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Description

This is the world of GURPS Caliph, through the eyes of Mr. Munro, brought up a few years. It’s a High-tech, mostly Islamic and Libertarian place, currently in the midst of a World War II-style conflict. Read Bruce Munro’s write up of the state of affairs in 1679 here: www.deviantart.com/quantumbran…

The POD is that the printing press is invented in 723 in Baghdad. While there would be varied movements within Islam, none would be remotely ‘anti-science,’ and indeed ‘scientific progress’ came to be seen as fundamental to Islam itself. The old, universal Caliphate still broke apart, but when it did, greater firepower meant that neither the Crusades nor the Reconquista could occur, and indeed Islamic states successfully went on the offensive by conquering Italy and the Byzantine Empire. Relatively liberal, progress-oriented Islamic rule in these parts of Europe kicked off an earlier renaissance and period of full-blown industrialization by the 12th century, alongside a global scramble for colonial holdings [1], and by the year 1434, the ‘Caliphate’ of Turkiyya, ruling a Russia-based empire stretching around the world, sent astronauts to the moon. By 1679, the world has known peace for nearly three centuries. Cloning, extensive nanotechnology, brain implants to connect to the cloud, artificial intelligence so good they’re practically considered people, interstellar space travel and plentiful earth colonies across the solar system all exist. Nuclear power has been around for centuries but, until recently, there was never any interest in weaponizing the stuff.

[1] In Talentis (the Americas of OTL): OTL Mexico + the Caribbean + southeastern US was colonized by the Moors (Andalus), the West coast was colonized first by the Khitans but then by the Turks, the territories comprising of the northeastern US + eastern Canada OTL Brazil were colonized by the Holy Roman Empire, and parts of OTL Brazil were colonized by two West African states. On the Great plains and the High Andes, Native Americans avoided colonization, and in general make up a larger percentage of the inhabitants of the Western Hemisphere than OTL. In the last area to be seen as ‘terra nullis,’ Busherrat, (OTL Argentina and the Rio Plata region) the situation was pretty complex with multiple attempts to claim the region made by West African states, the Holy Romans, the Moors, and even a few Swahili tradesmen.

Religion: Even with the turn towards representative democracy, followed by the turn towards Umma-rule (explained below), Sharia law continues to form the basis of many legal systems, and Islam remains somewhat of the default; the notion that the remaining non-Muslims are all Peoples of the Book (and therefore secretly Muslim even if they insist on keeping pre-Islamic cultural ornaments) has rendered the concept of ‘conversion’ mostly moot, and instead many people see Islam less as a social force and more as the historically inevitable realization of God’s existence; something of a science. Indeed, the worldview of one, undivided God who made the universe rationally is, in this universe, has been long held to be a necessary prerequisite for scientific progress.

Anarchism: Most newfangled solutions to humanity’s problems over the last few centuries have in some way or other drawn on ‘political anarchy’ – referred to as governance by ‘Umma(h).’ Said ‘Umma’-ism might be more clearly identified as Anarcho-Capitalism rather than just plain old Anarchism since, rather than seeking the abolition of all hierarchies per se, this Anarchism merely seeks the abolition of the state. Of course, as with any political ideology, variants exist ranging from what we might call ‘Moderate Libertarianism’ all the way to something akin to the ‘Sovereign Citizens’ Movement. Despite different flavors of Umma-rule, many countries have moved towards an increasingly state-less (often corporate-dominated) situation. Wealth inequality has gone out the wazoo; while the poorest people across the globe live in conditions resembling the working class in 21st century America (nothing to sneeze out, say those pointing at how much progress has been achieved) the wealthiest live in essentially unchanging youth with lifespans well above 100.

Revolution: Filled by growing discontent with the above state of affairs, and hoping to throw off ‘anarchy which benefits only the few,’ the revolutionary Jamahiriya movement has arisen. Like Caliph and Umma, Jamahiriya is an OTL Arabic word which has different connotations here. Here, the Jamahiriya movement and its various strands can be summarized as a populist, statist, quasi-Communist, post-humanist, and feminist movement which advocates for the total eradication of religion (meaning, principally, Islam) and the Umma system of government. Like OTL Marxist-Leninism, most Jamahiriya states have a *Vanguardist party guided by the principles of ‘democratic centralism’ (internally allowing for some debate, externally presenting themselves as united fronts), although unlike in Marxism-Leninism, where an organized state run by a Vanguardist party is the means to the goal of stateless communism, to the Jamahiriyas, an organized state run by a *Vanguardist party is the goal itself. One of the wackier, long-term goals of some strands of the Jamahiriya movement is the eventual replacement of human bodies with immortal consciousnesses uploaded to the cloud (which could then be temporarily placed in bodies). The short-term goals (like replacing anarchic Umma-rule with a state capable of other massive projects like ‘scientifically’-planned economies and full gender equality) have a lot more mass appeal.

Authoritarianism: In the world’s largest economy, Hind (OTL India), the ruling cabal is also upset with the status quo – but for very different reasons that the Jamahiriya. Hind never experienced a period of full democratization (or for that matter, anarchism), and instead the traditional Islamic elite (the ‘Ashraf Party’) maintain a careful system of apartheid over the non-Muslim masses. To maintain Muslim-unity, the Ashrafis are cooperating with a sect of radical clergy with some sections of the military (the ‘Mujaddid Party’) who euphemistically advocate for a traditional fire-and-sword-and-forced-conversion jihad against the Buddhist states in Asia and any perceived heresies within Islam (particularly Sufism and the many Hindu-Muslim syncretic faiths in Hind). The somewhat more commerce-minded Ashrafis (who aren’t suicidal and know that their own country is still ~50% non-Muslim) aren’t ready to fully give in to the Mujaddidis’ demands but are still hoping for conflict – Hind needs living space, and irredentism is a powerful national unifier, and at any rate. As a result, the two groups have cautiously struck a power-sharing agreement.

And then, the world descended into war.

The War: In theory, the Jamahiriya states and Hind should be on opposing sides in any great conflict. In practice, like the early Soviets and Nazis of OTL, the greater strategic threat to both is the global status quo. In a rather short time, the Jamahiriya have overthrown nearly every government in the Western Hemisphere and at the same time crossed the Pacific to bring the fight to the Turkish Far-east. At the same time, Hind has simultaneously brought Persia and China close to collapse. Two of the three skyhooks (which support off-world transportation) have fallen into the hands of the Jamahiriyas and Hind.

    On the other side, the ‘Triumphal Alliance’ of Six Caliphates and the Egyptian Umma are at last in a position hold steady. There has been some difficulty in articulating a common rallying cry other than ‘fight back against the aggressors’ – global conflict of this scale has necessitated the death political anarchy even on the side that was at one point supposedly fighting for anarchy’s continued importance. But what is their rallying cry? Capitalism? Pluralism? A moderate rejection of extremes? Should the Triumphal Alliance *actually* emerge triumphant, the conflict may provide an opportunity to rethink humanity’s future.

    In the meantime, though the allies have lost a lot of ground, with 1683 being the year that the fight began to look less bleak for the allies. Three of the six Caliphates – Turkiyya, Fars, and Jungguo (China) – as well as the Egyptian Umma, have had some sort of large restructuring in government during the war. Two more – Andalus and Firanj (the Holy Roman Empire) – have been dramatically changed by the loss of many of their overseas holdings; these two are now negotiating with moderate revolutionary groups by promising long overdue referenda on independence following the war, should such groups oppose the Jamahiriya. The only member of the Triumphal Alliance to go on the offensive is the corporate-dominated Caliphate of Zenj, which could stand to gain big from this war, should its side win. Currently, there are ‘major’ military fronts in Busherrat (Argentina), Fars, Jungguo, Djiba (Australia), the Turkish Far East, and Zenji-controlled Somalia. Several more ‘minor’ military fronts exist all around the world. The global death total has already exceeded a hundred million (far less than analysts were predicting even a few years ago, though still not a very cheery fact). How much more the world will have to endure remains uncertain – particularly as scientists in most of great powers are tinkering around with projects that could involve doomsday devices.

Description

This is the world of GURPS Caliph, through the eyes of Mr. Munro, brought up a few years. It’s a High-tech, mostly Islamic and Libertarian place, currently in the midst of a World War II-style conflict. Read Bruce Munro’s write up of the state of affairs in 1679 here: www.deviantart.com/quantumbran…

The POD is that the printing press is invented in 723 in Baghdad. While there would be varied movements within Islam, none would be remotely ‘anti-science,’ and indeed ‘scientific progress’ came to be seen as fundamental to Islam itself. The old, universal Caliphate still broke apart, but when it did, greater firepower meant that neither the Crusades nor the Reconquista could occur, and indeed Islamic states successfully went on the offensive by conquering Italy and the Byzantine Empire. Relatively liberal, progress-oriented Islamic rule in these parts of Europe kicked off an earlier renaissance and period of full-blown industrialization by the 12th century, alongside a global scramble for colonial holdings [1], and by the year 1434, the ‘Caliphate’ of Turkiyya, ruling a Russia-based empire stretching around the world, sent astronauts to the moon. By 1679, the world has known peace for nearly three centuries. Cloning, extensive nanotechnology, brain implants to connect to the cloud, artificial intelligence so good they’re practically considered people, interstellar space travel and plentiful earth colonies across the solar system all exist. Nuclear power has been around for centuries but, until recently, there was never any interest in weaponizing the stuff.

[1] In Talentis (the Americas of OTL): OTL Mexico + the Caribbean + southeastern US was colonized by the Moors (Andalus), the West coast was colonized first by the Khitans but then by the Turks, the territories comprising of the northeastern US + eastern Canada OTL Brazil were colonized by the Holy Roman Empire, and parts of OTL Brazil were colonized by two West African states. On the Great plains and the High Andes, Native Americans avoided colonization, and in general make up a larger percentage of the inhabitants of the Western Hemisphere than OTL. In the last area to be seen as ‘terra nullis,’ Busherrat, (OTL Argentina and the Rio Plata region) the situation was pretty complex with multiple attempts to claim the region made by West African states, the Holy Romans, the Moors, and even a few Swahili tradesmen.

Religion: Even with the turn towards representative democracy, followed by the turn towards Umma-rule (explained below), Sharia law continues to form the basis of many legal systems, and Islam remains somewhat of the default; the notion that the remaining non-Muslims are all Peoples of the Book (and therefore secretly Muslim even if they insist on keeping pre-Islamic cultural ornaments) has rendered the concept of ‘conversion’ mostly moot, and instead many people see Islam less as a social force and more as the historically inevitable realization of God’s existence; something of a science. Indeed, the worldview of one, undivided God who made the universe rationally is, in this universe, has been long held to be a necessary prerequisite for scientific progress.

Anarchism: Most newfangled solutions to humanity’s problems over the last few centuries have in some way or other drawn on ‘political anarchy’ – referred to as governance by ‘Umma(h).’ Said ‘Umma’-ism might be more clearly identified as Anarcho-Capitalism rather than just plain old Anarchism since, rather than seeking the abolition of all hierarchies per se, this Anarchism merely seeks the abolition of the state. Of course, as with any political ideology, variants exist ranging from what we might call ‘Moderate Libertarianism’ all the way to something akin to the ‘Sovereign Citizens’ Movement. Despite different flavors of Umma-rule, many countries have moved towards an increasingly state-less (often corporate-dominated) situation. Wealth inequality has gone out the wazoo; while the poorest people across the globe live in conditions resembling the working class in 21st century America (nothing to sneeze out, say those pointing at how much progress has been achieved) the wealthiest live in essentially unchanging youth with lifespans well above 100.

Revolution: Filled by growing discontent with the above state of affairs, and hoping to throw off ‘anarchy which benefits only the few,’ the revolutionary Jamahiriya movement has arisen. Like Caliph and Umma, Jamahiriya is an OTL Arabic word which has different connotations here. Here, the Jamahiriya movement and its various strands can be summarized as a populist, statist, quasi-Communist, post-humanist, and feminist movement which advocates for the total eradication of religion (meaning, principally, Islam) and the Umma system of government. Like OTL Marxist-Leninism, most Jamahiriya states have a *Vanguardist party guided by the principles of ‘democratic centralism’ (internally allowing for some debate, externally presenting themselves as united fronts), although unlike in Marxism-Leninism, where an organized state run by a Vanguardist party is the means to the goal of stateless communism, to the Jamahiriyas, an organized state run by a *Vanguardist party is the goal itself. One of the wackier, long-term goals of some strands of the Jamahiriya movement is the eventual replacement of human bodies with immortal consciousnesses uploaded to the cloud (which could then be temporarily placed in bodies). The short-term goals (like replacing anarchic Umma-rule with a state capable of other massive projects like ‘scientifically’-planned economies and full gender equality) have a lot more mass appeal.

Authoritarianism: In the world’s largest economy, Hind (OTL India), the ruling cabal is also upset with the status quo – but for very different reasons that the Jamahiriya. Hind never experienced a period of full democratization (or for that matter, anarchism), and instead the traditional Islamic elite (the ‘Ashraf Party’) maintain a careful system of apartheid over the non-Muslim masses. To maintain Muslim-unity, the Ashrafis are cooperating with a sect of radical clergy with some sections of the military (the ‘Mujaddid Party’) who euphemistically advocate for a traditional fire-and-sword-and-forced-conversion jihad against the Buddhist states in Asia and any perceived heresies within Islam (particularly Sufism and the many Hindu-Muslim syncretic faiths in Hind). The somewhat more commerce-minded Ashrafis (who aren’t suicidal and know that their own country is still ~50% non-Muslim) aren’t ready to fully give in to the Mujaddidis’ demands but are still hoping for conflict – Hind needs living space, and irredentism is a powerful national unifier, and at any rate. As a result, the two groups have cautiously struck a power-sharing agreement.

And then, the world descended into war.

The War: In theory, the Jamahiriya states and Hind should be on opposing sides in any great conflict. In practice, like the early Soviets and Nazis of OTL, the greater strategic threat to both is the global status quo. In a rather short time, the Jamahiriya have overthrown nearly every government in the Western Hemisphere and at the same time crossed the Pacific to bring the fight to the Turkish Far-east. At the same time, Hind has simultaneously brought Persia and China close to collapse. Two of the three skyhooks (which support off-world transportation) have fallen into the hands of the Jamahiriyas and Hind.

    On the other side, the ‘Triumphal Alliance’ of Six Caliphates and the Egyptian Umma are at last in a position hold steady. There has been some difficulty in articulating a common rallying cry other than ‘fight back against the aggressors’ – global conflict of this scale has necessitated the death political anarchy even on the side that was at one point supposedly fighting for anarchy’s continued importance. But what is their rallying cry? Capitalism? Pluralism? A moderate rejection of extremes? Should the Triumphal Alliance *actually* emerge triumphant, the conflict may provide an opportunity to rethink humanity’s future.

    In the meantime, though the allies have lost a lot of ground, with 1683 being the year that the fight began to look less bleak for the allies. Three of the six Caliphates – Turkiyya, Fars, and Jungguo (China) – as well as the Egyptian Umma, have had some sort of large restructuring in government during the war. Two more – Andalus and Firanj (the Holy Roman Empire) – have been dramatically changed by the loss of many of their overseas holdings; these two are now negotiating with moderate revolutionary groups by promising long overdue referenda on independence following the war, should such groups oppose the Jamahiriya. The only member of the Triumphal Alliance to go on the offensive is the corporate-dominated Caliphate of Zenj, which could stand to gain big from this war, should its side win. Currently, there are ‘major’ military fronts in Busherrat (Argentina), Fars, Jungguo, Djiba (Australia), the Turkish Far East, and Zenji-controlled Somalia. Several more ‘minor’ military fronts exist all around the world. The global death total has already exceeded a hundred million (far less than analysts were predicting even a few years ago, though still not a very cheery fact). How much more the world will have to endure remains uncertain – particularly as scientists in most of great powers are tinkering around with projects that could involve doomsday devices.