SUMMARY

The Earth is the home planet of the human race. It is the third planet from our Sun. In 2084, it has gone through extreme global warming, massive wars, and radical change, but still remains far and away the place where most human beings live.

Three Main Power Axis

• China: In 2084, China is the dominant global superpower. The equivalent of the United States today.
• India: The secondary oppositional power and the most technologically advanced. Tensions between India and China are not unlike tensions between the USA and USSR during the Cold War.
• The United States of America: A set of divided nations who collectively have lost their global cache, but certain sub-sects still remain influential due to their large labour force and production.

Religions

• Irreligious: The secular movement in the developed world has continued and more people identify as irreligious than ever before - this is still however a definite minority of the world. Within this group are a greater number of Humanitarians, or Spiritualists people who believe that there are things that technology still can’t explain, or points to mystical phenomena, but aren’t specific believers of any major creed.
• Institutional religions: Referred to as the People of the Book: a short-form for any of the classic Judeo-Christian religions. In2084, these religions haven’t merged per-se, but are in many ways closely allied - given the growth of atheism.
• Culturally religious: In areas like Africa, South-East Asia, and South and Latin America there is a growth of people who would identity as religious, but are more culturally religious - attending worship services on major religious holidays, as opposed to a regular basis. At the same time, there is a greater tendncy for “true believers” to use their religion as tje guiding signpost for their lives, above and beyond any secular laws. Many of these people have created modified theocracies where there is no, or minimal, separation between Church and State.

Balkanization

A major geo-political force shaping our world in 2084 is the division of nations into smaller ones as political divisions grew stronger, and more individual peoples wanted their own sense of destiny.

In some cases these changes have created a safer world: e.g. Spain - now 40 years out after Basque separation, ‘Spain’ is a happier, better area now because the Basques and the Madrid- lead Spanish territories actually get on much better now. In some cases this has caused additional conflict as regions (especially resource-rich regions), try to leave: the United States- now divided after a second ‘Civil War’ is locked in an uneasy non-aggression pact.

Other examples includeL Indigenous people reclaiming land in Canada great swaths of the Northern part of the country - much of which is now warmer and more accessible, have been turned over to Native communities. This came about partially due to the value of oil and gas rights tanking.

A counter to this would be the nations that did not balkanize, but instead become one stronger, bigger nation and even subsumed smaller nations surrounding it - i.e. China, Argentina, and Poland.

Coalitions

Another trend in opposition to Balkanization has been the formation of Unions between like-minded countries to combat encroaching forces and circles of influence. The two most prominent of these coalitions are the Western African Union and the South American Union.

The Western African Union formed after the Congolese Conflict to strengthen intra-continental trade and business and form a strong backline against any further Chinese encroachment. The rest of the continent is highly influences by China and the Western African Union provides a set of policies and trade agreements that ensures independence from the world's most powerful nation.

The South American Union formed for very much the same reason. The two main powers in South America are the Paradisian-leaning Union and the Traditionalist, Chinese-backed Argentina. The Paradisian countries sought strength in numbers and mutual aid, and the Union provided just that.