How do you think World War III will pan out?

[BonsaiK]

How do you think World War III will pan out? (Let's be honest, there is going to be one)

I'd say highly unlikely, actually. I've been hearing "World War III is just around the corner" for decades now, and so far it's just been a bunch of lame scaremongering by the same twits who think 2012 is significant or that Nostradamus had any clue about anything other than the true extent of human gullibility. Just because Hollywood does things in threes doesn't mean reality follows suit.

If a WWIII or something like it does happen (which it probably won't), nukes won't be used. They're old technology. Newer weapons get the job done cleaner and neater, with less fuss and less mess. Dropping nukes is bad for PR and even worse for getting the job done. All wars are about control of territory and resources (regardless of what other excuses are put in place to motivate people to fight, such as "religion", "freedom" etc), and this is likely to become a more heated issue in the future as certain countries face resource shortfalls, so contaminating an enemy territory with radiation so the conquering force can't harvest anything out of the land makes no goddamn sense at all.

should this belong in Religion/Politics?

Yes.

 

[THEfog101]

this may seem a bit clichéd but it's going to be U.S against Russia, most likely all the "west" allies will team-up with the U.S and the middle eastern countries will team-up with Russia.

I highly doubt that M.A.D will happen as there will plenty of anti-missile (ICBM) technology thus preventing any large scale of nuclear weaponry.

Both side's only have so much Anti Missile reserves they can use, even if they are intercepted mid air, the resulting nuclear fallout will cause mass ecological damage and i would not be surprised if it was to climax to a nuclear winter.

 

[mad825]

Both side's only have so much Anti Missile reserves they can use, even if they are intercepted mid air, the resulting nuclear fallout will cause mass ecological damage and i would not be surprised if it was to climax to a nuclear winter.

well supposing that they are using lasers I'm sure they could do it for a while and even then there would very little "fallout" due to the premature detonation doesn't cause a nuclear explosion (implosion, to be pedantic).
the ecological impact might be fairly minimal, depending on were the derbies landed and the weather conditions.

 

[Protocol95]

Can I say I don't think it will happen? Because if not,

"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." - Albert Einstein

 

[Tsunimo]

I'm expecting some of the smaller countries to rise up against the superpowers, they will be lead by... America!
lets face it folks, by the time WWIII comes around, americas gunna be broke as shit

 

[eytrvnbmgkhjiuty]

.

 

[iThinkCat]

I don't think nukes will play as big of a threat as people think they will. We have missle defense systems to shoot down every cruise-missle and ICBM in the world. Trust me when I say our country isn't stupid enough to stock less anti-missles than missles. We are well aware that if nukes were to be used we would HAVE to intercept ALL of them. We even have laser defenses capable of neutralizing a missle without detonationg them. Stealth and unconventional weapons will be what define conventional warfare in the future. So far, the US is the only nation with a stealth bomber or fighter capable of carrying nuclear payloads, but that could change within the next decade or two. Mind you, as other people have mentioned, nukes will be tactical and percise with very little collateral. Railguns will prove to be highly effective and nearly impossible to counter due to the slug's extremely high velocity. Guerilla warfare will trump any large army movements. Most of all though, militaries will play a very small role in the next world war.

I think people are neglecting to point out the economic and information attacks that will be exploited. They will play the biggest roles if there is ever another world war. Cyberspace will be the new battle field with communications being cut, blackouts for entire nations, meltdowns of reactors, cyber jacking of military assets as well as national funds, etc. War will not only be defined by the geographical borders we live in, but also by the logical ones we can not see.

 

[GeorgW]

North- and South Korea will start it, and the world will lose. That's my guess at least.

 

[BlackStar42]

It'll be over water or oil. It'll last 5 minutes, and end with the world a nuclear wasteland.

 

[THEfog101]

Both side's only have so much Anti Missile reserves they can use, even if they are intercepted mid air, the resulting nuclear fallout will cause mass ecological damage and i would not be surprised if it was to climax to a nuclear winter.

well supposing that they are using lasers I'm sure they could do it for a while and even then there would very little "fallout" due to the premature detonation doesn't cause a nuclear explosion (implosion, to be pedantic).
the ecological impact might be fairly minimal, depending on were the derbies landed and the weather conditions.

True True, very valid point. However lasers are only effective at a certain distance, nearly assured to be close enough to cause radioactive fallout pollution on a landmass, all it takes is this to fall on a town on the coast and now you have a whole population with Gamma exposure diseases and Beta burns. look at Chernobyl, 24 years on and still the animal populations in the area are heavily diseased and low on numbers (Still nothing compared to 2-3 years after the disaster itself). And its more than likely that in the process of defending their own country they are also going to be on the offensive and attack back, then allies are going to get involved on both side.

The allies are going to utilize their nuclear capabilities and launch attacks as well. You can only defend against so many attacks at once before you are overwhelmed. And then your allies are going to continue firing against the hostiles until they are wiped out or have taken a enemy out, in the case they do take a enemy out then another will follow and destroy them and so on until there is nobody left and then BAMM! You have Metro or Fallout, where the surface is so highly irradiated that it cannot be immediately re-inhabited. So we will recover, we always have....... its in our nature.

 

[Kortney]

(Let's be honest, there is going to be one)

I completely disagree - at least in regard to it happening in our life times.

The world has changed. A global war is pointless now. What super power (and a world war has to include super powers) would bother? Trade is extremely important in this day and age, and super powers work hand in hand with each other. China and the USA is a great example. Their trade relationship is worth billions and billions - a war would destroy that.

The bad guys today come from tiny countries. No super power would be inclined to go head to head with each other - as a huge loss is guaranteed.

I think the next global war will happen in a very different world. Maybe it will happen in our life time, but something will have to change drastically first.

 

[Chogg Van Helsing]

Space aliens arrive. We nuke the alliens. Then more aliens arrive.
Rinse-repeat until either
a: the aliens give up
b: we run out of nukes
c: all the fallout from the sky causes the fish to mutate, causing WWIV, MAN VS FISHMAN!

That would be A LOT of Aliens... Seen as we have enough nukes to destroy earth several times over lol.

And IDK, wars would be faster if we used knights and swords rather than guns and tanks.

 

[Flamezdudes]

Perhaps a bit like in the Fallout universe. The shortage of oil causes violence between countries and global superpowers like America, China and Russia start fighting amongst eachother again.

 

[iThinkCat]

snip

snip

True True, very valid point. However lasers are only effective at a certain distance, nearly assured to be close enough to cause radioactive fallout pollution on a landmass, all it takes is this to fall on a town on the coast and now you have a whole population with Gamma exposure diseases and Beta burns. look at Chernobyl, 24 years on and still the animal populations in the area are heavily diseased and low on numbers (Still nothing compared to 2-3 years after the disaster itself). And its more than likely that in the process of defending their own country they are also going to be on the offensive and attack back, then allies are going to get involved on both side.

The allies are going to utilize their nuclear capabilities and launch attacks as well. You can only defend against so many attacks at once before you are overwhelmed. And then your allies are going to continue firing against the hostiles until they are wiped out or have taken a enemy out, in the case they do take a enemy out then another will follow and destroy them and so on until there is nobody left and then BAMM! You have Metro or Fallout, where the surface is so highly irradiated that it cannot be immediately re-inhabited. So we will recover, we always have....... its in our nature.

The lasers actually are effective to serveral miles out and are even more effective in space (nullifying ICBMs). Also, they do not cause the warhead to expload or impload. In fact, they don't even target the warhead; they target the detonator. Without the detonator, the missle can not cause a nuclear chain reaction. If the missle still poses enough of a threat without the detonator, then they simply fry the engine with the laser.

Aside from the warhead being pascified, I highly doubt every nuclear missle out there isn't shielded with lead to prevent radiation leaks during containment. If they were all just sitting there in their launch tubes unprotected, then I think we would already be seeing these land and water contaminations popping up. You have to remember, we have the smartest people in the nation (not an exageration) creating these policies and tactics. Not to mention, a lot of the policies are governed, enforced, and developed internationally by people that may be even smarter than the people we host in our nation.

At this stage in technology, we do not have the luxury to overlook these issues. If we did, it could ensure the destruction of our entire race, and we are well aware of that.

 

[deonte9109]

Well it wouldn't be World War if America, Germany, UK, Italy, and France didnt fight. France is really there as a tactical distraction to the countries. They will capture it thinking that they actually did something then proceed to be defeated by the opposing nations.

 

[aakibar]

From the modern stand point right now:

WWIII will start in the middle east and Asia and quickly become a world war, nations would be pulled in due to political alliances or for economic reasons.
In the begining the UN will try to solve things then nations will just walk our like during WWI

the main belligerants (initially) will be Pakistan, China, India, Israel, NKorea, Iran, syria.

How it starts will be anybodys guess but the most obvious one is Iran goes balistic and starts a war with Israel, America will give support to our allies while most of the Muslem world will fight for Iran. The deciding factor will be where will the oil come from. China most likely will have to side with the mid east for economic reasons.

The eurpopean nations will either join with the US due to the NATO alliance or totally stay away. This is where the whole world war thing will happen. that will be the decideing factor.
Likly Nkorea and China will attempt to take control of the pacific while America will mobilize in full, think WWII only more frantic.
Canada Will watch for the most part unless china gets ambitious.
Russia is the wild card who may go anywhere i don't really know.
Africa as a whole will again dissolve into civil war, maybe different forces will invade looking for more resources.
South America will be another interesting factor, no doubt. The Venezuelans will take advantage of America looking the other way and likly invade other nearby nations because they are feeling power hungry or if they have enough nations on their side already, make a move against American allies or America herself.

Nuclear misscles will happen at least once hopefully not if a nation feels cornored with no way our and really wants to hurt another nation nukes will be launched. but if this war is not resolved quickly by the affore mentioned nukes or the UN or peace in general. it will cause a great loss of life, great environmental impact, likly speed hospital tech, building tech, farming, alt energy tech etc ahead hundreds of years. Hopefully this can be the unification war needed to make the world on single bloc. unlikly but possible.

Tell me if i missed anything thanks

an yes i know this seems like a page taken out of fallout fluff, and theres a reason for it. it is quite accurate to a degree.

 

[supagama]

From the modern stand point right now:

WWIII will start in the middle east and Asia and quickly become a world war, nations would be pulled in due to political alliances or for economic reasons.
In the begining the UN will try to solve things then nations will just walk our like during WWI

the main belligerants (initially) will be Pakistan, China, India, Israel, NKorea, Iran, syria.

How it starts will be anybodys guess but the most obvious one is Iran goes balistic and starts a war with Israel, America will give support to our allies while most of the Muslem world will fight for Iran. The deciding factor will be where will the oil come from. China most likely will have to side with the mid east for economic reasons.

The eurpopean nations will either join with the US due to the NATO alliance or totally stay away. This is where the whole world war thing will happen. that will be the decideing factor.
Likly Nkorea and China will attempt to take control of the pacific while America will mobilize in full, think WWII only more frantic.
Canada Will watch for the most part unless china gets ambitious.
Russia is the wild card who may go anywhere i don't really know.
Africa as a whole will again dissolve into civil war, maybe different forces will invade looking for more resources.
South America will be another interesting factor, no doubt. The Venezuelans will take advantage of America looking the other way and likly invade other nearby nations because they are feeling power hungry or if they have enough nations on their side already, make a move against American allies or America herself.

Nuclear misscles will happen at least once hopefully not if a nation feels cornored with no way our and really wants to hurt another nation nukes will be launched. but if this war is not resolved quickly by the affore mentioned nukes or the UN or peace in general. it will cause a great loss of life, great environmental impact, likly speed hospital tech, building tech, farming, alt energy tech etc ahead hundreds of years. Hopefully this can be the unification war needed to make the world on single bloc. unlikly but possible.

Tell me if i missed anything thanks

an yes i know this seems like a page taken out of fallout fluff, and theres a reason for it. it is quite accurate to a degree.

you missed the part about government collapse when the nukes launch, but you are mostly correct

 

[BlumiereBleck]

Well, ether China, Russia, or North Korea will start it attacking some smaller country in the Middle East, or into Europe. America will remain neutral until they are attacked. Germany will be an Allie along with Brit land, France, and the western Europe countries along with several from the Americas.

 

[aakibar]

From the modern stand point right now: snip

you missed the part about government collapse when the nukes launch, but you are mostly correct

Well i doing the assumption that governments will dissolve into dictatorships for some time. i also hope that all nations will be smart and not turn the world into a giant fireball. but i woulnt put it past them

 

[Firoth]

Canada, Australia, Switzerland, and Jamaica have always secretly had huge armies, and finally get tired of everyone else's shit, so they attack and take over. Strict laws are put into place, forcing everyone to be mellow and get along (the irony is lost on no one). The world is now a better place, filled with tolerance and understanding.