It looks like my tax dollars go to the bottomless money pit aka the UN. Thanks
Have hope. Chapter 11 is coming.
And don't worry, you're in UN territory. Instead of dollars, you get UN Credits: little circles of stamped alloys!
How accurate is that map? You mentioned "hundreds of local warlords", and that map has the two US governments, the UN, and four other states. Where are the local warlords?
This map is barely useful if you want a detailed look at the American Wars. Local warlords and their territories are not shown at all, with the borders of the bigger players overlaid on top of them. The Old and New US governments claim the territories shown above, but their actual control is far less extensive and tenuous, often depending on the commanders in the field.
That's where the Warlords come into play. Those who are in it for themselves or mostly outside the control/protection of a bigger government will usually get crushed by someone else before too much time has gone by. But certain factions have attracted a large number of Warlords to their cause, who get a wide degree of autonomy to rule whatever territory they rule, plus protection from other members of that faction, as long as they agree to fly the US flag overtop of their own. (With the exception of Deseret, they've got their own theocratic madness going on over there, as the LDS Church has somehow survived the past 70 years, in full defiance of ADVENT)
In general, Warlords loyal to the twin US governments have at least nominally pledged to reunify the nation under either the Columbus or Cheyanne governments. Those pledged to Arcadia, California, or Texas are aiming to help their "regional overlords" maintain their independence.
Also, non-national factions are active in America as well, and will make or break alliances as needed. You'll see them as the story goes on.
- Arcadia under the protection of the Cult of Jericho. Progeny members are threatening to attack UN forces if they advance any further into the Oregon region.
- Grey Phoenix is sabotaging the UN by smuggling spaceship parts out of Florida with help from the Old US.
- Sacred Coil and Deseret are fighting to the death.
- The Old US is paying Shrike to act as a mercenary force.
- The New US is paying Shrike to act as a mercenary force.
- The UNE is paying Shrike to act as a mercenary force.
- Shrike is stockpiling weapons, food, and water. They are building signal jammers around their bases, and digging extensive networks of tunnels and bunkers into the mountains of Montana.
And how are the borders demarcated?
Very poorly, if not at all. The only accurate borders on this map are "The Blue Lines". These are points where UN Control ends and the region reverts to someone else's control. The exact location of the Blue Lines fluctuates with the movement of UN troops, with one exception: If you zoom in closely, you'll see that the UN controls the ENTIRE Mississippi River, plus the city of Minneapolis, and the whole of Interstate Highway 35, which severs the country completely in half and gives UN troops access to the US interior.
As for American factions, some attempt was made to honor old State borders, but many of those lines only exist on maps now. Geographic borders like the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River are sometimes still respected out of convenience. Only the states fighting for independence are really strict about their borders, (California, Arcadia, Texas, Deseret) but they are in no shape to enforce the borders properly, as their military forces are highly autonomous. (Warlords)
Speaking of the UNE, how are the UNE territories governed? Military rule? Hawaii is a state in its own right, but what about Alaska or the East Coast? Some of it is being used for experiments, but that can't be true of all of the territory - it isn't true of Hawaii. Even if it is true of all of the rest of the UNE's American territory, what's the cover story, since the UNE won't admit that they're doing experiments?
If you are on Earth, then UN territory is governed according to the laws of whichever Human Nation-State you are in. (States like Germany, China, Bolivia, Viet Nam, etc.) In 2086, nearly all of the Prewar governments have been restored with few exceptions: Certain small nations and microstates have ceased to exist due to problems such as total extinction of their population (Belize, Iceland, Andorra, San Marino, Lichtenstein, Samoa, Vatican City) or the complete physical destruction of their territory. (Nauru, Palau, Tonga, Malta, Maldives, Singapore)
Destroyed states still have their seats in the UN General Assembly, but they are represented by "Custodians", neighbor nations that usually belong to the same regional or ethnic bloc. The custodian states have near-total control of the affairs of the destroyed state, including their territory, whatever's left of it.
When the UN was re-established in 2036, Secretary-General Laura Harper ensured that laws passed by the Security Council, signed by the Secretary-General, and ratified by the General Assembly would be able to supercede the laws of UN Member-States. The post-2036 UN is much more like a federal republic than the one in our reality.
Offworld, all colonies, space stations, and outposts are the property of whichever Nation-State built them. (Sec-Gen Harper forbade private ownership of extraplanetary installations) For instance, Jericho Station (on the border of the Hiigaran Empire) is sovereign territory of the People's Republic of China, since they were the ones who built it. With UN permission, multi-national blocs can own offworld installations too: Lovell City on the planet Terra Nova is a joint venture between member-states of the old NATO alliance. Since Hawaii (technically America now, see below) took the lead on that project, Lovell City It is considered to be Hawaiian territory and Hawaiian laws apply there.
Alaska/Hawaii:
- When Hawaii took over the USA's seat on the Security Council, Alaska was quietly and unceremoniously annexed by Russia and Japan at almost the same time. Negotiations lead by Secretary-General Etienne eventually led to Alaska being awarded to Russia. (as a reward for Russia's role in the Battle of Vladivostok, where the Chosen Assassin was "killed") Since Russia is a member of the UN, Alaska is counted as UN territory on the map.
- Hawaii never rejoined either of the rival US governments, establishing an independent Republic. Before the events of this story began, Secretary-General Etienne recognized Hawaii as the "Successor State" of the United States, meaning that Hawaii assumed all of America's obligations in the UN. The Hawaiians briefly inherited America's permanent seat and veto power at the Security Council. However, Russia, China, France, and the UK all objected to this arrangement. Eventually, the Hawaiians were relegated to the role of "Custodian" and are simply holding America's seat until a single US government rules again and rejoins the UN.
US Territory under UN Occupation
- The UN's publicly stated goal is to help the "legitimate" US government rejoin as a full member of the General Assembly and permanent member of the Security Council. (Since coming into office, Etienne has refused to define "legitimate") At this point in the story, it kind of looks like the UN intends to help Hawaii conquer the continental US, as unrealistic and bizarre as that sounds. American territory occupied by UN troops is governed by a UN Mandate. Peacekeeping forces from Canada, Mexico, France, Spain, the UK, Brazil, and South Africa are responsible for providing government, military, and social services to people living in the occupied zones until a UN-approved government can take over from them. This has already happened in occupied portions of California, where Hawaiian officials flying the American flag have set up operations.
- And of course, the Peacekeeping mission in America is as poorly named as the rest:
- "The United Nations Mission in America" or UNMA for short.
How are Canada and Mexico? They're part of the UNE, yes, but what are their borders? How are they recovering?
Both are members of the UN, but their stories are quite different.
- Canada was badly hobbled by the Alien Invasion of 2015 and nearly destroyed by ADVENT rule. A big part of the ADVENT Coalition's governing style was to force Humans to move into Megacities. Nearly all of Canada's population was forced to live in the general vicinity of the Toronto and Ottawa megacities. In 2086, only the eastern half of Canada exists, with the regions of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Nunavut, Yukon, and the Northwest Territories being completely devoid of Human life. A few ADVENT military bases and Blacksites are scattered around these empty areas, but the UN has no interest in reclaiming them, as Human re-settlers have not gotten that far into Canada yet. (They're mostly coming from the Washington-Oregon area right now) Canadian peacekeepers are active in Michigan and Maine, and some Canadians serve in the UN Space Fleet as well, but not many.
- Mexico was damaged, but not as badly. Their population was spread across five megacities and have since dispersed back into areas that used to be inhabited pre-2015. Mexico City has become one of Earth's great starports, and the UN Navy has a gargantuan presence here, due to the Yucatan Peninsula being a perfect launch site. Yucatan is also far more accessible than it used to be because ADVENT slashed and burned the forests in their entirety, transforming the region into a prairie-like badland.
How much autonomy do the individual nations in the UNE have, anyway?
Less than in reality, but some autonomy still exists. The UNE is closer to a federal republic like the modern US than it is in reality. Member states cannot declare war on other planets/species, nor can they enter into treaties or agreements with them. Pascal Etienne is a very authoritarian leader, though, and he does desire much greater control over the member-states. Currently, the UN only owns and operates roughly half of the starbases and space stations in Human territory. Given the opportunity, he probably would seized those installations from the Nation-States that built them.
