“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
The bells of another World War rang soon after the celebrations of the Second World War abated, echoing the alarmist voices of a Cold War emerging. The finality of the violent 'peace' commenced with the tumultuous blares graced from several other violent conflicts tracing back to the Cold War. The Koreans, the Chinese, the Russians, the Palestinians, the Vietnamese, the Afghanis, the Greeks, the Indonesians, the Bangladeshis, the Guatemalans, the Cubans, and many more; for half the world, the post-war era was futile in receiving blessings of peace.
As the chapter of Cold War ended, world peace continued to malfunction. Wars after wars, the alarmist bells of an impending World War never stopped ringing. In 2003, the War on Terror shook the warmongers awake. In 2020, the assassination of Iranian military general Qasem Soleimani convinced the world of an incoming global war. As these rumours failed through, Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, maintaining European traditions of engendering World Wars. Today, all are once again stricken by the belief of an impending World War; a ticking bomb headed towards the inevitable path of mass destruction. Its amplification rises as the Middle East (and Europe) are dragged into brutality. The hotbed of costly and bloody wars as multiple fatal offences are launched against Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan by the Israeli military forces; Yemen and Iran by US-led coalition; civil wars in Sudan and Congo; and the recurrent remnants of the Ukraine War. The choirs of simultaneous violence across the globe places the coming tomorrows under an imminent risk of war; at least the historical inferences warn us of such.
The 101 lore of 20th century World History was taught in schools to learn the erroneous blunders of our ancestors, and to avoid them. Yet, if we were to compare current realities to a century ago, a cycle of repetition is reckoned – persevering through similar times of fallacious peace, economic recessions, violent regional conflicts, genocides, rampant misogynistic and racist attitudes, wealth and class inequalities. Except this time, our errors are well-documented and immortalized. All the symptoms of a war are looming over us begging to be taken seriously.
Both domestically and internationally, the world is undergoing political and economical overhaul, exacerbating preexisting instabilities. A game of Russian roulette, gambling with the future of peace and prosperity. A reiteration of pre-war era, right-wing governments are materializing, dictatorships are consolidating, recessions are compounding, and violence is fanning the flames engulfing the flag waving white. These signs are complemented by increasing military expenditures and announcements of possible mandatory enlistments – a lot to wary in fear of a future clouded by bomb smog.
The nuclear threat deepens the threat, seeking to obliterate human civilization as we know it. While several measures have been undertaken to minimize the risks and damages of a nuclear fallout, two nuclear-armed nations possess the capacity for a nuclear first-strike. The US & Israel - both of whom have led active military campaigns of bloodlust with impunity against civilians; one of which have previously dropped nuclear bombs on civilian population and the other with nuclear annihilation embedded into its 'defense' strategy (Samson’s Option) – are in agreement to utilize nuclear weapons offensively if ever faced with an existential threat, pulling us into a harrowing epoch of MADness (Mutually Assured Destruction).
Living in a historical period of shifting global dynamics, the unipolar world is reshaping to accommodate another rising hegemon, retelling the tale of Thucydides Trap. The fear of waning global influence from China’s rise is driving the US to resort to colossal debacles pushing them towards the precipice of their fall. China’s global importance remains underestimated and undermined, but the military coercion weaponized by the Americans in recent years (Ukraine, Yemen, Iraq, Iran, Taiwan, Israel) reeks of their greed, and the destruction they are willing to resort to hold onto slipping streams of perennial power. Through all this, the warmongers advocating for war against China are thoroughly maintaining their assertion: we are entering, or must enter, a state of war.
The institutions established to process political egotism and grief 'diplomatically' are being rendered unserviceable. Many naively rely on the United Nations to impede the terrible destiny befalling our generation, but the UN remains consistent in its inefficacious efforts to alleviate the threat of war. The world leaders of today carry upon their shoulders the burden of order. But history has proven that politicians fail, even the spuriously good ones, and us average dispensables pay the price for their blunders. The world is not run by fools anymore, but by greedy ghouls.
The supplementing factors add layers of terror to the panic. The trend of pre-revolutionary feudal societies returns to fame, depriving most from accessibility to food, shelter, healthcare, and education. And as they say, when the mass has nothing left to eat, they eat the rich. Or perhaps the unbearable heat of the warming planet will finish the wishes of ceasing humanity’s existence before any single human could command it with war. Our generation have the frightening privilege of experiencing triple headers of catastrophic misery eroding the pillars buttressing our societies’ stability; War, Climate Change, and Revolution, will ruin everything.
All seems normal today, but such were the thoughts mirrored by the people of 1912 and 1937. A war today will teleport us back to the dark ages, destroying all traces of the beauty of our lives; our art, our inventions, our structures, all evidence of them gone forever. Such is the horror accompanying a war-torn future blinded in its efforts to destroy humanity, with and by humans themselves. And for a generation with nothing to lose, the risk has never been more devastatingly consequential.
