| 3.05 | Triad |
Doctor Delta: The virulence of this meme is unknown. The meme is slightly infectious (2.3). The meme does mutate internationalist memes in the infected host.
FS: Both sides agreed that the invasion of the Chinese by the Japanese was ancient history. Chinese argued that the United Americas had the right idea and embracing Germany and Japan after World War II had been practical and that the Chinese should also be practical. Many Chinese felt that the World War II generation was no longer alive and a new generation should create a new way. The Asian Union became the equal of the UA and EU with the addition of Japan. Three major economic unions dominated the world on my Earth and were known as the triad. The Union of the Americas or UA was made up of the countries of the Americas including North, Central, and South America, Australia to the West and Great Britain to the East.
DG: I thought Great Britain was part of the European Union?
FS: Not on my Earth, the fact was that the United Americas were really led by the US rather than being true economic union of more or less equal members. The European Union had finally admitted most East European nations and even Russia. Individual states in the EU had a lot of power. The AU was somewhere in the middle. China had more power in the Asian Union than big states in the EU but not as much power as the US within the UA.
DG: So the government of your Earth was tripolar?
FS: Exactly, the three giant transnational entities competed at the political level largely via economic means. Each union had a different idea of what democracy meant. The AU put forth a Confucian view of democracy in which the society had rights to a greater extent than the other unions.
DG: And European Union democracy?
FS: The EU was more concerned about lifestyle issues. Liberalism with a capital “L” was emphasized in the EU. The soft drogas were only legal in the EU. The UA felt that untrammeled capitalism was the way to go. The European Union also saw itself as an intermediary between the UA and AU. The EU saw itself as the premier representative of global justice. To emphasize this role, the EU had added a scale to the middle of their flag.
DG: Was the tripolar system better or worse than the balance of power in this Earth?
FS: The trilateral relationship between the UA, AU and EU had brought stability to world politics.
DG: Which union was the most powerful?
FS: The United Americas was the most powerful of the three militarily. The United Americas was about strength and had made global justice a number two priority after our 9/11. The UA was militarily powerful but not more powerful than the AU and EU together and the UA knew this. The AU and EU both agreed that UA militar interventionism was a negative and used economic and political means together to put pressure on the UA to not use militar means outside of the UA borders.
DG: So the Asian Union was weak militarily?
FS: No, the Asian Union had its own multinational militar that it very, very rarely used. The combined contribution of China and Japan to the AU made AU militar forces very formidable. The AU slogan was, “An Asia run by Asians.”
DG: So, there were fewer wars in your Earth?
FS: Yes, partly because there were just fewer places to wage war. For example, the United Americas militar intervention in the territories of the EU and AU was unthinkable. Russia had joined the EU and lent its considerable militar muscle to EU forces.
DG: What about NATO?
FS: Protests in Europe and the election of new governments had lead to the gradual transfer of NATO militar assets to the European Union militar. At the same time Latin American terrorismo had engulfed half a dozen nations in Latin America and US forces were needed there more badly than in Europe. Plus, the UA made huge amounts of money from selling the militar equipment that the European Union absorbed. Finally, NATO had been abolished altogether.
DG: I can’t see the US in this Earth ever abolishing NATO.
FS: Whether or not a triad would work in this Earth is hard to say. No one wanted a war between union forces. War had not been abolished. UA militar intervention still occurred on a regular basis in nations outside of the three unions and this was especially true of the Middle East. Africa was pretty much left alone by all three unions and conditions had deteriorated to a point that most union nationals were advised to avoid Africa altogether.
DG: Why?
FS: Race riots in Zimbabwe and South Africa had led to the slaughter of the few whites that had not emigrated long ago. AIDS was endemic to Africa and considered a hopeless cause. Africa was a no man’s land.
DG: Sounds like Africa’s future in this Earth as well.
Dr. Gamma’s Notes: The tripolar world the patient describes is obviously borrowed from George Orwell’s 1984. Orwell presents a world divided into Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia. The UA is Oceania. The EU is more or less Eurasia. The AU is more or less Eastasia. The patient’s version reflects the downfall of the Soviet bloc unlike Orwell’s earlier tripolar vision. What is interesting is that the patient describes a positive version of a tripolar world.
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