2020s (The 21st Century)

The 2020s were a time of great change.

The UK:
In 2020, Scotland passed another vote for independence; only this time, the "yes" vote won. The main reason for this was to stay in the EU after the UK chose to leave 4 years prior. Scotland faced quite a few challenges as the world's newest country. In that same year, the UK's new aircraft carrier set sail: the HMS Queen Elizabeth.

Russia:
Vladimir Putin convinced Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan to join the Eurasian Union.

Multinational:
In 2028, the EU collapses. This was already slated to happen due to financial crisis but was hastened by the closing of borders to Arab refugees and the departure of the UK.

United States:
Hillary Clinton, who won the 2016 election, gets reelected in 2020. However in 2023, she faced a scandal worthy of impeachment. The Republican-controlled house impeaches her then the Senate removes her making her the first president in history to be removed form office; she is pardoned by her VP though. In late 2024, All southern states which are Texas, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana and Georgia became an independent country called Republic of Texas and New Orleans is the capital while New Mexico became apart of Mexico. In 2026, California, Oregon and Washington became Republic of California and the capital is San Francisco. Later that year, Hawaii became independent but Alaska became apart of Canada. The Virginias formed to be Virginia, The Dakotas formed to be Dakota and the Carolinas formed to be Carolina (but still apart of the US). As of 2027, US has 35 states (Carolina, Colorado, Connecticut, Dakota, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming)

Greenland:
Greenland became independent in 2021.

Nicaragua:
The Nicaragua canal was finished in 2023.

Multinational:
Most of the Latin American countries grew more stable.

China:
China's economy reached its peak in the 20s; it's GDP exceeded the US in 2021. There were many infrastructure projects under construction. Indonesia was also seeing its economy grow.

Korea:
In 2025, North Korea collapsed and South Korea merged, unifying Korea.

India:
India's economy was beginning to rival China's in the 20s.

Afghanistan:
In 2024, conflict in Afghanistan finally ended, ushering in a new era of peace for the country.

Iraq:
In early 2020, Isis was finally driven from Iraq. By the end of that year, Kurdistan said "yes" to independence. Corruption continued in Iraq but at the very least the Iraqi army would be strong enough to repel any future terrorist groups.

Syria:
The Syrian civil war continued until 2028 resulting in a Syrian government victory. After the war, the standard of living in Syria went down due to damaged infrastructure.

Iran:
Iran continued to phase out nuclear enrichment but did so slowly. The ultra conservative regime remained in power throughout this decade.

Saudi Arabia:
In Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom Tower, the new world's tallest building, finished construction at the beginning of 2020. The 4th expansion of the Masjid in Mecca was completed alongside other projects to house pilgrims.

Yemen:
The Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen were defeated by the internationally recognized government thanks to the controversial Saudi airstrikes in 2020. However, Al Qaeda remained in Yemen throughout the twenties even as they suffered defeats in countries such as Libya.

Israel/Palestine:
The status quo didn't change much in Israel or Palestine.

Somalia:
In 2020, Al Shabaab was driven out of Somalia.

Nigeria:
Boko Haram continued to linger around in the twenties but they stopped posing as a threat in the previous decade.

Sudan:
The Darfurian rebels took to more radical activities.

South Sudan:
By the early twenties, South Sudan was fully stabilized.

Zimbabwe:
Zimbabwe's government had been overthrown in 2020 but the country fell into civil war a year later. This war lasted until 2026 when both groups were pressured to make peace.