America's Funniest President: Mo Udall Presidency & Beyond

2004 Review
2004 Review


2004 would see the continuing changing in politics, the economy ansd technology. The Federalist Party has officially become the political party for American conservatives for the most part, with a couple of smaller state-focused parties being the exception. Meanwhile, the United Central Party celeberated in Clinton & Gore securing victory with reelection, even as they were having to compete more in the various local and state elections. It further helpd codify their political and economic stances, trying to balance out social democracy with mild neoliberal economic policy. Additionally, there was also the gowing side of investment in technology through Vice President Gore's influence on the party. The Democrats were still holding out as a major party, but they were having to find out what more to focus on. While some issues were easier to pick, such as expanding parental leave and other worker ideas, it was more amongst the youth in that regard. Beyond that, it seemed like eveything else was going all right. There were stances that multiple parties were agreeing on and would need to be addressed soon. Some future issues would be needing to be addressed more, such as the rising number of questions with technology and the like. This would especially be the case as it was becoming clear tech would be evolving faster than most politicians were able to keep up with. After all, MySpace came out last year and the release of ConnectU this year would gather the interest of various politicians, unaware of how such sites will be growing in influence and dominance over time. Meanwhile, Clinton's victory would secure more chances for the UCP to pick members of the Supreme Court, currently consisting of newcomer Sonia Sotomayor (since 2003), David S. Tatel (since 2003), Ruth Bader Ginsburg (since 2003), Richard Riley (since 1993), Janie L. Shores (since 1995), Bruce Babbit (since 1995), Laurence Tribe (since 1995), José Alberto Cabranes(since 1999), and Chief Justice Gilbert Stroud Merritt Jr (since 1998). Riley would be resigning next year though rumors would be Shores may be considering early retirement.

Foreign policywise, things have quieted down for the most part. The State of Arabia has begun its first full year under the interim government who has begun undertaking a large-scale "modernization" program regarding infrastucture across the whole nation along with reacquiring as much wealth the House of Saud exploited from petrol along with gathering foreign investment. All while cracking down on reactionary dissidents and those resisting the new secular legal system, especially as sharia law was no longer the law of the land. Groups like the European Union, CETO and the like were expanding and nations were adapting to the growing landscape of the Internet in their own ways. Even the Sovereign Union and China have become relatively open over the access people have to the web. This is especially the case with North Korea as the shared internet acess would help further tie and accelerate the unification process. It was all part of the growing tech boom with companies like Akashica, NeXTech, and the like getting on board with it and other nations realizing the Americans were leaving them in the dust there. The Sovereign Union would go and prepare for the creation of their own public ISP like the Americans have, mixing in traditional broadbant and wireless broadband. China would also consider such an investment here, especially as the nation continued its reorganization and political reforms. However, with Ziyang's declining health, many wondered what would be next for the nation along with who would be his successor afterwards, though many are pointing to Wen Jiabao. Some were wondering of the former student protestors and their allies, who are coming into own over the oncoming decade.

Over in pop culture, the big winners would be those least expected. For example, the one of the highest grossing film of the year would be none other than Shrek 2. A sequel to the beloved classic, it manages to go forward quite well with the story. Shrek and Fionna deal with their happily ever after as they must meet with Fionna's parents along with the antagonist, the Fairy Godmother and her son, Prince Charming. Shrek and Donkey meanwhile would be joined by a new ally, the suave French vulpine musketeer, Reynard the Fox. This would not be the only DreamWorks film released however, as they would also release Dreamworks' The Secret of Monkey Island. An adaptation of the first game of the beloved "Monkey Island" franchise, the film would take a few departures from the source material, combining characterization elements from the first games for the sake of being cohesive. Animated well in 2D with some exta polish by Bluth, it was streamlined enough for the most fun experience, but also with some adjustments to the humor and pacing for it to be a fresh experience. The story follows Guybrush Threepwood, a young man desiring to be a pirate and his conflicts with undead pirate, LeChuck along with his new friend, the governor's daughter in Elaine Marley. The film would delight both new fans and veterans, and news would be that there would likely be several more films down the line. Beyond the collaboration with LucasArts, it would show it growing close to MetroCentury, who helped distribute the film. Also of note would be a trailer for a strange new film in Madagascar.

Disney meanwhile would have its own grand releases. One would be A Few Good Ghosts. A Romeo & Juliet sort of tale, it focused on the feuding families of the Harpers and the McGees (based on the famous feud of the Hatfields and McCoys). However, a romance forms between the two girls in Ellis Harpe and Rose McGee , with the former creating magic dolls to communicate, but it goes awry. Known for the main doll, Angel, being voiced by the famous Dolly Parton. Also, another Disney film would end up competing against the Monkey Island film in Atlantis II. Originally planned for a DTV release, Dreamworks' ambitions to have 2 films out had them pump more money into the film and make it a theatrical release. Taking place years later, it has Milo and his friends reuniting. It has been 5 years since the events of the previous film and there is a sense of transition with the end of the Great War above. However, Kida discovers a family secret, namely that the first founder of the comet and his fallout with his brother, who took some crystal and used it to create some strange metal. The journey sees them venture deep into the earth to find a "second Atlantis" underground. That of a martial civilization using the metal (orichalcum) and them needing to prevent war and calamity. The film ends with peace, but the main antagonist, the long-lived lich-like "Emperor" spites the team by seemingly launching his comet crystal into a volcano, which would later erupt and spread fragment across the world. This would set up the events for a television series. The trailers would also reveal Treasure Planet II along with a new Pixar film in The Incredibles.

Besides the domination of animated films within the box office, other films were doing quite well. The big one would be Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. Taking place more than a decade after Episode I, the film would focus on Anakin, now a full-grown padawan, and going on missions with Obi-Wan. While the two share a brotherly bond, it is still mixed with Obi-Wan's formality and othodox approach (unlike the more flexible and unorthodox approach of his deceased master Qui-Gonn Jinn.) The two are involved in a conspiracy as they reunite with Padme Amidala, Jar Jar and the others. The film sets up the infamous "Clone Wars", named for the massive army consisting of cloned individuals and soldiers fighting against the mechanical armies of the Legion of Systems, led by the mysterious Archcount, the who seemingly plays up the Sith Lord role and played by Christopher Lee, who channeled a "Sauron-like" presence for the role. The film also gathered intrigue for further casting Jar Jar in a suspicious light due to his interactions with the Archcount. As the fandom would say, "not sure what side Jar Jar is on". The film would also have a few references to the anthology television show that aired prior. The film ends with the beginning of the wars along with Anakin and Padme both mourning the loss of peace and innocence. The film also had a trailer for Star Wars Episode VIII: Legacy of the Force. Other noteworthy films included The Passion of the Christ, The Bourne Supremacy, National Treasure, Oceans' Twelve, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Hellboy, a remake of Dawn of the Dead, Shaun of the Dead and Napoleon Dynamite. Perhaps the most fascinating film would be Morgan Spurlock's indie documentary Sugar High. Known for the picture of Spurlock in a messed up suit with powdered sugar on his face while holding a bag with a crazed expression, the film was created as a desire to investigate the concerns over rising obesity. While he initially considered fast food, Spurlock would switch to sugar or more accurately, hidden sugar in products. His film covered various aspects, most notably how many companies lobbied to have fat be blamed as the culprit for weight gain rather than sugar and how alot of low-fat or fat-free products have various sugars in them for substitues. Spurlock noted the problem wasn't the sugar itself, but the companies lying and manipulating the consumers about it. With something like a donut, a cookie or a piece of cake, you usually know what you're in for. With these other products, it's duplicitious. He has noted talks also of cheaper junk food and food deserts, but has balanced it out with how recent developments like agrihoods and the like, have worked to deal with that. He also notes the various different types of sugars and how they're not all created equal though he doesn't go as much detail, noting not enough in-depth research to know their effects fully. The film would have prominent effects on pop culture, especially the younger generation and the like, with a fair bit of companies realizing they're in trouble, especially as this would domino effect into other issues.

Television would also have its fair share of rising fascinations One would be the end of Friends ends its run after 10 years. Another would be Ken Jennings' long run as a Jeopardy champion. New shows like Deadwood, House MD, Veronica Mars, CSI: NY and Lost were gathering mystery and intrigue for alot of people. Science fiction would get Battlestar Galactica, Stargate Atlantis and so on. Comedy would still be around such as sitcoms known as Drake and Josh. Some of the major new cartoons would be Megas XLR, a obot show aimed at an older audience along with Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, an animated series staring a fictional version of the band of the same name and their misadventues in dealing with American and Japanese society on Cartoon Network along with a sequel to the Justice League animated series in Justice League Unlimited, which would see the inclusion of many many more DC heroes and villains to be seen. Disney would move on ahead with the creation of its new Jetix bloc, bringing in shows like Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! and W.I.T.C.H. along with Bobby Phantom, an adaptation of their comic property of the same name and then of course their own anime block in Disnippon! Nick would still be doing quite well with the developments of their own projects, especially with rumors circulating of them interesting in buying the TMNT franchise. MetroKids and KidsWB were not doing as well, though the announcement of a new Star Wars animated series for the former would attract quite a bit of interest. Anime continued to grow and prosper on different levels. Overall, television was still in a bit of a struggle but doing all right.

Video games would also be seeing their fair share of success. Nintendo would unveil new games for the GameCube and the Super Game Pal. For the latter, there would be Legend of Hyrule: Four Swords Chronicles, Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes (a remake of the original Metal Gear Solid), Pikmin 2, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, Metrioid Prime 2: Echoes, Krion Quest II, Banjo & Kazoothree, Perfect Dark II, Viewtiful Joe 2 and Baten Kaitos. The Super GamePal meanwhile would bring back the old school back with remakes for the Super Game Pal with Pokemon Neo Red Version and Pokemon Neo Green Version along with a later release of Pokemon Neo Yellow Version. Besides the updated graphics and mechanics, it also brought a surprise for fans with the Sevii Islands over in Neo Red/Green or in Neo Yellow, the Chroma Islands (which were introduced in the Pokemon anime). Other games for the SGP was Metroid: Zero Mission, a remake of the original Metroid, Legend of Hyrule: The Minish Cap and Kirby & The Amazing Mirror. Playstation would have games such as Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga, Sly 2: Band of Thieves, Jack & Daxter 3, Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater and others. This is not including games that have been going cross platform, such as the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. With it and the Sonic games over on the Super Game Pal, it was looking SEGA would no longer be part of the console wars. The Abox meanwhile would have the second game of the Swordquest Neo line in Swordquest Neo: Fury of Fireworld and Crystal Castle Chroniles II: Berthilda's Revenge along with further games such as Halo 2, Fable, Half-Life 2 and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II The Sith Lords. Other games included a new Megaman game for the PS2 and Abox along with more. For PC, there was Final Fantasy XI: Chains of Promathia, Everquest 2 and many others. The two biggest of impact would be World of Warcraft and Cave Story. The first would become the MMORPG that many youngsters of the generation would come to grow up with, choosing between the orderly Alliance of humans, night elves, dwarves and gnomes or the chaotic Horde of orcs, sun elves, trolls and goblins as the starting races and playing with others across the world. Cave Story meanwhile would become considered the first quintessential independent or indie video game due to the one-person development team and its impact, inspiring many people they too can make games by themselves.
 
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Winter 2005- Zòngbié Zhao Ziyang
Winter 2005- Zòngbié Zhao Ziyang

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General Secretary Zhao Ziyang (1919-2005)


2005 would be expected to bring alot of new things over for the new year after all. However, one of the big news would be the passing away of Zhao Ziyang, the CCP's General Secretary and paramount leader of China. He was considered the third most powerful man, behind US President Clinton and Chief Director Viktor Arkadyevich Tyulkin of the Sovereign Union (and both men would get reelected this year). The result of pneumonia in his old age, he never stopped working in his final days. He kept on leading and pushing toward political reform in the nation, pushing for electoral representation in China, even if it meant ending the one party rule over in China. Over the past decade and a half since his ascension and the standoff at the Square, he has been more and more successful. Starting at local levels and growing from there, more reforms were introduced to bring elections to the people and letting them choose their leaders. Starting first with village level elections in the early 1990s, this would grow to expand upward such as township elections, county level elections and even prefectural levels, which included subcatagories and analogues. By the time of Zhao's passing, he had been pushing over for elections over at the provincial and subprovincial level, letting people decide their local leaders at such level. While his party was willing to go relatively easy with villages and even townships, counties and prefectures were hard-won victories and no one was sure if he could succeed in provincial level elections. However, his death would martyr him and with this fame came the last big push needed and plans would be in place so 2007 would see the introduction of provincial level elections for China. While it was doubtful they would bend any further, the elements would be in place for the people to begin speaking and organizing, making it a matter of when. With the elections at the party would come the rise of the new general secretary. Unsurprisingly, it would be Wen Jiabao. The two men have worked closely together since the 1980s and have grown closer from there, with Jiabao rising further. While Jiabao remained ambivalent on true national elections, he was not against it and his statements would have be focusing on other issues, such as policies focused on rural areas, migrant workers and the like. Wen Jiabao had already met President Clinton and Chief Director Tyulkin, congratulating them on their reelection and in turn, the two men expressng their condolences and looking forward to working together.

However, as the People's Republic of China mourned the moss of their paramount leader, who helped guided the nation to the end of the Cold War to the new millenium and beyond, the world kept going forward. One such bit would be the official implementation of the Kyoto Protocol, the international treaty to have state parties across the world and at various levels to commit to the reduction of greenhouse gas levels among other changes needed to deal with manmade climate change. Alot of leaders noted the great amount of progress made on various levels, especially the US with nuclear power, but alot of work needed to be done. At the same time, it also provided a sense of direction and incentive for investment. The solar energy race was heating up as more money and research going in was showing that people were getting close to overcoming the hurdles of solar power. The hope that within a few short years, before the end of the decade really, they would be able to gather solar energy and create solar panels at a practical level matching or even below the pricing of fossil fuels for larger scale implementation and the like. And that was not say of the growing potential of wind power and of course, tidal and geothermal as well. Even with the updated increased standards, there was a sense of optimism and hope in being able to match or even exceed those expectations while others wondered what they would do beyond even that. One answer of course was in space exploration. After all, the interest for space in the name of innovation and investment continued on, especially with the growing successes of smaller space programs and inspiring others to keep going. One such example would be the growth of SpaceX under Elon Musk and one of the new chief investors in Jeff Bezos, owner of Akashica.

In fact, new cosmic activities would continue the fascination of such enthusiasts. Deep Impact would be launched from Cape Canaveral with the purpose of studying the comet Tempel 1 and then days later, the Huygens spacecraft lands on Titan, the largest moon of Saturn. [1] However, the bigger news would also come in the discovery of a new small planet over in Eris. Said planet would be discovered by by a team led by Michael E. Brown using images originally taken on October 2003, at the Palomar Observatory. [1] Such cosmic news would help fill in the void during the periods of peace and continue to influence the zeitgeist into stories and ideas of exploring the stars. Beyond this though, there would be one last bit of news. A new website being launched. While initially being touted as a potential dating site, the website would go on to have quite an enormous impact on the world and showing some immense possibility for alot of people. Launched by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim over in San Bruno, California, this website would be known as YouTube. [1]

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[1]- Information and phrasing from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005
 
And feel free to ask questions about any of the fandom stuff and so on. With Clone Wars, the army is clones of various different people instead of just one man. Armor is still the same though. Still serves as a warped mirror to the Mandalorians. As for Anakin and Padme, the two are still friends for right now, but clearly at the cusp of developing a relationship. The Clone Wars animated series would show Anakin and Padme's relationship go to starting romance, ups and downs, and marriage there, along with how the tension of their positions make it difficult.

And yeah, instead of Super-Size Me, we get Sugar Rush. Had that idea for a long while XD.
 
Spring 2005- Deep Throat Identified
Spring 2005- Deep Throat Identified

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William Mark Felt Sr. aka Deep Throat (1913-2008)


The spring thaw began coming. With the loss of Ziyang, China would continue moving forward. While their trend of political reforms seem to have paused for now, the changes made already set in stage the mechanisms needed for the people to take charge. The activists and supporters from that incident of the square have been grateful to the efforts of Ziyang and they will take it from here. Of a Chinese nation, run by the Chinese people themselves. Of course, this was not the only activity going on regarding China. With the rise of the new leadership, Jiabao would go and tour the region and getting to know more his fellow leaders. This included matters such as further talks on the process of Korean reunification, dealing with leftover troubles in Southeast Asia, helping to provide aid to the people of northern Sumatra after the Nias–Simeulue earthquake shakes them with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VI (Strong) [1], and of course, futher talks with Taiwan. Relations between the two Chinas have become more and more cordial over the years, especially thanks to the effort of Ziyang. The discussion of reunification between the two nations has been seldom, focusing more on deescalation of tensions right now. Taiwan has applauded China's progress in its reforms, but still feels uncertain in reunification at all. The same goes with China itself, if mainly because they don't see it as really worth picking any fights over. For now though, the Jiabao regime would continue in settling in as the world keeps on changing.

Tragedy would strike the western world as Pope John Paul II dies. With millions of the Catholic world grieving him, thus would begin the selection and after a month, a new pope would be chosen. Said pope would take the name "Pope Benedict XVI". [1] This brought the Catholic world back into the spotlight, mainly in reflection of the past few years for the Church. Namely the various scandals that the Catholic Church was needing to deal with. The past decade or so was seeing the Catholic Church rocked by the allegationa and accusations regarding pedophilia and abuse that has been swept under the rug alongside with a growing sense of frustration at the institute's seemingly growing resistance to social and culture changes. This has been leading to potential concerns of people leaving the churches along with a growing generational gap between the older and younger folk as a result of these culture changes. Another bit more unexpected twist was the growing frustrations at the Eurocentric nature of the church's leadership and upper echelons. While not likely to go anywhere, it was still considered another factor to be observed for long-term trends.

Even with all the tragedy and the mouning, life would keep going on. The first solar eclipse of the year would be a rare hybrid event, occurring at ascending node in Aries. approximately 4 days after the Moon reached perigee. A hybrid solar eclipse was visible from south Pacific, Panama, Colombia and Venezuela, and was the 51st solar eclipse of Solar Saros 129. [1] Some notable court cases would grab some attention such as the Supreme Court ruling the death penalty as unconstitutional for juveniles who committed their crimes before the age of 18 and a lower court letting a euthansia occur. [2] One fascinating bit of news would come over from the technological ectorm namely with the release of a video known as "Me At the Zoo", becoming the first video over on a growing video website known as YouTube. Technology would keep racing on and developing such as more complex MP3 players with NeXTech's NexPlei Mini coming out and Microsoft's Zune beginning to really pick up steam as a serious compeitor to NeXTech's juggernaut of a product. Computers kept growing stronger along with laptops and PDAs. One more bit of fascinating news would be none other than something regarding Water. W. Mark Felt would reveal himself to be the Watergate scandal whistleblower known as "Deep Throat." [2]

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[1]- Information and phrasing here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005
[2]- Information and phrasing here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_in_the_United_States
 
Sorry that this update took a while! Hope everyone is having fun with the timeline and enjoying it.

We're in a pretty placid timeperiod, not unlike how OTL mid 2000s were though we're still appoaching a couple of inevitablesand oncoming changes. Is still crazy how much things have diverged despite it all though.
 
Summer 2005- The Oncoming Storm
Summer 2005- The Oncoming Storm


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Supreme Court Justice picks Micheal Sandel and Mario Cuomo


As summer set in, there was a bit of interesting activites going on. The Clinton Administration would be undergong the process to find the replacement for Richard Riley as he would be retiring from the Supreme Court. Addirionally, a bit of a surprise would come with Bruce Babbitt deciding to take an early retirement from the Supreme Court as well. This would be giving the Clinton Administration two more Supreme Court judge picks over for the time. Fortunately, it would not take very long for Supreme Court justices to be picked, with the selection being Micheal Sandel and surprisingly enough, Mario Cuomo. Despite his retirement, Cuomo would accept the president's invitation to go and join the Supreme Court. Some have been concerned regarding the Supreme Court year limitations, given how thanks to the circumstances, Clinton was able to choose not just them, but also Sonia Sotomayor (since 2003), David S. Tatel (since 2003) and Ruth Bader Ginsburg (since 2003) as his Supreme Court judge picks. Additionall, he would also be in line to replace Janie L. Shores (since 1995) and Laurence Tribe (since 1995). This would give Clinton quite a large number of influence as his successor would only be able to replace José Alberto Cabranes(since 1999), and Chief Justice Gilbert Stroud Merritt Jr (since 1998). Of course, despite all of these concerns, there was not much of a solution to be found. After all, lifetime judge appointments were removed for the sake of modernization. At the same time, the adherence to the Code of Ethics did reassure that if nothing else, there would be a minimalization over of politically-affliated judges with agendas with party favorability.

Meanwhile, the summer of 2005 would see quite an intriguing celeberation, over with Live 8.[1] A large string of concerts, it's viewed as the spiritual successor of the Live Aid concert, which would be celeberating its 20th anniversary here and now. In fact, it would be Bob Geldoff himself of Live Aid that would organize the events over for Live 8 with help from various acts and talented folk. While there would be some controversy, namely with how the original line up of the Hyde Park concert faced criticism for having only one non-white artist – Mariah Carey. [2]They did respond by adding more, such as British R&B singer Ms. Dynamite and Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour. [2]The US would note this and focus on a prominent selection of musicians of color. Besides N'Dour performing in the US Live 8 concert, he would be joining by Snoop Dog, Whtney Houston, Tupac & Biggie Smalls (which included a duet with the two) among with some African musicians such as Baaba Maal, Fatu Gayflor and Alemayehu Eshete Andarge. However, the big surprise would be none other than Micheal Jackson coming out for his first live performance in years. Beyond this, he would organize an additional Live 8 concert over in Ethiopia. The line consisted of mostly native African musicians with the exception of Jackson, who helped organize the event. Overall, despite the troubles, an impressive amount of money would be made to help combat poverty and other issues in Africa.

Live 8's large success would be talked all across media, including the rising websites of social media, which helpd organize a fair bit of attention. Indeed it was the first major talking point of new social media website Reddit. [3] Though speaking of global events, one notable bit of news would be the announcement that the 2012 Olympics would be held in the Sovereign Union's capital city of Triumfgrad. This sent quite a bit of a buzz of excitement over in the confederated republic. However, not everything was positive though. The end of the summer of 2005 would see New Orleans be hit with one of the most brual hurricanes ever in history: Hurricane Katrina. [3] Despite the massive amount of damage, there was some relief. The flood protection system, especially the city's levee, was rebuilt and reinforced over in the last decade as a result of the growing infrastructure developments by President Askew and Specter. The protection system and reinforcements would prove their necessity yet also serve as a grim reminder over of the raw power of nature. This included how costly rebuilding would be. President Clinton would respond over with national aid and the various neighboring counties and states would help one another. It also prompted further talks on further storm proofing cities and locations, especially with the changes in city planning and the like over. Despite the devastation, it further served to remind people to help one another in rebuilding, rescuing and caring for one another.

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[1]- Information and phasing from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005
[2]- Information and phasing from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_8
[3]- Information and phasing from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_in_the_United_States
 
What if Sovereign Union's leaders created a new bloc based around helping the African states and the traditional Soviet allies in Africa before they become the Sovereign Union
 
What if Sovereign Union's leaders created a new bloc based around helping the African states and the traditional Soviet allies in Africa before they become the Sovereign Union
The Sovereign Union has their own growing sphere of influence, but not exactly a formal bloc of sorts. Mainly because of growing relations with other states as their current self. Would say they have a focus in Africa if mainly in Zaire.
 
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