Bevo1970
100+ Posts
This thread was originally submitted by member = Clean
This post was made just before going to the new 2015 platform. Post as normal after it if you wish.
Clean
(2500+ posts)
02/16/15 12:02 PM
Has World War III Already Begun?
I was surprised to hear Dennis Prager say that World War III had already begun on his radio show last week. I think he is one of the more intelligent talk show hosts. Looking around the internet, I see Pope Francis quoted as saying that WW3 could be "fought piecemeal, with crimes, massacres, destruction." That certainly describes what is happening throughout the M.E. and Africa. Islamic State released a video over the weekend of their grinning warriors beheading 21 Christians for no other reason than they are non-Muslims.
Thw world is certainly a more dangerous, violent place than I can ever remember.
The Pope Francis quote comes from this article:
The Link
In reply to:
A Third World War would be highly decentralized, complex, covert and tactically diverse, and it would transcend the state-vs.-state paradigm. Wars currently underway in the world are either ideological in a purely religious sense, or strictly economic with a view toward maximizing profits (as opposed to peddling communism or capitalism as ideologies). Both of these phenomena are occurring simultaneously.
The Islamic State terrorists in Syria and Iraq, Boko Haram in Nigeria, Uighur extremists in China, and various other Islamic extremist groups throughout Africa, Asia and the Middle East -- with recruitment efforts that reach into developed Western nations -- are belligerents in one type of conflict: religio-ideological. They're essentially guerrillas of widely varying backgrounds, pulled from all over the world to fight with groups largely lacking in hierarchy and organization.
The second set of belligerents is comprised of nation-states, engaged in similarly decentralized economic warfare that isn't strictly limited to their own geographic boundaries or any politico-ideological agenda. The emphasis on economics rather than on homeland perimeter defense or the defense of political ideology is what makes the current set of nation-state conflicts different from World War II and the Cold War.
China, for example, has been gobbling up resources in South American and African countries without firing a shot. It's this kind of warfare that explains why nation-states engage in economic intelligence activities from within their foreign embassies -- a fact that former NSA contractor Edward Snowden apparently found shocking enough to disclose publicly. The disclosure of such top-secret intelligence can cause grave harm to national interests by hampering a country's competitiveness. Whether an economic disadvantage ultimately translates into a national-security detriment is a matter of debate. But it's not a stretch to imagine that a country taking an economic hit would experience an overall decline in resources, including a decline in national security.
Both types of contemporary warfare -- religio-ideological and nation-state economic -- feature new tactics that we haven't seen before, most of which involve the leveraging of new technology for the purpose of psychological warfare. Two common examples are using social-media platforms to distribute information and propaganda, and using cyberattacks to gain publicity or evoke public fear.
Arguably, there are currently enough conflicts around the globe in both categories to retroactively constitute flashpoints in WWIII. What remains to be seen is whether the religio-ideological "hot" wars might somehow merge with the nation-state economic "cold" wars, taking us past a point of no return and toward the worst possible outcome.
Bevo Incognito
(1000+ Posts)
02/16/15 01:39 PM
Re: Has World War III Already Begun?
In reply to:
Thw world is certainly a more dangerous, violent place than I can ever remember.
It's actually safer than it has been at any time in history. Here's the data that proves it:
www.pri.org/stories/2014-10-23/world-actually-safer-ever-and-heres-data-prove
reason.com/archives/2014/10/01/world-safer-now-despite-scaremongering
Horn6721
(10,000+ posts)
02/16/15 01:49 PM
Re: Has World War III Already Begun?
Sorry BI
It is 2015
Those graphs( with no accompanying support of the numbers) look nice and colorful
but are really outdated.
Horns11
(1000+ posts)
02/16/15 06:41 PM
Re: Has World War III Already Begun?
Dangerous, possibly. With the advent of how the Internet has changed warfare, it's tough to disagree with the possibility/probability of danger occurring. Violent? Hardly. I think terrorists/belligerents possess the abilities to make it more violent, but there were thousands upon thousands of people dying every day around 1975 in conflicts ranging from Central America to SE Asia. Maybe "scarier" is a more appropriate word because the world seems smaller.
"Two common examples are using social-media platforms to distribute information and propaganda, and using cyberattacks to gain publicity or evoke public fear."
I don't think this necessarily translates into WW3, because those same platforms (social media, cyberattack awareness, etc.) are also used to counteract the threats posed by the terrorists using them. There are plenty of cyberattacks that are foiled every day by personnel who understand the threats and how to go against them. You can't pretend that the whole "Internet as a weapon" thing is a one-sided battle, particularly because it seems the threat has been mostly controlled.
Seattle Husker
(5000+ posts)
02/16/15 11:09 PM
Re: Has World War III Already Begun?
Only the religious extremes feel WW3 has started, or at least desire it to commence.
The economic warfare is nothing more that what was going on during the Cold War or is the equivalent espionage that has gone on for centuries.
This post was made just before going to the new 2015 platform. Post as normal after it if you wish.
Clean
(2500+ posts)
02/16/15 12:02 PM
Has World War III Already Begun?
I was surprised to hear Dennis Prager say that World War III had already begun on his radio show last week. I think he is one of the more intelligent talk show hosts. Looking around the internet, I see Pope Francis quoted as saying that WW3 could be "fought piecemeal, with crimes, massacres, destruction." That certainly describes what is happening throughout the M.E. and Africa. Islamic State released a video over the weekend of their grinning warriors beheading 21 Christians for no other reason than they are non-Muslims.
Thw world is certainly a more dangerous, violent place than I can ever remember.
The Pope Francis quote comes from this article:
The Link
In reply to:
A Third World War would be highly decentralized, complex, covert and tactically diverse, and it would transcend the state-vs.-state paradigm. Wars currently underway in the world are either ideological in a purely religious sense, or strictly economic with a view toward maximizing profits (as opposed to peddling communism or capitalism as ideologies). Both of these phenomena are occurring simultaneously.
The Islamic State terrorists in Syria and Iraq, Boko Haram in Nigeria, Uighur extremists in China, and various other Islamic extremist groups throughout Africa, Asia and the Middle East -- with recruitment efforts that reach into developed Western nations -- are belligerents in one type of conflict: religio-ideological. They're essentially guerrillas of widely varying backgrounds, pulled from all over the world to fight with groups largely lacking in hierarchy and organization.
The second set of belligerents is comprised of nation-states, engaged in similarly decentralized economic warfare that isn't strictly limited to their own geographic boundaries or any politico-ideological agenda. The emphasis on economics rather than on homeland perimeter defense or the defense of political ideology is what makes the current set of nation-state conflicts different from World War II and the Cold War.
China, for example, has been gobbling up resources in South American and African countries without firing a shot. It's this kind of warfare that explains why nation-states engage in economic intelligence activities from within their foreign embassies -- a fact that former NSA contractor Edward Snowden apparently found shocking enough to disclose publicly. The disclosure of such top-secret intelligence can cause grave harm to national interests by hampering a country's competitiveness. Whether an economic disadvantage ultimately translates into a national-security detriment is a matter of debate. But it's not a stretch to imagine that a country taking an economic hit would experience an overall decline in resources, including a decline in national security.
Both types of contemporary warfare -- religio-ideological and nation-state economic -- feature new tactics that we haven't seen before, most of which involve the leveraging of new technology for the purpose of psychological warfare. Two common examples are using social-media platforms to distribute information and propaganda, and using cyberattacks to gain publicity or evoke public fear.
Arguably, there are currently enough conflicts around the globe in both categories to retroactively constitute flashpoints in WWIII. What remains to be seen is whether the religio-ideological "hot" wars might somehow merge with the nation-state economic "cold" wars, taking us past a point of no return and toward the worst possible outcome.
Bevo Incognito
(1000+ Posts)
02/16/15 01:39 PM
Re: Has World War III Already Begun?
In reply to:
Thw world is certainly a more dangerous, violent place than I can ever remember.
It's actually safer than it has been at any time in history. Here's the data that proves it:
www.pri.org/stories/2014-10-23/world-actually-safer-ever-and-heres-data-prove
reason.com/archives/2014/10/01/world-safer-now-despite-scaremongering
Horn6721
(10,000+ posts)
02/16/15 01:49 PM
Re: Has World War III Already Begun?
Sorry BI
It is 2015
Those graphs( with no accompanying support of the numbers) look nice and colorful
but are really outdated.
Horns11
(1000+ posts)
02/16/15 06:41 PM
Re: Has World War III Already Begun?
Dangerous, possibly. With the advent of how the Internet has changed warfare, it's tough to disagree with the possibility/probability of danger occurring. Violent? Hardly. I think terrorists/belligerents possess the abilities to make it more violent, but there were thousands upon thousands of people dying every day around 1975 in conflicts ranging from Central America to SE Asia. Maybe "scarier" is a more appropriate word because the world seems smaller.
"Two common examples are using social-media platforms to distribute information and propaganda, and using cyberattacks to gain publicity or evoke public fear."
I don't think this necessarily translates into WW3, because those same platforms (social media, cyberattack awareness, etc.) are also used to counteract the threats posed by the terrorists using them. There are plenty of cyberattacks that are foiled every day by personnel who understand the threats and how to go against them. You can't pretend that the whole "Internet as a weapon" thing is a one-sided battle, particularly because it seems the threat has been mostly controlled.
Seattle Husker
(5000+ posts)
02/16/15 11:09 PM
Re: Has World War III Already Begun?
Only the religious extremes feel WW3 has started, or at least desire it to commence.
The economic warfare is nothing more that what was going on during the Cold War or is the equivalent espionage that has gone on for centuries.
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