Everyone says a Democratic Russia (or successor state) is impossible, and it might be right now, but there have been moments where it seemed possible(and attempts have been made). My challenge is how to get a free and Democratic Russia before 2124. What can be done to get this "Pie in the Sky" scenario? Of course, in real life, a pre 1917 Russia was seen as a poor candidate for going Communist(to name something that happened that was even more outlandish).

DISCLAIMER: This post does not reflect my personal views on the topic, it's just a hypothetical.

By late May 2024, despite his efforts to calm Israel down, Biden's approval ratings among younger voters, especially college-educated and minorities, have tanked. The coalition that brought him to power in 2020 is shattered. Polls show him losing to Trump in all of the swing states he narrowly won in 2020.

Biden makes the assumption older Americans (who support Israel) don't care really about foreign issues and are more fixed on troubles at home. Make of this as you will. His campaign advisors tell him if he could get the young to turn out en masse for him, he could still win key states, however the Gaza issue is holding him back.

So Biden goes on live television and announces he has called Israel's PM and called for a permanent ceasefire and return to pre-October 7 lines. However, many young voters will still be angry as it will have been going on for 8 months at this point and thousands of Palestinians are dead. So Biden goes further and says he has called on Israel to withdraw all troops and settlements from the occupied West Bank.

He says, if Israel do not heed these demands, he will suspend weapon sales indefinitely.

Could these announcements save Biden from losing in November? Would Republicans/Trump weaponise this against Biden? How will Israel react?

EDIT: Stop downvoting this post! If you don't like hypothetical scenarios you should leave this sub.

Some background: You may have noticed that this is probably the third or fourth post related to abortion abolitionism and are most likely wondering, "Why is this guy suddenly obsessed with abortion abolitionism?" Quite frankly, this is rooted in how frequently I would see pro-lifers and abortion abolitionists fight each other and how I think it would be better if abortion abolitionists, rather than wasting their time fighting pro-lifers, insert themselves into the political sphere and slowly overtake those that they would consider members of the "pro-life establishment".

Here's a link to the tenets of abortion abolitionism if you're late to the party: https://abolitionistsrising.com/abolitionism101/.

This is probably going to piss off a lot of people (Even people in this sub who would consider themselves MAGA supporters) but here it goes. Let's imagine that Donald Trump wins the 2024 US Presidential election, but then completely abandons his stance that "abortion rights should be left up to the states" and instead embraces abortion abolitionism.

Let's say something happens to him-maybe he has some sort of religious awakening soon after being sworn into office-and he begins to embrace the tenets of abortion abolitionism, maintaining that God commanded that we establish equal protection and advocates for abortion abolitionist legislation, while completely rejecting and even attacking incremental pro-life legislation as "demonic", "iniquitous", and "evil".

How quickly do his former supporters turn on him given this sudden transition from "the most pro-life president" to "America's first abortion abolitionist president"?

How does this affect how he runs the country?

Furthermore, how big of a fanbase would Trump have amongst the abortion abolitionist community?

In 2025, North Korean submarine Hero Kim Kun Ok is conducting a missile test, as commissioned by Kim Jong-Un. During the test, one ICBM “accidentally” detonates and destroys the Philippines.

How does the rest of the world react? Does WW3 happen?

Let’s imagine that in 2025, a Chinese military deserter inexplicably abandons his or her post and crosses the Sino-Indian Border with intel indicating that China is building a new, highly advanced attack drone. He/she quickly encounters Indian military forces.

How do India’s military soldiers respond to this? Do they debrief the deserter for more info or do they just shoot and kill him or her, dismissing the deserter as a lunatic, before destroying the intel?

How does China react to this “treasonous” act?

Do you think most governors would do it?

This is another FWI related to the banning of TikTok, except this one could be very controversial for some people.

Simply put, the scenario looks like this: In a bid to stop Shou Zi Chew, CEO of TikTok, from fighting the anti-TikTok ban in court and ensure its ban on US soil, right-wing or left-wing extremists assassinate him, convinced that the TikTok ban is beneficial to the national security of the American people, First Amendment be damned. These killers later threaten Zhang Yiming, CEO of ByteDance as well, claiming that America "has had enough of Chinese espionage in America."

How does the US investigate the murder, as well as the public threat to murder Zhang Yiming? How does China respond? How badly do tensions flare up in the aftermath of both incidents?

Author's note: I am not actually advocating for the deaths of anyone, though I have my reasons to agree with the anti-TikTok bill signed into law by President Joe Biden. This is simply a thought experiment, nothing more and nothing less.

Disclaimer: This is not meant to be an attack on the children's show known as Sesame Street. I have nothing against the show and I actually enjoyed watching it as a child.

Background: Sesame Street is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) and was created by Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett. It is known for its images communicated through the use of Jim Henson's Muppets, and includes short films, with humor and cultural references. It premiered on November 10, 1969, to positive reviews, some controversy,^([13]) and high viewership. It has aired on the United States national public television provider PBS since its debut, with its first run moving to premium channel HBO on January 16, 2016, then its sister streaming service Max in 2020.

It is considered one of the most longest running American TV shows in TV history.

Here's the challenge: Create a plausible scenario where Sesame Street, the longest-running children's show in TV history, is cancelled (taken off the air).

You are allowed to use viewer outrage and the sociological phenomenon known as "Cancel Culture" to achieve this.

As former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen testifies during the Stormy Daniels 'hush money' trial, Trump takes exception to his testimony and calls Cohen a "lying asshole". When Judge Merchan admonishes him for the outburst, Trump stands up, tells the judge to "go fu*k himself" and starts to leave the courtroom.

Realistically, what would happen next?

This was inspired by the novel "Japan Sinks" by Sakyo Komatsu and the 1973 film adaptation, Submersion of Japan.

Let's imagine that, say, in the year 2048, it's discovered that the Japanese archipelago is collapsing into the Japan Trench (This is the scenario presented in both the novel and the film that brings Japan under), which will cause the islands to sink I know it sounds really farfetched to a lot of people for tectonic plate movements to send an entire island nation to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, but let's just go with it for the sake of argument.

Would the Japanese government initially attempt to conceal it to avoid a mass panic, only to begin slowly evacuating people?

How many people do we expect to be killed in the ensuing natural disasters that will destroy the country?

Would any country be willing to accept Japanese refugees fleeing the sinking land? If so, which ones?

Ultimately, how long do you think it would take for Japan to sink into the Pacific Ocean?

Pissed of by its french neighbor,who acts as if Monaco was a french city with some autonomy,Monaco decide to obtain independence in this context where France is weaker than ever.Monaco contact China and Russia,asking for soldiers,as well as nuclear weapons.What happens ?

Now that the TikTok ban is law, it’s time for a Future hypothetical. Let’s imagine that ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok refuses to sell, and persists in its refusal throughout its 9-month deadline regarding its sale to a US Company.

As a result TikTok is banned in the USA. How big of an impact does this have on social media influencers in America?

What happens to US, Economy and Culture and also global ongoing conflicts ?

This was inspired by Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter. In that game, you have a Mexican Civil War, a conflict in Mexico between the US-supported Mexican government and rogue elements of the Mexican Army led by the Aguila 7 Special Forces group.

I now post the following challenge: Create a plausible future timeline in which a civil war occurs in Mexico.

Context: I saw a post on X made by a Christian fundamentalist claiming that #repealthe19th is Biblical, specifically that repealing the 19th amendment is “Godly” and women don’t belong in politics because “God didn’t make them that way.”

Let’s say the Christian right actually gets the 19th Amendment repealed in around 2029-2030. What happens to America now?

Link to article that gave me this idea: : https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-missiles-hit-site-iran-abc-news-reports-2024-04-19

Let's say that India decides to crack down on Iran. What I imagined is this, after Israel's missile strike on Iran, the Indian government threatens war against Iran after a whistleblower comes forward claiming that while Iran downplayed Israel's attack, it's really planning a different form of retaliation, one bigger than the drone attacks this past weekend.

Upon hearing this, India cracks down on Iran and threatens its own form of retaliation if Iran tries anything to further escalate the war between Israel and Palestine.

Would this result in Iran declaring war on India and starting WW3?

Years ago, the computer worm Stuxnet was used allegedly by Israel to go after Iran's nuclear program. Here's a challenge: Find a way for Israel to bring back and use Stuxnet once again in this new war between Israel and Hamas, as well as anybody who supports them like Iran, Turkey, etc.

Let's imagine that in autumn of this year or summer of next year, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan publicly announces that Turkey's military will be supplying Hamas with a Bayraktar Akıncı, a high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), for use in its attacks against Israel.

Within hours of this announcement he dies under mysterious circumstances.

What happens to Turkey going forward? Who takes Erdoğan's place? How does Hamas react to his sudden passing? How quickly does everyone else suspect he's been assassinated? How quickly is Israel fingered as the prime suspect? What other nations could Turkey suspect to be the culprit alongside Israel?

Let’s imagine that Joe Biden wins another four years as President in 2024, but abruptly resigns two months into the new term after he decides he is too old to run this country.

Kamala Harris replaces him. What happens now that Harris is in charge of the country?

It’s 2025. ISIS shocks the world by threatening to attack China. Specifically they threaten to assassinate the Chinese president and execute a 9/11-style attack on the Forbidden City in Beijing, China. They then claim to have “forty brothers and sisters” who have pledged to dedicate their lives to martyrdom to bring down the kuffar responsible for the oppression of Uyghur Muslims in China.

What actions would China take in the event of this ISIS threat, if at all?

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Changchun-location-MAP-in-Jilin-Province-in-China.jpg

In Seaspiracy, it is claimed that we will have empty oceans by 2048 unless, according to the vegans, WE GO VEGAN and stop eating sea animals!

I know this has been refuted (much to the ire of the vegan activists) numerous times but let me play devil’s advocate for the sake of the scenario: it’s 2048 and it turns out the vegans were right. We slaughtered so many marine animals that we have empty oceans now.

What happens to the rest of Earth? Does the seafood industry collapse? What replaces it?

Let’s imagine that a year from now, a cadre of MAGA loyalists, who are convinced that Gavin Newsom has run California into the ground, transforming it into a “hive of godlessness” and launch a coup to overthrow him.

Could they pull it off? Or would they be foiled in seconds?

Let's set the scene: A year or two from now, China builds a highly advanced unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) and decides to use it to do recon flights on India to test out its capabilities. During one of its flights, the UCAV flies into Himachal Pradesh, Northern India, and is therefore shot down by the Indian military.

What happens next? How strong are tensions between the two nations as a result of this incident? Does India reverse-engineer the highly advanced drone and create their own cheap knockoff version of it? Does China pummel India with economic sanctions, or vice versa?

Would shooting down a military drone instigate be enough to WW3?

I'm currently brainstorming ideas for a futuristic thriller story using this scenario as the inciting incident.

The effects of global warming cause the waters of the Atlantic Ocean to become the perfect conditions for a large hurricane approximately 1,400 miles in diameter. With wind speeds reaching approximately 500 miles per hour. Hitting the states of South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisianna, and Texas before dissipating. How does this disaster affect the United States, it's policy on climate change, and the future of the states devastated by the hypercane.

The United States decided to take direct military intervention in the Ukrainian conflict by invading Belarus. As a deterrent to nuclear war between Russia and the United States, the United States placed nuclear weapons in Finland and Estonia. Warning Russia that if they detect the launch of a nuclear weapon, the United States will launch nukes from Finland and Estonia against Moscow, and other major population centers in Russia. The United States uses the same shock and awe tactics against Belarus as was done in Iraq. Concentrating their attack on the Belarussian airfields, and gaining air superiority as quickly as possible. How does Russia react to America's intervention in this conflict, and how does this change the war in Ukraine?

I read the other day that Georgia has not been hit by any major hurricane since the late 19th Century, at least in regards to a direct landfall. If something like this happens, what would such a hit look like in Georgia, and how would the government respond?