Triumph
Lifer
- Oct 9, 1999
- 15,031
- 13
- 81
Originally posted by: LunarRay
A world war where many nations are committed has to have two sides of near equal 'power' and resolve.
They'd have to be motivated by something, I think.
I can't imagine a war where only Iran would fend off the 'willing'. There would have to be some one who could see supporting Iran (assume Iran just cuz) furthered their agenda.
Not sure Genghis Khan is around anymore but I can see that group moving to war.
Agreed, I still believe we would have no trouble with one or two "little" countries like Iran. People may point to Iraq or Afghanistan to point out how inept our military is, but these are not "typical" wars. A typical war was the invasion of Iraq, and it took all of 3 days. Nation building is not a war, it's a sustained conflict. The kinds of attacks that our bases and troops are subject to these days, are the kinds of unrest that would happen to an occupying force, in the old days, after the war was over. So who has the power to challenge us? China? India? North Korea? The European Union? Russia?
China is too interwoven with us economically to begin a war with us. What would they have to gain from it?
India could engage in regional conflicts with its neighbors, aka Pakistan, but this isn't a world war.
North Korea would not be a difficult war. They may have a nuke, but we have a much more advanced military that would make short work of their country. Maybe not as easy as Iraq, but it would not be anything like fighting the Japanese.
The EU? Um, no.
Russia could still be a threat...they are quite nationalistic, they have resources and the ability to create a strong military, and I just don't quite trust them. They are hungry to regain what they see as their former glory, and if they elected just the right (wrong?) leader, I believe he'd be able to convince the people of Russia to do unspeakable things.
Attitudes have changed as well. I do not believe that folks are as nationalistic as they once were. And people today have more empathy for the citizens of a country versus the government of that country. People don't have the stomach for a campaign with 10+ million casualties, or bombing raids that kill 25,000 in an evening. I just don't see how it would happen.