The Next World War

[Marc Chevalier]

By "we", do you mean the United States? And if so, are you referring to the U.S.'s invasion of Iraq?

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[Lena_Horne]

By "we", do you mean the United States? And if so, are you referring to the U.S.'s invasion of Iraq?

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Hm? No. I was referring to the general destablization of various hot spots in the world and the seeming inability of any one or nation to slow this runaway locomotive. The war in Iraq is simply part of a bigger world issue (without any ascertations about whether I lean one way or another on the subject) that could be swallowed up by the problems the rest of the middle east is having.

I suppose all of this is really a lamentation on the seeming extinction of statesmen and my feeling that no politician today is really ready to risk anything to try to stop this before it all (literally) blows up in our faces. Could they stop it if they tried?

And should we all be getting ready to hunker down, dig in our heels and fight the good fight?

Just curious,

L_H

 

[LaMedicine]

So what about North Korea?

Contrary to the pictures China paint of us, (which in part is the result of the impulsive actions of our stubborn Prime Minister, as well as internal propaganda for the citizens of that country) the majority of present day Japanese are peaceful, and have no desire whatsoever to start or engange in any war. (Well, no one really would, I do suppose.) Unfortunately, the most recent episode of the North Korean missiles has made many of us think, and wondering if we should chuck the "no war" attitude and change it to a more aggressive one, although a recent poll was around 40% for changes, 48% against. Considering that the Japanese Constitution states clearly that we denounce all our rights to engage in any warfare outside our boundaries, and our military is only for self defence, 40% is a pretty big number to us.

North Korea is a scary country, and quite as capable, or maybe even more capable than, Iran in producing nuclear weapons and using them rashly.

 

[otterhound]

Globalization means no WWIII

I'm more optimistic than you guys. I think economic globalization is a powerful force against a WWIII scenario.

To have a true world war, you need more or less equally powerful groups fighting each other. I can't see two strong powers fighting, because we are all too economically intertwined now.

China won't fight the US because we are responsible for their booming economy, and they are responsible for all the cheap stuff we love to buy at WalMart.

Russia has nothing to gain by alienating the west. Russia needs economic ties to Western Europe especially, and I just don't see a Russian/European alliance against the US.

India's only beef is against Pakistan, so that could be a mess, but only a regional one. I don't see any other countries being drawn in.

Instead of WWIII, I just see endless small messy hotspots around the world. Lots of violence and death, but no global general war.

Just my 2 cents.[huh]

 

[matei]

You may think I'm a nut, but I don't really care, but I'm alot more worried about Global Warming that WWIII.

Exactly - what he said! :eusa_clap

 

[Lincsong]

There's going to be a lot of little flare-up hotspots around the world. Right now we have the Menta-li-il in North Korea. Who for some strange reason, Madeline Albright insists isn't crazy, just likes to be engaged diplomatically.[huh] and the Pint sized loud mouth in Iran, whom I read in a magazine, I can't think of which who said that as Mayor of Tehren he was very fair. How we deal with these guys is the big thing.:rage:

 

[airfrogusmc]

This thing has turned into just what some feared from the get go. Invasion of Afghanistan was totally justified in the worlds eye. Iraq and the way its been mis-managed kinda reminds me of another war sorry "police action" and has brought Hamas being elected the majority government in Palestine, the nut job in Iran coming into power the trouble in Somalia and in Indonesia. Its become what it should have never become Christian against Muslim in their eyes and they have turned it into a religious war. Now with the mess between Lebanon and Israel with us supporting Israel and the Muslim world supporting Hezbollah it only deepens.

 

[Lincsong]

I thought it was Christian vs. Moslem from 9/12.[huh]

 

[airfrogusmc]

No it was the US against al-Qaeda. The way the Iraq situation has been handle turned it into Christian vs Muslim.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I'm more optimistic than you guys. I think economic globalization is a powerful force against a WWIII scenario.

To have a true world war, you need more or less equally powerful groups fighting each other. I can't see two strong powers fighting, because we are all too economically intertwined now.

I'm sad to report that this exact same argument was used in the early 1900s, insisting that Europe would never again engage in a global, Napoleonic-style war. In those days, they used the term "international trade" instead of globalization. Only a decade or so later, World War I erupted.

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[Marc Chevalier]

Instead of WWIII, I just see endless small messy hotspots around the world.

Again, in the early 1900s, the "Balkan question" arose and festered in a small messy hotspot, one of many hotspots in those days. In 1914, that particular hotspot ignited the spark that led to World War I.

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[Lincsong]

No it was the US against al-Qaeda. The way the Iraq situation has been handle turned it into Christian vs Muslim.

Really? Then why all the anti-U.S. protests by Moslems throughout the world in late September 2001?

 

[airfrogusmc]

Its not all Muslims. Nut bags come in all flavors. Lots of folks protest the US. al-Qaeda are the ones that flew airplanes into the World Trade Center. The leader of the freeworld referring to our actions as a crusade and the actions that have followed have only taken moderate Muslims and pushed them to the radical side. How many Americans are Muslim? They're not all our enemy no more than all the German Americans in WWII were.

 

[Lincsong]

I never said "all Moslems". But one thing is for sure; not all Moslems are terrorists, but all the terrorists we're dealing with are Moslems."