Chisel of Time

&nbsp This TL has numerous PODs. It is meant to illustrate the many twists and turns that history can take. What if the Russian Federation itself fragmented after the Soviet collapse in the early 90s? What if European integration were farther along? What if numerous wars in the Middle East yielded different outcomes, like Iraq achieving its aims in the Iran-Iraq War? What if Israel expanded its borders further through its numerous wars, becoming far more powerful than in OTL in relation to its neighbors?

What would the world look like if these events took different turns?

Differences
Russia: After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the numerous wars that gripped the crumbling Eastern Bloc created fractures within the Russian Federation itself. By 1996 the Russian Republic, albeit still fairly large, was reduced in size to around an eighth of its former size. The rest of the federation had either declared independence or been annexed by neighboring nations, from Finland to Mongolia.

Middle East: After a decisive victory in the Iran-Iraq War, thanks to the Iran-Contras deal never occuring, Iraq gained the territories of Khuzistan, the Kurdish regions of Iran, and the islands of Abu Musa, and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs. Iraq is the dominant Arab state, its only real rival in the region being Israel, another American ally. Israel emerged as a regional power a few years before Saddam's attack on Iran. Launching air strikes on its neighbors of Syria, Jordan, and Egypt, as well as taking both sides of the Suez Canal and Strait of Tiran, Israel finally stretched "from the Nile to the Euphrates," securing its access to key waterways. It is currently in a regional arms race with Iraq, with both sides having nuclear weapons.

Nuclear Weapons: In the aftermath of the chaos that engulfed Eurasia as the USSR and its power base collapsed, many nuclear physicists found work in regimes around the world, from Taiwan to Argentina, all seeking to secure their national security from the perceived threat of a sole superpower, the United States, or some neighboring belligerent. Nuclear weapons are in the posession of anyone who has the industrial capacity to develop them, and the nonproliferation movement has turned into the US trying to balance nations by giving as many as possible nuclear weapons.

Africa: The impovershed continent is even more fragmented than in OTL because of the American preoccupation with other parts of the world. Sudan broke apart early on, as did the Congo, Somalia, and many other states, creating new nations, like Biafra, Darfur, Somaliland, Katanga, and many others.