United Nations of Earth, 2130ce
Prologue
The Late 21st Century to the Modern Era
Humanity crested 8 billion population by the early 2030s, after a short decrease in fertility rates at the end of the 2020s. Estimates at the time warned that we were fast approaching the carrying capacity of Earth, with the most conservative figures showing that we had already passed the point of no return. Whether they were right or not does not matter. In 2044, with humanity now reaching 9 billion, a series of droughts and disasters worked their way across the globe. In the short term there was little change, but as the years went on more and more nations felt the strain of lessened food supplies and security. The two most populous countries, China and India, were hit nearly as hard as the poverty stricken importer countries. Mass migrations and instability reigned supreme through the 2050s. Collapse of infrastructure only served to worsen the problem as organized relief efforts were nigh impossible to mount. By 2065 the global population had been reduced to a mere 5 billion, with the threat of world resource conflicts ever present.
What started as a flashpoint conflict in Greece and Turkey quickly escalated into a major global conflict. In August of 2067 the President of Russia, Lazar Kuzmin, was assassinated during a peace conference held in Sofia. At the time blame was placed on a US backed Greek nationalist. Later investigations held in 2074 concluded that the assassin was neither US backed nor Greek. World tension demanded action and conflict escalated. Fortunately for humanity, the allure of nuclear hellfire was resisted. Unfortunately for humanity, the five year conflict claimed the lives of close to 800 million people and led to further instability. The 2080s were heralded as the Great Reconstruction of the global economy and first steps towards saving humanity. A census held in 2080 estimated the population of humanity to have been reduced to only 3 billion, less than half of what had been alive two generations prior and the lowest numbers since the Cold War Era a century before.
Reconstruction was slow, but ultimately successful. At the turn of the century the population had stabilized and maps were more or less recognizable. A few countries had ceased to exist, some had found their niche, most had been able to endure through the worst of modern history. In 2105 an effort to reinstate the United Nations under a more centralized body came to fruition. Articles of confederation were drafted bringing the United Nations as it had been back into existence with the intent of being replaced by a stronger governing body. Modeled after a blend of the constitutions of the United States and the Russian Federation, with certain homages to the democracy of ancient Athens, the Articles of the United Nations of Earth were adopted in 2108, effective 2010. The first elected Archon was Stanisław Mrozek, a 57 year old Polish national whose mother had been a key actor in ending the Resource Wars and was himself pivotal in crafting the new Articles. Mrozek led the Assembly for the first ten years of its existence, with all subsequent Archons limited to five-year terms with the eligibility of reelection.
A discovery in December of 2129 would change the destiny of humanity...