26 years ago the world united in the face of alien invasion. Nations put aside their petty squabbles and stood shoulder to shoulder against the alien hordes.
After the War a strange peace fell over the world... although the aliens had gone, no-one could be sure they were gone forever, nor that they were the only threat that waited out there amongst the stars. Everyone felt the need for earth to present a 'united front', and the UN consolidated the peace, increasing their influence and official peace-maker status, and the presence of the UNVED veterans who remained with the UN made that peace stick.
That peace lasted for over fifteen years, then the 'brush wars' started. A new generation had grown up to whom the threat of alien invasion was nothing but a childhood nightmare. To them the 'world peace' was nothing but a way of perpetuating the injustices done to their peoples in the past. The UN stepped in at flashpoint after flashpoint, and with Tower the 'Invulnerable' warrior at their head the UN forces fought to keep the peace.
They have largely succeeded -but recently it has become clear that small brush-wars in discontent provinces are not all that threatens the uneasy peace. The Great Nations are becoming restive. The signs that the US, Russia and China are engaged in a new 'cold-war' struggle can be seen around the world, national armouries grow larger, and the levels of international posturing and nationalistic sentiment are higher than at any point in the last few decades.
It is perhaps a sign of the times that no foreign dignitaries other than UN representatives have been invited to the US Hosted Veterans Day celebrations.