Join the new world

Ahh, a few days of rest does everyone some good, doesn't it? But back from the ashes I arise! And to a discovery!

This world has been Balkan-centric for as long as anyone can remember. Where else would you find such a concentration of superpowers such as Serbia, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, and Macedonia, all in the same area? While there were certainly powerful nations elsewhere (nice work Poland), the densest concentration of blobby nations was in the Balkans. Many assumed that this would last until the end of time. But ever since airstrikes were implemented, nations started having more freedom to go around and 'visit' other regions of the world. A Bulgarian invasion of Argentina would have been a difficult occurrence, if not downright impossible! After initial invasions to test the waters, nations have begun moving their entire base of operations elsewhere, and this has in fact shifted the centrality of the game from the Balkans.

Now, don't get me wrong. The Balkans are still very important. Anywhere there's a powerful nation like Serbia and a slightly smaller but formidable adversary like Croatia, there's no denying the region's worth. But recent wars and shifts in power have shown that the game is no longer merely about the Balkans.

The most important change, of course, is a new gathering of powers in Oceania. Young superpower Chile has migrated across the Pacific at the Australians' expense, and both Croatia and Romania have airstriked into the region, Croatia with Malaysia's blessing and Romania with Indonesia's 'hospitality'. This has completely shifted the balance of power away from the Balkans, where two gaping holes suddenly lie (Croatia still owns their regions but does little with it). The battles for Indonesian lands have quickly become a staple part of the daily battle list, and a very empowered Australia certainly makes Chile's stay an unwelcome one. If and when a full scale war begins in Oceania and Southeast Asia, it could be a battle for the ages.

The second shift is in the neighborhood near the Balkans: Italy. Now, a little backstory. Greece and Macedonia (FYROM) have been going at it for quite some time, and it's a brutal war. Back and forth the two nations went, FYROM often pushing Greece nearly out of Europe, but Greece holding on, at some points to just the island of Crete. Finally, Greece defeats FYROM but faces Serbia, and decides to sign a non-aggression pact with FYROM (aka we no shoot each other). And their NAP has existed ever since.

Now, why is a treaty between the two important? Italy rarely exists in anywhere near its full size because of its weak army. It gets invaded often, but up until now, Greece, Croatia, and Albania would always lend a helping hand. But now that Apulia has fallen into Macedonian hands, Greece can no longer reach Italy, and by extension the Balkans, without breaking their treaty (usually a no-no). And with Albania wiped themselves and Croatia off partying with Romania in Indonesia's house, what does that mean? There's no one in the Balkans on EDEN's side that can make a big difference. As can be seen by Albania's and Bosnia's disappearance and Italy's demotion to a OPM (look it up), the Balkans are safely controlled by Serbia, FYROM, Bulgaria, and their northwestern neighbors Slovenia, Hungary, and Slovakia. EDEN has all but given up on the Balkan region.

Thanks to some resiliency and scrappy but effective teamwork, another major war has popped up in Colombia. First started to help Portugal break free of Spain's rule, what most assumed to be a petty and futile effort has been far from it. Despite often facing two or more fronts at once, Colombia has lasted far longer than anyone would have expected, and Portugal has managed to escape a few times, and Spain had to use every last bit of force to put down the Portuguese. Nations from Mexico and Canada to even Taiwan have all had their say in the war, and it isn't far-fetched to say that France is tempted (ok maybe a little). The unbelievable, nearly miraculous battling in South America signals a change. Beforehand, these wars were one-sided affairs, with the smaller nation quickly falling to their opponents. But this war is one of the first to show a group of small nations fending off a major power in quite some time.

And finally, the current soap opera drama sweeping across central Europe. Essentially, America and Poland have desired to secure a strong alliance together along with Spain and Brazil. In theory, this group, called Ctrl, would unite the 4 major powers, both protecting them from each other and centralizing power somewhere other than the Balkans. Sounds good, right? But as America and Poland started on separate sides of the political spectrum, and each are unwilling to let go of their relations with other nations, any cohesion between the nations has been limited. The straw finally snapped the camel's back (wow I butchered that phrase), as America issued an ultimatum to Polan😛 stop MPPing Hungary or else.

Did Poland bite? Ask Austria, who's being invaded by America in an attempt to reach the vile Hungarians. Ctrl is in shambles, and although this may signal the end of a possible superalliance, it does bring a massive war back onto the table. While four nations standing strong against the world sounds interesting, two dual superpowers dueling for Western supremacy would certainly be worth a large popcorn and soda as well. In a way, a war between America and Poland would end Balkan-centrism just as well as a American-Polish alliance. Other nations are already taking action as well, with France receiving two lands to block a potential invasion and both Slovakia and Slovenia invading 'borrowing' Swiss-Austrian lands to give Hungary a fighting chance.

So yes, the Balkans are important. They've had a powerful group of nations for many suns and moons. But because of Cromanian emigration, Colombian intervention, Greco-Macedonaian 'peace', and American-Polish tensions, the region has certainly been eclipsed in relevance. Perhaps in the future the Cromanians will return full force to make the area interesting again, or a baby boom will hit Bosnia (please oh please make this happen). But for now, Balkan-centrism looks dead, and hopefully will stay dead. I mean, seriously, how many battles for Apulia are we gonna have!?

Until next time, take care!