I’d argue that what characterized the world wars was direct conflict between major industrial powers. They all have nukes now, so we wouldn’t get World War 3, we’d get Nuclear Armageddon 1.
What we’ve got instead is conflicts between proxies and allies of major industrial powers - Cold War 2. And not only are we already there, it’s already scarier than the first one, since it’s not just proxy vs proxy, but nuclear powers vs proxies.
I’d argue that what characterized the world wars was direct conflict between major industrial powers. They all have nukes now, so we wouldn’t get World War 3, we’d get Nuclear Armageddon 1.
What we’ve got instead is conflicts between proxies and allies of major industrial powers - Cold War 2. And not only are we already there, it’s already scarier than the first one, since it’s not just proxy vs proxy, but nuclear powers vs proxies.