World War III?

 

F-35 Lightning II. Will it be a player in a new world war?

I grew up during the end of the Cold War. We all expected World War III at some point. When the Cold War ended, everybody was relieved and the 1990s were a pretty cheerful time in the advanced world. I wondered vaguely if the possibility of another world war would ever arise again.

We are there.

Shortly after the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 I saw commentary from some European think tank guy that we would all look back on it as the beginning of WWIII, it just wasn't obvious yet.

Proxy fighting already existed prior to 2022 between Russia and her allies and the United States and her allies in places like Syria, western Iraq, and Africa, but it has clearly spread. Russia has obviously been responsible for a series of coups d'etat in Africa, and they and their ally Iran obviously supported the Hamas invasion of Israel, and Yemeni attacks on American, Israeli, and British shipping in the Red Sea. Now it looks like Venezuela may be about to open a new front against Guyana in South America. Venezuela is a client of Russia.

Considering the United States is committed to supplying munitions to both Ukraine and Israel, our resources are getting stretched. This all feels engineered, and it is known that Putin's Russia is friendly with both the Iranian theocracy and the People's Republic of China. I think all of this was planned. These opponents of the United States have specific goals and to achieve them they need to upset the existing international order which has been dominated by the United States.

I never think it's too late to avoid war, but I'm getting pessimistic. After American resources are somewhat more expended, I expect China to open a front against one of their many neighbors whom they have threatened over the last few years. Once that happens, we will no longer be able to pretend it isn't a world war and I presume we will see events the like of which haven't been seen since the 1940s.

I just hope everybody has enough common sense to refrain from nuclear weapons.