Hrm. Fewer, larger countries implies stronger governments, but most likely a lot of bureaucracy - unless there's multiple branches of government trying to underbid each other on the same tasks. It's the only theoretical solution I can come up with for a large government to avoid ludicrous growth.
So let's start with the obvious governmental questions - dictatorship or democracy? Free-market capitalist, regulated capitalist, socialist, or communist economy? If there's a huge terrorist group, I'm leaning towards a democracy with a free-market capitalist economy, as it allows the villains more ability to equip themselves and forces the government to be very careful in how it deals with its foes.
They're a bit more advanced than us, so medical tech in particular is probably very good, with the ability to replace missing limbs easily. Basic cybernetics are also possible, maybe even to the degree that people get specific cybernetics to help them with their jobs (augmented vision, extended or durable limbs, mental control over vehicles, etc).
The question arises of how they manage to keep this civil war a secret - and who benefits from keeping it secret, anyway? That's a ton of effort, increasing exponentially with each casualty on either side. The villains won't want it secret because it's how they recruit - by presenting themselves as winning, and their enemies as subhuman failures. The government won't want it entirely secret because it makes good propaganda. The *scope* of the war might be kept secret, as may the existence or details of the special unit, but the existence of the war, especially in the information age, when every person has a cell phone that's also a camera, there's little you can do.
As for hovercars, imagine if environmentalists gained power to the point that the roads were torn up to allow nature to take over, after hovercars that can pass over nearly anything a meter or two up without leaving tracks became popular. I don't know how they would function in a scientific sense, but there's a reason why people would prefer them - and how they'd be very useful to a terrorist organization that could lose pursuit in forested areas without leaving tracks behind.
Poll
7 (29.2%)
Author
Topic: Bay12 Writers Guild (Read 58937 times)