United States of America

The United States of America (USA) is a federal constitutional republic located on the North American continent, between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. The country was founded in 1776 after its leaders declared independence from the United Kingdom. Starting in the early 20th century, the US became a major world power, one of the first located outside of Eurasia. The United States is a setting in most Deus Ex games.

Background
The slide into authoritarianism began in the early 21st century, building on the experiences and erosion of democratic foundations that started during the Cold War. The Revised Homeland Security Act of 2012 that allowed for arbitrary restrictions on access to evidence for national security reasons was a sign of things to come.

The real push, however, came three years later. The 2015 oil crash caused by terror attacks in Saudi Arabia, the once dominant superpower entered a free fall it never quite recovered from. The economic crisis exposed massive divisions within U.S. society, powered by increasingly draconian federal regulations, a deepening gulf between the rich and the poor, extremist sentiments surging nationwide, and commonplace discontent. Radical decisions by the government brought order: The Green River Energy Bill opened up protected shale deposits in Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming, while augmented soldiers were permitted to reenlist on the basis of the Recycle Military Bill, shoring up overseas adventures in the Middle East. Fallout from these decisions was contained by even more radical choices: Suspension of posse comitatus and increased powers for FEMA and the NSA. Many states - Texas, Utah, California among them - began considering secession, while cities like Seattle, Dallas and Chicago have become fortress-states in an attempt to maintain normalcy in a dangerous environment. Struggling to hold itself together against the building pressures of balkanization and aggressive, assertive China, the US became a fragmenting nation on a downward spiral.

By 2027, the US and its government remained in a sharp decline economically and politically. Poverty, corruption, and decay rampage across the country, while Congress ignored the problem in favor of continued increases in military spending and serving the interests of corporate lobbyists. The gap between the wealthy and the poor starkly increased as districts in cities became segregated, divided into opulent upper class districts and impoverished crime ridden slums. The middle class became an endangered species, with many Americans are leaving the country for Canada or other more stable countries. Megacorporations became the de facto sovereigns, influencing or even directly controlling many aspects of the government. FEMA concentration camps were established to confront the unrest by jailing political opponents, under the auspices of readiness exercises.

The debate over augmentation has only served to deepen the pre-existing rift among the people of the United States.

In 2030, the same year the AIDS cure was released, a major earthquake hit the West Coast, destroying most of San Francisco and dumping all of Los Angeles and most of Southern California south of Lompoc into the ocean. Some saw more than coincidence in the fact that the cure for a disease long-thought to have spread from San Francisco was released at the same time the city itself was destroyed. No connection between these events has been proved and no evidence of foul play has been discovered. Regardless of root causes, the earthquake forced the government to declare the west coast (or what was left of it) a disaster area.

In 2031, Utah announced its intention to secede from the United States, declaring its independence and annexing what was left of Arizona and Nevada. Inspired by Utah's example, fringe groups in Texas declared independence, too, followed shortly thereafter by a group made up of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming; the Northwest Secessionist Forces, starting the Northwest War. These efforts all failed and the would-be secessionists have been pushed back to the margins of society. However, martial law still exists in some portions of these states.

In 2042, the Sporting Weapons Act moves conservatives and weapons enthusiasts from every state to form the National Secessionist Forces, a rebel group under the leadership of Leon Woods. Their declared goal is the liberation of Washington, Montana, Oregon, and Northern California in a war that they consider the Second American Revolution. Retaliation against the rebels begins - martial law is enacted (and persists in some areas even ten years later) while dissidents and their children are rounded up in FBI-run re-education camps. In 2045 Leon Woods dies in his infamous "Last Stand", but the movement persists.

In 2051, the Statue of Liberty is bombed by MJ12 operatives in a false flag operation to allow UNATCO to be deployed on American soil. Silhouette is framed for this attack. The Gray Death plague begins, quickly becoming the most lethal disease since the early 21st century outbreaks of influenza, the Century Flu or AIDS.

The Russo-Mexican Alliance, emboldened by burgeoning economies built on a foundation of steady drug sales in the US, declares their intention to take back the state of Texas that Mexico had lost centuries before. Conspiracy buffs had long theorized that UN troops would one-day swarm across the Mexican border. Russian and Mexican troops advance rapidly and have, at the time the game begins, taken control of the southern portions of the state. Texas becomes a genuine war zone with battle lines drawn just north of Austin.

In 2052, the United States teeters on the brink of social collapse. The Gray Death takes a systematic toll on the population as the federal services are unable to cope with the situation. Disenfranchised and disillusioned, citizens of America riot. Violence becomes commonplace in cities as the crime rate soars, boosted by local outbreaks of the disease and strict rationing of the Ambrosia vaccine. The situation degenerates to the point where mass graves have to be dug to bury the plague's victims. Even then, many dead and dying are left in the streets as public services and the military are unable to timely dispose of the dead.

Despite this, the government attempts to operate normally, though the President slowly disregards the Congress (for example, paying of US dues to the UN against its will, a third such event in 2052 alone) with an approval rating of 35%. The situation is further worsened by the National Secessionist Forces (NSF), which continues to fight the American government and UNATCO, escalating the tensions and undermining governmental control over the country.

A boiling point is reached when JC Denton goes rogue and begins aiding the remnants of the Illuminati and the NSF. MJ12, threatened by their actions, forces President Philip Riley Mead to declare a state of martial law across the country, with Walton Simons of FEMA in charge of enforcing it.

Within 24 hours, social order in the United States collapses. Governors across the country refuse to implement the presidential directive. The secretary of defense resigns. Military commanders refuse to deploy troops to cities, since, as General Ed Garner put it (promptly relieved of command by Simons), neighbors are not enemies.

The US disintegrates as JC Denton merges with Helios at Area 51, inadvertently destroying the Aquinas routers. This completely obliterates all electronic communications on the planet, plunging the world into a new Dark Age, a two decade long Collapse. By 2072, the map of the former United States is populated by individual city-states, such as Seattle or Chicago. The World Trade Organization and the The Order attempt to link them together, both tools of the resurrected Illuminati.

New York

 * Liberty Island - Location of the Statue of Liberty and UNATCO HQ. Site of an NSF operation in 2052, and location of JC Denton and Helios following their resurrection in Antarctica.
 * Battery Park - Located near the Castle Clinton. NSF escaped here from the island with speedboats after the UNATCO attack to save the Ambrosia.
 * Hell's Kitchen - A troubled area in downtown New York City. Location of the NSF headquarters, the 'Ton Hotel, and Smuggler's hideout.
 * Castle Clinton - Small island off the coast of New York. Location of Battery Park.
 * Mole People Tunnels - Abandoned subway system. Home for countless bums and junkies. Leads to the LaGuardia Airport.
 * LaGuardia Airport - Popular airport owned by Juan Lebedev. NSF forces stop here with stolen Ambrosia after the Liberty Island operation.
 * Brooklyn Naval Shipyard - Location of the PRCS Wall Cloud, a Chinese supertanker carrying Gray Death. Bob Page recently donated a new submarine pen.

American Midwest

 * Chicago - Home of Alex Denton and Billie Adams. Destroyed by a Templar Paladin wielding a nanite detonator prior to Deus Ex: Invisible War.
 * Detroit - Location of an automobile-fueled economic boom in the 20th Century, in the 2020s David Sarif rejuvenated the city with the mechanical augmentation industry.

Western United States

 * Seattle - Following the Collapse, a portion of Seattle was bought by the WTO. The city is now divided between a successful WTO enclave, and an older, traditional remainder of Seattle suffering from crime and urban decay.
 * The headquarters of Mako Ballistics is in or near Seattle.
 * Area 51 - Government facility located in Nevada, home to the Aquinas router, the Helios AI, and several Grays. Recently several scientists have escaped and produced their own laboratory, X-51 nearby.
 * Majestic 12 Ocean Lab - Underwater MJ12 laboratory located in Pasadena, California.
 * Gas Station - Gas station located on a highway somewhere in central California. Tiffany Savage can be found here, held hostage by MJ12 commandos, along with Sandra Renton, if she ran away from home in Hell's Kitchen.
 * The Penley T. Housefather Correctional Facility, a prison for augmented criminals, is located in Arizona.

Соединённые Штаты Америки