[tshiggins]

Originally Posted by ericthered

As a general thought, what type of divergences will completely kill off europe's rise to power? I'm not talking about bringing someone else to power, just not having europe's dominance come up.

That's a tough one. You'd have to make either China more outward-looking, or make one of the Silk Road empires achieve lasting stability.

Alternatively, you could nuke Europe in the 18th Century, before industrialization really got going. Drop meteors on it, or have everybody die of a disease, or have the Yellowstone Caldera erupt and trigger a winter that lasts for three years, or something.