America's Funniest President: Mo Udall Presidency & Beyond
- Thread starter CountDVB
- Start date
Volgograd? With Kazakhstan staying in the Union it's not as far-fetched a concept as it would've been. I just like the idea of having the capital in a city formerly named for the most infamous Soviet leader.
Wherever the new capital is, however, I doubt it'd be east of the Urals.
You actually guessed it right! It will be renamed, but you got it right.
Autumn 1991- The End of the Cold War
Autumn 1991- The End of the Cold War
New Flag of Russian Federation [constinuent country of State Union of Sovereign Republics]
New Flag of Russian Federation [constinuent country of State Union of Sovereign Republics]
With the reformation of the USSR to the SUSR, this did not stop various nations from leaving. The Baltics were an unsurprising result as well as the exit of Armenia, Moldova and Georgia, all of whom would start the process of their own governments and voting on new systems and even names. Ukraine and Azerbaijan meanwhile would have their referendums with a likelihood that they too will be leaving. The rammifications of such a notion would be quite enormous in terms of the geopolitical sphere, including casting a bit of doubt on the future of NATO. Would such an organization be needed, at least as needed anyway? In other results, the SUSR would give two major announcements to the world. First, that Volgograd would become the capital of the new State Union of Sovereign Republics. The city was chosen because of its importance in history, primairly the victory back during World War II; in fact, it was for this reason that the city would be renamed to Triumfgrád, to commemorate the glorious history and the start of a new tomorrow. Speaking of, that was tied into the second announcement; the first major action that the SUSR would do would be the signing of the START I treaties between themselves and the United States, done to reduce the number of warheads in the world, especially with the reminder of the horror from back during the Afghan-Pakistani War. [1] As such, television screens were watched with hope and promise as Gorbachav and President Askew signed the treaties, signifying a new beginning and for historians, as the end of the Cold War. History was moving forward, with Gorbachav announcing his plans to run for the new Russian Federation when the period of transition was done and SUSR opening connections and diplomacy with various nations including Israel while maintaining ties with nations such as Cuba. The Communist parties would begin rebranding themselves as either Socialist parties or similarly named parties, with even the Communist Party of Russia renaming itself the New Russian Workers' Party. However, while some were championing a new era of peace and prosperity, others pointed out that the troubles were far from gone, pointing to the troubles of Yugoslavia and the Middle East as for areas of increased conflict and having political rammifications.
After the so-called Ten Day War over in Slovenia, it was becoming clear that the dissolution of Yugoslavia would not be peaceful. The leaders of Serbia and Croatia would begin their nationalist goals and it would become clear these "Yugoslavic Wars" would be another issue for the world to intervene. While the idea of sending soldiers for the purpose of peacekeeping was not entirely out of President Askew's mind, he hoped it would not come to that. Depite that, it would be unsurprising that later that fall, the UN Security Council (with the SUSR having the place of the USSR) unanimously adopts a resolution opening the way to the establishment of peacekeeping operations regarding Yugoslavia. [2] Other talks that were being discussed included the troubling developments in Ethiopia, especially with how the growing multiethnic protests that were being held against the EPRDF. At the same time, many of the new nations like the Baltics were now applying for UN membership and talks were being held for international blocs, especially with the concern on whether or now NATO would remain together. The Baltics have begun pursuing talks with Poland and the Nordic nation on the potential establish of a defense bloc and even an economic bloc, not unlike how the EEC functioned. After all, Poland was in such talks already Czechoslovakia and Hungary for such a plan and given what else was going on, such a plan may be expanded. At the same time, with the United States still trying to keep track of the changes over with the SUSR, the growing changes over in China and the plans for Yugoslavia among other issues, they were relying on more of their allies for assistance in maintaining the peace. One such example was Iran, especially now that Azerbaijan and Armenia were no longer part of a larger nation. Iran, having grown strong and powerful, including a growing nuclear power sector had secret talks over with the US and other nations like the British regarding certain concerns of foreign security and what may be needed. All of this while the Baathists have begun making raids over on the Gulf states while others have been said to have been spotted over in Syria.
The United States itself has been buzzing with plenty of news. The 1992 elections were coming up and while Askew and Chisholm would be running unopposed, concerns over who would represent the party in the future were being raised. Chisholm discounted running for president herself in 1996 as she noted she would be too old to run as a proper candidate and that it would be up to the newer generation to do so. As for the Republicans, they would begin finally to give some strong candidates over. They were the various reformers and the like, showing a willingness to support the modest ambitions of their counterparts. There was a joke that it was the return of the Rockefellar Republicans given how most of them were from New England. That being said, it did make the only one not of New England stand out and becoming the most likely candidate to win the Republican candidancy: Mark Andrews, former Republican Senator of North Dakota. Touting experience and his record of moderate-to-liberal voting, he seemed to definitely be quite a solid choice for the Republican presidential candidate. Meanwhile, the United Citizens Party would be running with Ross Perot as their only candidate though a couple potential challengers were showing some interest, if not as president than as vice president. However, President Askew would be kept busy still. Beyond the growing international adjustments, back at home, many projects were being overseen. More and more of the expanded American rail network was being electified with synchronzied public transportation system becomng more common. The first of the nuclear power stations to take the place of coal were starting to come online and the the oncoming GEN III reactions were having the finishing touches. He would also follow up with emergency relief over from those suffering from the so-called Perfect Storm/Halloween Blizzard that would hit the nation around the time. Thurgood Marshall would announce his retirement, thanking everyone for all the hard work. Perhaps unsurprisingly, a person of color would take his place. And within a couple weeks of decision making, a worthy replacement would be found: Amalya Lyle Kearse, who would accept becoming the newest Supreme Court Justice. And lastly, the computer world would start gaining interest when someone new would successfully post messages to the Usenet newsgroup comp.os.minix, regarding the new operating system kernel he had developed. A new operating system that would spread throughout the large international network of GNU-associated enthusiasts, especially in Eastern Europe, predominantly in Finland. That of Linus Torvalds' Linux system. [2]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1]- Phrasing and information from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/START_I
[2]- Phrasing and information from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991
Last edited:
The Russian flag here is based off an old design that was used around World War I: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Russian_flags#Historical_flags_of_Russia
Just replaced the cost of arms with a red star.
Just replaced the cost of arms with a red star.
WanderingProfessor
Banned
As mentioned earlier, the United Citizens Party could win a couple of states and become a viable third party for voters disenchanted with Democrats and Republicans. The butterflies from this timeline certainly have potential to have things play out more favorably for Ross Perot. He probably won't become President but at least he'll establish a party with a decent impact on American politics.
Oh that is an understatement! Welcome and glad you are enjoying this timeline!
Interesting new USSR, but, what would the West use, with the Soviet part no longer being part of it?
Regarding what? They’d call them the Sovereign Union and refer to the people by their constituent republics like Russian, Belarusian or Kazakh.
Got it. What, if any, posts would some of OTL's post Soviet leaders have in this new country? Putin, KGB director at some point.
I am unsure. Still trying to figure out the details and how many would have posts or the like.
Thank you and of course, a name for the GOP candidacy as well as new Supreme Court Justice
Does that mean that a President Perot is on the horizon? 😉 (meant as more of a statement or rhetorical question)
WanderingProfessor
Banned
Not necessarily but Perot will have a far bigger impact on American politics than he did in OTL with the United Citizens Party winning a couple of states in TTL's 1992 election. If he's really lucky, he could be a Senator or Governor of Texas.
Could we have the referendum in Ukraine result in the "don't leave" option narrowly winning? I was just thinking that just enough people might think that staying in the Sovereign Union was the better choice.
And when Chechnya happens they should get their own republic.
And when Chechnya happens they should get their own republic.
Honestly, unsure, given Ukraine's stance though they do have some extra time to decide, hence the transitional period? And well, alot of them chose to leave when the voting time came.
As for Chechnya... things are get quite loopy in the region, as well as with Ossetia and so on.
WanderingProfessor
Banned
To my knowledge, Ukraine did vote yes to accept the New Union Treatu but left after the August Coup. Whether the Sovereign Union has any luck in keeping Ukraine remains to be seen. I think a narrow stay victory is possible given the circumstances.
Yeah, they held their referendum over in December OTL and voted to leave by quite a fair bit. Here, while the Coup still failed, that an attempt still happened and Ukraine's own skepticism on the matter would be why they would probably choose to still leave... and having to deal with the trouble there.