[center][img=http://assets.natgeotv.com/Photos/16/42302.jpg]
Bikini Atoll experiment, Baker test, 24 July 1946.[/center]

[b]TL;DR Bullet Points[/b][indent]- Cold War
- Real Nations; you assume leadership of that nation and must guide them through the foreign policy problems of the era.
- Play starts on January 1st, 1950
- Casual Standards apply
- I know what I'm talking about, check this freakin' [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrbv40ENU_o]Tom Lehrer song.[/url][/indent]

[b]In Character[/b]:[indent]The world is a scarier place than it used to be; it is smaller and more deadly. The advent of the nuclear age leaves the entire world under the shadow of the Sword of Damocles, and there is the heightened terror that some madman might decide to press the button and start a conflict that would destroy all. The big players eye each other warily and jockey for improved strategic position, trying to deny each other assets and contain each other's power, but it is an shadowy struggle where warfare, espionage and diplomacy find their distinctions blurred.

Meanwhile, smaller countries are caught in the wake of the movements of greater powers; they are often the battlegrounds of the era, where ideological conflict by proxy between factions supported by the main superpowers tear these smaller countries apart. Nationalists, communists, colonists, natives, terrorists, guerrillas, rebels...supported by this power or that, with the partners giving lip service to the values of their patrons, or worse, perhaps holding with the often-extreme ideologies.[/indent]

[b]Out of Character[/b]:[indent]Players select a nation in the real world (that exists in 1950) and takes on the role of that nation's leadership as it navigates the currents of the Cold War. While the nations are not fictional, the leaders can be real world leaders or invented characters -- whichever one is easiest. However, despite any differences in leadership, the nations will still be in the same position in the RP as they were in 1950 in our world.

There is a potential for messy argument and contention inherent in any Nation RP, but I hope to keep that to a minimum. If everyone remembers to stick to facts and be civil, the RP will be able to proceed. On the other hand, the RP involves people playing off one another as antagonists, so we'll just try to work through the problems as they show up.[/indent]