2040s (The 21st Century)

In the 2040s, the oil crisis worsened as more nations began to switch from oil. Climate change has also caused many other economic and environmental tensions as well. Tensions also rose between Nato and the EU (Eurasian Union). In that same decade, nuclear proliferation continued in the middle east, much to America's dismay. In fact, the bulletin of atomic scientists set the doomsday clock to 11:59 (by comparison, the clock's closest time was 11:58 previously in 1952); World war III was right around the corner. Coincidentally, a century ago marked World war II.

America
The US was dismayed by nuclear proliferation in the middle east. They continued to build up their nuclear weapons. The president gave a speech on the 100th anniversary of the attack on pearl harbor.

Eurasian Union:
Russia continued its nuclear buildup and spent more on its military. They celebrated the 100th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in 2045.

The amount of muslims in Russia grew while the rest of its population shrunk. This population is mainly in the south where regions have longed for independence such as Chechnya and Daegestan; the latter having a particularly strong influence of islam. Combining Russia's islamaphobia with the will for independence, tensions start to boil.

Germany:
the chancellor of Germany gave a speech on the 100th anniversary of the allied victory in europe saying that the Germans and Europeans have moved on and that "outdated ideologies" are no longer endorsed..

China:
due to its lagging economy, the People's Republic of China gave way to economic downturn and protests which blamed the communist party for their economic troubles and collapsed in 2041. Taiwan and the mainland then merged to form the Republic of China. Tibet held a referendum in 2045 and said "yes" to independence.

Japan:
Japan was suffering big time due to its aging population. A century before, they were an empire to be feared. A century after WWII, they were a relatively weak country.

India:
India's economy was booming; the country had the world's largest GDP. Although America still had a better military, India was the economic powerhouse of the world. Mumbai had the biggest population in the world and its skyline was clustered with tall buildings with varying heights; the tallest being 2 kilometers tall.

Middle East
Great uncertainty lied before the middle east. The oil crisis was decreasing their GDP growth and the following countries developed nuclear weapons: Iran, Israel, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan. Unlike Nato and the Soviet Union in the 1st cold war whom neither wanted mutual assured destruction, Iran and Saudi arabia viewed each other as not true muslim countries so the chances of nuclear war were higher. Israel held no such delusions and used nuclear weapons merely as a deterrent.

Kurdistan:
The kurds expressed concerns about the future.

Yemen:
In 2042, Yemen defeated Al Queda but continued to suffer water shortages

Africa
Africa continued to develop and utilize the resources

Angola:
By 2040, Cabinda broke away from Angola

Western Sahara:
the Saharawi people were infuriated when Morocco robbed them of the opportunity to profit off of oil and so the conflict resumed.

Nigeria:
Nigeria became the Brazil of Africa. It isn't the biggest country in Africa but its population was significantly greater than the following country and its economy was strong.

Ethiopia:
This country had a strong economy in the 40s.

Sudan:
Sudan was weakened quite a bit by the oil crisis and states breaking away.

Darfur:
Darfur remained in civil war until 2044.

South Sudan:
South Sudan diversified its economy away from oil. Juba became a more developed city and its standard of living surpassed Sudan's. This is similar to north and south korea; in the 60s, north korea's economy actually did better than south korea's. In the 1980s, the south had caught up and in the 1990s, the collapse of the soviet union had greatly damaged North Korea's economy. Another case was India and Pakistan. In the 1970s, Pakistan was better off than India. In fact, India didn't surpass Pakistan's GDP per capita until 2003.

Antarctica
The antarctic treaty expired in 2048. With the expired treaty, Antarctica was starting to become a place for nuclear testing, mining, along with scientific research. With the warming climate of the planet, many places of Antarctica were starting to develop small cities, with most of them under 25,000 people and many of the cities are small towns of around 500-3,000 people. The economy of Antarctica has starting to become a white collar STEM and IT based economy with the focus on tech companies, call centers, and universities. Tourism and hospitality will be common in Antarctica as well.The northern part of Antartica was starting to get a climate similar to the tundra in Alaska, Canada and Siberia. Antarctica will be home of some of the most wealthiest and intelligent people on the planet, and will be a privileged continent for the social elite.