First Iraq
collapsed. The Iraqi Shiites, embroiled in a bloody sectarian war
against their Sunni neighbors, align themselves with the Iranian
Ayatollahs featuring Hezbollah and their Syrian Alawites. The
collapse of Iraq fractured the peace between Turkey and the Kurds,
plunging Turkey into a bloody war against the Kurds. The Sunni and
Shiite civil war exacerbates involvement by Iran on the side of the
Shiites. The US, and by extension NATO, begin waging increasingly
covert attacks against Shiite/Alawite interests in Syria, Iraq, and
Iran. Saudi Arabia will continue to fuel Sunni fighters to Syria and
Iraq, and possibly Iran. Turkey, forming part of NATO, is vilified by
the Iranians, thus causing the Kurds to look for weapons and Iranian
support.
The
destabilization of Turkey further brings down the Greek and Cypriot
economies. Some European states refuse to take part in NATO's
affairs; especially the Greeks and Cypriots, considering their tense
history with Turkey. Catalunya manages to secede from Spain, thus
leading to more states withdrawing from NATO.
By 2015,
European Union troops find themselves engaged in combat all along the
perimeters of the increasingly militaristic union. A more powerful
treaty – one dwarfing the Treaty of Lisbon – empowers the
European parliament and president with emergency powers. The
presidential emergency powers effectively erode national sovereignty,
creating a European-wide superstate where nations cede power in order
to overcome crisis.
Separatists
groups increasingly see the European Union as a totalitarian
oppressive government and further plunge the remaining Eurozone
countries into turmoil and strife. Using the power of the internet,
the separatist states wage sophisticated and coordinated strikes that
further force the European Union to deploy drones across the
continent. The lives of many millions are uprooted.
