It's Not The End Of The World

My latest map.  I've sprinkled a number of references to other alternate history and post-apocalyptic works, see how many you can spot.  It's takes place in the year 2023 and among other things: 

Colonel Stanislav Petrov was not on duty on September 26, 1983 at the Serpukhov-15 bunker.  The officer that was in his place reported what appeared to be four American nuclear missiles heading for the Soviet Union.  In reality it wasn't, but Soviet official feared the worst.  This set off a deadly chain reaction that resulted in a global thermonuclear war.  By the time the mistake was discovered billions lay dead and the nations that survived teetered on the edge of collapse.  

40 years later civilization is still in the process of recovering from the effects of World War III.  Technology can best be described as highly schizophrenic; the most advanced technology is comparable to the early 90s of world, but many nations still utilize technology from pass eras.  Airships still rule the skies due to the lack of fuel for airplanes.  Steam power also supplements the power and production needs.  Handcraft production and working with local materials has also made a comeback.  The disruption of transportation has stunted the growth of global culture, but has lead to increased local color among the survivor nations.  

World War III had interesting effects on religion.  While it is certainly true that more than a few people lost faith after the horrors of the war, it is equally true that many new religions have sprung up in the intervening years.  For example, many of the American successor nations have developed a faith worshiping the founding fathers such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin.  In Greece, a revival of the Ancient Greek faith is under way.  Perhaps reflecting worldwide desire for increased research into space travel, a small but growing number of the ANZAC Federation have developed a faith worshipping an entity known as the Monolith.   

The former United States has splinted into a multitude of successor nations each with their own unique personalities.  In the early days following the war several southern states banded together to recreate something akin to the old Confederate States of America.  However, this quickly fell apart because none of the states could agree upon how the new nation would be governed.  The Carolina Confederation (consisting of the Carolinas and Tennessee) is closest this plan came to success.  

Further south lays the Republic of Georgia, consisting of Georgia and the none radioactive bits of Florida.  The republic has recently become quite wealth due to recovering the formula fora Coca-Cola, their primary export.  Neighboring them is the Republic of New Afrika; consisting of Mississippi and Alabama.  As much as the war brought out the best in people it is also true that old habits die hard, and racial tension ran high.  Eventually, however, the blacks of the region managed to overthrow the ruling class and invert the racial order; with blacks on top and whites treated as second class citizens.  Thus was born New Afrika.  

Texas, being Texas, jumped at the opportunity to become a republic once again.  They have grown quite wealth as a major player in the North American oil trade.  Louisiana also tried going independent, but the loss of New Orleans and Baton Rouge to atomic bombs caused no end of trouble for the young republic.  Fortunately, Texas soon annex Louisiana and help stabilize conditions.  Neighboring Arklahoma has recently fallen on hard times after a series of rather large tornadoes, but are considering roughing it just a bit longer before they're willing to join Texas.  

In many way the turmoil of World War III offered a second chance of minorities throughout the former United States.  The Native American nations of Lakota (the Dakotas) and Navajo (Arizona, New Mexico and part of Nevada) rank among the most prosperous of the American successor nations.  The Lakota oil fields have brought the nation considerable wealth.  Navajo's drug and gambling laws are among the loosest in North America; wealthy tourist from the other successor nations bring in millions of dollars each year.  

Navajo's drug and gambling policies have often put it in direct opposition with its northern neighbor; the Mormon nation of Deseret (Utah, Colorado and part of Nevada).  Though not officially a theocracy, in practice the Mormon church holds considerable sway over the government of Deseret.  Navajo and Deseret often spar over water rights; this isn't help by the fact that the Mormon church still views Native Americans as racially inferior.  Deseret drug law is incredibly strict; possessing alcohol and cigarets is akin to possessing crack or cocaine in our world; and that's not even getting into the laws about marijuana.  

Stretching along the West Coast is the nation of Cascadia (Washington, Oregon, Northern California and part of Nevada).  Cascadia prides itself on be as ecological responsible (per 80s standards) as possible.  They made considerable advances in solar, geothermal and wind power; this is also their primary export to other nations.  Cascadia tries to avoid purchasing food and goods from other nations as much as possible; preferring instead to grow and gather their own.  Their diet is primarily vegetarian with a bit of locally hunted or fished meat to supplement things.  They're currently in the process of building a new capital: Cascadiopolis, an eco-friendly city of the future.  

A rump United States is centered primarily around the Midwest.  Their goal is to ultimately recreate the old United States.  However, most of the American successor nation view them as a joke; usually referring to them as either the United States of Cornland or the United States of Un-merica.  Currently, the rump US as facing the possibility that its western half might breakaway to form its own nation; further setting back their goal of recreating the old America.  

Canada has taken the United States' role as the dominate power of the Western Hemisphere.  Against all odds Canada avoided being hit by nuclear weapons.  Though nobody is quite sure why this happened hardly anyone is willing to object to how things turned out.  Several former American states have joined Canada and a large percentage of the American diaspora has settled in Canada following the war.  Despite the horrors caused by the Third World War there still many nations with access to nuclear weapons.  As much as Canada doesn't want to see a repeat of the war's horrors, they aren't blind to the potential threat and have produced their own nuclear weapons just in case.  The influx of American refugees has had the unintended side effect of Canada becoming one of the top producers of comic books, television shows and movies.  

Mexico has experienced a boom of economic growth in recent years.  This has made it a popular destination for the American diaspora.  Texas has a particular love for Mexico to the point that thousands of Texans illegally immigrate to Mexico each year.  Many members of the Mexican government have proposed building a boarder fence to stop the illegal Texans.  Regardless of the ongoing boarder debate, there's no denying that the Americans have left their mark on Mexican culture.  There's a rather notable English speaking minority, to the point that most signs are now in Spanish and English.  

The nations of South America has also experienced economic booms in recent years.  It is generally agreed that the best way forward is to unite all of South America under a single banner.  The best way to do this, however. Is a matter of considerable debate.  Argentina, Chile and Uruguay have united into the nation of the United Provinces of Rio Del Plata, or Del Plata for short.  Following the destruction of Rome the Vatican has relocated to Rio de Janeiro, much to the consternation of Mexico City, but it was decided that Rio has more of the cosmopolitan feel the Vatican was going for.  The current pope is from, of all places, Norway.  Brazil and Del Plata currently posses nuclear weapons.  

The former United Kingdom is split between Scotland and Whales.  The two nations were initially unaware of each other's survival in the early days after the war, but they have since become close allies.  Though the early days following the war were a dark and grim time people in other nations still found ways to smile; for example, Ding-Dong The Witch is Dead became a rather popular radio request upon confirmation of Margret Thacher's dead with the destruction of London.  Scotland and Whales have kicked around with the idea of unifying to from something similar to the old United Kingdom, but these plans have yet to solidify.  Ireland has proposed establishing a League of Celtic Nations, but Scotland and Whales have repeatedly shot down this idea as unfeasible.

France, despite taking heavy hits, managed to survive the war with Paris intact.  The French developed a general mindset of "Eat, drink and be marry; for tomorrow we may all be dead" following the war.  As a result all consensual relationships are legal, as are all soft drugs, and Sacre-Coeur has been turned into an indoor swimming pool.  Despite life feeling like an nonstop party there's a distinct lack of several once common items; notably meat and heating oil.  Moreover, not everyone is so pleased with the recent turn of event.  French Guiana, French Polynesia and Corsica all claim to be the legitimate government of France.  All three still hold to the pre-war way of life. Brittany and Normandy, not taking well the the excess hedonism, have taken Ireland up on their offer of forming a Celtic League.  

The Scandinavian nations have banded together and are one of the most powerful European nations in terms of economic and military power.  The Benelux nations have also banded together and pooled their economic and military resources.  Meanwhile, Austria and Hungry are attempting to revive their old empire.  Nothing has come of this effort yet, but a few Balkans nations have expressed some interest.  

Germany is still divided between East and West, even though the old Cold War tensions are a thing of the past.  West Germany remains a reasonably prosperous democracy with open trade relations with other nations.  East Germany, or Best Germany, as they prefer to call themselves, has chosen near total isolationism and are doing their best to pretend the rest of the world doesn't exist.  This plan has proved increasing difficult as time has gone by.  East German technology has begun to regress to a medieval level and society grown increasingly feudal.  

Almost all of Italy was devastated by World War III; however, the far south and the Italian isles continue to keep the Italian nation alive.  In the absence of governmental authority the Italian Mafia has filled the role of authority.  Although not the most preferable of options everyone agrees that some form of authority is preferable to the anarchy that followed the war.  Meanwhile, Greece has become a regional power in the Mediterranean.  Greek shipping fleets transport goods across the world.  Greece took advantage of the chaos of the war to reclaim historical Greek territories from Turkey.  

When Israel first learned of the Third World War they assumed the worst had befallen their old ally the United States.  As such they turned to the SAMSON Option and now Israel controls most of the Levent.  Israeli society is highly stratified with Ashkenazi Jews enjoying the most rights of any group.  Although Ethiopian, Mizrahi and Sephardic Jews aren't discriminated per say they are still held with a considerable degree of contempt.  At the very bottom of the social pecking order are the Palestinians, Druze, Jordanians, Lebanese Syrians and other Middle Easterners.  Israel has nuclear arms and has made it quite clear that they won't hesitate to destroy anyone they perceive as a threat to their survival.  

Egypt, despite the loss of the Sinai Peninsula, has avoided the worst aspects of the SAMSON Option.  They've had considerable success in the international cotton trade and, despite past hostilities, are currently pursing better relations with Israel.  Currently the nation is experiencing a slight revival in adherents of the gods of ancient Egypt.   

South Africa is on a champaign of expansion and Apartid is alive and well.  Armed with nuclear weapons they're locked into a Cold War with Canada, Brazil, Del Plata and the ANZAC Federation.  They've struck up a bit of an odd friendship with Israel mostly due to them both being international pariahs wanting for allies.  Several African nation's are fighting back again South Africa's expansion.  The East African Federation (Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda) was created specifically with curbing South Africa's expansion in mind.  Oil rich Nigeria had been looking the research nuclear weapons in hopes of challenging South Africa.  

The Soviet Far Eastern Republic is the last gasp of the old Soviet Union.  Though technically still communist it has been forced to instigate increasingly democratic reforms following international pressure.  At this point it's pretty much communist in name only.  It is speculated that the republic may hold free elections in the not too distant future.   

Similarly, the bits of China south of the Yangtze River, though technically still the People's Republic, has been forced to institute increasing democratic reforms.  To the north lies the Republic of Manchuria.  The name is a bit misleading as Manchurians only make up a small percentage of the republic's overall population.  Back towards the south, Taiwan has reclaimed much of the coastal regions and islands.  Hong Kong and Macau have evolved into Singapore-esque city states and are both major trading hubs.  The chaos caused by the Third World War allowed Tibet to regain its independence.  The Dali Lama is the nation's spiritual leader, while a prime minister elected by the people serves as the political leader.  

The Koreas decided to put aside their differences in the early days of the war and help one another survive.  Korea is currently United under a mutually agreed upon democratic government.  Japan managed to survive the World War III relatively unscathed.  However, the disruption of trade proved to be a considerable blow to the nation's economy.  Recently, a separatist movement in Hokkaido has established the island as an independent republic.  Japan claims to not be interested in nuclear weapons, but Tokyo was recently destroyed under mysterious circumstances.  To make things even more baffling the radiation levels are far too low for whatever it was to have been nuclear in nature.  

Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea and several Pacific Islands have United to form the ANZAC Federation.  ANZAC is considered, along with Canada, to be America's successor as the world's police.  The federation has recently sent a series of expeditions to Southeast Asia in order to promote democracy and cooperation; they've even helped set up a Southeast Asian Union akin to the old European Union.  ANZAC has receive quite a few immigrants from the former United States over the years; as well as keeping a stockpile of American warheads just in case.  The Republic of Hawaii, though currently independent, is considering applying to join the federation.  

The United Nations was destroyed when New York was hit by a series of warheads.  However, a successors of sorts, the Global Assembly, has been established.  The Global Assembly, with headquarters in Aukland and Geneva, seeks to continue to goals of the United Nations while making adjustments for the post-war world.  For example, the Global Assembly has a policy of only allowing democracies to join and only recognizing one version of each nation.  

That's everything off the top of my head.  Feel free to ask questions