NationStates Jolt Archive

If world war three were to occur how do you think it would start? how do you think it will go? Who will be the belligerents/combatants?

For starters I think a massive alliance will form between Russia and all anti-US nations, Europe and America will form an alliance and China might side with Russia or form an alliance of it's own with neighboring Asian nations. I predict that either Russia or the US or a terrorist group will light the spark thus causing the other nations to react militarily. I predict that in poorer nations conventional warfare will be used on such a massive scale that it rivals the famous and bloody battles of WWII while the economic powers will use mainly infiltration and long ranged missile attacks and possibly WMDs. When the war ends the US would be devastated along with most of the world, the world would be environmentally screwed up due to all the collateral damage, life on earth would become dystopic until one government promises everyone that they can fix everything creating a one world government, but surely human nature would cause dissension and possibly another world war.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkgGOFXuYPw

http://www.cuttingedge.org/news/ww3.html

Specially this:

http://www.cuttingedge.org/articles/abolition.cfm

It has already started and has been being fought for several years now. It started with terrorist attacks. :(

Neither Russia nor China are interested in any war with US, all they want is recognition as superpowers; and nor do they have the strength anyway.

If Oil really will peak as soon as they've predicted, a World War shall be inevitable.

WWIII would probably be the US and allies vs Russia and a couple of it's cronies. China would take advantage of the situation and attack Russia to seize resources. Now keep in mind this scenario would end in a Russian defeat which as you know Russia would nuke everyone involved. End scenario would be Russia defeated conventionally and everyone losing due to nukes being used.

It doesn't exactly have to be a world war.


Either way, if/when WWIII happens, it will probably mostly revolve around biological warfare. Already in WWII, Japanese have developed and tested on tens of thousands of Chinese strains of plague (Yersinia pestis) that had over 10 times higher virulence, were resistant to treatment, and worked on people with plague antibodies. This was when microbiology was yet in its infancy. Their methods are like stone tools compared to what we have. And neither US nor Russia never really gave up on work in this area.


If it happens, we'll look at nukes the same way we look at LARP guys and their swords and axes.

Misunderstanding snowballing out of control a la Archduke Ferdinand

Ahmadinejad will give Putin a wedgie, causing him to spill his drink on George Bush, who will jump up in surprise, throwing his food on the Palestinian/Israeli delegation, who will retaliate by throwing a custard pie, but miss and hit EU President.

There's no recovering from that.

Ahmadinejad will give Putin a wedgie, causing him to spill his drink on George Bush, who will jump up in surprise, throwing his food on the Palestinian/Israeli delegation, who will retaliate by throwing a custard pie, but miss and hit EU President.

There's no recovering from that.

Thats the kind of spiralling misunderstanding that I'd have proposed if I wasn't (Lazy/Uncreative/dead) (Delete as appropriate)

Neither Russia nor China are interested in any war with US, all they want is recognition as superpowers; and nor do they have the strength anyway.

But the US military is a bit busy at this time. If Russia or China wanted to start a war with the US now would be the ideal time. Obviously, they are not interested or our nuclear capability is still holding them at bay.

But the US military is a bit busy at this time. If Russia or China wanted to start a war with the US now would be the ideal time.
And they will do what exactly? Take a big horn and shout "COME ON WE ARE FIGHTING YOU?" Happened.

Caused by me when I release my armies of mutant Vikings upon the world.

president palin doesnt blink when she tells russia to leave georgia the hell alone.

Caused by me when I release my armies of mutant Vikings upon the world.

Hmmm, my gnome generals will be very displeased when I inform them of this. :wink::)

A World War III in the sense of major global conflict was far more likely during the Cold War with the world somewhat bi-polarish. (See, for example, The Day After, or the BBC's Threads, for what could happen as a result of a nuclear war.)

However, with the Soviet Union's collapse, it's far less likely. Russia might screw around a lot, but Russia's not crazy; they're not going to push things to the brink of war with NATO and the rest of the world, especially since they've never gotten along with China and China would happily backstab them. Only a serious resource shortage could potentially prompt such a conflict, but with the resources of space available to us, that shouldn't happen.

Regardless, however, we cannot afford to LET it happen. We stand upon the cusp of total annihilation, a cliff face we could either walk away from or fall off. We've pushed the resources of this world to the very brink, and if civilization collapses--which it will if a World War occurs, because no matter how conventional it might be at first, the loser will ALWAYS resort to nuclear weaponry--it won't be able to recover because there will be nothing to recover with. We'll ultimately drive ourselves to extinction.

Until we've diversified out into the rest of the solar system and beyond, we will be under this risk. We must not let it happen.

I believe we should look once more to the Balkans as a possible flashpoint for a truly world-wide war between nations and political entities.

Serbia continues to argue that the Republic of Kosovo is their sovereign territory. Russia supports it's traditional slavic allies claims. A coalition of countries have recognised Kosovo largely out of political loyalty to the US and for humanitarian and financial reasons.

Russia demonstrated in the recent Russo-Georgian conflict that it will no longer restrain itself from aggressive action in defense of those it regards as citizens and/or allies.

If a proper settlement regarding Kosovo's status is not reached, I could see the deployment of Russian troops to support a Serb attempt to retake the republic.

The US and certain EU nations might not respond well to that hypothetical.

If a proper settlement regarding Kosovo's status is not reached, I could see the deployment of Russian troops to support a Serb attempt to retake the republic.
Through EU territory?

Through EU territory?

An airborne assault, flying through Bulgarian or Romanian airspace, perhaps. Quite unlikely, but not out of the question.

Perhaps a redeployment of Russian peacekeepers into Kosovo in future?

More covert Russian operations perhaps, with specialist units to assist a largely Serbian offensive.

The Russians wouldn't even need to deploy directly to Serbia as the first stage in the conflict. If the Serbians take it upon themselves, and the Serbs are largely repelled by NATO, I could see Russia intervening in some form, or perhaps simply ramping up the pressure in Moscow until the next EU-Russo crisis, where it becomes increasingly likely Russia will pursue an aggressive foreign policy, perhaps in the case of Poland and it's missile emplacements.

How will WWIII start? One day, we decides those Chinese sons-of-a-bitches are goin' down...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZMwKPmsbWE

If world war three were to occur how do you think it would start?

Someone will spill a drink on the wrong person in a bar and it will escalate from there.

Kashmir. WWIII has been waiting to go off there for 40 years.

WWIII, if it ever does occur, will likely not involve a massive Russia-USA deathmatch, or even a massive China-USA deathmatch. Either way, the US would wipe the floor with them and that would be that, so I predict something around the India-Pakistan conflict, or even Venezuela or Iran doing something stupid (very likely to happen). Venezuela cutting off US oil exports, for example, or Iran continuing its nuclear program while Israel it sitting pretty on a massive pile of missiles, planes, and presumably nukes.

We let Eastern Europe into NATO. Basically.

If a world war starts, its all but a given it'll go nuclear. Due to mutually assured destruction, no politician is going to want one(money and power mean little when you're dead). So my money is on either a religious fanatic in a rouge state or terrorist group setting off a WMD and provoking a response under the MAD doctrine, or an accidental launch type of senario.

Religious group. World War I was started when a terrorist group set off a deadly chain of events. World War II was started by a genocidal madman whose very name is now synonymous with evil. Only a religious nutjob would be capable of starting World War III - say, by setting off a dirty bomb in Mecca?

The Resource Wars. All-on-all conflict for high-tech materials, potable water and arable land.

Probably won't be too bad in the developed world; we have options. The rest of the planet is going to rip itself apart.

It seems to make more sense that Russia or China, if they are to make a move, will probably be on Taiwan/the former Soviet Union in the name of unifying their country. Either that or occupying a Middle Eastern country. After all they have much more valuable resources vs the amount of resistance they will put up. Attacking the US is highly unlikely since with MAD there is no win scenario in such a war. In the end, people nuking/sending bio weapons at each other and nobody wins.

The only war I see Russia or China will have with the US is if North Korea invade South Korea, in which case Russia/China will most likely support the north while the EU/US/Japan supporting the south. This battlefield however will most likely be restricted to Korea's soil, and nukes/bio weapons will not be employed aside from those that North Korea process. That's as close to China/Russia fighting the US as I can see.

The rest of the planet is going to rip itself apart.
That's the most likely scenario. None of the developed countries has anything to gain from attacking each other. Lots of poor countries are going to be fighting each other (or, even more likely, armed groups within those countries) for arable land, food and resources. Rich countries will support these groups for various reasons and at varying times, fighting proxy wars.

The Resource Wars. All-on-all conflict for high-tech materials, potable water and arable land.

Probably won't be too bad in the developed world; we have options. The rest of the planet is going to rip itself apart.

Sounds about right.

I think possible similar to the start of WWI, which I know thanks to a nifty tip:
M: Militarism: I'm not entirely sure on this one, but I'm sure there's something that fits
A: Alliances: US vs Russia...
I: Imperialism: Hostile acts, like Russia and Georgia, that sort of thing
N: Nationalism: AKA Patriotism...

Also,
Misunderstanding snowballing out of control a la Archduke Ferdinand
Maybe North Korea doing something with nukes, US/NATO/UN takes military action, Russia does something, BAM! War.

The obvious scenarios at the moment are Russia versus an expanding NATO alliance which absorbs ex-Soviet Union states or Islamic turbulence resulting in Saudi Regime change and Islamists getting access to nuclear weapons - and using them but it could start with two or three powers rising to challenge the global superpowers of US and China.
A US/China war in the future is not impossible but I think it's unlikely.

To be honest a WWIII will not start with the US/EU/NATO members.
I see a Russia China issue cropping up. Eastern Siberia is awash in Chinese immigrants that some speculate that china may well extend sovereignty to region that has never fully been under Russian control.

Right now it is not a threat because Oil prices went up reviving Russia's revenue and economy but as oil prices drop, or more long term Russian oil production declines And China continues its rise I could see an attempt to extend sovereignty.

Russia will be faced with a situation where it has limited ability to move its conventional forces into the region(the few train lines are easy bombing targets after all). It may well resort to a limited nuclear strike. Followed by a limited counter strike by China.

To be honest a WWIII will not start with the US/EU/NATO members.
I see a Russia China issue cropping up. Eastern Siberia is awash in Chinese immigrants that some speculate that china may well extend sovereignty to region that has never fully been under Russian control.

Right now it is not a threat because Oil prices went up reviving Russia's revenue and economy but as oil prices drop, or more long term Russian oil production declines And China continues its rise I could see an attempt to extend sovereignty.

Russia will be faced with a situation where it has limited ability to move its conventional forces into the region(the few train lines are easy bombing targets after all). It may well resort to a limited nuclear strike. Followed by a limited counter strike by China.

Such a scenario would be a nasty war - and any war where nuclear weapons were frequently used could be very nasty. But it wouldn't be called a World War unless many nations were involved.

The T-X will release a virus into the WWW, SkyNet will launch nukes against Russia, they'll retaliate against the U.S., and then it's off fighting tin cans. Combatants? Humans against Terminators, of course!
http://pixeljoint.com/files/icons/terminator_robot.gifhttp://pixeljoint.com/files/icons/terminator_robot.gif
http://www.studip.uni-goettingen.de/pictures/smile/uzi.gifhttp://pixeljoint.com/files/icons/terminator_robot.gifhttp://pixeljoint.com/files/icons/terminator_robot.gifhttp://pixeljoint.com/files/icons/terminator_robot.gif
http://pixeljoint.com/files/icons/terminator_robot.gifhttp://pixeljoint.com/files/icons/terminator_robot.gifhttp://pixeljoint.com/files/icons/terminator_robot.gifhttp://www.studip.uni-goettingen.de/pictures/smile/bigun2.gif

The T-X will release a virus into the WWW, SkyNet will launch nukes against Russia, they'll retaliate against the U.S., and then it's off fighting tin cans. Combatants? Humans against Terminators, of course!
http://pixeljoint.com/files/icons/terminator_robot.gifhttp://pixeljoint.com/files/icons/terminator_robot.gif
http://www.studip.uni-goettingen.de/pictures/smile/uzi.gifhttp://pixeljoint.com/files/icons/terminator_robot.gifhttp://pixeljoint.com/files/icons/terminator_robot.gifhttp://pixeljoint.com/files/icons/terminator_robot.gif
http://pixeljoint.com/files/icons/terminator_robot.gifhttp://pixeljoint.com/files/icons/terminator_robot.gifhttp://pixeljoint.com/files/icons/terminator_robot.gifhttp://www.studip.uni-goettingen.de/pictures/smile/bigun2.gif

If all they have are pistols and machine guns, Humanity is screwed.

Such a scenario would be a nasty war - and any war where nuclear weapons were frequently used could be very nasty. But it wouldn't be called a World War unless many nations were involved.

the fall out from the nukes will likely be enough. Nato and the EU really don't have the balls for a long drawn out war against an equal or near equal opponent anymore. They will talk tough but at the end of the Day either do nothing or cut some crappy "deal" that wont be lived up too and has no means to be enforced.

If all they have are pistols and machine guns, Humanity is screwed.
"Phased plasma rifle in the 40 Watt range."
"Hey, just what you see, pal!"
"T'Uzi 9 Millimeter."

But the US military is a bit busy at this time. If Russia or China wanted to start a war with the US now would be the ideal time. Obviously, they are not interested or our nuclear capability is still holding them at bay.

A war with China (although highly unlikely) would mostly be a Navy and Air Force affair. Those branches are not bogged down in the manner the Army and Marines are.

If world war three were to occur how do you think it would start? how do you think it will go? Who will be the belligerents/combatants?

For starters I think a massive alliance will form between Russia and all anti-US nations, Europe and America will form an alliance and China might side with Russia or form an alliance of it's own with neighboring Asian nations. I predict that either Russia or the US or a terrorist group will light the spark thus causing the other nations to react militarily. I predict that in poorer nations conventional warfare will be used on such a massive scale that it rivals the famous and bloody battles of WWII while the economic powers will use mainly infiltration and long ranged missile attacks and possibly WMDs. When the war ends the US would be devastated along with most of the world, the world would be environmentally screwed up due to all the collateral damage, life on earth would become dystopic until one government promises everyone that they can fix everything creating a one world government, but surely human nature would cause dissension and possibly another world war.

Someone doesn't understand how the world works.

What 1931 was to WWII, 2001 will be to WWIII.

I don't think it'll happen, but if it does, I'm guessing that pissed-off muslims will do something stupid, and it'll escelate from there.

the most probable thing to begin WWIII, according to smart people or sumtin like that, is the destruction of the Dome of the Rock

WWIII will start in S. America, between 4 or 5 little countries. U.S. will stick it's nose in it, then Russia will follow, ect... It will start small and initially not involve any of the major parties mentioned. You'll see, Humala will win the Peruvian election next time around and that will be the sign it is near.

The direct descendant of Genghis Khan will take it into his head to level the house of an unassuming Englishman.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZMwKPmsbWE

Something like this.
Sorry if it's already been posted.

The direct descendant of Genghis Khan will take it into his head to level the house of an unassuming Englishman.

Win for HHGTTG reference.

To the OP:

WWIII is now - Global War on Terrorism. Looks like Russia seems to favor our enemies though.

An airborne assault, flying through Bulgarian or Romanian airspace, perhaps. Quite unlikely, but not out of the question.

Quite unlikely indeed. As far as I know, those nations are NATO members. The appearance of Russian airborne divisions in their airspace would be reason enough for retaliatory actions without anything else happening.

WW4 will be with sticks and stones...
Isnt that how that quote goes?

IMO, World War 3 is happening as we speak. Currently, the Western Christian world is waging open war with the Middle East Islamic world. Anyone find it odd that there are pre-dominantly Christian nations that are "occupying" Islamic nations? And who says we need nations to have a war? The 21 century has redefined war, just like the Cold War did with surrogate wars (Korean War and Vietnam War). How can a nation wage war on a religious group that has no national boundaries? This is exactly what the U.S. is up against with Al Quaeda. And corporations that insert their politicians into the government so that the government can fight for the interests of the corporation with out risking a dime by using the taxpayer's money. The fact is that war has changed, and that change is that opposing sides have transcended national boundaries.
Of course, this is just what I think. You could just chalk this up to the paranoid ramblings of a schizophrenic teenager. Now, if you excuse me, I have to watch Donnie Darko (amazingly enough, I haven't heard of it until a week ago). With an aluminum foil hat.

There's a difference between a religious group and religist terrorists.

Maybe not WWIII, but it's gonna be nuts when Antarctica thaws. Everyone's got a claim.

When Antarctica thaws, most of humanity will be too busy with not drowning to be bothered with such matters.

There's a difference between a religious group and religist terrorists.

And said difference is...?

What exactly is the difference between an American Christian soldier and a Middle Eastern Muslim soldier? Both can be used to oppress as much as they can be used to protect. As Tony Benn has said, "There is no difference between a stealth bomber and a suicide bomber. Both kill innocent people for political reasons."

When Antarctica thaws, most of humanity will be too busy with not drowning to be bothered with such matters.

880 ft above sea level ftw. I assume I'll be chilling on the shore of the new Gulf of Alabama.

880 ft above sea level ftw. I assume I'll be chilling on the shore of the new Gulf of Alabama.

No, Gulf of Montana, that's where the good realty will be! :p

No, Gulf of Montana, that's where the good realty will be! :p

That bad, huh? I for one, will welcome our new Bolivian overlords.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pklr0UD9eSo

http://www.ambrosiasw.com/news/images/defcon_ad_lg.jpg

http://patdollard.com/wp-content/uploads/normal_dr_strangelove01.jpg

"Mein Führer, I can walk!"

It will probably be sparked by an Iranian or Israeli attack on the other. Eitehr way, Israel is going to ask us and NATO for help while Iran pleads with the SCO. Russia will no doubt take this oppotunity to take Georiga, for good this time, because Georgia should be in NATO by then. China will then take the oil rich Spratly islands in conjunction with Vietnam. N. Korea will be forced into it by China and becasue they seriously need the energy and food of South Korea. Most SCO nations will not join with the SCO, but INdia and Pakistan will undoubtly go to war. They will use the opportunity to try to take Kashmir and it will become a full blown war. Ukraine will go either way, depending on how much Russia is nice to them. Belarus will be a point of invasion of Europe for the Russians. China will distract America and promote probably invade Afghanistan to destroy NATO presence there. Taiwan goes shortly after. Most of Eastern Europe wil be taken by the SCO in a few short weeks because of the strain in other parts of the world. Russia cuts of the oil going to Europe, and only France, with its nuclear power, will be one of the only self sufficiant countries in Europe. Germany is out of power and oil and their forces have very limited movement. Iceland will be taken as a launching point for Russian bombers and navy. It will cause havoc, but eventually NATO takes it back. Chinese forces are sent throughout the world to support their allies, but their presence doesn't help much. Iran's attack is stopped, because of Turkish intervention. Israel is entangled in a fierce war with Syria and possibly Egypt. By now American forces have been deployed and are fighting in Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Europe, and Iran. The Chinese are held back because of the American navy and they begin a massive land campaign to take Korea. They commit all the way in a suprise offensive and take Korea. Allied forces retreat to Japan and later retake Korea. SCO forces are hurt by a series of defeats and retreat, in turn losing the war. China doesn't give, but outside pressure from NATO and even former allies to give up will turn the public against their leaders. They give up mostly because Russia will want Iran and China in one piece so they can still negotiate for terms that they can use the countries as leverage to keep territory or whatever they want. SCO loses simply because technology and money is on the NATO side.

I think that If there were a world war Three, It would be due to water.
As to who would be the main contenders, Canada and whoever needed Canada's water.

When Antarctica thaws, most of humanity will be too busy with not drowning to be bothered with such matters.

Pfft, as if ecological disasters and imminent species extinction has kept humanity from fighting with one another.

Neither Russia nor China are interested in any war with US, all they want is recognition as superpowers; and nor do they have the strength anyway.



i think that china does have the strength to defeat or at least be in a tie with america ..

-mind you it has the largest military in the world

- while it has much less declared nuclear weapons, ...exactly ...it has less than half the number of DECLARED nuclear weapons the US has.. what about undeclared ones ?

- China is growing into a pwerhouse for new and cheap technologies ..

- with a population of 1.3 billion, they can mobilize a huge army or a huge percentage of their population to work in factories and offices and intelligence services as well as support for the army if necessary, ... remember that america at WW 2 , had the capability of a huge population to support its army ....n it only started once the war began ...

- the chinese are not stupid, the chinese governments and armies have been warring n battling for years , even before jesus was born. The ancient chinese kingdoms were constantly in war against one another and against foreign armies

- the current chinese population is a extremely nationalistic people and they will strongly defend their homeland till their deaths

-the current chinese government has almost absolute control over the news reports and media that the chinese population watches and reads, so they can always say that no matter what happened, it is purely the fault of their enemies and no one will dare argue otherwise...

I tend to think WW III will start with Ferris Bueller hacking into a DoD computer and telling it he wants to play "Global Thermonuclear War" while at the same time Anthony Michael Hall has hacked in and is using the DoD network to build his very own Kelly LeBrock.

No WWIII in current world situation. Firstly everyone has far more to lose then win, and secondly NATO+other western allies(Japan, Australia) have far larger economic potential, and power projection ability, than any potential coalition that could be formed against them. Of course that doesn't mean that there can't be destructive localized wars (like India vs Pakistan), in which other powers would more or less directly support different sides.

with two people beating each other over the head with blunt instruments over the last can of beans in a looted store, because blunt instruments will be the only functional weapons remaining after all the disease and famine, which nations, if there still were nations, would be sending their suckers to kill each other over.

there will be humans survive though, after population has been profoundly reduced, again by disease and famine, with or without war also. their may be wars, continue to be little ones for a time, but i don't see their roll in the comming population implosion being the dominant signifigant one.

i also see, there are still ways, and possibly time, to avoid the famine, disease AND war, but not by makiavellianism, nor by emotional attatchment to ANY idiology.

war isn't inevitable, but disease and famine are probable outcomes of environmental abuse, that much of the world, ascerbated by population pressure, is already suffering.

http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displayStory.cfm?source=hptextfeature&story_id=12262231
Advancing, blindly

A more aggressive Russian army is still no match for NATO, but is strong enough to scare some neighbours

WHEN Russian armoured columns rumbled into Georgia last month, an early casualty was General Anatoly Khrulyov, the head of the 58th Army, who was wounded by shrapnel and evacuated. The Russians lost their most senior commander in the field because, by their own accounts, they did not know where Georgian units were. Russian forces lacked surveillance drones and night-vision equipment. Radios worked poorly, and commanders resorted to using mobile phones. Troops barely co-ordinated with the air force, which lost several jets (among them a Tu-22 strategic bomber) and dropped mostly old “dumb” bombs rather than modern smart ones. The wonder is how the Russians routed the Georgians so swiftly.

[...]

“Russian forces are not modern. Some of their weapons date back to the 1960s and 1970s. But that does not mean they cannot kill you,” says Pavel Felgenhauer, a Russian defence writer for Novaya Gazeta, a newspaper. The Russians may not be a match for even a medium-sized Western army, say experts, but they are good enough to scare the poor, post-Soviet states in the “near abroad”.

Just saw this today and thought it was interesting and kinda relevant.

-mind you it has the largest military in the world


Numbers stopped meaning so much when things like machineguns and high explosives became widespread. And numbers don't really mean a thing against nuclear weapons, which any widespread international conflicts amongst superpowers will surely devolve into.


- the chinese are not stupid, the chinese governments and armies have been warring n battling for years , even before jesus was born. The ancient chinese kingdoms were constantly in war against one another and against foreign armies

The Chinese were also defeated by what they considered the barbarians of the North, namely, the Mongols. And the actions of some of the emperors in China's past cannot be considered anything but stupid. It was the strongly isolationist stance that saw to the end of the great exploratory fleets of China, killing any chance it had of becoming a world power in the late 16th century while Europe began consolidating its hold on the rest of the world.

To summarize, the Chinese have had their share of ups and down. Historical greatness doesn't mean squat when they sorely lack against their contemporaries.


- the current chinese population is a extremely nationalistic people and they will strongly defend their homeland till their deaths

Meaningless sentiment in any large scale conflict where civilian deaths are ignored and the fighting isn't for resource and infrastructure gain.

There are so many hot spots in the world

India and Pakistan dont have the best relations and both have nuclear bombs
if some radical government ever got in power in Pakistan and pushed its claims on kashmir it could send both the states into a war or soemthing?

In the future both India and China will be the major rivals with both in possesion of the nuclear bomb and both with populations over 1 Million that need resources for its people.

North Korea and South Korea is a danger spot and remmber North Korea is armed with the nuclear bomb too. North Korea's traditional enemy is Japan and north korea's statement once saying it would turn Seoul into a "Sea of fire" But I think this senario is unlikly. The North Korean system is so messed up it hasnt got long ago. then again observers said then after the death of its leader, Kim il sung in 1994

Israil and Iran. Both hate eachother and if Iran gets the bomb then both will have nuclear weapons and Iran has said it wants to wipe Israil of the face of the map or something.

Russia wanting to restore influence in the old soviet republics and possably restore influence in some eastern european couintries could cause conflict especially if it leads to an invasion like a Russian invasion of the Ukraine.

Serbia and Kosovo: Serbia does not want to see an independent Kosovo. Albania and the west do. Fighting could erupt there. Violence of any sort of bound to happen in this unstable region. In Rwanda Hutu began killing Tutsi because of the history where the Tutsi ruled over the Hutu and had favour with the belgium masters. Imagine if the ethnic Albanians in Kosovo suddenly felt enraged over past treatment by the old ruling Serbians and began thier own slaughter of ethnic Serbians to get them out of Kosovo. I dont think such a conflict would start a WW3 but its a hot spot

New Zealand and Australia. Us Kiwi's want to invade and get back all of our stolen icons..... jokes

China and Russia: long ago Russia invaded and siezed that bit of coast along Manchuria heading down touching north korea. I think China has in the past put claims on that large area of land but nothing has happened. In a world where resources are only getting smaller in supply and populations are growing China might want to enforce those old claims

I dunno those are just some senario's

I am amazed by the number of people who hold the incredulous view that any future world war, the sides must inevitably be split between supposedly free and unfree, west and east, or to put more simply between western European cultures and everyone else. This fallacy is based on nothing but outdated prejudices and punditry that exists in abundance in western culture. I'm talking about modern fiction, film, video games and many forms of entertainment that caters to Western European cultures which find it convenient to group everyone else in the world into some unholy cabal of freedom hating Imperialistic goons.
The notion that Russia must always align with China when the shit hits the fan stems from the belief that the "Communist Bloc" still exists. It does not. Even when it did exist, the relationship between the two supposedly Communist countries did not manage to stay cordial for more than a decade, starting in 1960. That's 20 years before the cold war ended and they even managed to fit a few border skirmishes within that time which is more than the West, for all its bluster can boast. They have a greater chance of causing WW3 between themselves than with the west, which is exactly what the SCO is in place to prevent.
A similar idea is that North Korea, Vietnam or any Asian country who you are sure is undemocratic must align with China is too the product of a simple mind where evil must always fight with evil against good. Seriously, just ask yourself why you would ally yourself with an imminent threat next door to fight some probable threat half the world away. Them being your perceived "enemies" does not make them naturally friendly to each other. Some try to point to the Korean War as evidence that China must support the DPRK when nukes start flying while forgetting that the Chinese response was purely one of self-interest to stop the invasion of its mainland and to create a buffer zone against future incursions. Well, today there is no threat of an invasion from the Korean Peninsular even though Chinese pundits like to go on about the militaristic ambitions of the Japanese (conveniently ignoring the fact, like pundits everywhere that Koreans want nothing to do with Japanese military ambitions). Since the buffer zone has lost its use, it has basically become one massive liability into which one must give regular transfusions of aid and in return, receive refugees and criminals. The DPRK is a dead weight for China, not an ally. The fact that Kim Jong Il is a xenophobe and a believer in Korean racial superiority does not help make friends.

I am amazed by the number of people who hold the incredulous view that any future world war, the sides must inevitably be split between supposedly free and unfree, west and east, or to put more simply between western European cultures and everyone else. This fallacy is based on nothing but outdated prejudices and punditry that exists in abundance in western culture. I'm talking about modern fiction, film, video games and many forms of entertainment that caters to Western European cultures which find it convenient to group everyone else in the world into some unholy cabal of freedom hating Imperialistic goons.
The notion that Russia must always align with China when the shit hits the fan stems from the belief that the "Communist Bloc" still exists. It does not. Even when it did exist, the relationship between the two supposedly Communist countries did not manage to stay cordial for more than a decade, starting in 1960. That's 20 years before the cold war ended and they even managed to fit a few border skirmishes within that time which is more than the West, for all its bluster can boast. They have a greater chance of causing WW3 between themselves than with the west, which is exactly what the SCO is in place to prevent.
A similar idea is that North Korea, Vietnam or any Asian country who you are sure is undemocratic must align with China is too the product of a simple mind where evil must always fight with evil against good. Seriously, just ask yourself why you would ally yourself with an imminent threat next door to fight some probable threat half the world away. Them being your perceived "enemies" does not make them naturally friendly to each other. Some try to point to the Korean War as evidence that China must support the DPRK when nukes start flying while forgetting that the Chinese response was purely one of self-interest to stop the invasion of its mainland and to create a buffer zone against future incursions. Well, today there is no threat of an invasion from the Korean Peninsular even though Chinese pundits like to go on about the militaristic ambitions of the Japanese (conveniently ignoring the fact, like pundits everywhere that Koreans want nothing to do with Japanese military ambitions). Since the buffer zone has lost its use, it has basically become one massive liability into which one must give regular transfusions of aid and in return, receive refugees and criminals. The DPRK is a dead weight for China, not an ally. The fact that Kim Jong Il is a xenophobe and a believer in Korean racial superiority does not help make friends.

Occidentals and Orientals have fought a cultural war since before the battle of Marathon, and it is likely they will continue to do so, albeit in a peaceful manner.

Caused by me when I release my armies of mutant Vikings upon the world.

I, for one, welcome our new mutant Viking overlords.

Okay Vault 10 and Marrakech = Fail


If it ever came down to Russia and China jumping into a war, they would either be allies given that it was russia who set china up with the great communist ideal, or they would just be neutral to each other as long as their nations dont interfere with each others' plans

realistically, russia can call up most of its national population into combat if it had to, as every citizen has had to have compulsory army service, so even if that just means the russian army can add several million armed and trained civilians to the mix, Russia can once again play the 'strength in numbers' card to win another war, but this time Russia has superior air power and can paradrop about anything and everything into combat
That given with Russia having so many untapped resources in the Urals and Siberia, means they could fund a war machine of tanks and planes if they wanted

china on the other hand, will just send army to go out and round up its people like sheep, give them guns, and drag them to the front line to fight for their nation, and if they dont, they get executed as traitors

one rumour I have heard is that India is on Russia's side, so if it came to it, theres a couple million more that could be dragged up to fight as allies for Russia

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Oh Bulgislavia
Im sure that the problems with those damned Albanians in Kosovo will cause a problem, as Kosovo is of great historical importance to Serbians, and if the worthless albanians try to make it independant, that will start a civil war with Serbia trying to keep her lands
[$5 says USA and NATO try to use their Big Brother tactics to tell Serbia to let albanians steal that territory]

If it ever came down to Russia and China jumping into a war, they would either be allies given that it was russia who set china up with the great communist ideal, or they would just be neutral to each other as long as their nations dont interfere with each others' plans
Of course, you are aware that the Chinese and the Russians have fought any number of times, including when both were under communist control.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Soviet_border_conflict

The current Chinese approach to politics wouldn't justify an attack on Russia, but it would certainly justify taking over resource-rich areas if the Russian government were unable to control them. Realistically, China would stay neutral in most war scenarios and then pick over the spoils.

realistically, russia can call up most of its national population into combat if it had to, as every citizen has had to have compulsory army service, so even if that just means the russian army can add several million armed and trained civilians to the mix, Russia can once again play the 'strength in numbers' card to win another war, but this time Russia has superior air power and can paradrop about anything and everything into combat
May I direct you to the article I just posted yesterday? The Russian military is all kinds of useless, given their current performance they'd be hard-pressed to beat any decent-sized NATO member in a one-on-one without resorting to nukes. We're years and years away from the Russian military getting back up to scratch yet, and this current financial crisis also underscored the fragility of Russia's economic development at the moment.

That given with Russia having so many untapped resources in the Urals and Siberia, means they could fund a war machine of tanks and planes if they wanted
Those would be the first target in a war with China though.

china on the other hand, will just send army to go out and round up its people like sheep, give them guns, and drag them to the front line to fight for their nation, and if they dont, they get executed as traitors
There can be no doubt that the recruits to the PLA are treated and trained a lot better than the conscripts in the Russian military at the moment.

one rumour I have heard is that India is on Russia's side, so if it came to it, theres a couple million more that could be dragged up to fight as allies for Russia
And why would they do that? It's not like they've got a whole lot to gain from it, the terrain is difficult and the extent of trade with China is much greater than that with Russia.

True. India and China have much more to gain by dividing South and East Asia between then than to fight, especially when the Himalayas separate them. China could then look Southeast to the oil-rich Spratly Islands, and maybe Taipei/The Phillipines, while India could deal with their neighbors to the west.

Whenever the conversation turns to hypothetical war, people inevitably turn to drawing up fictional adversaries based on stereotypes.
Neu Leonstein has made a good argument pointing out some of the carelessly thought through fictional armies that the enemies of the west could supposedly wield.
How exactly does rounding up ones populace and arming them with guns help in anything but a last ditch defensive stand? One cannot deploy a hastily recruited militia anywhere but their home towns as the reality of military logistics dictates.The rest is just a stereotype of the inhuman mongoloid horde with no regard for rights and whatnot. Maybe we can even throw in a suicide brigade or two into the mix for fictions sake.
If one were to look at recent exercises, arms acquisitions and treaty organisations we would see that India, with its recent fighter exercise with the USA and NATO is more closely aligned with the west than with China (not to mention participating in the Naval exercise held with the USA shortly after the satellite incident). China and the USA are the major arms suppliers to Pakistan but China is set to overtake in sales soon and has participated in several combined arms exercises with Pakistan for supposedly counter-terrorism purposes. This arrangement is nothing more than a marriage of convenience to check its rival India militarily while developing much stronger economic ties and investment in said rival.
What is also fallacious is the idea that a vast natural reserve of resources translates into a large pool of weapons and materiel. The bottleneck on the conversion of resources to weapons is manufacturing capacity which in turn depends on technological sophistication, something Russia is currently rather poor of (capacity).
Russia's current mandatory conscription scheme is notorious for turning out poor quality recruits and last I checked, it only possesses six Airborne Divisions with its own aviation, so one will find most of their army is motorised instead.
And the rumour of a Indian Russian alliance is pure speculation at best. India holds far more military exercises with western aligned nations than with Russia and its Russian-like equipment is more to do with economic sensibility than an actual alliance.
Occidentals and Orientals have fought a cultural war since before the battle of Marathon, and it is likely they will continue to do so, albeit in a peaceful manner.
True on some counts but history also shows that both are far more willing to slaughter their close neighbours than engage in transcontinental war. Besides both World Wars were started between regional powers.

Look towards the Baltic republics. NATO members, with severe antagonism towards Moscow. What the trigger will be, I cannot say for sure. Perhaps the Russians will try the same shit they used in Georgia--hand our passports to ethnically Russian citizens of the Baltics (never mind that those folks were planted there by the USSR to "Russify" them). The Baltic governments will demand that they relinquish the passports, or be deported, and Russia will go with the "Ethnic cleansing" card. Then...

Opt. 1
NATO honors its commitments and goes to war with Russia. Russia launches a massive conventional counterattack...likely with a virtually universally mobilized armored force. Poland would probably fall in days, but the Germans would probably have had enough time to mobilize a significant armored force, and fight a brutal foot-for-foot campaign across the Bundesrepublik. The ultimate goal being, to buy time for American forces to mobilize and cross the Atlantic. Concurrently, a joint Greco-Italo-Turkish Naval campaign negates the Black Sea Fleet, opening the way for The Turks to roll into Georgia, through the Kodori Gorge and into Southern Russia.
In the Atlantic, Russian naval aviation and submarines wear on the US forces, but the vaunted Sunburn missile proves to be far less effective than initially claimed. The Americans force a crossing, and hit back...probably around the time the Russians are able to reach Aachen. Massive headlong retreat by the Russian army, once actually faced with the combined armored forces of the three most significant NATO tank forces. As allied units approach the northern Russian border Russia threatens nuclear retaliation if that line is crossed. NATO offers ceasefire discussions, and the status quo ante bellum is restored. China considers whether to go for Siberia, probably decides against it, and gets flippin' rich.

On the side...India-Pakistan, Israel/Arabs-Iran, Venezuela-Colombia and France-Monaco erupt. Just to name a few.

Opt. 2

NATO chickens out, fails to defend its tiny members, and collapses. Proves the US won't "trade Chicago for Berlin" and France won't "trade Paris for Vilnius".

Opt. 1
NATO honors its commitments and goes to war with Russia. Russia launches a massive conventional counterattack...likely with a virtually universally mobilized armored force. Poland would probably fall in days, but the Germans would probably have had enough time to mobilize a significant armored force, and fight a brutal foot-for-foot campaign across the Bundesrepublik. The ultimate goal being, to buy time for American forces to mobilize and cross the Atlantic. Concurrently, a joint Greco-Italo-Turkish Naval campaign negates the Black Sea Fleet, opening the way for The Turks to roll into Georgia, through the Kodori Gorge and into Southern Russia.
In the Atlantic, Russian naval aviation and submarines wear on the US forces, but the vaunted Sunburn missile proves to be far less effective than initially claimed. The Americans force a crossing, and hit back...probably around the time the Russians are able to reach Aachen. Massive headlong retreat by the Russian army, once actually faced with the combined armored forces of the three most significant NATO tank forces. As allied units approach the northern Russian border Russia threatens nuclear retaliation if that line is crossed. NATO offers ceasefire discussions, and the status quo ante bellum is restored. China considers whether to go for Siberia, probably decides against it, and gets flippin' rich.


That would be coooooool.

So the only possibility in any WW3 scenario is a western victory? Then again, who likes to imagine their defeat.

So the only possibility in any WW3 scenario is a western victory? Then again, who likes to imagine their defeat.

The West is in the catbird seat. We have the money; we have the technology; we have the infrastructure and the educated populace.

We could lose; but whoever we go up against is going to lose worse.

It will probably be sparked by an Iranian or Israeli attack on the other. Eitehr way, Israel is going to ask us and NATO for help while Iran pleads with the SCO. Russia will no doubt take this oppotunity to take Georiga, for good this time, because Georgia should be in NATO by then. China will then take the oil rich Spratly islands in conjunction with Vietnam. N. Korea will be forced into it by China and becasue they seriously need the energy and food of South Korea. Most SCO nations will not join with the SCO, but INdia and Pakistan will undoubtly go to war. They will use the opportunity to try to take Kashmir and it will become a full blown war. Ukraine will go either way, depending on how much Russia is nice to them. Belarus will be a point of invasion of Europe for the Russians. China will distract America and promote probably invade Afghanistan to destroy NATO presence there. Taiwan goes shortly after. Most of Eastern Europe wil be taken by the SCO in a few short weeks because of the strain in other parts of the world. Russia cuts of the oil going to Europe, and only France, with its nuclear power, will be one of the only self sufficiant countries in Europe. Germany is out of power and oil and their forces have very limited movement. Iceland will be taken as a launching point for Russian bombers and navy. It will cause havoc, but eventually NATO takes it back. Chinese forces are sent throughout the world to support their allies, but their presence doesn't help much. Iran's attack is stopped, because of Turkish intervention. Israel is entangled in a fierce war with Syria and possibly Egypt. By now American forces have been deployed and are fighting in Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Europe, and Iran. The Chinese are held back because of the American navy and they begin a massive land campaign to take Korea. They commit all the way in a suprise offensive and take Korea. Allied forces retreat to Japan and later retake Korea. SCO forces are hurt by a series of defeats and retreat, in turn losing the war. China doesn't give, but outside pressure from NATO and even former allies to give up will turn the public against their leaders. They give up mostly because Russia will want Iran and China in one piece so they can still negotiate for terms that they can use the countries as leverage to keep territory or whatever they want. SCO loses simply because technology and money is on the NATO side.

That makes little to no sense.

The USA has been doing it's bit to bring us all closer to WW3, that much is true. The near global economic meltdown of the past few weeks (with it's origins in the USA housing market) is much more dangerous than a bit of sabre-rattling of some wannabe superpowers i.e. China, Russia. But i am not a USA-basher, far from it, though it seems a popular pasttime for some these days.

WW2 was rooted in the global economic meltdown of Wall Street in 1929. The desperation of soo many people having lost their livelihoods and homes, paved the way for 'strong men' like Hitler with easy promises of quick solutions and scapegoating to rise to power. A similar thing could happen again, i guess.

After the end of the Cold War we are seeing the "return of history": A multipolar world with countries across the globe rivalling eachother for superpower status, reminds me somehow of Europe before WW1. Too many rising/wannabe/self-proclaimed/restored empires competing for ever fewer natural resources.

I think it's gonna be a bumpy ride this century.

Man has exerted no greater effort in its history than the enterprise of war. World War is the great lottery, where the strong become weak, new nations rise and great profit is made.
Those who starts with a predetermined winner in their narrative have given no thought at all to the chaotic nature of war. Tech=Win reasoning is as stupid as Population=Win or any X=win scenarios.
Individuals who are prepared to lose often make the most gains in war.

The West is in the catbird seat. We have the money; we have the technology; we have the infrastructure and the educated populace.

And gratuitous amounts of arrogance and self assured infallible superiority.

Sun-Tzu once said those who know themselves and know their enemies will be victorious. Those who know only themselves will have victory uncertain. Those who know neither will faced assured defeat.

One need not be mighty to defeat the mighty.

And gratuitous amounts of arrogance and self assured infallible superiority.

Sun-Tzu once said those who know themselves and know their enemies will be victorious. Those who know only themselves will have victory uncertain. Those who know neither will faced assured defeat.

One need not be mighty to defeat the mighty.

Damn right! There is too much hubris here.

I think we're up to at least WWIV by now. Get with the times man!

With the most recent pirate incident Russian and US forces could attack Somallia either creating a four way war between the US, Russia and two Somali factions ormaybe the US and Russians will both go in and side with one of the opposing factions. That could be a start, another spark could be an invasion of the Ukraine.

With the most recent pirate incident Russian and US forces could attack Somallia either creating a four way war between the US, Russia and two Somali factions ormaybe the US and Russians will both go in and side with one of the opposing factions. That could be a start, another spark could be an invasion of the Ukraine.

No, that wouldn't happen.

No, that wouldn't happen.

Yes, it would.

Unfortunately, WWIII breaks out on January 14th, 2011, when Wayne Gretzky is assassinated by frothing anti-hockey moms. America is caught completely by surprise when 30 million rampaging Canadians swarm through the United States, unleashing havoc and Tim Hortons coffee. With the bulk of the US forces stranded in the middle east, other world powers (notably Denmark) take the opportunity to unleash their own vile plans for world conquest. Russians really weren't expecting Mongolia to rise again, but there you have it.

The War finally ends on October 27th, 2017 when President Timberlake acknowledges the superiority of hockey. The rest of the world stops fighting, until World War IV unleashes over which beer is the best.

World War 3 will be a war fought over diminishing resources. As the world starts to run out of oil, but more importantly, water and food, nations will start to fracture along racial and cultural lines. Governments will collapse. I'm not going to make any elaborate predictions, but my guess is that it will be less about government vs. government, and more about faction vs. faction. Early hotspots will be West and Central Africa, Central America, the Middle East (as always), and probably everywhere in central Asia. I wouldn't like to be in India either...

Still, I feel relatively safe living in Australia =)