WWIII may not be the nuclear war long talked about, long prepared for, but so doomsdayesque that it may be avoided. It may be instead an explosion and escalation of regional wars, with the superpower of each area asserting itself with conventional (which today also means cyber) arms and the conflicts staying sub-nuclear (or pre-nuclear) as everyone is aware that if that threshold is crossed armageddon could quickly result.
What could happen is reginal wars in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East; and maybe soon in this way:
Russia decides that to stop the US/NATO threats, and to assert its own regional authority, it must take part or all of Ukraine and draw the line. The escalating provocations pushing Russia to do so have been pursued by the U.S. for many years.
China decides that under all the circumstances, with a Pacific alliance against it escalating, and with Taiwan being further armed to assert independence, the time has come to end that situation. China too has been provoked in many ways in recent years with the U.S. orchestrating growing military forces to surround, contain and weaken China while whittling away at the basic “One China Policy”.
Israel decides under all the circumstances to take down Iran while it still can, not because Iran has nuclear weapons, but because Iran is the regional power opposing Israeli and Arab client-state domination of the region with American sponsorship. If Iran can be finally brought down then Syria and Lebanon are dealt with as well. The Israelis might even use the opportunity of WWIII at the sub-nuclear regional level to orchestrate the long-in-waiting plot to bring down the Hashemite regime in Jordan, declare today’s Jordan to be Palestine, and “transfer” as many Palestinians as possible to the east.
Mark Bruzonsky 