@Tanttu: The EF only has cores on its own territory, not on any other European countries.
@Petorius: Ireland and Britain did not join the EF because ingame they were not members of the European Union's alliance. Ireland was neutral in WW3, and Britain continued to fight on after the EU's peace treaty with Russia, as an ally of the USA. Britain therefore retained independence and Ireland is left to do its own thing, whatever that could be. I actually am thinking of using the unique British situation to have them perhaps forge their own path so to speak, like a Neo-Commonwealth after very nasty things start to happen to the USA.......
As for the Swiss: they were neutral in WW3 and neither the Russian's or the EF are going to dare to change that. Russia has no desire to do anything to Switzerland, and the EF is willing to respect the country's neutrality and maintain very positive relations with them.
@Mr. Santiago: Like Ireland, Malta was not an EU member ingame. Therefore they remained neutral.
@KcindX: The European Federation and the USA are not allies, at least not anymore. WW3 resulted in the death of the old NATO alliance system, now replaced by two different alliances, the Coalition (USA, UK, Canada, Australia, South Africa, etc) and the European Federation with its allies (Libya, Algeria, Sahrawi's, etc).
@red1: The Pro Western government of Turkey was overthrown by the Turkish military just before WW3. Turkey then aligned itself with the SCO and joined WW3 as a Russo-Chinese ally. The Turkish army fought alongside the Russians and their allies in the battle for Europe, with Turkish troops being instrumental to the defeat of NATO's balkan members. Greece was one of those, with their government forced to switch sides after the Greek mainland was overrun and the EU made peace with Russia, resulting in a pro SCO Greece.
@everyone else: Thanks for the comments!
First, in response to the comments about the lack of French representation in the EF's cabinet, I decided to load up quickly as the EF and do a cabinet shuffle for them, since I agreed that the EF should have had a lot more French political representation in its cabinet. Now, French ministers occupy the EF's foreign minister, security minister, and chief of navy positions.
Back in Japan, victory ceremonies all across the country continue. The Japanese regime has attained huge national political approval ratings, despite some of the more negative events of the war, such as the very brief occupation of Okinawa by Vietnamese troops, or the large Japanese casualties taken in some battles on the continent. Minor setbacks are completely forgotten in the elation of Japan's massive victory against two Eurasian superpowers, something that has resulted in Japan becoming the superior military and economic superpower in East Asia.
Now, with Japan's enemies in Asia vanquished, at least for now, the time has finally come to begin a new chapter in Japan's history. A huge victory rally is held outside of the Japanese imperial palace, attended by members of the Japanese regime as well as representatives from Japan's allies. There, the Emperor, who is starting to become more and more heavily involved in politics, declares the beginning of the 2nd Greater Japanese Empire, complete with the reintroduction of the old Imperial era Rising Sun flag.
Questions over the future of regions conquered by Japan over the previous decade are now settled with the declaration of Japan's new empire. Any rumours of Japan granting outright independence to some of these regions are put to rest when Japan announces its new system of overseas "protectorates": regions that will use local administration and law enforcement but with Japanese advisors and leaders present, including Japanese Governor Generals, appointed to each protectorate by the Emperor. These protectorates are also to be made Japanese sovereign territory, subject to Japanese colonial laws and regulations. In Japan's new northern mainland territories, 3 protectorates are established. These protectorates are the Beijing Protectorate, centered around the now ex-Chinese capital, the Manchuria Protectorate, and the Khabarovsk Protectorate, made up of former Russian territories that are now under Japanese control. Also note the establishment of Karafuto prefecture: the former Sakhalin island, now with its Japanese name and annexed as a home territory of Japan.
For Japan's new territories located along the pacific coast opposite of what was once the RoC, only one protectorate is established: the Fuzhou protectorate, administered from the major city of Fuzhou. Meanwhile, both Taiwan and Hong Kong are outright annexed by Japan, with Taiwan becoming Formosa Prefecture, and Hong Kong being given similar status as a permanent Japanese colony.
Finally, Indonesia, Malaya, and the Philippines: countries that had been under Japanese occupation for many years now, are upgraded to protectorate status. Malaysia, and western Indonesia are amalgamated into the West Indonesian Protectorate, while the other half of Indonesia is made the East Indonesian protectorate. These regions are now solidified as integral parts of Japan's new empire.
While crowds cheer in Tokyo over Japan's accomplishments in the war, overseas, news of Japan's imperial resurgence and creation of the protectorate system creates great tension. In the United States especially, this move causes a huge deterioration in Japan-US relations. Japan had been able to somewhat get away with its invasions of places like the Philippines by pledging that Japan was merely fighting to stamp out terrorist groups in east Asia, and had been promising the previous US administration of George W Bush that once Japan was comfortable enough with its security, it would grant independence to those countries it had conquered, a statement the US government believed, but notably many of its people had not. Now, there is no question any more of what Japan's true intentions had been all along, made especially clear when Japan refused any idea of allowing the old Government of the RoC to return to Taiwan and gain sovereignty over Japanese held territories in China. Japan also refuses similar demands by the USA to allow places like Indonesia or the Philippines to declare independence and once again become sovereign states.
In response to this, the US government begins to massively increase its military presence in the region. American aircraft carriers and their escorting ships start arriving in the massive US naval base at Guam, while garrisons in places like Hawaii and Alaska are massively increased. The US also reaffirms military support for places like Australia and New Zealand, and is even reported to be trying to court India into joining the Coalition alliance. It seems that once again, after many decades of peace, America and Japan are bound to come to blows at some point in the near future.
Finally, some quick IC comparisons due to popular demand. Of Japan's 5 country alliance, which also includes Singapore and the Republic of Vietnam, Japan is by far the most powerful, with almost 900 effective IC. Japan's two major allies, Korea and Thailand, have just about equal IC to each other, something which allows both states to be able to raise and maintain rather powerful militaries.
In the SCO's camp, Russia has taken the place of China with having the largest IC count of the group. China, which is still somewhat of a domestic basketcase, is however beginning to recover, as China's military Junta clamps down on dissension and begins to direct economic and military recovery.
For the Coalition, the USA dominates all of its other members in IC count, with over 1000 effective IC. Britain meanwhile has taken the role of the Coalitions 2nd in command, with about 200 effective IC.
Finally, the worlds remaining military/economic powers. The European Federation has through unification emerged as the worlds strongest economic power, with a huge IC count, something reflected by the EF's massive and technologically advanced military. India is also notable, now possessing a larger IC than China and highly confident militarily due to its victory over arch rival Pakistan in the shadow of World War 3. Finally, ECON alliance leader Iran possesses the largest effective IC count of its alliance, with almost 100 effective IC going towards maintaining Iran's powerful army.
