Time line

2008: Flu pandemic kills 5% of the world’ population or 300 million
2010: Europe kicks the US out of NATO and makes Russia a permanent member
2011: US refuses to comply with a WTO decision favoring the European Union in a trade dispute leading to the collapse of the organization
2013: Tel Aviv is destroyed in the first act of nuclear terrorism; Israel destroys Damascus, Tehran, Baghdad, and Lebanon in its retaliatory strikes; Light crude goes from $80 to $300 per barrel on the NYM (New York Mercantile Exchange); Global oil shock ensues following the first Middle East nuclear war sending world economies into a five year recession
2014: Electric impulse technology becomes military state of the art
2015: China successfully tests its first MIRV ICBM
2016: Proxy war erupts between US and Europe in Nigeria over oil resources
2017: The Bill and Melinda Gates Exploration Foundation is formed to resume responsibility for the US Mars colony expansion after its budget is cut by the US congress
2019: China GDP exceeds that of the US
2020: Russia establishes Earth orbital construction base
2020: United States Congress Hispanic block reaches 40%
2020: World investors lose confidence in United States debt resulting in worldwide market crashes and a major world depression that lasts 3 years
2021: Global warming places the nation of Bangladesh under water
2024: China deploys its ballistic missile defense system
2025: Proxy war between China and US erupts over resources in central Africa
2026: US charges China with theft of its Martian colonization technology
2027: The first laser pistol is sold commercially
2028: South African government is taken over by the ultra right wing African Freedom party on a platform of unifying the continent to repulse foreign invaders
2029: Russia tests a new ICBM with features that defeats all US and Chinese missile defense measures
2029: NAIT (North American Immigration Treaty) passed by congress and signed by President Hugo Gonzalez greatly liberalizing immigration between the US and Central and South America
2030: With the help of arms sales from the European Union and Russia, South Africa marches northwards annexing its neighboring nations being only stopped by US backed Congolese and Chinese backed Tanzanians.
2030: Arctic ice shelves dissolve
2030: Worldwide inflation reaches never before seen levels due to resource shortages
2031: Global population reaches 9 billion
2032: Tropical regions transformed into deserts by climate changes induce by global warming
2033: India Army troops push into Pakistan in pursuit of Kashmiri militants; Pakistani regulars attempt to intercept Indian forces and are humiliated; Pakistani military responds with tactical nuclear weapons; War escalates leading to the complete destruction of the state of Pakistan and 250 million Indian casualties; Russian, Chinese and US nuclear forces go on high alert but stand down after furious diplomatic efforts avoiding an global expansion of the conflict
2035: Worldwide crop failures due to global warming make global famine a yearly occurrence
2035: Efforts to enact a new ABM treaty fail as Russia feels that the restrictions on its missile development are too severe
2037: China annexes Taiwan; US President Vincente Sanchez decides against military action fearing a nuclear war.
2041: Rising oceans levels breach coastal defenses on the British Isles flooding much of London
2044: World population drops to 8.5 billion confirming that for only the second time in human history the population on the planet was decreasing
2045: North American Security Block (NASB) formed to insure the economic and military safety of all the citizens of the Americas
2047: The Pacific Security Block (PSB) is formed to insure the economic and military safety of the Eastern and South Eastern Asia.
2047: The Eurasian Security Block (ESB) is formed to insure the economic and military safety of Europe and Western Asia.
2049: First fusion reactor goes on line outside Shanghai
2050: NASB resumes financial responsibility for Martian colony
2051: Melting Antarctic and Greenland Ice contribute to the reduction of habitable land worldwide creating an estimated 1.5 billion refugees
2053: ESB assumes control of Russian Mars colony
2054: PSB assumes control of Chinese Mars colony
2054: First fusion reactor overloads in a multi-megaton explosion destroying Shanghai; fusion reactor projects are put on hold worldwide
2055: UN officially dissolved and replaced by the World Political and Commerce Council with the major blocks splitting power three ways
2056: WPCC agrees to respect Resolution 2734
2060: WPCC establishes a permanent representation on Mars
2062: Scientists announce that the green house gas build up in the atmosphere passed the tipping point a decade ago and that the global warming was going to continue accelerating making much of the planet uninhabitable during the next century
2065: Antiquated Antarctic treaties are scrapped in favor for new treaty splitting the continent evenly between three blocks
2069: Antarctic resource operations set up by the NASB
2074: Antarctic resource operations set up by the ESB and PSB
2078: NASB demands a redistribution of Antarctic territory after it is determined it received a resource poor portion
2080: ESB refuses to allow for any negotiations on changes of land rights sparking a war in the Antarctic between ESB and NASB
2084: PSB fearing that a NASB victory would cost it land as well joins in the Antarctic conflict on the side of the ESB
2089: The combined forces of the PSB and ESB drive the NASB forces back to the limits of their territory and seem determined to remove them from the Antarctic completely