World War 3

lcrcboy

Who do you think would be the major players in a future WW3 and how would the war be fought compared to how WW2 was fought. I have a feeling the biggest players in this war could be countries such as China and India maybe even Russia due to its proximity to the other two countries but thats just my opinion.

RMD

I doubt there will be proper WW3 for the simple reason of Nuclear warfare. If WMD's hadn't been discovered it's safe to say at some point the Cold War would have gone "warm" and seen combat between Russia / USA instead of both supporting various sides in proxy wars. If there is WW3 eventually some idiot will use a Nuclear weapon and once that happens, we're fúcked. The idea of "mutual assured destruction" will certainly put everyone off the idea of war or at least the use of Nuclear arms.

savagecabbages

We also need some majorly different political systems/ideologies to confront each other before such a conflict can come about. Thanks to globalization there is only one real power/ideology in the world right now, with several other minor ones existing. Perhaps we again have two or more big ones in opposition then theres a chance. i.e.
Nazism vs Democracy [ww2]
Capitalism vs Communism [cold war]
I left out WW1 as its origins were much more complex and cloudy, it had more to do with the collapse of backward imperial monarchical systems.

I think the events of the next 25 years will see something coming about as the world population continues to increase and the food/water we produce becomes more contested something might happen. I dont think it will be fought over oil, or territory. What this will be I have NO idea:D

But the middle east worries me, especially with the proliferation of nukes.
And the Balkans
And the Koreas
And the ex-USSR republics

BrianD

The current uprisings in the Arab world could lead to a new world order. I say that because, there seems to be general uncertainty as to what will come into effect once the 'uprising' phase is over.

One thing is certain, these are generally nations with great internal economic differences and many have valuable natural resources. The old regimes of many of these nations helped ensure a steady and relatively secure flow of these resources to the West. Will new regimes continue to?

Should be interesting to see what happens if and when popular uprisings hit Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

savagecabbages

Very true. There seems to be an attitude of 'get rid of whoevers in charge' with no real alternative as of yet. Thats not something i'm comfortable with as in the past its lead to more harm than good for some nations after so called 'liberation' or newly granted independence.

A united, organized Arab world could be bad news for Israel

twinytwo

the next great war will be over either oil and/or water