It all changed in the 1990s...
In the aftermath of the Cold War, and the 'great politics mess up' of the 1990s, nobody paid attention to the ongoing conflicts in Africa.
War there had been a way of life for decades, and borders were drawn and redrawn on a monthly basis as tribal conflicts raged, surged, swelled and receded.
Amongst this chaos, the masses cried out for mercy and direction, for some stabilizing force to give them unity and something to hope for, and some way to change the wretched course the continent had taken.
Amidst the ebb and flow of tribal violence and civil wars, a new figure emerged. People spoke names and titles in hushed tones, marked with awe and respect: General, Savior, Hero, Leader.
Conflicting reports rose to who this man was, that had managed to weld disparate groups into some kind of unity, and swept across the continent. Those who resisted were turned aside, shattered and broken by the force he had gathered, their weapons and resources further feeding the army he had assembled.
Agents of his, insurgents, terrorists, freedom fighters, messengers: whatever they were called, they all carried his 'message' far and wide: Join us, stand with us, we are one, we are everything, we are the answer to the decadence, the poverty, the misery and the darkness. We are the truth.
Soon, they had a name; The New Caliphate. While the idea was rejected by many established Islamic states for not being the 'truly elected' Caliphate, the sheer pressure and number of people joining the group overwhelmed any objections.
The number of deserting forces outnumbered the loyalists in many countries, and as such many were taken without much of a struggle, the Caliphate gaining more and more trained personnel and advanced technology with each sweeping advance, personnel who then trained others.
Arabic and North African countries joined the cause in short order, and rejected any attempts at intervention, determined to set their own standards and ideals for how they would govern themselves, and that the West was the source of much of their trouble, for it's interference in the running of their countries and societies.
Embassies were ransacked, and ambassadors driven out of the countries in question, along with citizens, forced to leave under arms and threats. UN diplomatic missions were turned away or ignored, as the Caliphate arranged itself into a controlling force across the Middle East and northern Africa.
The Caliphate rejected the interference of European and American forces in their affairs, citing the colonialism of Africa, the slavery of African people, and the Interference in politics of the Middle East as long-term meddling in their affairs, and attempts to subvert their own attempts at governance and their own course of culture and history, and threatened them repeatedly with with attack and retribution on a vast scale should they interfere.
The Caliphate effectively cut off access to the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean via the Suez Canal, such was their influence, as well as denying basing and overflight rights to any non-Caliphate forces in the area altogether, crippling the free movement of people around the region.
Things came to a head in the early years of the 21st century, when the Caliphates' forces attacked a UN multinational security force deployed in Central Africa, intervening in a civil war in the region, providing security to relief and medical workers. The Caliphate accused them of distributing anti-Caliphate propaganda, and of harboring spies and Special Forces personnel who had been planning assassination attempts on Caliphate personnel.
The UN personnel were executed live on the Internet, while others were imprisoned. In retribution, the Caliphate also launched attacks on Israel, and on bases staffed by NATO and other UN personnel in the contested area, launching a response from the other countries involved.
With the large amount of advanced technology they had managed to secure and then reproduce from the countries now part of the Caliphate, they were a considerable threat, and as such the war has quickly become more than a simple skirmish, and looks to be heading fully into a potentially disastrous global conflict.
Originally Posted by reccon
