World War III

I wasn't here for the beginning of World War Two, so I'd like say that (1) it wasn't my fault, and (2) I'd like to suggest that in the buildup to WWII, probably nobody looked around and said, "Whoa, this is beginning to look like a nascent global conflict, maybe even (gasp) another Great War".

Look at the complexity of events leading up to World War Two:


And look at the Axis-Allies distribution in July 1943:


Are current conditions much different?

Let's talk about World War III

I'm thinking that Mohamed Bouazizi might be 2011's version of 1914's Archduke Ferdinand. Similarly, Saudi Arabia's recent excursion into Bahrain might be seen (in retrospect) as a repetition of Germany entering Poland.

How many wars does the United States have to be engaged in before we recategorize it as a global war?

(oops, somebody already used GWOT).

Could the world be in the first stages of WWIII?

• Japan is in an economic, food, and energy crisis.
• China is feeling its muscle in Asia and its influence globally.
• Don't even ask about Taiwan.
• Recession/ Depression in the First World.
• Global monetary conflict.
• Israel and Iraq would like the other to disappear, and they're both currying proxies.
• Pakistan and North Korea have nuclear weapons. Iran is working on it.
• Russia is in the tank.
• From the Straights of Gibraltar, across Africa and Asia to Indonesia, a new flavor of Islam is preaching holy war.
• Simultaneously, France, Britain, and the United States are restaging the Crusades.

Just to assert some small rationality on my part, I'm not going anywhere near the Mayan 2012 concept.

To be sure, other timeframes could have been seen as early WW3 and they weren't. Korea, Hungary in '56, Suez, Cuban Missile Crisis, the Pristina incident, etc. It would be okay if this was not the start of WW3. The possibility cannot be excluded.

It might be an interesting time. I'd like to ask: Why won't it end up as World War Three?