Geopolitics — War & Diplomacy
The Emergence of World War III & What It Looks Like
A third world war will not be what you think
The image above is from a board game that many in the United States will recognize. As the United States has become more involved in the war in Ukraine, Americans may imagine this war and WWIII unfolding like the 1940’s. That is to say, these familiar themes seem to be mentioned a lot:
- Direct state sponsored actions by all state actors.
- Direct military action in the form of boots on the ground, lines of troops and tanks facing off against an equally entrenched enemy.
- Command & conquer style mentality.
The difference between WWI and WWII was the advancement of technology — particularly air superiority. Faster airplanes, missiles, bombs, and airborne infantry. WWII was much more mobile and looked nothing like WWI. Yet many people have the idea of WWIII will be like WWII. It won’t.
Particularly in the United States, we fear a nuclear weapon. Russia and the United States equally use nuclear weapons as a way of capturing the attention of their respective populations. Russia state TV talks about this as much as mainstream media does in the U.S. — albeit the tone is different.
