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Message: <blockquote data-quote="haakon1" data-source="post: 5950252" data-attributes="member: 25619">I'd read up on modern city states.-- Singapore-- Straits Settlements (historical colony of Penang + Singapore)-- Macau-- Brunei-- Hong Kong-- Monaco-- Holy See/Vatican City-- UAE (a series of emirates, which are basically city states)-- the Persian Gulf region more generally (Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and UAE all have some resemblance to city states)You'll notice:-- Many were created as trading colonies (SG, HK, Macau)-- Many are/were protectorates of a great power (HK and Macau are "Special Administrative Regions" of China, Monaco is essentially a protectorate of France, Vatican City is essentialyl a protectorate of Italy).-- Resources sustain some (oil in Brunei and UAE)-- Being an open port with free trade and people visiting from all lands is the lifeblood of others (Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai in UAE)-- One was former pirate haven that made a deal with an empire to stop raiding each other (UAE)-- One is the last refuge of a dead state (Vatican City is the last resting place of the former Papal States)-- Several are repositories for a culture that tried to destroy its own past (Macau, HK, and SG preserved Chinese religion when China itself tried to destroy it in the Cultural Revolution, now mainlanders go to them if they want to learn about old folkways and religion that were surpressed)-- Several have acted as entrepots (portals and exchange centers) between diverse cultures -- HK was a Western/Chinese interaction point.  SG is a hub for trade and management of multinationals across Asia, leverage its English language and connections to India, China, and Southeast Asia.  Dubai is a hub for Western/Arab interaction and management of multinationals across MEA (Middle East & Africa region)-- One was kicked out of a federation due to racial/political differences with the majority group in the federation (Singapore expelled from Malaysia)-- One is a major hub for gambling (Macau)-- One is famous for its movies dramatizing martial arts and organized crime (HK)-- Several provided bases for a foreign power that wants to project power into the region (Bahrain hosts US naval facilities, Kuwait is a portal to Iraq, Singapore was a key British naval base when it was a colony)There's got to be a lot of interesting stuff in the real, current day world to use.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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