17 October 2024

Is A Limited World War 3 Possible? – OpEd

Mathew Maavak

Unlike popular doomsday scenarios, this will be a war of flashpoints, chokepoints and High Value Targets (HVTs)

There are signs aplenty that we may face a Limited World War III (L-WW3) in the very near-future. An L-WW3 scenario would involve a global conflict, but with restraints aimed at preventing total devastation, such as the use of nuclear weapons on a wide scale. Such a war might unfold through regional conflicts, cyberattacks, physical infrastructural sabotages, proxy wars, and intense economic and technological confrontations, rather than an all-out global military clash. They could all occur simultaneously or in rapid sequence.

The Flashpoints

A flashpoint within the context of an L-WW3 refers to a region where tensions between major powers may erupt into a wider regional conflagration with global ramifications.

There are intense confrontational pressures building up across the globe. Right on top of the list would be an outright war between Israel and Iran. On Oct 1 2024, Iran launched nearly 200 hypersonic missiles towards select Israeli targets in response to the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the assassination of several high-profile Hamas and Hezbollah leaders as well as certain Iranian military commanders. All the missiles were launched from an Iranian base, reportedly located near the city of Shiraz.

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