(I think this falls well within the restrictions, as all the ASB things are a direct property of the resource, which can manipulate gravity. And the description said leeway would be granted for future maps)
Quite a bit of backstory and explanation needed for this one. The map was inspire by the very complex freeware space 4x game Aurora. The sciencey stuff comes from the game's website, whereas some of the actual politics on Earth is inspire by a fan fiction written by one of the game's co-creators.
The resources involved in this rush are called "Trans-Newtonian Elements". These elements have nuclei much more dense then any previously discovered and are found near Earth's core (as well as in stars, gas giants, etc). I've thus mapped them to areas where plates meet, or have a high level of volcanic activity, such as the ring of fire. The elements are so dense that through a previously unknown quirk of physics they behave with increased quantum effects even in normal states and physical interactions. For example, a spaceship equipped with a Trans-Newtonian engine can obtain never before imagined speeds, around 2000 km/s (the acceleration is also taken care of, don't worry) for a fighter sized craft, but the ship will behave as if it were in a fluid, such as being able to bank while maneuvering despite being in a vacuum as well as coming quickly to a full stop (in relation to the sun) when thrust stops being applied.
The first 11 Trans-Newtonian elements are discovered in 2015 and immediately spark a technological revolution the likes of which have not been seen. The discovery revolutionizes space travel. Development starts slow but in 2020 an ESA spacecraft makes a stunning two month round trip to Pluto using a second generation engine, sparking a proper space race. All countries and blocs capable of doing so begin to establish outposts through the solar system.
In 2025 physicists at a major American university make another shocking discovery. Scientists had known since the beginning that Trans-Newtonian minerals were heavily tied in with gravity. However, these new studies predicted that the fabric of the universe was not uniform, and that weakpoints could be accessed and used as "wormholes", a term borrowed from popular fiction, to reach other star systems. High concentrations of Trans-Newtonian minerals in stars served as "anchor points" for the theorized network, and that a a charged ring of Trans-Newtonian material configured properly could allow a ship to "jump" between points in the network, probably on a one to one basis. The team calculated that a system could have up to around 20 such points, though on average the number would be about 4 to 6. A survey ship could travel around the system at a set distance from the Sun and scan for potential wormholes.
In 2028 a joint NASA-ESA mission tested this theory and found it to be true. Further probes founds eight wormholes leading away from humanities home, generally to stars close by, but not always.
Boring science part ends here
Still, while space exploration was at an all time high, the vast majority of Humanity was still more concerned with Earth. Trans-Newtonian science had granted new luxuries to the rich and middle-class of nations possessing the needed technology, but overall the situation had not changed much.
Global politics had switched from playing a game of oil to squabbling over the new resource deposits. While in time extra-terrestrial mining could perhaps meet demand, and all major powers had at least one mining base offworld, it would take decades to reach the needed level of supply. Unfortunately, Earth itself was actually rather resource poor in Trans-Newtonian terms, at least when the planet was divided between five competing factions.
Two factions had a head start in the race. The team that originally discovered Trans-Newtonian physics was a cooperative venture between American and European researchers. The Americans got started on development first, having vast deposits under the Rockies and in Alaska. In time, people would forget the small decline the nation took at the start of the 21st century as the US skyrocketed ahead. Canada was happy to join efforts, and over the course of the next twenty years American corporations laid claim to the rest of the Trans-Newtonian deposits in the Western Hemisphere, sometimes using tactics similar to that of the United Fruit Company of decades past.
The EU did not possess many deposits locally. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately depending on one's viewpoint, the development movement tied itself in heavily with the political parties who sought a united Europe. This did lead to eventual consolidation into the European Federation in 2026, as well as a strong armed foreign policy as leaders tried to bridge the resource gap. Ironically, while not as important as it had been during the oil era, the Middle-East was still a vital region, and the target of many European efforts, along with bits of Africa. In another ironic development, as talks of EU integration drug on, the UK disintegrated, pressured not only from the mainland, but from a growing republican movement.
Russia came a bit late to the party, having many problems inside it's own borders. While definitely on the upswing, Russia has been content to mostly focus within, satisfied with the massive Kamchatka deposits and what it gained from Europe through a series of diplomatic coups. While some still remember fondly the days when Russia was one of only two superpowers, they are also hesitant to enter into the high risk politics that come with such a role, though by no means does Russia abstain from the occasional gambit.
Japan and its allies are in an interesting spot. In the period right before and right after the discovery of Trans-Newtonian elements there was a decreased interest in the land of the rising sun. While by no means were they "abandoned", their economy simply wasn't "the next big thing" many had predicted back in the late 20th century. This, coupled with increased tensions with China lead to increased foreign policy initiatives by the Japanese government, and even the amending of article 9 of their constitution. It was shortly thereafter that the discovery was made of the massive Trans-Newtonian deposits under the home islands were made, reinvigorating the Japanese economy and reigniting past predictions of Japanese economic dominance.
Soon thereafter, another such deposit was found under Luzon, propelling the Philippines into the ranks of the Asian tigers. China, which had no deposits of it's own, began eyeing its neighbors for chances to join the Trans-Newtonian race. The further increase in tension lead to the formation of the Asian Democratic League, sometimes referred to as the "Asian Defense League" unofficially, between Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, and, by secret agreement, Taiwan.
China got by, but barely, by investing in the East Africa Federation when deposits were discovered there. The effort had been a noble one at African union, but had gotten rather lackluster support from the international community up until China jumped at the chance. While corrupt, the EAF is comparable to Taiwan or South Korean right after becoming true democracies in terms of economics, and having slightly comparable political situations. A similar situation is occurring in Papua New Guinea, while China has a favored trading deal with New Zealand.
The only remaining source of Trans-Newtonian minerals, aside from a few small mines in the depths of Ethiopia that aren't very lucrative, are two large areas ripe for development in Indonesia. While always troubled, the situation has grown worse in recent years as the government increasingly takes desperate measures to "fight off foreign influence".
While most of this is just outright paranoia, the leadership's fears are no totally unfounded. China does indeed have designs on the country's resources. On November 6th, 2033 they sink one of their own freighters coming back from New Zealand in a covert operation and blame it on Indonesia. Two days later they use it as an excuse to invade and seize the Trans-Newtonian deposits. The situations spirals out of control, and eventually their is a nuclear exchange between China and the ADL, who secretly developed the weapons despite extreme reluctance to do so by the Japanese. Over the next few months there are a series of nuclear wars as the situation spirals out of control and more and more countries get drawn in, causing massive damage to the ecosystem. What could have been the start of a new era in space ends as the start of a new dark era.