[i]The age of strife is returning.

Historically, it has always been that way. Thousands of years ago, as many as dozens of wars a day were fought across the globe in the name of conquest, riches, ideals and gods. Thousands, if not millions, suffer and die from their consequences in the span of a single year. Only as recently as the 1900's, the decade of the Great Wars, have they died out. While insurgencies and terror still haunt some parts of the world, the nations of the world have been peaceful, or so they claim. 

That won't last long.
[/i]

The year is 2060 CE.

Although much of the planet's resources have already been exhausted and nature has started to intensify its wrath after countless years of over-exploitation, technological advances have allowed humanity to adapt and continue thriving. This was not without consequences; in the years near the end of coal and oil and before the development of new generation techniques, nations struggled for control over the remaining black gold. Sociopolitical movements, global crises, economic issues, and hysteria regarding an impending apocalyptic war have brought down even the greater nations, but some have managed to survive, some have banded together to create bigger states, and some have resorted to occupy their lesser neighbors in the name of progress.

Difficult decisions are in their hands; choices that will decide their possibility of emerging as a significant global power and choices that will decide whether the war people long feared will come true.
[hr]

Instability is set in a near-future world where the nations of mankind are struggling to hold together after a series of worldwide events destabilize civilization. Everyone plays as one of the states that compete for power and supremacy, while at the same time managing internal issues.

Technology can advance as time passes, and can even come to the point where FTL becomes possible if the RP lasts long enough, hopefully. Peaceful aliens may be met and consequently so will be the space menaces, but for the sake of simplicity the setting will mainly remain on Earth or on the Solar System. And of course, possibility does not spare said aliens being primitive or similarly modern instead of stereotypically overpowered as hell, so things can both be interesting and balanced with this. Let's be realistic too and avoid trying to terraform gas planets like Jupiter for God's sake, or even attain terraforming technology in just even 10 years and do it in just under a year. And yes, I've personally witnessed an RPer doing that once.

There is no set interval for a "year", it's probably up to my or the co-GMs' sake to advance it. Of course, I'll be asking if you want me to, but sometimes I'll do it on my own.

And of course, we have a map.
[img]http://i.imgur.com/kq8KFfb.png[/img]
To avoid instant Russias, starting territorial limits will be based on a land area about the size of this circle. You can't fit a circle on most lands though, so this will be only a reference; the shape of your territory will be whatever you want.
[img]http://i.imgur.com/Dtiu2O4.png[/img]

Depending on how many are interested and how many are actually joining, there may (with less) or may not (with more) be NPC countries that won't compete much, but might be worth interacting with or may pose a threat.
[sub](yeah because I totally didn't base this off Untold Empires)[/sub]