Have you ever thought about what would happen to the world if the US government fell?

A thread:

What would happen if the United States government fell?

To put it plainly, the initial global economic fallout would be, in and of itself, disastrous. The US dollar would immediately collapse which would destroy global trade and create stock market crashes across the world. The global banking system would meltdown as a run on banks unfolded when everyone realized their money was no longer safe. Food and other critical supply prices would skyrocket. The UN, IMF, World Bank, and various other institutions would be paralyzed or would collapse entirely. Mass supply chain disruptions would then cause widespread starvation and death. Very few places around the globe would be unaffected.

Domestically, the continental United States would be overtaken by disaster and chaos as societal structures of law and order broke down and widespread violence and looting overtook urban areas. This would cause a mass refugee migration of people fleeing urban areas.

Supply chains would crumble. Blackouts would begin within days without logistical support. Food shortages would overtake the country within a week as most people are incapable of feeding themselves without grocery stores or restaurants. All power and water would fail within two weeks.

Those unable to care for themselves, people in hospitals or nursing homes, or with special needs, would be abandoned. Tens of millions would die within a couple of weeks. More rural areas would remain safe for the first week or so, but eventually the mass migration of refugees from urban areas coupled with the supply chain disruption would overwhelm these areas as well.

The country would, in less than a few months, be ruled by warlords and other forces that would take control over remaining populated regions of the country. The continent of North America would then be enveloped in regional conflicts for the next foreseeable future, potentially decades.

All American expats and deployed Service Members would be essentially abandoned and left to fend for themselves. The large bases in the UK, Germany, Spain, South Korea, and Turkey would be shuddered or acquisitioned by host nation forces. Service Members in hostile or denied areas across the globe would be in the most peril, left to get themselves home without assistance.

US Embassies around the globe would be overrun, searched, and looted. The single largest foreign release of US classified information would further destabilize the world.

In Europe, NATO would collapse without US support, leaving the door open for a Russian invasion of Eastern Europe. Russia would start "small," taking Ukraine, Moldova, the Baltics, Poland, and Romania. Russia would avoid much of the supply chain collapse due to forced preparation because of their recent economic sanctions.

Germany and France would scramble to build their military forces to respond to the threat of an invading Russia. Their militaries combined, however, would leave them shy of 400,000 troops. They both would be fighting economic collapse and civil unrest due to the large migrant population brought in. The population would become violent as chaos erupts around the continent and in the Middle East.

The UK would attempt to reassert its independence from the EU but would likely face overwhelming civil strife and severe economic collapse due to the loss of US trade and coordination.

Israel would no longer be under US protection and would likely preemptively strike Iran's nuclear sites to avoid annihilation. War between Israel, Iran, Hezbollah, and possibly Syria would break out. The Middle East would essentially catch fire in almost all out war or civil unrest.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE would potentially form a temporary alliance with Israel to defeat Iran and other Shia rule in the region, though ISIS and other jihadist groups would reemerge in the vacuum created by the spreading instability in the region.

There would be a high probability of tactical nuclear weapons being used in this conflict.

Turkey would move aggressively to expand their influence in Syria and Northern Iraq, establishing as much new territory as possible before a victor emerged from Pakistan and India.

Without the US as a balancing force, Kashmir would erupt into full scale war between India and Pakistan. China would most likely support Pakistan, while Russia would most likely support India (though actual support would be minimal due to their own increased regional tensions).

Just like in the Middle East, this regional conflict would potentially lead to nuclear attacks. India has about 800,000 more troops than Pakistan and a far more diverse and modern weapons systems arsenal, but Pakistan also has nukes so, in desperation to stop a defeat, they would potentially use them. Not to mention the use of nukes falls into Pakistan’s "first use" doctrine once Indian armor breached into the Pakistan heartland.

China would immediately invade Taiwan and move to fully secure the South China Sea from any outside or western influences. They would also push troops into Central Asia to fill the void left by US led alliances that would have collapsed. Their economy would take a hit due to the collapse of the US consumer market, but their political dominance would just increase to quash or control any unrest.

Both Japan and Australia would become extremely vulnerable due to their reliance upon worldwide economic supply chains. Thus, China would threaten or potentially even attack Japan and Australia, using economic coercion and military threats or actions to make them vassal states under the expanding Chinese empire.

Japan would also have to deal with a chaotic North Korean regime that would likely use the worldwide turmoil to launch missiles and retake the Korean peninsula, hitting Japan simultaneously. Chinese involvement may be able to stop this from happening to Japan, but Korea would likely fall. China would also push aggressively in the Tibetan regions to ensure that India did not encroach upon their territory, assuming India ultimately defeated Pakistan.

With US influence collapsing overnight in South America, economic strife would spread across the continent much like the rest of the world. Venezuela and Cuba would likely unite to try and create a regional powerplay, but the true strength in South America would come from Brazil and Chile, as Brazil has the largest military, and Chile controls the Strait of Magellan.

Brazil, Argentina, El Salvador, Peru, and Chile would likely form some sort of economic and military alliance in attempts to overcome the vacuum created by US departure and to combat Russia (possibly even China) backed Venezuela and Cuba.

Drug cartels in Mexico and Columbia will attempt to seize political power in the chaos, as expanding their roles in government will only expand their power in the region. Mexico on its own would likely be overrun by fleeing refugees from the US looking for some sort of stability. However, during all of this, each nation will be facing their own potential economic or civil collapse due to the supply chain issues generated by the US falling.

I could go more in depth into the most dangerous courses of action that could unfold directly following a collapse of the US government, but the idea of this post is just to show how important the US actually is on the world stage and just how terrifying it would be for the world if it ever collapsed.

Hopefully this never occurs, but if it does, you should already be prepared with enough food and water to keep you and your family alive for multiple weeks.

Being unprepared could be fatal.

DOL