2000 - Large scale millennial terrorist attacks are thwarted by the US and European governments. - North Korea secretly begins enrichment of uranium for use in atomic weapons - Republican party narrowly wins presidential election in the United States under controversial circumstances

2001 - Terrorists execute major attacks on US soil, destroying the World Trade Center and damaging the Pentagon. Historians view this as the beginning of the 20 year Age of Terror. - Terror attacks regularly plague Israel and Russia.

2002 - The United States invades Afghanistan in retaliation for terrorist attacks, quickly overwhelming the fundamentalist government but suffering setbacks in pursuing terrorist groups hiding within the country. - Pakistani military dictatorship propped up by the United States to prevent the spread of Islamic fundamentalism. - Terror continues to plague Israel and Russia. Efforts to reach a peace accord between Israel and Palestine are abortive and resisted by both factions. - US energy super corporation Enron collapses due to corruption. - Oil prices continue to rise throughout 2002 and the US and European economies both stagnate. - China is projected to become the world’s largest importer of consumer goods within a decade.

2003 - In a move unpopular with the global community but relatively popular within the United States the US invades Iraq under the aegis of its ever-expanding war on terror. - US forces utterly crush the decrepit and dispirited Iraqi military with minimal casualties. The real war begins as Special Forces units hunt for the Iraqi dictator and US troops suffer mounting casualties from Iraqi insurgents and foreign terrorists. - North Korea announces to the world that it has nuclear weapons capability. These claims are initially doubted but by the end of the year most intelligence analysts believe North Korea’s unstable dictator to possess a handful of short and medium range ballistic nuclear missiles. - The airborne respiratory illness SARS first appears, killing almost a thousand with a fatality rate over 10%. - AIDS infection rate in Africa reaches uncontrollable epidemic levels.

2004 - The US continues to suffer military and civilian casualties in Iraq. Fundamentalist terrorists have fully infiltrated the Iraqi insurgency and regularly behead captured soldiers and kidnapped civilians. Popularity for the war in the United States declines. - While the continental US remains free of terror attacks for most of the year, global terrorism escalates dramatically with US allies and Russia suffering repeated and devastating terror attacks. - The Republican party retains control of the presidency in a highly contested election process. Brief unrest erupts in US urban areas, but is quashed by local police and (in Washington D.C.) the national guard, with no fatalities. - Terrorists simultaneously attack the London Underground killing more than 300 with explosives and poison gas. - The United Kingdom and Australia both announce intentions to scale back their troop commitments in Iraq because of public unpopularity for the support of the US lead war on terror.

2005 - Terror attacks in January escalate to nearly civil war levels in Iraq as insurgents attempt to thwart the US controlled election process. An Iraqi moderate is elected president but is considered a US puppet by almost half of the population. Unrest plagues the US effort in Iraq throughout the year. - Iran conducts a nuclear test to prove that it possess nuclear weapons. Two days later an Israeli air strike destroys the Iranian reactor being used to enrich nuclear materials. - The Jordanian monarchy is toppled and replaced with an Islamic fundamentalist regime that violently opposes the United States and Israel. In the face of increasing violence in their own country the Saudi royal family initiates a brutal crackdown on suspected terror groups. - A chemical factory in New Jersey is attacked by Islamic terrorists believed to be naturalized US citizens, the first such internal attack on record. The terrorists are thwarted by fast acting security personnel and police. - Patriot Act II is passed in the United States permitting the government to hold US citizens without charges in undisclosed locations. Throughout 2005 almost 100 American citizens and over 300 foreign citizens living in the US disappear in this way. - The increasingly fascist Russian president visits China in an effort to ease relations between the two nations. The visit is a great success and is likened to Richard Nixon’s visit to China during his presidency.

2006 - In some cases under mounting pressure from religious extremists Syria, Jordan, Iran, and Saudi Arabia sign a pan-Arab alliance. If any of their nations are attacked – the implication being by Israel or the United States - they will all retaliate either militarily or economically. - Iranian specialists travel to Jordan to help establish a nuclear armaments program. - War is averted, at least for the time being, when US diplomats negotiate a non-aggression pact between the increasingly hostile Iran and Israel. Few realists expect the pact to last long. - The United States, now almost completely alone in Iraq, sends an additional 40,000 troops to help restore the security situation and avert a looming civil war. - In December the Iraqi president is assassinated by a car bomb. Control of the nation passes to one of his two equally unpopular vice presidents.

2007 - The United States and much of Europe suffers from an economic crisis that takes three years to stabilize. Oil prices and unemployment simultaneously skyrocket, driving up the costs of living and increasing dependence on the Federal government. Already strained to the breaking point the US government is forced to slash spending, which does nothing to alleviate the poverty that grips millions. - Portions of Europe hardest hit by the recession begin to suffer from “brain drain” as educated scientists, doctors, and experts begin to travel to China where jobs are much more prevalent. The Chinese government encourages this with relaxed citizenship requirements and tax incentives. - The Saudi Arabian crown prince narrowly averts assassination. - Terror attacks in the United States and Russia continue with both nations reacting with increasingly oppressive laws and police actions.

2008 - Term limitations are suspended and the Republican president of the United States is the victim of a failed assassination attempt while on the campaign trail. Party loyalists react with violence against the growingly demonized opposition parties. The assassin is never seen again after being taken into custody, leading to theories that he was a Republican agent being used to increase dismal poll numbers. - MIT professor Vikram Shah constructs the world’s first nanofactory and catapults the development of new forms of nanotechnology. - Martial Law is declared in response to rioting throughout urban areas of the impoverished Midwest and South East United States. - A massive 6-ton explosive device is detonated on the back of a cargo truck outside the Russian embassy in London. More than 400 people are killed and the embassy and buildings for a block around are almost completely leveled by the blast. In response the Russian president launches a nuclear weapon at the devastated Chechnyan capitol of Grozny. Tens of thousands are killed and international relief agencies are barred from entering the region. The United Nations condemns the attack in the strongest and most useless of terms. - Despite vote-rigging and election fraud the Democratic candidate is elected president. Some within the Republican camp imply threats of military violence but the sitting president ultimately hands over power peacefully.

2009 - Despite public works stopgap measures throughout North America and the EU, both regions continue to suffer from 30% or higher unemployment rates. Former Soviet states and recent EU members are particularly hard hit, with starvation sweeping through Hungary, Poland, and Yugoslavia. - China pledges food aid to the EU. Some nations are too proud to accept, others aren’t in dire enough straights, but those that accept soften relations with China and find themselves leveraged for favors. - The United States withdraws from the mission to Afghanistan and the meager 10,000 man force is quickly cycled back to stabilize the appalling situation developing in Iraq. - Mass starvation, violent unrest, and ultimately civil war grip Iraq. Turkish forces invade into Iraqi Kurdistan and begin a pogrom on the ethnic Kurds. The EU chastises Turkey, the US warns Turkey not to engage US forces, the UN reels impotently. National elections are not held. - A bill is narrowly defeated in the US Congress to begin military conscription.

2010 - Ignored because of the tremendous unrest throughout the world, a SARS outbreak in China swells to epidemic proportions during the spring of 2010. Despite cutting edge medical care the Chinese government fails to deal with the outbreak openly and adequately. 9,000 die. - Student protestors seize control of government buildings in Sacramento, California. A standoff with police lasts three weeks and brings attention to California’s particularly hard hit economy and labor force. The governor finally appeals to the president, who dispatches elements of the 101st airborne to Sacramento to break up the protest. 11 die from “less lethal” weaponry used. - First commercially available nanites offered by Jarvic, LLC and derived from Vikram Shah’s research. - Elections are once again cancelled in Iraq and the acting president orders what few able-bodied elements of the Iraqi military exist to relocate to Baghdad and restore order. The US begins a gradual withdrawal of forces from Iraq as civil war escalates. US diplomats accuse Syria, Iran, and Jordan of providing weapons and equipment to Islamic fundamentalist revolutionary groups. When the last US troops depart from Baghdad in November the military acts immediately, declaring loyalty to the revolutionaries, seizing the government buildings, and executing the acting president and most top ranking officials of his government.

2011 - The new Iraqi government signs the mutual protection pact with Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Iran. - US unemployment stabilizes at 15% and the treasury issues new money to counter rampant devaluation of US currency. In a historic speech the President declares that “our nation has passed through the darkness and looks ahead once again to the shining light of prosperity”. - Terrorism begins to affect China when Christian terror groups begin suicide bombing attacks on edifices of the atheist government. - The Russian president is badly injured in a car bombing attack during a motorcade to the airport in Kiev. The acting president has him “retired to hospital” and begins the Russian Reformation which restructures the Russian government as a military dictatorship. Brutal purges of the population in search of terrorists and an unparalleled military scourging of Chechnya are the immediate result of the reformation. - China threatens Taiwan with a military blockade and claims they are sponsoring the terrorist groups operating within China.

2012 - During rush hour on the morning of April 4th a 40 kiloton atomic bomb is detonated in Chicago by domestic Islamic terrorists. Minutes later a second atomic bomb is detonated on board a cargo freighter in Boston harbor. 950,000 die instantly, the death toll eventually reaches 1.7 million from burns, starvation, dehydration, and radiation poisoning. The US stock market crashes and martial law is declared nationwide. No organization or nation claims responsibility for the attacks. - The EU pledges humanitarian and military aid. Two regiments of British Royal Marines arrive in Boston within 48 hours and many die from radiation contamination while trying to rescue civilians. - Chinese warships are spotted off the coast of Taiwan. The three year blockade of Taiwan begins. - A thorough investigation of the attacks on Chicago and Boston is concluded in October. Intelligence sources believe that terrorists operating out of Yemen are responsible and were assisted by both Syria and Iran. On October 15th the president calls the Chinese premiere and the Russian Supreme Leader and warns them that he will be launching nuclear strikes on the mid-east. Both object but neither threatens to retaliate. - On the morning of October 16th 16 nuclear missiles strike Syria and 19 strike Iran. All population centers of both nations are decimated. Three hours later a coordinated Israeli offensive into Jordan begins. Israeli tank divisions and air strikes savage Jordanian forces and within days are threatening the capitol city of Amman. Egyptian troops pile up on the Israeli border but do not attack. - On October 18th US airborne troops land in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and quickly capture the government and key airbases. Saudi Arabian forces put up a difficult fight despite the decapitation of the government, with units and parts of units holding out until July of the following year. - Turkey seizes the opportunity to knock out the last remaining member of the Pan-Arabic alliance and invades Iraq. Turkish troops become bogged down in a fight that lasts for most of the following year but ultimately prevail. - The US election is postponed.

2013 - China calls in favors with the United Yugoslavian Republic and Hungary and begins construction of military bases in both countries. - US forces continue to mop up Saudi loyalists and terrorist groups throughout Saudi Arabia. - Domestic terror attacks briefly flare in the United States but draconian policing measures work to keep the terrorists under control. - The Democratic Party is reelected to the presidency of the United States. The election process is hotly debated because of martial law and early curfews interfering at polling places. Over the remainder of the year the president centralizes power in a vertical line from the executive to the intelligence community to the people. The US essentially becomes a dictatorship. - Commandos attempt to assassinate the hard line South Korean president. Interrogations after capture reveal that they are agents of North Korea.

2014 - The first Chinese made nanotechnology begins to appear on markets. - A refugee crisis develops in the mid east as survivors of the nuclear attacks on Iran and Syria attempt to flee to surrounding countries. - Israel formally annexes Jordan. - Radioactive sandstorms savage parts of Iraq, Israel, and Saudi Arabia and kill or injure thousands. - Out of control inflation in the United States prompts the federal treasury to issue yet another set of new currency that is valued on the now-dominant Chinese RenMinBi. - Diplomatic tensions increase between South Korea and North Korea. Almost half of the South Korean population is vehemently anti-American and supports reunification while the other half is outraged at the thought of reuniting under a North Korean autocrat. - Japan pledges aid to Taiwan. In an incident that has international tensions on the brink a Chinese destroyer shoots down a Japanese cargo aircraft carrying humanitarian assistance. China refuses to apologize and claims Japan is assisting the terrorist regime of Taiwan. The situation is temporarily resolved when American fighter aircraft begin escorting the Japanese aid flights.

2015 - Quebec peacefully secedes from the increasingly right-wing Canadian government. As a result Texas, Nevada, California, and New Hampshire all make similar noise about secession but back down when the president threatens to station additional troops in these states. - The United States institutes the draft and begins training almost half a million new recruits. Social programs are slashed by the federal government and money is channeled into research and development and military spending. The signs are written in bold print that the US is continuing to mobilize for protracted war. - US Marines land in Yemen. Over the course of ten days the military forces are neutralized by two USMC divisions. - Violence reaches new highs in the military occupied territories of Israel and the United States. Turkey is similarly plagued by insurgency in Iraq. China sees a string of mass transit bombing attacks by Christian terrorists and demands a UN resolution for the invasion of Taiwan. The US vetoes it. - China conducts the first tests of offensive nanotechnology. - Japan and the United States complete prototype testing for the first active optical camouflage suit.

2016 - Propaganda mouthpieces in the media begin to stir up anti-Mexican sentiment. The administration puts forth the opinion that the porous border between Mexico and the United States is a threat to national security. Aghast, Mexican officials make bold plans to strengthen border security. - In May of 2016 the United States opens Operation: Southern Front with a 72 hour air campaign to obliterate Mexico’s minimal air defense and anti-air installations. Nanotech guided sub-munitions eliminate virtually every piece of surface to air weaponry in the nation, allowing US aircraft to bomb unmolested. US ground troops dismantle border crossings and armored units push forward in three spearheads with a fourth extending down the Baja peninsula. Airborne troops drop and secure airports near and in urban centers. Mexican resistance is light but stiffens as the campaign progresses. Where there were few if any terrorists there is suddenly a legion of Mexicans willing to die for their nation. The offensive finally stalls 50 miles north of Mexico City and a protracted back and forth battle begins. - Riots break out in US urban centers as word of atrocities begins to filter back to the large Mexican immigrant population in the United States. - Morale is a problem from the start during Operation: Southern Front as the second line elements are composed almost entirely of conscripts with a disproportionately high percentage of Mexican immigrants. - Realizing the US has overextended itself, China mounts an amphibious and airborne assault on the island nation of Taiwan. Taiwanese warships leave harbor and engage in a running battle with elements of China’s modest fleet. Casualties among the initial wave of Chinese are appalling, but the sheer weight of the assault coupled with expert commando operations and aerial attacks bring Taiwan to its knees in less than six weeks. - Russia secretly funnels aid to China and Mexico during the operations, a fact revealed to the United States near the end of 2016 by England’s MI6.