Timeline (Friedman)

2012

 * Vladimir Putin returns to the Russian Presidency, he begins to formally consolidate power.
 * President Barack Obama defeats Mitt Romney for the American Presidency.
 * The War on Terror ends with the death of Ayman al-Zahwahari.
 * Parliamentary Elections in the Ukraine end with accusations of mass voter fraud by Russian operatives who oppose NATO membership. Riots soon break out and NATO forces prepare to deploy to Kiev to restore order. The move is delayed when Russian troops assist the Ukrainian military in taking back control of the capitol. As tensions mount President Putin threatens to embargo oil and natural gas exports to Europe if NATO continues to, "interfere with Russian affairs." The Second Cold War begins.
 * Moscow-Berlin Accord is signed between Russia and Germany, increasing trade between Russia and Europe.
 * A coalition of NATO countries agree to continue trade with Russia and not get involved with American military buildup efforts in Eastern Europe. The Berlin Treaty is signed at years end, effectively dividing NATO into two Blocs.
 * The Visegrád Summit ends with America promising a massive influx of money and weapons to Active NATO members, known as the Polish Bloc by the media; while Eastern European NATO forces agree to allow the positioning of US nuclear countermeasures in Europe.
 * Russia begins launching its updated Soyuz Rockets from French Guiana, giving them an advantage over the Americans in space launch capability.

2013

 * Belarus signs the BRCU Treaty with Russia creating the Union State. The same year Russia annexes Georgia.
 * The Commonwealth of Independent States and the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan are reorganized into the Eurasian Union.
 * The US begins technological transfer to Eastern European allies.
 * America and Russia begin a new arms race; which Russia funds through the export of natural resources, while America raises taxes and continues to sell arms to the Polish Bloc.
 * President Obama, facing little opposition from a mostly defunct Tea Party movement in the face of a revived Russian superpower, pushes through a series of tax increases to pay for a number of military programs to combat the Russians and to avert the fiscal cliff; defunct programs like the Linear electron laser and the Electromagnetic Rail gun are revived while Prompt Global Strike is given a massive boost in funding.
 * SpaceX launches its first manned Dragon capsule to the ISS, ending the reign of Russian dominance over manned spaceflight to the station.
 * Puerto Rico becomes the 51st state in the Union.

2014

 * The US Signs the Miami Protocols with Guyana, promising economic development in exchange for the creation of an American administered launch site in the southern portion of the country. Suriname signs the treaty under similar conditions later in the year.
 * President Obama signs the American Energy Security Act directing more funds than any other country toward renewable energy sources. The bill is pitched as a way to achieve energy independence, but in reality it is intended to deprive the Union state of its main source of income.

2015

 * Russia shocks the world by making a Lunar flyby with its modified Soyuz-K launch vehicle; sending two Cosmonauts and one German Tourist within 60 miles from the Lunar surface. The US Congress approves over 200 Billion dollars of additional funds to NASA to be spent on manned space exploration.
 * The US Congress passes increased funds to NASA and the COTS program to compete with the Russians.
 * NATO disbands. Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria officially form the Polish Bloc as an independent organization that maintains an alliance with the US and the UK.

2016

 * Jon Huntsman is elected President of the United States on a campaign of confronting the Union State and the Eurasian Union.
 * The US begins quietly funding a military buildup in the Guianas to protect their launch sites from Russian proxies. SpaceX launches its first Eagle 1 rocket.
 * The Eagle 1 is contracted by Planetary Resources to send a manned mission to a Near Earth Asteroid.

2017

 * President Huntsman announces plans for a manned Mission to Mars by 2025. SpaceX receives billions in funding to develop the launch and escape vehicles.
 * The Mars Corporation is founded through the Mars Development Act. MarsCorp, a consortium of private investors and NASA, is charged with administering the planning of the mission.
 * Russia sends some 1000 "advisers" to French Guiana to aid in the military development of the Region.
 * France grants the region autonomous status to avoid confrontation with the Americans.
 * President Huntsman signs the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement often known as newNAFTA. The treaty makes it easier to sell American made renewable energy products in Europe.

2018

 * Russia lands the first person on the Moon in half a century. American college graduates with Astronautical Engineering degrees are at an all time high.
 * The US quietly funds nationalist groups within the Union State and the Eurasian Union, causing the Union Army to be stretched thin across Russia.
 * SpaceX unveils the Eagle 7 super-heavy lifter; the largest and most powerful rocket in history.

2019

 * Planetary Resources begins shipping platinum group minerals to Earth.
 * An American company lands on the Moon to begin extracting resources for spacecraft construction.
 * Planetary resources constructs an orbital refuling station with Bigelow.

2020

 * With Fossil Fuel demand falling like a stone, the Union state economy collapses, as its government announces record taxation and austerity measures to fill the void left by their Oil and Natural Gas funds.
 * Rioting breaks out across Moscow and other major cities, while nationalist groups rise up in the interior.
 * The Arab World begins to fragment as their oil supplies are no longer profitable. Turkey is asked by Israel-Palestine and the United States to help rebuild the Arab World.
 * China's economic growth begins to take its toll. China begins to fragment.

2021

 * Civil war breaks out in the Union State as a number of Union Army groups defect or desert the bankrupt government. Many flee to the Russian far East. The Eurasian union is formally dissolved the same year.
 * The ISS is expanded to include additional modules built by Bigelow Aerospace, and an additional VASIMR driver for orbital maneuvering.

2022

 * A military coup sacks Moscow leaving the once proud city in ruins while President Putin seeks exile in Germany. The Union state formally dissolves and separatist forces begin to break away from the country. Poaching is rampant on the Western Border.
 * SpaceX begins launching the first components of the Mars Colonial Transport spacecraft into orbit from the Guyana and Suriname launch sites. The craft will essentially be a space station for crews to train until it finally launches.
 * Chechnya secedes from Russia. It is soon followed by other Muslim regions of Russia.
 * In Russia, all republics and autonomous okrugs declare independence. Russia is not in a position to stop them.
 * Finland annexes Karelia.
 * The Jewish Autonomus Oblast secedes from Russia and renames itself Judea. It declares Judaism as its official religion and Yiddish as its official language.

2023

 * The Union State formally collapses, however the American commitment to a Mars Mission remains. Many Russian Rocket Scientists remain in French Guiana to found their own private spaceflight company, Angara Launch Services.
 * Tibet achieves independence from China with help from India.
 * The former Russian Far East unites under one nation, the Far Eastern Republic. Judea refuses to join.

2024

 * The US lands the first human in history on the surface of the Mars.
 * Xinjiang, Ningxia, and Guangxi achieve independence from China.
 * Inner Mongolia is annexed by Mongolia.
 * Luis Fortuno gets zonked and is elected president making him the first Hispanic president.

2025

 * The Russian Republic is established around the greater Moscow Metro. Forces from the US, the UK, the Polish Bloc, Turkey, and Japan aid in stabilizing the rump state of a once powerful empire. Vladimir Putin will remain in exile in Germany for the rest of his life.
 * Government reforms on mainland China allow for the presence of a multiparty system and an elected assembly. The US, the UK, the Polish Bloc, Turkey, and Japan help in the reunification of Taiwan with the mainland.
 * The USA puts the first man on Mars.

2028

 * Crisis of 2028: Global Economy slips into the worst depression in twenty years, marked by a shortage of skilled labor in the developed world, production cannot keep up with demand.

2029

 * To combat the Second Great Depression, the Polish Bloc expands to include Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Vojvodina, Macedonia, Albania, Greece, Ukraine, and Belarus. Automation is also increased.
 * Romania annexes Moldova.
 * Germany and France come to see Poland as a threat.

2030

 * To combat the Second Great Depression, Turkey annexes all other Turkic nations including some that used to be part of Russia, China, and Iran. They also annex Mongolia. Automation is also increased.
 * Israel-Palestine, Iran, and India come to see Turkey as a threat.
 * Poland and Turkey end up in a dispute over the Volga River valley.

2031

 * To combat the Second Great Depression, Japan begins moving manufacturing to Korea, China, and the Pacific. They annex some Pacific islands and the former Russian Far East, except Judea, as well.
 * China and Korea come to see Japan as a threat.

2032

 * The United States elects its first Technocrat to the White House. Elected on a campaign to increase the labor force through a new series of incentives to draw immigrants to the United States and augment the existing workforce.
 * Poland, Turkey, and Japan emerge as superpowers. The Polish Bloc declares independence from the EU. Turkey and Japan begin to challenge the United States.
 * The new Mexican immigrants retain close connection to their homeland. Some start to believe that the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was illegitimate.

2038

 * The US announces the Battlestar network, a plan to protect America's interests from hostiles.
 * Turkey and Japan feel threatened.

2039

 * Turkey and Japan withdraw from the Alliance and form a coalition against the United States.

2040

 * The first Battlestar space station is launched. The United States announces that it along with two other battlestars will serve as headquarters for the US military.

2041

 * The American Battlestar network goes online, transferring command and control authority of the US military from the Pentagon to three space stations.

2050

 * Thanksgiving day: Japan destroys the American Battlestar network, beginning the Third World War
 * Turkey invades the Ukraine creating a rout to the heart of Eastern Europe, and widens its assault against the Indians.
 * The US and UK launch a devestating strike against the Turks, though they take heavy losses as well.

2051

 * Turkey conquers Israel-Palestine in the Battle of Jerusalem. Iran declares war on Turkey. Japan declares war on Iran.
 * Mexico rejects an invitation to join the Coalition against the United States and its allies.

2052

 * Germany and France surprise everyone by joining the Coalition and attacking Poland.
 * Poland conducts a scorched-Earth policy to stop them.
 * Japan attacks Judea but is repulsed by the Israeli-Palestinian Liberation Organization a.k.a. the IPLO.

2053

 * The US launches a next generation Battlestar network (for now consisting of only a single next gen Battle Star), and a next-gen fleet of hypersonic UCAVs that level Coalition military forces, turning the tide of the war.
 * Germany and France are driven out of Poland.
 * Turkey is driven out of Israel-Palestine, Europe, Iran, and the Indian subcontinent.
 * Japan is driven out of mainland Asia.
 * World War III comes to an end with a hastily drafted treaty at Geneva and a series of informal deals by the United States to allow limited Japanese and Turkish sphere's of influence, in exchange for total American dominance over space military sites.

2054

 * All Caribbean nations are annexed as states in the United States of America.

2055

 * Four additional Battlestars are completed and launched into Geostationary orbit. They are equipt with next generation railguns for orbital bombardment.
 * Guyana and Suriname are annexed by the United States.

2056

 * Guyana and Suriname become states in the union.

2057

 * The United States officially recognizes its Lunar colonists as voting citizens under Territorial Status, with potential for statehood. As the only military power in space the US is effectively the only nation able to administer colonies as sovereign territory.
 * The first Lunar Battlestar goes online.

2058

 * The first American Lunar colony becomes a state in the United States. This is followed by others.

2059

 * More and more American Lunar colonies becomes states.
 * All non-American Lunar colonies declare independence from their respective colonizers.

2060

 * The last American Lunar colony becomes a state in the US.

2061

 * The world enters into the greatest economic expansion in its history.
 * The United States becomes the world's largest energy supplier.
 * Genetic Engineering technology wipes out most forms of degenerative disease pre-natally.
 * Robotics and Computer technology has now advanced to a point where most manual labor and repetitive tasks no longer require humans. The United States continues its aggressive pro-immigration policies, despite these recent advancements.
 * At this time, America's pro-immigration policies are beginning to become a problem.
 * Nuclear Fusion replaces Space-based Solar Power as the dominant energy source.

2074

 * The Mexicanos Libres party is founded in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Party takes ten congressional seats and one Senate seat in the midterm elections, as well as the Governor's seats in New Mexico and Arizona.
 * Mexico surpasses Japan as the world's second largest economy.
 * Brazil aligns with Angola to form the União Atlântica Sul (South Atlantic Union).

2076

 * A new Conservative coalition in the United States unseats the 2030s pro-immigration coalition for the Presidency.
 * The Mexicanos Party Presidential candidate wins a majority of the popular vote in New Mexico and Arizona.

2079

 * The President of the United States signs a new series of policies formally ending the immigration policies of the 2030s. The administration, however, fails to gain enough votes to pass its most controversial policies that would deport all resident aliens in the United States.
 * The Governor of New Mexico refuses to enforce the new anti-immigration laws set by the administration.
 * The Governor of Texas rejects a bill to divide the state along ethno-linguistic lines.

2089

 * Mexico grants representation to all people of Mexican ancestry living in the United States and Central America.
 * The Mexicanos Libres party formally demands autonomous status for six South-Western States.
 * Riots break out in San Francisco when the city's mayor signs into law a bill that allows the city to accept Mexican federal money along with that from the US Government. The law, however, would only apply to Mexican-Americans with duel citizenship.

2112

 * The President of the United States deploys troops to the Mexican-American border, however several divisions are given the task of actually patrolling the South-Western States themselves, in some cases as far north as the Nevada-Idaho border.
 * The US Congress rejects a bill by one vote in the Senate that would forcibly relocate Mexican-American citizens holding duel-citizenship to outside the American South-West, or deport them to Mexico. Riots break out in Phoenix during the debates.
 * Puerto Rico formally bans the Mexicanos Libres Party from participating in local elections

2123

 * The Southwestern US achieves autonomy, becoming the nation of Los Alamos.