I'm getting a definite legless reptile theme here.
Okay, let me lay something on the table. I'm not inclined to use Islamic extremists as a major Big Bad if I get my act together and write IST2. I've got too much else going on in the world that is much bigger -- like the Red Chinese. And, frankly, the United States; while I had no specific plans or "historical" events in mind, I did intend -- unfortunately rather presciently -- for the US to stop looking like a well-meaning if somewhat interfering elder brother and turn into an intolerant bully. The idea was to trap Europe and the Third World between these blocs and see what happens.
Islamic extremism just doesn't have the same engine driving it in the IST world that it does in ours. As of 1999, Iraq and Iran are both moderate democracies -- most of their extremists blew each other up (along with a fair percentage of their people). And while many of the same leader-figures may still be around -- Bin Laden to cite the obvious example -- the mutual annihilation of two radical Islamist governments and most of their populations is still fresh in many minds, and there are far fewer willing recruits. And as I've noted elsewhere, other than those two nations, there is no Western military presence in the Mideast. (And even there, the UN peacekeeping forces are mainly drawn from armies in the region.) There are far fewer points of outrage that the extremists can use to whip up followers. (Yeah, Israel. For the foreseeable future of the IST world that's going to be as much a target/provocation as it is in the real world. I'm not sure that New Palestine or whatever it ends up being called will help, sadly.) But for the most part America is thoroughly far away and as long as it gets its oil is more concerned with Castro's saber-rattling than anything happening in the Mideast.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
Okay, let me lay something on the table. I'm not inclined to use Islamic extremists as a major Big Bad if I get my act together and write IST2. I've got too much else going on in the world that is much bigger -- like the Red Chinese. And, frankly, the United States; while I had no specific plans or "historical" events in mind, I did intend -- unfortunately rather presciently -- for the US to stop looking like a well-meaning if somewhat interfering elder brother and turn into an intolerant bully. The idea was to trap Europe and the Third World between these blocs and see what happens.
Islamic extremism just doesn't have the same engine driving it in the IST world that it does in ours. As of 1999, Iraq and Iran are both moderate democracies -- most of their extremists blew each other up (along with a fair percentage of their people). And while many of the same leader-figures may still be around -- Bin Laden to cite the obvious example -- the mutual annihilation of two radical Islamist governments and most of their populations is still fresh in many minds, and there are far fewer willing recruits. And as I've noted elsewhere, other than those two nations, there is no Western military presence in the Mideast. (And even there, the UN peacekeeping forces are mainly drawn from armies in the region.) There are far fewer points of outrage that the extremists can use to whip up followers. (Yeah, Israel. For the foreseeable future of the IST world that's going to be as much a target/provocation as it is in the real world. I'm not sure that New Palestine or whatever it ends up being called will help, sadly.) But for the most part America is thoroughly far away and as long as it gets its oil is more concerned with Castro's saber-rattling than anything happening in the Mideast.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.