[AlexanderHowl]

In addition, I imagine that the setting uses a lot more espionage and assassinations than OTL, as military force against the USA would seem counterproductive (it and its allies control 80% of space, after all, with China and Russia desperately attempting to keep control of the remaining 20%). The nations that were left out (Brazil, India, Pakistan, etc.) would probably be desperately trying to catch up.

Of course, it is a better world in some ways. Iran is a developed liberal democracy, heavily invested in space, with a 2% share in the orbital solar array, making it equal to Japan or the UK. Taiwan is an independent nation with a 1% share in the orbital solar array, making it equal to France or South Korea.

In some ways, it is less advanced. Due to butterflies, there was never a push to shield Internet platforms from liability related to the content that they hosted, meaning that advancements in computers slowed after 1996, meaning that the ATL computers in 2020 are equal to OTL computers in 2008, as it just made more sense to invest in space than computers. The music industry, because it could sue Internet platforms for the activity of pirates, is much the way it was in the early 90s, as is the rest of the media environment. Without advanced computing and with the move during the 90s to national health care under Brown, biotechnology was likewise slowed, with medicine in ATL 2020 being equal to medicine OTL in 2008, as it just made more sense to invest in space than biotech.