Well, the Tories remain in power, but only because they formed a coalition with the LibDems and the Scottish are pushing for the devolution of power that the Labour Party ran on (they lost more due to a bit of flub-ups with the EU and LibDems exploited that). LibDems are probably in enough of a hold of the Scots that they could push or if that fails, a potential vote of no confidence.
America's Funniest President: Mo Udall Presidency & Beyond
- Thread starter CountDVB
- Start date
Likely with his own upcoming changes, especially with his decline in health. Will need to address that. Thank you for the reminder!
1993- Calming the Caucasus
1993- Calming the Caucasus
Iran's Time to Shine
It has been over 10 years now since Iran went from its unstable constitutional monarchy to that of a stable parliamentary republic. After the fall of te Shah, Iran began new relations over with the world, including with the west. Despite the turbulence and awkwardness, the past several years have been generous and the relationship having grown stronger and rebuilt. The nation stands as a strong secular force upon the world, free to use its natural resources as they saw fit and used it to invest and rebuild their nation, all while keeping an eye forward on the future. They are a nation with one of the oldest histories stretching back centuries. With the world changing, Iran now seeks to assert itself on the global stage once more. How to do so would be the question though. Even if they made peace with the fact they may not be a superpower like their ally or their neighbor, they still sought to be a great power in their own right. As such, they were awaiting the day when they would be able to flex their muscles and show off their power and influence in the world.
And that time would come over in the early 1990s.
With the end of the USSR and its transition into the SUSR, this led to plenty of changes erupting from the background, the events leading up to them stewing in the back. For Iran, this would be with their northern neighbors around the Caucasus. Kartvelia, Armenia Azerbaijan would leave the USSR and the simmering tensions regariding them and their minorities would go over. For the Kartvelians, the problem was with the autonomous regions in place regarding Abkhazia and South Ossetia. When the new nation would come about, their insistence on being a unitary state would cause greater tensions because of the lack of representation of the language and culture. For Armenia & Azerbaijan, it was thesimmering tensions over Nagorno-Karabakh. So much so that it would lead to growing conflict and war would lead to war, especially when Nagorno-Karabakh would fight to unify back with their Armenian kin.
Unsurprisingly, with everything else going on, the United States was not able to do much, but count on Iran to do what was needed to resolve the issue. With it being so close to their borders, Iran saw it was a chance to go and grow their sphere of influence.
Kalming Kartvelia
The first order of business was with Kartvelia as it would be easier to do so as well as there had already be a ceasefire in play by around 1992. Iran's offer came reinforced with medical attention and assistance, allowing them to help push their weight around with the nation for the sake of compromise. Additionally, they were not alone as the SUSR would be present with Gorbachev's men over to help consult with the matters and issues. Ultimately, the South Ossetians wish for recognition of their language and culture, with some even wishing for them to join the Russian Federation, primarily to be under the same nation as their North Ossetian kin. The various sides debated back and forth the pros and cons for various solutions. South Ossetia joining Russia would mean that potentially most of the non-Ossetian population may have to move if they did not wish to be under the Russians. Additionally, there was the question of logistics; South Ossetia would still be seperated from most of their would-be fellow Ossetians by the mountains, making various problems trickier.
The simpler solution was for the restoration of the autonomous status of South Ossetia along with the inclusion of special permissions such as Ossetian becoming an official language for administrative purposes of the state. [1] Of course, there was also on how to ensure this status, especially with how the former government would add to the problems by ridding of the autonomy, not just in South Ossetia, but also Abkhazia as well as some tensions over in Adjara as a result. It would be here that Iran would give a solution to all of these problems: that Kartvelia should federalize, with the specific regions given special considation regarding their circumstances for historical reasons. Here, the Sovereign Union held additional influence given Kartvelia's interim leader, Eduard Shevardnadze. Having been brought in after the ousting of Zviad Konstantines dze Gamsakhurdia, he played a notable role as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the former Soviet Union, having resigned recently as part of a show of goodwill to the change of the USSR to the SUSR. After various discussions, agreements and pressure, Shevardnadze would capitulate. Kartvelia would federalize with the updating of the constitution, which would include noted special privilages over the nations.
It was not the optimal solution, but it would still work provided everyone was willing to work for it. For South Ossetia, it was something to a return of the status quo prior to the whole ordeal along with some benefits, similar with Adjara.
However Abkhazia was a different beast given the atrocities committed by both sides, especially looking back over on the Battle of Gagra. [2] What should be done there with Abkhazia exactly? Further talks and discussions were held as too much bad blood had been spilled there. Iran would propose another solution; the creation of a small Abkhazian state, going over from Gudauta and heading north. It was a radical solution and not a popular one, though given everything that happened, it wasn't hard to see an appeal of it. There were also matters that even if the Kartvelian forces and reinforcements could defeat both the rebel forces and the so-called Confederation of Mountain Peoples of the Caucasus group, it would leave plenty of negative sentiment and damage Kartvelia's reputation, thus jeopardizing the desire to align closer to the west. It would ultimately be agreed upon with the Abkhazian rebels offered the deal. Unsurprisingly, it was turned down out at first before then note was put in place that the alternative would be facing the military might of Kartvelia with reinforcements from Iran and the Sovereign Union. After some tense meetings and some violence over at leadership, the deal would be taken.
While Abkhazia would become a nation-state, it would be a pyrrhic victory to say the least. They did not get all the land they craved with Sukhumi not even in their grasp. Additionally, they were on rather rocky relations with most of their neighbors and the outside world with the only real relationship they had was being Russia. In fact, some have wondered if Abkhazia would even last as a nation or if they would end up being either reabsorbed by Kartvelia or annexed by Russia. Regardless though, peace had managed to return over Kartvelia, especially since Iran would get western aid to come over into Kartvelia to help rebuild from the incident. This along with Iranian aid and supplies would help steer Kartvelia over into the Iranian sphere of influence. And this would not be their only success.
Ending the Nagorno-Karabakh War
Over with Azerbaijan and Armenia, things would be tougher. While their first approach was reasoning with Azerbaijan, this would end up failing, primarily due to Azerbaijan coming under the rule of a pan-Turkist who was also anti-Iran. There was also the Azerbaijani irredentism sentiments that were being expressed over by the leadership though interestingly enough the Iranian Azeri had no interesting over in those irredentist sentiments. On top of that, they would ally over with Turkey, a nation that Iran was having increasingly hostile relations with because of the question of the Kurds, one that would need addressing soon with the increasing violence and tensions, especially at the borders of Kurdistan.
By the end of 1992, relations between the governments have fully soured, especially when Iran began supplying food, electricity and medical aid to Armenia, albeit as part of the conditions that Armenia quit their attacks over on the autonomous region of Nakhchivan, a moved that was supported by the Chairman of the Supreme Assembly of the area, Heydar Aliyev. Armenia meanwhile, despite the blockade because of Turkey, kept pushing more and more against Azerbaijani forces, intent on claiming Nagorno-Karabakh along with some of the surrounding land. Armenia's continued push despite their disadvantage made it seem like it was plausible. As such. Iran tried to push for some more on Azerbaijan by presenting an ultimatum to them: to cut off their ties over with Turkey and come over to make a peaceful settlement with the Armenians or else. The leadership in Baku refused to fold, after all, what was the worst that could happen to them?
Unfortunately, Azerbaijan would overplay their hand. Iran began preparing for potential military confrontation when luck would smile upon them. The remaining USSR now SUSR troops stationed there would end up going over to Georgia as potential reinforcements during the Abkhazian problems, having left months sooner that they expected and thus provided a unique opportunity for various groups in mind. With them gone, President Abulfaz Elchibey initiated a military operation called Tufan aimed at arresting Colonel Surat Davud oghlu Huseynov and disarming his detachments. Sending thousands of troops over in the city of Ganja, he did this because The Popular Front of Azerbaijan blamed Huseynov for treason and for intentionally ceding the villages around Mardakert to Armenians. The Azerbaijani forces would be led by the Minister of Defence Dadash Rzayev, Commander of Internal Forces Fahmin Hajiyev and Attorney General Ikhtiyar Shirinov to Ganja. A few day, the forces of Azerbaijan met with that against other, however not only did the Presidential Guard fail to disarm Huseynov, but the latter quickly defeated it. The number of casualties on both sides, as well as among civilians, was 69. Attorney General Ikhtiyar Shirinov among others was taken hostage, while Dadash Rzayev and Fahmin Hajiyev fled Ganja. In response to this, Huseynov demanded that Ikhtiyar Shirinov signed a warrant for President Elchibey's arrest on grounds of conspiracy, murder, and abuse of power, which was exercised immediately.
With his control quickly growing, Huseynov began his march over to Baku. With Azerbaijan in the middle of a war and now a potential civil war, things were not looking good for them. Upon Huseynov began approaching the city, Elchibey secretly fled the capital to his native village of Kalaki in Nakhchivan. Unfortunately for him, Iranian spies had been in the Nakhchivan area and began trailing him. Heydar Aliyev who had just returned to Baku from Nakhchivan City, would quickly be voted in to become the president of Azerbaijan. [3] On this news, Iran would cut a deal with Aliyev to deliver Elchibey over to face his charges in doing so. Wanting to ensure peace and still feeling slighted by the Azerbaijani, the deal offered would have Armenia be able to annex Nagorno-Karabakh as well as the Armenian-populated land they were occupying, with the Azeri people there being invited to settle over in Iran. It was a shocking deal to say the least, but Iran pointed out that Huseynov was still marching over to Baku. With the deal, Iran could reinforce Aliyev's forces over from Colonel Huseynov if so desired. Without many options and into a corner, Aliyev would agree to do this. Armenia would cheer as their stuggle would be rewarded with reuniting more of their people and a brand-new alliance with Iran of all nations. Azerbaijan meanwhile would find itself humbled and Aliyev would manage to come up with a peaceful resolution with Huseynov, gaining a prominent position over in Azerbaijan in exchange for stopping his march.
The New Caucasus
When the smoke cleared, things have finally quieted down. Kartvelia has made peace with South Ossetia and rid their hands of Abkhazia while Armenia have won their war and gained back ancestral land. And both of these nations owe these successes and safety over to Iran, once an ancestral enemy several centuries ago. How time flies and situations change. With Kartvelia and Armenia making alliances, they have fallen into the Iranian sphere and joining Kurdistan in there along with Iraq and even Kuwait, who was becoming more and more influenced by their neighbor. However, this was not the only surprise.
Being viewed as the rightful king returning, Aliyev would see the poor condition of his nation and looking over to Russia, made a bold proposal: for Azerbaijan to join the State Union of Sovereign Republics. The hope was that they would maintain all the benefits of being well, a state, yet also gaining much needed strength, security and funds to help rebuild the nation after their defeat. With the population turning against Elchibey, who would face life in prison for his crimes, along with the Azerbaijani Popular Front losing their support, they were desperate for stability. The SUSR, perhaps relishing the opportunity to have one of their former members come crawling back to them for safety and security, would do so, as they were in the last months of their transitional period and thus would be easier to do so now than if they waited. However, there was one snag: the Nakhchivan area.
They were the first to actually leave the USSR, beating out Lithuania, prior to having fallen to the influence of Heydar Aliyev's clan. And they would especially be keen over on wanting to maintain their autonomy here. In fact, some went over and a few of the members were clammering to secede from the nation and possibly join Iran, a matter that Iran said would need to be discussed over with the SUSR, the Azerbaijani leadership and several others, but were not against such a notion. While this would lead to some further talks with the SUSR over on if the matter was possibly along with Heydar Aliyev's hesitations on the matter given it was his birth area after all, it would still be quite a stunning development as it would be the first former USSR nation who left the SUSR to come back to it, a decision that would have rammifications down the line.
One of which was with Turkey, who found everything all for naught and their relations over with Iran at a nadir and further seeing tensions between potentially escalate. Iran would stand over in the spotlight in this time, but this would not be the only time that they would go and do so...
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[1]- Information and phrasing from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgian–Ossetian_conflict
[2]- Information and phrasing from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_Abkhazia_(1992–1993)
[3]- Information and phrasing from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surat_Huseynov
That's fair though Iran is doing better than OTL thanks to being a secular democracy and on amicable terms with the West. It's now getting a chance to flex its political muscle now.
Very good so far! I've never heard of Mo, being from Yorkshire but I'm studying gov/pol so I've heard of Reagan!
Glad you're enjoying it. Wht do you think of the development also going on with the British so far with no Thatcher and likely no Blair?
Definitely intriguing to see how things will work out without the miners strikes and the rise of new Labour! Interesting take on The Falklands
Any details or advice regarding what is coming? I am always looking for assistance and input here!
Spring 1993- Flooded With Developments
Spring 1993- Flooded With Developments
A satellite image of the Storm of the Century on March 13, 1993.
A satellite image of the Storm of the Century on March 13, 1993.
As Iran would help restore some sense of peace and stability over in the Caucasus region, many were surprised to see it happen, especially with the result of Kartvelia and Armenia having an alliance over with Iran and growing their sphere. The United States was rather impressed by this development, especially given various talks with Iran about other factors going on in the area as well as greater international plans and their effects, which included the future of NATO along with various other plans. This was not the only thing that apparently were getting people talking about what the Americans were up to, as President Askew would unveil his massive project over in the summer of this year. At the same time, he would be occupied with dealing with various weather phenomenon over in the United States. The so-called Storm of the Century would come in over in March. The Great Blizzard of 1993 as it would also be known strikes the eastern U.S., bringing record snowfall and other severe weather all the way from Cuba to Quebec, necessitating emergancy services coming in to help out. If that wasn't enough, April would bring the Great Flood of 1993, a large surge of water which sees the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers flood large portions of the American Midwest. [1] The flooding for some of these places would last over 100 days or even 200 days, necessitating relocation efforts along with further developments to urban planning, especially with the comparions with Kansas City and the improvements with their levees like in Kansas City. As the Askew Administration worked with the Missouri and Mississippi governors on distrubuting aid and assistance, it continued to serve as positive attributes for the government along with the people helping out one another. Though as all this was going, Americans kept going forward and helping one another. One last bit of interesting news there would be Micheal Jackson taking a temporary leave for "undisclosed health reasons" as he would put it.
Meanwhile other events were going on in the world. The People's Republic of China would finish a project it has been working on for the past few years: purging the CCP of the various hardliners that were opposed to the reforms by Deng Xiaoping & Zhao Ziyang. Besides the ousting of those like Li Peng, even those that were opposed to the political reforms such as Yang Shangkun, with new members coming in to replace them such as Hu Qili as the new premier. Zhao meanwhile was gradually becoming more and more the paramount leader, namely because of Deng getting on in age. In fact, this became cemented with Zhao Ziyang would be given the title of 'President', signifying his official role as head of state and head of government, since he was also the General Secretary of the ruling party. All the while the leaders of the movement back in the Tianamen Square incident rising up in prominence in their own right such as Liu Xiaobo, both abroad and in China itself alongside the Beijing Students' Autonomous Federation and Beijing Workers' Autonomous Federation helping in the formation of similar organizations in the various major cities of China. This would be followed up with some important talks over with North Korea, primarily to deescalate tensions over along with other concerns over in the area, in the eventual possibility of reunification at some point over in the near future.
However, that did not exclude the troubles of what would be happening over in the world. Several bombs explode in Bombay, India, killing over 250 people and injuring hundreds more. Down the line, it would be reported that the attacks were coordinated by Dawood Ibrahim, the leader of the Mumbai-based international organised crime syndicate D-Company. Ibrahim was believed to have ordered and helped organize the bombings through his subordinates Tiger Memon and Yakub Memon. Hundreds of people would be arrested and investigated as they began looking for the truth of what had happened. [2] This would not be the only bit of violence in the region as a Tamil Tigers suicide bomber would assassinate President Ranasinghe Premadasa of Sri Lanka leading to Dingiri Banda Wijetunga becoming the third executive president. Meanwhile, the Bosnian War raged on as NATO and the SUSR would work together to further out a plan to try and bring an end to the conflict, especially since they began ramping up combatting the media in the region with some of their own, trying to each out to the people to dissuade them from more fighting and violence along with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia is created in The Hague.[1]
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[1]- Information and phrasing from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993
[2]- Information and phrasing from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Bombay_bombings
New Country Profile: Sovereign Union
New Country Profile: State Union of Sovereign Republics
Государственный Союз Суверенной Республики
Gosudarstvennyy Soyuz Suverennoy Respubliki
Flag of the State Union of Sovereign Republics
Государственный Союз Суверенной Республики
Gosudarstvennyy Soyuz Suverennoy Respubliki
Flag of the State Union of Sovereign Republics
Motto: "Solidarity of the sovereign nations"
Anthem: "Long Live Our Union"
Capital: Triúmfgrad
Largest City: Moscow
Official Language: Russian (de facto)
Regional Languages: Belarusian, Kazakh, Uzbek, Krygyz, Tajik, Turkmen, Azerbaijani
Ethnic Groups: Russian, Turkic, Belarusian, Finnic, Tajik, Others
Religion: Secular
Demonym: Usually referred by constituent country demonym, Susrian
Constituent Countries: Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan
Government: Confederated parliamentary republic
Legislature: The National Sovereign Veche
Currency: The Union Ruble
National Facts:
- The National Sovereign Veche is determined through each one of the constinuent nations using Party-list proportional representation; the voters of each country vote for the parties to represent them in the NSV and then the national parties form "superparties", politcal blocs formed from matching parties and based on their representation. The head of the National Sovereign Veche and thus the head of state for the SUSR is titled Chief Director. Elections for the NSV are held every five years and number of representives is determined through population of each republic, though the focus is more on the "superparties".
- The National Sovereign Veche's purpose is for legislating and updating new rules and regulations as standards for the constituent nations to be followed. Though it focuses on handling foreign matters and situations involving them interacting with one another or with the outside world. While Republic law has the choice of being able to override Union law, it's usually seen as a measure not to be taken lightly since it would mean further problems in getting proper work done.
- Despite having a technically unicameral legislature, the SUSR's legislative branch functions more like China's. Besides the Veche, they also have a formal advisory body that functions like an "upper house". This is known as the Sovereign Republics' Consulting Council, which functions similarly to China's CPPCC. It is where a broad range of relevant actors such as party heads, intelligence officers, diplomats, military officials, union representatives, academics, high level scientists, businesspeople and other figures of prominence come together. The people sent into the Council is chosen by the head of government/state (all of them Presidents here) of each constinuent country.
- Triúmfgrad (formerly known as Volgograd and Stalingrad) was chosen as the new capital because of its location and to further differentiate the SUSR from Russia as a whole. It was also chosen because of its significance as a "hero city", referring to the Battle of Stalingrad, seen as a turning point in WW2. The city was renamed to reflect the triumph over in that location.
- While being a confederated state on paper, many have compared the Sovereign Union's system to the United Kingdom's in practice. While being a union of supposedly equal members, each one has a predominant and noticeable leader, England for the UK and Russia for the Sovereign Union.
- The flag was chosen out of various designs, with the red stars resembling the 8 constituent countries plus the union as a whole in a white circle representing peace and a blank slate with the light blue representing the endless sky and an optimistic tomorrow and the red stars their past.
- Being a confederation, each constituent country has the option of leaving, but the process has various specifics and rules, including requiring a referendum along with other stipulations to ensure fairness in the voting.
- The constitutional court is known as the Sovereign Union Supreme Court, with representatives coming from each constituent country and requirements of not being affiliated with any of the major parties of their homeland.
- Joining also has its fair share of requirements and issues, with some special rules set aside for those formerly part of the defunct USSR.
- The Sovereign Union have biannual meetings where the heads of state/government meet up and discuss matters between the constituent countries.
- The Union Ruble is considered a potential third major global currency alongside the American dollar and the euro.
- The Sovereign Union's computer software are predominantly UNIX-inspired thanks to collaboration with Project GNU over back in the mid-1980s, with even their homegrown software being based off of as such. Despite this, Microsoft is still fairly popular there.
- The Sovereign Union maintains a predominant list of various oligarchs and their suspected associates, despite having purged many of them in the transitional period. Accurate information or so on about them get land a pretty penny. Other targets included hostile agents or the like.
- Much of their economy is still influenced by the state to varying degrees and have codified much of the NEP 2.0 in how they function, with the technicalities focused on foreign buisnesses and the like.
- The constituent countries each send their own individual teams to the Olympics.
- Have lifted much regarding censorship and so on though certain things like private news outlets remain restricted, noting that for-profit news outlets would be a danger to stability and even cited the issues prior to the Soviet Union on how sensationalism led to problems during the Tsardom.
- All the heads of state of each of the constituent nation happen to be President, being done through a "premier-presidential system."
- Foreign policy is usually dictated as a whole with the Sovereign Union though each constituent country have their own diplomats to interact with countries on their own, barring enemies of the Sovereign Union. Usually done with special relations such as Belarus with Ukraine.
- Currently working on their sphere of influence with nations such as Afghanistan, Zaire and to a lesser extent, Cuba.
- While still keen to go their own way, they have been trying to mimic certain traits of the Americans to practice soft power, including franchising.
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Great profile, and nice ideas for China as well. Hmmm, the threat of conflict between Turkey and Iran is possible.