor? Then this setting might be right for you, due to the prevalence of the Global War on Terror and the almost-extensive use of special forces such as the Green Berets, Navy SEALs, Spetznaz, SAS, and so on. Their chief foe is a new enemy that has largely replaced the Soviet Union in the minds of many in the West - the radical Islamic "jihadist" organizations such as Al-Qaeda, the Taliban or ISIS and its branches (such as the West African branch, Boko Haram). Their goals range from either kicking all foreign influence out of their country to establishing a global caliphate. The current increasingly polarizing culture war can also be used as inspiration for stories regarding insurgents and radicals of any ideological flavor, albeit something where "handle with care" very much applies for risk of coming across as preachy or adding fuel to the fire.

Other potential foes can be found in the world of technology, serving as fertile ground for near future sci-fi stories. This era is (currently) as close as we can get to cyberpunk, which lends itself well to the genre. The concept of A.I. as threats or the fear of society undergoing a technological collapse can also find inspiration from here, given the Y2K problem at the turn of the millennium. Big-tech companies getting trigger-happy with censorship from the 2010's onwards also lends itself well to references and themes in cyberpunk stories.

Wargame wise, there is some appeal in recreating the various, drawn-out conflicts such as in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan (to date the longest war in American history at over 17 years if one doesn't count the Korean War, which the US never officially declared war during and has spent most of its existence cold.), pitting the well-equipped, organized, and disciplined forces of the Western powers against the zealotry, tenaciousness, and cunning of the various insurgent and terrorist groups that plague the region. Due to the rather asymmetric nature of these wars, as well as the murkiness that comes with it, it's not as popular as the more conventionally focused, more-or-less Black-And-White morality of World War 2 setting. Similarly, the COVID-19 Pandemic can also be used as inspiration for various types of stories regarding pandemics, especially if one wants to up the stakes with things such as a zombie virus.

Urban Fantasy and Superheroes are often set in the current Post-Cold War era. By making fictional, fantastical threats one avoids the question of what the hell is there left to fight. It also benefits from being a world that's largely prebuilt and known to players, allowing writers to focus exclusively on what's different. Specifically in regards to superheroes, note how every two decades or so a gigantic cosmic retcon storm hits and resets the universe by pushing a catalyst point (Superman's arrival and Captain America being pulled out of the ice, simultaneously pushing the births of/major influencing events on characters or reemergence of old powers to the modern world equally long) forward by some years, allowing contemporary stories to be explored without retconning old stories completely, through saying that they happened but no longer matter as big gigantic cosmic event reset the universe, and not indirectly locking new audiences out of continuity by constantly having to read older stuff, allowing anyone to pickup new series issue 1 and read older stuff at leisure.

Historical Time Periods
Deep Time:	Prehistory
Premodern:	Stone Age - Bronze Age - Classical Period - Dark Age - High Middle Ages - Renaissance
Modern:	Age of Enlightenment - Industrial Revolution - The World Wars - The Cold War - Post-Cold War