Sky full of stars opening backstory post 1

In the latter half of the 21st century, in the midst of a mini ice age; the once mighty western powers are shrunken husks of their previous selves. An isolationist but united North America stands alone as the last of the Democracies, threatened by the expansionist Gaian European Republic, a pseudo theocracy ruled by a tiny elite.

The world is fragmented, smashed by war. The Middle East is a radioactive wasteland after the final armageddon between Israel and The Kingdom of God. Russia and China are isolated by both the economic aftermath of the Middle Eastern wars and encroaching permafrost. Following an armed struggle to rid itself of the Gaian republic, the once proud nation of England is little more than one large refugee camp. Dissidence means 'redefinition'.

Three children escape from their would-be Gaian executioners and disappear.....

Update: Post edited. Apologies for poor punctuation and repetition. This will not happen again. In mitigation I would like to plead Windows 98SE and hiccup in my Internet connection..