How will WW3 start?

[Balagor]

I don´t know how the WW3 will start, but I know how we will fight the WW4: with sticks and stones :sick:

[Aurielius]

I don´t know how the WW3 will start, but I know how we will fight the WW4: with sticks and stones :sick:

 

ROFTL....Balagor has posted the first and only really relevant comment concerning a possible Armageddon. Are you all so keen to see the end of civilization as we know it? I'm not nearly as pessimistic about our chances to avoid this event, being a child of the Cold War and having gone through crises such as the Cuban Missile Crisis where the fate of the world hung on a very thin thread but rational thinking won out and here we still are. For those of you that have some illusions about surviving in some post apocalyptic wasteland, I doubt that few if any of you have the survival skills required and those of us who do have the skills would not look forward to the ordeal with any enthusiasm. My only caveat to Balagor's comment is that WW IV will be between cockroaches more than likely.

[Nadimos]

Erm in all seriousness we kinda should look at how to dispose of all that stuff.... safely. Edited January 31, 2011 by Nadimos

[RZ1029]

World War Three will be fought with nukes, chemical weapons, and total war. World War Four is what you'll call the fight for food after World War Three.

 

I'd say it'll start with something involving Iran or North Korea. They're two countries led by leaders who are unstable, at best. I'm leaning towards Iran, as there is already a US presence in the area, which Ahmadinejad is less than happy about. Assuming it starts with Iran, Israel will probably jump at the opportunity to turn it into a radioactive hole in the ground. They'll fight for all of a week, and then if either of them have nukes, they'll use it.

 

And while Ahmadinejad is unstable, he's also not an idiot. He'll probably go to North Korea, who he could probably lobby as an ally against the US/Israel. North Korea pulls China into the war, the US calls in Britain, France, Germany, and possibly Canada. The British and Canadians will probably respond, France might, and Germany will probably allow us to use the bases we have for the war, but they won't pledge troops. Some of the smaller European nations will probably help out in some capacity.

 

Russia's likely to remain out of it entirely, as they're not entirely anti-American or pro-Chinese. A lot of it's just the matter of who launches the first nuke. Once the first nuke is lobbed, and probably not by the US due to the backlash that would come with it, the US will probably respond with a massive nuclear barrage using a few of our approximately 10,000 nuclear weapons. That's enough to annihilate approximately 1/50th of the entire world. Direct that towards major cities and important military targets, and then you've got basically nothing left. During that, China decides to lob some back at us, assuming they're probably a target, and they've got enough to take out about 250 major targets in the US, pretty well crippling us. Then if Russia decides to be enterprising, they could go ahead and finish off both the US and China with their 12,000 or so odd nukes. That's another 1/50 of the world gone.

 

1/25th of the world gone, with much of the developed world lying in ruin, followed by a large ground war between the surviving countries, in which most survivors die of either radioactive fallout or in combat.

 

Problem solved, lots of dead bodies, a few people left around in Africa and such.

 

EDIT: I like Balagor's statement about WW4 better. It's much more amusing.

Edited January 31, 2011 by RZ1029

[WizardOfAtlantis]

I'm not entirely convinced atomic weapons will come into play. I think the USSR and the USA played the hot potato game of paranoia long enough to have honestly learned that lesson, and just maybe China could be swayed a little bit by both of them to stay out of that game as well.

 

I think the problem is with the fanatics, and I don't include Israel in this. I will use the term "belief system", because it includes all types of perceptual paradigms through which every person on the planet views what's around them.

 

So, there are belief systems in the world that do make for explosive cocktails, but like I said, I don't see the Big Three getting into it directly. Iran is home to a very explosive belief system, like much of the Middle East...although we honestly cannot say all of it because the US gov and the Saudis are scratching each other's backs.

 

North Korea...I still doubt they actually have nuclear weapons. I think those underground explosions were a bluff. I suspect they stockpiled normal arms for decades and then made 'em go off together in a way to induce people to think they have the real thing. A far more effective ploy would have been to explode a real nuke on the surface so everyone would SEE it. Since they didn't, I think they faked it because that's all they've got.

 

India and Pakistan are a real wide-scale threat that I don't think people should underestimate. Pakistan is a fire-pot, and I will tell you one thing: if there is any chance of justifiably wiping out the Pakistani, India will be All Over It...and Rama's Spear will be flying out of the skies to obliterate them with Holy Furor the likes of which haven't been seen since the Ramayana.

 

As for Iran...well, they'd be pretty stupid to continue enriching uranium, if that's what they're doing. I don't think they'll be nuked or anything, but an actual invasion is possible. I wonder what the excuse will be...the nuclear factor sanctioned by the UN? How will the excuse be pulled off? That is assuming Iran doesn't do anything stupid like declare they have nuclear weapons. Then it would be easy. I fear they just might play into the US's hands...

[Harbringe]

I don´t know how the WW3 will start, but I know how we will fight the WW4: with sticks and stones :sick:

 

ROFTL....Balagor has posted the first and only really relevant comment concerning a possible Armageddon. Are you all so keen to see the end of civilization as we know it? I'm not nearly as pessimistic about our chances to avoid this event, being a child of the Cold War and having gone through crises such as the Cuban Missile Crisis where the fate of the world hung on a very thin thread but rational thinking won out and here we still are. For those of you that have some illusions about surviving in some post apocalyptic wasteland, I doubt that few if any of you have the survival skills required and those of us who do have the skills would not look forward to the ordeal with any enthusiasm. My only caveat to Balagor's comment is that WW IV will be between cockroaches more than likely.

 

Well the OP did state this to be hypothetical and in such you hypothesize , that's the nature of doing such an exercise .As for survivability it will have far more to do with the circumstances one finds themselves in rather than any personal skills .Such as a person living in the country side of New Zealand has a much higher survival probability versus someone living in the densely populated Washington to New York corridor .In a WW 3 event some people will find themselves in circumstances that may just be unsurvivable and no amount of skills is going to change that.

 

Plus I fully well intend to survive it ,the way I figure it ,in the lead up to WW 3 all the young men will be all drafted and sent off to war ,leaving all us old guys behind and after all the bombs are dropped ,there will be all these young ladies left behind and a world to repopulate and it will be baby making time.Sounds good to me.

 

Wow now there's a desperate dating strategy for ya ,I'm so lonely.

Edited January 31, 2011 by Harbringe

[DrunkenGamer]

World War 3 won't be starting in the near future, as I can see it. The issue with North Korea can be isolated in just the peninsula and would just constitute a continuation of the Korean War, in which the RoK, USA, and allies will win. No matter what.

The Middle East is another problem, but I can also see that problem solving itself in some years to follow. I'm talking about US involvment of course. Or it'll become more volatile, and somebody will step in and stop everything. It will happen. People will scream, "RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE," but the fact is that the whole region is just crazy and happens to be Muslim.

 

I don't see WWIII happening soon.

But when it does start, I suspect it will have something to do with Russia making another power-bid around the world as soon as their economy picks up again. Just you wait. Those Russians and that one scary Russian guy are planning things. (I'm afraid of Putin.)

[marharth]

"I do not know how the Third World War will be fought, but I can tell you what they will use in the Fourth - rocks"

 

That's a quote by Einstein...

 

 

I do not understand why people think the USA doesn't like China, China is a MASSIVE ally of the USA.

 

I mean saying China hates the US is close to crazy, and saying they would try to destroy us is also pretty crazy.

 

China makes a ton of money off us, and a ton of money off our corporations.

 

 

I agree with RZ1029 entirely on how it will start.

 

However I disagree with the China thing, I think china will either help the US or stay out of it.

 

 

I think Russia is much more likely to go against us then China, since China makes money off us and Russia doesn't make money off us. Russia is more of a competition to us then anything.

 

I believe WW3 will not happen without Russian involvement... Too many people would be on the allies side for a world war to happen. We would just completely destroy everyone.

[Harbringe]

I do not understand why people think the USA doesn't like China, China is a MASSIVE ally of the USA.

 

I mean saying China hates the US is close to crazy, and saying they would try to destroy us is also pretty crazy.

 

China makes a ton of money off us, and a ton of money off our corporations.

 

Its got nothing to do with one country liking or not liking another and its got nothing to do with money ,its got to do with perceived national interest.You may recall officials in the US when explaining why it is they have done something touting its in the US national interest ,well other nations have their own national interests.China for example:

 

The Korean peninsula has before been used as an invasion point into China itself ,its in their national interest to have a situation that favors their security and it certainly does not favor them to have the South take over if it means American bases are going to be put directly on the Chinese border (South Korea with no America involved different matter they could live with that) which is why in the Korean War they warn America not to approach the Chinese border ,which MacArthur ignored and the Chinese attacked.

 

Taiwan : most of China's imports of oil come through the Taiwan Straits and 80% of their exports go out through those same straits ,so whoever controls those straits can to a large degree control China ,so it's in their national interest to control them themselves ,which they don't ,it's controlled by the US navy with the help of the Nation of Taiwan.

 

A historical example:Germany and Russia 1939 - 1941.Germany and Russia had signed a non aggression pact and many trade deals ,but Hitler even when signing those deals had already determined it was in Germany's national interest to deal with this growing power in the east and in the process gain living space for the German Reich .Now when war came Stalin refused to admit for a week that the Germans were attacking , why , because they had a non aggression pact and Russia was sending Hitler massive amounts of raw materials and Germany was sending back tons of finished goods and why would Hitler be willing to give up all that money ,so for a week he refused to admit it was happening.

 

The period after the napoleonic wars til WW 1 was a period of shifting alliances where in sides would switch based on their perceived national interest.Nations that were good friends one moment would be hated enemies a few years later and really this didn't stop until the advent of the nuclear age , where in it divided into two basic camps or poles (bipolar world) , and with the fall of the Soviet Union only one pole remained (unipolar world) but with the rise of China ,the reconstitution of Russia power ,the possible emergence of Brazil and India and of course lets not forget the EU we are really returning to more of a time when multi polar politics prevailed , such as the period between Napolean and WW 1.Except now there are nuclear weapons in the mix which makes it a much more dangerous time.I'm sure any of you who is from Europe knows exactly what I'm talking about , you probably studied that period in school.

[marharth]

I do not understand why people think the USA doesn't like China, China is a MASSIVE ally of the USA.

 

I mean saying China hates the US is close to crazy, and saying they would try to destroy us is also pretty crazy.

 

China makes a ton of money off us, and a ton of money off our corporations.

 

Its got nothing to do with one country liking or not liking another and its got nothing to do with money ,its got to do with perceived national interest.You may recall officials in the US when explaining why it is they have done something touting its in the US national interest ,well other nations have their own national interests.China for example:

 

The Korean peninsula has before been used as an invasion point into China itself ,its in their national interest to have a situation that favors their security and it certainly does not favor them to have the South take over if it means American bases are going to be put directly on the Chinese border (South Korea with no America involved different matter they could live with that) which is why in the Korean War they warn America not to approach the Chinese border ,which MacArthur ignored and the Chinese attacked.

 

Taiwan : most of China's imports of oil come through the Taiwan Straits and 80% of their exports go out through those same straits ,so whoever controls those straits can to a large degree control China ,so it's in their national interest to control them themselves ,which they don't ,it's controlled by the US navy with the help of the Nation of Taiwan.

 

A historical example:Germany and Russia 1939 - 1941.Germany and Russia had signed a non aggression pact and many trade deals ,but Hitler even when signing those deals had already determined it was in Germany's national interest to deal with this growing power in the east and in the process gain living space for the German Reich .Now when war came Stalin refused to admit for a week that the Germans were attacking , why , because they had a non aggression pact and Russia was sending Hitler massive amounts of raw materials and Germany was sending back tons of finished goods and why would Hitler be willing to give up all that money ,so for a week he refused to admit it was happening.

 

The period after the napoleonic wars til WW 1 was a period of shifting alliances where in sides would switch based on their perceived national interest.Nations that were good friends one moment would be hated enemies a few years later and really this didn't stop until the advent of the nuclear age , where in it divided into two basic camps or poles (bipolar world) , and with the fall of the Soviet Union only one pole remained (unipolar world) but with the rise of China ,the reconstitution of Russia power ,the possible emergence of Brazil and India and of course lets not forget the EU we are really returning to more of a time when multi polar politics prevailed , such as the period between Napolean and WW 1.Except now there are nuclear weapons in the mix which makes it a much more dangerous time.I'm sure any of you who is from Europe knows exactly what I'm talking about , you probably studied that period in school.

Money is something that is always in national interest...