There are bad things happening in the world, conflicts, ecological disasters, economic upheavels, and political upheavals. It's easy to look at these bad things and assume things are much worse than they are. Nobody wants there to be a world war 3.
The number one thing I've learned through the last several decades is that if it's bad for the economy, no one will do it. Greed is the number one driver of everything right now. Maybe that will change, but I doubt it. Look at all the positive progress we try to make, it's stopped the second anyone rich would lose any money.
The situation today is nowhere near as bad as the Cold War.
Think of it this way. All of the 0.01%ers in china, USA and Russia share the same tastes and values. Think any of them are really hot to blow up their nice places on the Rivera?
Yeah, I’d tend to agree. The war is digital and economic. Countries are hacking each other’s infrastructure and commercial systems, mass propaganda and spying with troll farms, tiktok and even hardware. Plenty of fighting with sanctions, tariffs, bans of sales of technology.
Fighting for land right now is really unnecessary, however depending on how well humanity survives climate change I’d expect to see some arguments going in to drilling and mining places like Greenland, the arctic and antarctic. China is already setting up shop in Antarctica.
We are also all tied together economically in so many different ways that a war between major powers would be economically devastating for everyone before the first shot is fired, particularly for the countries that ceded most of their production to other countries that might be hostile in war.
In 2001 there was that 9/11 thing and it sounded like WW3 had just started. Turns out, it didn't. Well, lots of things did happen as a result of it, but WW3 wasn't one of them. Soon after that, USA was involved in a number of wars in the middle east and it felt like WW3 had just started. Again, it didn't. Some time around 2010s the tension between North Korea and South Korea was getting pretty intense, and a friend of mine started talking WW3... As usual, WW3 didn't start.
At the moment, the situation in Ukraine feels just like all the other major incidents, but we'll see how it works out. If you expose your mind to tabloid journalism, it begins to feel like the entire world is about to explode. History has a tendency of repeating itself, so I suggest reading about the things that lead to WW1 and WW2. Once, you've done that, you'll begin to pay attention to certain signs and start ignoring most of the nonsense tabloids keep writing about.
Russia (the current primary aggressor) is on the brink of a banking system collapse. It doesn't have the money to wage war on a bigger scale than it already is.
China is far more interested in trade than hostilities.
The middle east has been a tinder box for over a hundred years. I don't see it dragging outsiders into it and hopefully we have a respite coming.
Central Asia has tension between India and Pakistan, but that's nothing new. India could piss off China or the reverse, and if that kicked off the loss of life could be on a scale that would be unprecedented but still I think it wouldn't drag the west in.
Sorry if i misinterpreted your comment but saying that the middle east has been a tinder box for century feel like it alluding that other regions like Europe has less conflicts and is less prone to violence
Europe has certainly had its violent ages. Since WW2 its built good relationships between the countries. I do not forsee any conflict except for Russia.
I think that the true world war 3 will not be nations against nations, but citizens against their own nations. The stage is set for an actual paradigm shift or system annihilation. We will not support civilization if it doesn't change, either the people destroy the pyramid or the pyramid will destroy the world.
I kinda doubt that will happen. For instance, look at Venezuela: Venezuelans are beyond fed up with Maduro's dictatorship, but there's nothing they can do against the government forces.
Governments will do anything they can to prevent a paradigm change.
Venezuela has been hurt by sanctions because the government was helping the people. The wealthy people of Venezuela don’t like the government because it is more socialist.
Paint me a picture of what you think that looks like. Here's my painting: Everybody marches on their capitals, everyone gets gunned down with 30mm cannonfire, the Americans are gunned down holding pistols and rifles everyone else is gunned down holding pitchforks and torches.
who's doing the gunning? we dont have that many combat robots yet, and i still have hope that communication is open enough and most people aren't too brainwashed to realize firing on your own countrypeople is bad.
Primarily because there's not economic benefit in it for the ruling class.
Also, we've made the experience of the war in the middle east around 2000 where the USA couldn't even occupy a farmer's state for more than a couple years.
I don't think anybody realistically thinks they can take over another (big) country in this time.
According to the Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, we are closer to nuclear war now than ever in history. Closer than when boomers were doing school duck and cover drills.
So, WW3 won't happen until the oligarchy says it's time. Not sure why now would be the time, but I suppose it could be. There's like a billion people in the world making a dollar a day, a few billion people only making a few dollars a day... That's a few billion dollars per day the oligarchy almost certainly thinks belongs in their pocket instead. So I could see them continuing to squeeze the world for every last drop of wealth, which I think will cause unrest in a lot of places. Add climate change to that and I think things just get bad everywhere for most people. Obviously the oligarchy will just go to their islands, yachts, bunkers until a few billion are dead and they can pop back out with their private armies ready to "save" the world.
A lot of people think they need us to buy their trinkets, but the entire consumer middle class is only like 100 years old, and I think was only designed to keep us distracted while they plundered the world. Now that a small handful of people own everything, and soon enough robots and AI will replace most human labor, it's mission accomplished and we can go back to feudalism where they are gods and everyone else is slaves.
I highly doubt that WWIII will happen (within the next few years), however I forsee the next several years to not be peacful. There will be several (regional/civil) despites that will most likley occur and the chances of any of them escalating is highly unlikley. Here are the conflicts I forsee:
Continued Syrian Civil War: wont be pretty but escalation is unlikely
Palestinian occupation: Will absolutely continue to be horrific but none of the neighboring Arab counties care enough to escalate (or risk US aid)
Russia/Ukraine war: Russia will get some territory and thats about it, probrally just the Russian majority areas. After that the EU will intimidate Russia to back off.
India/China border dispute: They'll make a lot of noise, actural fighting is unlikely
US/Canada/Mexico/Greenland conflict: Who knows tbh, most likley Trump is running off his mouth as always
China/Taiwan: I severly doubt it, in addition the US is moving microchip manufacturing to the US so strategic value may loosen
Worst case scenario here is a full blown war between the EU and Russia, the US likley wont get involved (Trump doesnt care about Europe) and neither will China (both counties might send aid respectively). It would probrally end with Russia surrendering followed by them loosing no land and maybe a regime change plus some political reforms.
Russia/Ukraine war: Russia will get some territory and thats about it, probrally just the Russian majority areas. After that the EU will intimidate Russia to back off.
This is one may cool down. Definitely would not have under Harris. This is the big ww3 fear.
India/China border dispute: They’ll make a lot of noise, actural fighting is unlikely
They have resolved their territorial dispute, or at least made a major agreement that mostly resolves it.
I am personally looking for a few things that will concern me about escalation:
Japan and Finland making active land claims to Russia (actively reoccupying disputed land with troops)
Europe putting peace keepers in Western Ukraine (which will create a casus belli for war with Russia), specifically France and the UK. I mean, Poland as well, but if Poland says they are putting peacekeeping troops in Ukraine, Russia should either back off or assume war.
South Korean troops in Ukraine. (Ridiculous given their current chaos, but stranger things have happened in the last year).
Other than that, the russian frog has been very well boiled for 3 years. Even China has probably gone back to the drawing board on a taiwan invasion, and added a delay until 10 millions drones are available.
I do have concerns trump will pull the us back in europe, making the second item above possible if not likely. The first trump presidency shook us primacy in europe, and the second may see it start to unravel. If europe has to take russia alone, the us should consider china a personal problem from now on (as well as any other concerns not near europe), as no one will see value in going to war with a fair-weather ally.
<i>Finland making active land claims to Russia (actively reoccupying disputed land with troops)</i>
I can guarantee you that there is no territory the Finns would try to reclaim from Russia. The Continuation war pretty much sated any future thought to regain territory seized by the Soviet Union
Finland won't make any claims. This much is certain.
The only way we would even consider restoring the stolen lands would be IF the Russian Federation falls and IF the initiative for reunification would come from the Karelian Republic.
You are probably overexaggerating.
There are increased conflicts over the world but no signs of a world war.
First there are no willing candidates for it. Not even Russia which is engaged in a war is willing to make the push to engage NATO, which is the closest to a world war we would get.
Neither is Iran willing to go into war which was very obvious after their actions when Israel made ample opportunities for them to escalate conflict.
And for China.. well war is bad for business, and China really likes doing business.
However the US with Trump at the helm. 🤷 Who the fuck knows. Maybe not world war but I am adding military occupation of Panama and Greenland to my bingo just in case.
No I really don't I see water wars and cold war style espionage but no WW2 style conflict. But I also think we will have Societal collapse by 2030 due to climate change and being unable to grow food. Honestly after Cheeto got reelected I have just gone numb to all the of it. I am savoring each day.
I hug my love ones just a little longer than I used to. I write a log of each day to I remember it a little better. I have made a bucket list and I'm trying to check off as much as possible. But even with all that I sometimes catch myself mourning the earth. Also it's good to video your love ones it's awkward but it will be nice to hear their voice when you can't anymore.
Defeated resignation is romantic and all but maybe we ought to use this energy to tear down the system before it destroys us. Get organized with a revolutionary party, yesterday. Nothing was ever fixed by sitting around feeling sorry for yourself.
No you are right if it was just a country's policy that could be reversed that would be one thing but we already hit 1.5C and even if stopped everything today it's going to be rough but we are not stopping everything today. We are going to accelerate for the next 4 years to make old rich people even richer. The climate doesn't stop on a dime if we stop at 3C it will coast on its own to 4C. Also I do help where I can to ease the suffering around me. I donate $300 a month to my local food bank it's not much but they tell me that's feeds 20 people. I am part of a Mutual Aid Network. I still help I just have switched my energy from trying to change things to just harm reduction. Kind of like human civilization is on hospice and I'm the nurse that is just giving them morphine.
Note I do this as a disabled veteran that needs a certain medicine in order to live. Once that med can't be made I become confined to my bed then die a little after.
In the previous world wars there were various alliances between many countries, but eventually two sides emerged. If you see two clear sides engaging in active warfare against each other, you'll know that WW3 has started. At the moment, it's a bit more complicated than that. Seems to me that there are a bunch of disconnected conflicts going on, but the big picture of a proper world war hasn't really emerged yet.
I see two clear sides engaging in numerous proxy wars with eachother at the very least. I wouldn't call it comparable to either world wars yet but it puts me on my toes
Current circumstances do seem worrisome. But, we've been threatened with that for all my life, and even decades before I was born. So who knows. MAD is a certain thing and I don't think entire countries are unstable enough to let that happen. I'm not really sure what Putin is getting at threatening all of Europe. The situation with China and Taiwan doesn't look good, with the US pledge of taking Taiwan's side for independence.
I would say world war is still years away, but if SK in your name means slovakia then comfort yourself that you might find yourself in the early BRICS block vs US empire wars, so hopefully it'll be over without too much war in your country soon.
Many will say that World War Three cannot happen, that nuclear weapons will prevent it. However, this assumes that World War Three has to be global thermonuclear war, rather than some repeat of the previous world wars.
Cities don't have to be leveled for nations to fight a world war. The US fought two world wars, and we never had our cities and infrastructure decimated. What I can imagine is a future world war where all the major players fight the war in the same way the US fought the two previous wars. Both sides contribute massive resources, adopt wartime economies, throw their whole populations behind the effort etc, but at no point do the various combatants directly attack the main territory and population centers of the other side. You could have a conflict where both sides lost millions of troops fighting it out in some third party territory, but the nukes never fly as all sides realize that invading the home territory of the others is suicide.
The war in Ukraine in absolutely not a proxy war.
Also, that description is neither of proxy war since the whole point of them is to not engage your own troops.
I think it il depend on the military industrial complex in the USA and whether they decide to off Trump or not. If Trump goes isolationist then they'll probably merc him. If he invades Panama and starts a hot war with Iran then there probably won't be a world war (ironically). If China invades Taiwan and the US blinks then there won't be a world war. If the US attacks China for taking over Taiwan then we'll be in a world war.
Yes. America can't come and rescue the Europeans anymore, and noone will help rescue America's neighbors from her.
Once the U.S.A becomes even more divided, Taiwan will get invaded and Israel will collapse. Hopefully the Ukranians can get a good peace deal in before everything goes tits up or they'll be taken over as well.
You could make the argument that we are already in the precursor to WW3, or what 1938 was to WW2. You're not over exaggerating, but it's not worth worrying about. The wealthy who have people and countries into poverty and then supported these wars are the real enemies.
Quite possible, although less likely now, I think. The GOP has plenty of hawks, but the DNC is the party of Cheney and the neocons post-2020, and Genocide Joe loves nothing more than the smell of child's blood in the morning, while Trump is actually quite conflict averse despite his bluster. We're definitely on the brink.
Plenty of neocons and worse in Trump cabinet picks. Marco Rubio one of the most extreme neocons. But, he has said something no neocon would say: The war in Ukraine needs to end. Neocons have strong bipartisanship in both parties, but Trump pretends to disagree with them. Liz Cheney campaigning with Harris is part of an anti-Trump neocon rebellion within GOP.