Originally by: stoicfaux

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Edited by: stoicfaux on 23/05/2010 03:16:56

* Taiwan would return back to China.
* Japan would have to scramble to re-militarize itself before China finished with Taiwan.
* Afghanistan would probably fall back to feuding warlords or fall to the Taliban.
* Pakistan taliban/insurgents would probably destabilize Pakistan. Pakistan has nukes, so either terrorists would get nukes or India and Pakistan would nuke each other as India steps in to prevent the destabilization of Pakistan.
* India has a billion people and would probably jump on the chance to increase their military and exert regional influence.
* Indo-china is going to light up in a tug of war between India, China, Japan, maybe Russia, and maybe even Australia.
* The Middle East Arab states would probably make another try to wipe Israel off the map.
* Israel might do something extremely preemptive when it longer has to worry about appeasing Washington.
* The EU (especially the French and Germans) would pump up their military to compensate for the loss of NATO.
* Russia might actually try to subjugate some of the former soviet republics. At the very least Russia would seek to expand/exert its global diplomacy and increase its arms sales.
* Russia and China might make snarling noises at each other, but I don't think there would be any direct confrontation.
* Australia might wig out in fear of China expanding its influence down to New Zealand.
* No idea if Australia's current government is reactionary/conservative enough to pull a Falklands or Mussolini and try to do some (incompetent) empire expansion.
* The UK would freak out and either really join the EU, or fire up a military-industrial complex and try to rebuild their navy and nukes to exert influence.
* Central and South America would have a few wars as local dictators pull a few "****** Hussiens" and try to conquer their neighbors.
* Mexico. Jesus, I don't even want to think of what would happen in Mexico if the US pulled out of world affairs.
* North Korea would feel emboldened.
* South Korea would [bleep] its pants and militarize.
* Whether the Koreas wipe each other out depends on whether North Korea can make up for the loss of US subsidies and whether China can keep North Korea in check.
* US arms manufacturers would have record world wide sales, which would increase the US economy's dependence on a military industrial complex to levels beyond that of the Cold War.
* The UN would probably become much less useful as the US abstains from most votes and stops being the "world police."
* Iran would make a play at being a regional power.
* Iran's neighbors would build up and crash start nuclear weapons programs.
* Israel would probably nuke Iran.
* Canada would still be Canada.
* Non-arab African nations might fall apart into smaller regional powers if "first world" investment dries up. African dictators would start a few wars.
* South Africa would seek to stabilize southern Africa.
* The EU, Russia, China, and South Africa would all make a play for Africa's mineral wealth.

* Oil. The price would go through the roof due to all the political instability and the global economy would crash. Wars over oil would be fought. The US probably won't be able to stay isolated (say hello to Venezuela and Mexico as American territories!)

* Forgot about the huge unexploited mineral wealth hidden in frozen tundra of the former Soviet Union. Russia would definitely make a play to control most of Siberia and China would also try to grab a piece of it, or play Russia off against its former soviet republics.

Edit: forgot about Iran. And oil.
Edit: forgot about Africa.
Edit: digitalwanderer reminded me about Sibera's untapped wealth.

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