The Shattered States of America - the improbably probable

When, a decade ago, Russian economist Igor Panarin claimed the United States was on the verge of disintegration, almost no one took him seriously. But things have changed since then.

After an elected US official, Texas Governor Rick Perry, hinted at secession in April 2009, people really started to pay attention. He claimed then: “Texas is a unique place. When we came into the union in 1845, one of the issues was that we would be able to leave if we decided to do that.”

His comments about possibly leaving the Union caused a media firestorm.

Igor Panarin has, for over a decade, been predicting that the United States will fall apart by 2010. He says: “I feel that in November, at the end of November, the US will see a second wave of the economic crisis. And so, by the summer of 2010, this could result in the disintegration of the US into six pieces.”

Panarin also has his own idea of what the country will look like: “I think the Atlantic zone, which is the area of Washington DC and New York City, will join the European Union. The zone of Texas and the surrounding states will be its own Texan republic. The Californian coast will be under Chinese influence. The Northern and Central States will be under Canadian influence. Alaska, in my opinion, will rejoin Russia. The Hawaiian islands will be under the joint protectorate of Japan and China.”

It seems like many people are questioning now for how much longer the States will remain United. In 2005, the video game “Shattered Union” was created. It shows rising separatist sentiment, the possibility of California and Texas seceding, and a second Civil War that sends the nation into chaos. It’s currently being developed into a major Hollywood film.

The Russian economist also says that the current community spirit “demonstrates how the American dream has shattered,” adding, “For the first time in US history, there is a deficit of bullets in gun stores. This says that Americans no longer trust the Federal Government.”

Without trust, it may be pretty difficult to maintain any kind of Union.