Should We All Be Preparing for the Next World War?

The world is on edge, and with all of the infighting going on in Congress to undermine our country’s values and our way of life, it’s possible to miss the big picture. It’s easy not to realize a war (and a large scale one at that) is not only a possible but probable expectation for the near future.

And no matter who fights and where, it will be an utter disaster. If America gets involved, NATO (read: most of Europe) gets involved, and that means NATO will be pushed to its limit, resulting in its reassertion of strength or its total dissolution. Given the power of modern weaponry, the casualties will be catastrophic. America will win, but rebuilding will cost trillions of dollars the world doesn’t have.

Let’s take a look at some of the ongoing world situations that could potentially devolve into a much larger conflict.

Russia

Russia is making grabs for power both outside and inside its borders. Its laws are getting more restrictive, and Putin is holding tightly onto the reins of power (the only time he wasn’t President of Russia in the last 17 years was when he was Prime Minister of Russia). The Crimea crisis and the invasion of Georgia before it in 2008 were base attempts to expand Russian territory. The country, which undoubtedly wants to return to the “glory days” of the USSR, is trying to build nearby allies. Erdogan’s strongarm ploy in Turkey will benefit Russian interests more than anyone else.

And now there are accusations of tampering with the 2016 election, with all but President Trump and his most staunch supporters agreeing with the intelligence community on the issue. Regardless of the truth of the matter or not, people want someone to blame. Should things escalate and should more information come to light, America will find itself in a diplomatic crisis. It would damage America’s credibility to not launch some sort of countermeasure, but Russia is a nuclear power and clear military options are off the table, unless the U.S. is willing to start World War III.

While armed conflict is unlikely to happen between two global superpowers (the damage would simply be too much, and there would be little to gain), it is possible rogue agents or personnel could spark a conflict that would certainly rattle life for the ordinary citizen in both countries.

North Korea

Without outside intervention, North Korea isn’t going to change. Sanctions haven’t really worked, doing nothing more than slowing the country down for a few months, at best. China goes back and forth as to whether the buffer between it and South Korea is really worth it, and North Korea continues to attempt to create weapons systems capable of damaging the US. Also, Americans are in North Korean prisons, which only adds to already-high tensions between the two countries.

Many think the only reason the world has yet to take action against the oppressive state is the large amounts of artillery directed right at South Korea (mostly Seoul, the capital and a metropolis of nearly 10 million people). The United States would steamroll right through the country with minimal losses, but Seoul would be destroyed and millions of people would die in the process. Yet with North Korea escalating its weapons programs and continuing its human rights abuses, there’s a chance military action may occur anyway.

It may or may not lead to World War III, but it would be a major armed conflict that would define the decade. The fallout would be great, and the conflict itself could evolve into something greater that would bring states around the world into the fold, or the aftermath could put the region on edge for another, larger conflict as states make grabs for power.

The Middle East, Instability and Proxy Wars

The Middle East has always been a storm of trouble, and it’s always been unpredictable. Every time America attempts to bring peace and stability to the region, it’s only had marginal effectiveness due to the intense infighting between religious and terrorist groups in the region. The government militaries have disappointed as well, with the Iraqi army leaving equipment behind to fall into the hands of terrorists.

No one is going to start World War III over a bunch of terrorist organizations, but Syria is another situation. Israel is also fighting against Iran via proxies and airstrikes in the region, and Russia is sending support to groups fighting U.S.-supported rebels. While some ceasefires are taking place and hundreds of thousands of refugees are returning home (albeit not to the safest conditions), the conflict, in general, isn’t going away soon.

The concern here is that it would escalate much like Korea or Vietnam. More troops would be sent in, and an incident would kick off a military conflict that didn’t just involve rebel groups and small-time forces. However, instability and geopolitical tensions in this region are nothing new. It would take a major show of force from one party or a radical shift in U.S. foreign policy to make the area the starting point for WWIII.

So is WWIII imminent?

We would have to find ourselves in a globally suicidal and absurd situation to reach the point of a full World War III. America and its allies are simply too powerful, and that’s not even taking into account nuclear weapons, which would act as a deterrent against taking military action against the US for any state.

That being said, a major conflict could flare up in the event of an extremist group attacking or a rogue state finding itself in a desperate situation. America will need to stay strong and vigilant to combat these threats, and as such, we need to do everything to support our military and maintain our presence overseas. While it might not be best to play world police when America has a host of moral and societal problems at home to be solved, interests require protection and the world needs to know not to provoke the United States of America.

We don’t need to prepare. We are already prepared.