INTERVIEWER: How intelligent are dinosaurs?

DINOSAUR RACER 2: We're probably not going to win any prizes, but if you think about it, neither are you.

I am currently guardedly optimistic that the USA will still exist as a political entity in 2023, and that the EU (possibly under a different name; certainly with a different political infrastructure) will do so as well. But in planning the background for that novel set in 2023, I can't rely on the simple assumption that the USA and the EU still exist.