The Global Conflict of 2040... or the ghost that haunts the narrative.
Join me on a silly little dive into the possibilities of 2040 and how it continues to affect the show twenty years afterwards. (Very Rambling)
We aren't told much of anything about the Global Conflict of 2040, but we can assume the world we see in TAG formed in its aftermath. We are told people and society "aren't like that anymore", with 'that' being purposely putting other people's lives in danger. (I've already spoken about crime in TAG so we can assume it was about the scale of the crime that was being commented on).
We might also assume that nuclear power has something to do with it. The Van Arkel mine was closed in 2040, seemingly in a rush. Scott tells us that the way we were using nuclear energy pre-2040 wasn't safe.
Today nuclear power stations and decommissioning sites are extremely safe, and the chances of an accident are phenomenally low when managed correctly. Nuclear energy can be used as a backstop as countries and nations shift to renewable sources.
The caveat being 'managed correctly'. When nuclear energy does go wrong, it tends to go very, very wrong.
So, something must have changed between now and 2040 in the way we manage our nuclear power. Perhaps increasing international tensions led nations to accelerate development to reduce dependency on fossil fuel lines and supplies (...👀). This could have led to more nuclear accidents which can easily be blamed on international sabotage. Or, more sinisterly, nuclear power plants and decomissioning sites became the main targets during the conflict, and it was better to step away from nuclear energy as a whole to avoid such weaknesses again.
Atomic mines were also placed into orbit during 2040. We can assume, since they weren't fighting aliens, that this was to keep people from leaving Earth to get away from the fighting. Mutually assured destruction (MAD) only works if both parties can't just run away into space, so mines seemed like the only way to enforce it once space technology became advanced enough.
I've already spoken about the World Council's involvement in this, as well as Jeff's, but just to rehash...
By 2040, the modern world as we know it was on its knees with international tension and conflict, climate change, resource hoarding, nuclear threat and conflict, armed conflict etc etc etc.
A group who would later become known as the World Council began a vicious programme of totalitarian expansion from an unknown location.
Perhaps a nuclear exchange occurred during this period in an attempt to halt the expansion. Perhaps this group targeted strategic spots of nuclear infrastructure to weaken nations before they took over.
The US was one of the last countries standing and was not backing down, even as mines were placed in space by the group to prevent anyone leaving before they completed their task.
Colonel Jeff Tracy betrayed the US and switched sides, helping to bring the country under control before it was completely obliterated. There had already been mass population loss (but I'll get to that soon).
The group reformed the world post-2040 and became the World Council, Jeff Tracy was praised as a hero who helped bring peace to a corrupt country, and the world entered a time of benevolent dictatorship.
