World War III

"The Great War," as WWI was once known, began in 1914 as Germany, the Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary faced off with neighboring countries. Declarations of War between these foes and their neighboring countries came quickly. Russia, the United Kingdom and France were among the early entries in the conflict to suppress the aggressors. Italy and Japan also joined the war, but the United States did not declare war until 1917. After the U.S. entered the war numerous Central and South American counties entered into the conflict. Among our unlikely allies were Cuba and China.

The first world war, "The war to end all wars" according to then President Woodrow Wilson, was a bloody conflict with an estimated 37 million military and civilian casualties by the time it ended in 1918. It was inconceivable that such a war would ever occur again, yet it did. Twenty years had barely passed when World War II began. As was with The Great War, Germany was the key member of the Axis powers, but they had new allies. Italy and Japan who had fought against Germany in the first war where now Germany's allies twenty years later. WWII would be bigger and deadlier. Our technology for killing our fellow Human Being had greatly improved since WWI, and before the conflict came to an end in 1945, an estimated 73 million people had died.

The human race fails to learn from history, and thus, history repeats its self again and again. It seems inevitable that there will be a third world war. WWIII will not be a resurrection of Nazism. There will be a new host of villains taking on the world, and unlike the previous two world wars, the United States of America will not be able to set idle on the sidelines for two or more years before entering the war. It will be a different war, shorter in length but deadlier as civilian casualties far exceed that of the military. Technology has advanced greatly since WWII, and the weapon of choice will be from the nuclear arsenals.

Sixty-five years have passed since the end of WWII, and the political world has changed. The Muslim nations, especially Iran, are on the verge of having nuclear weapons and the capability to deliver them. Iran and North Korea will play heavily in the next world war along with other supporting Muslim nations in the region. The war will begin with Israel, a formidable enemy. Iran's only hope of victory will be with nuclear weapons. The nuclear exchange will be devastating. Israel and Iran will be so heavily contaminated from the nuclear exchange that both countries will be virtually uninhabitable.

Simultaneously to the Israel-Iran conflict, North Korea will attack South Korea. China, either as or friend or foe, will take this opportunity to retake Taiwan. While the world is preoccupied, Argentina will have its own agenda and begin annexing neighboring countries. The United States' major concern will be Korea and their ability to launch nuclear missiles. Our recourse greatly depends greatly on China's alliance as friend, foe or neutral and will we once again be limited the 38^th Parallel? Except for the attack on Peal Harbor by the Japanese during WWII, the United States has emerged virtually unscathed by either of the world wars. North Korea could change that.