By 2050 the world is divided by great security and economic blocs; huge entities similar to NATO and NAFTA, the largest of which are Pacific Ocean Treaty Alliance, formed by the victors of the Flood War, and the Association of Independent States, formed by the European Federation, Britain and Canada in response to fears of a resurgence in American-Russian dominance over the planet in POTA. The two are not enemies, in fact, the special relationship between the United States and Britain goes on, but the two super organisations are rivals in all but the military sense of the word. *