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and if so  what do you think can stop it from happening.?

World War III is inevitable.  It is foretold in many prophecies, including but not limited to, the Bible.  As long as there are people, there will be greed, efforts to increase power, and decision-makers who don't always consider all sides before making crucial  decisions.

I pray for all of us that WWIII is not in the near future, but the way things are going (read Revelations and then compare those prophecies with the news headlines--floods, natural disasters, diseases, famine, failed governments, assassinations, etc.), it seems closer than any member of the human race would like.

World War III is inevitable.  It is foretold in many prophecies, including but not limited to, the Bible. - Amy Lepore

Does it mention 'World War Three' in the Bible? Revelations is not a reliable historical text, to say the least. As for prophecy... well, it's just nonsense really, isn't it? Revelations is just the hallucinations of a mentally ill person. John's 'prophecies' are nothing more than that. Just because his delusions were passed from generation to generation does not lend them extra credibility.

9/11 was a very 'visual', world-changing event that unleashed massive global tensions and conflicts. 9/11 was a bright flash on the historical timeline. Nobody saw it coming, did they? That should have been easy for mystics and psycics to spot. There should have been queues of visionaries all predicting the same event.

I prophecy I will have chicken for my dinner tonight.

There have always been floods, natural disasters, diseases, famine, failed governments, assassinations, for goodness sake! And throughout history, there have always been people claiming the end of the world is nigh.

If we examine the causes for World War I and II, we might be able to better understand if a situation such as World War III can be avoided.  The growth of nationalism, consolidation of political power, subversion of the democratic systems, as well as the targeting of specific individuals are but a few of the causes of both conflicts.  With the growth of globalization and the erosion of strict notions of nationalism due to advances information technology, I would like to think that the conditions are different from those that instigated conflicts in the twentieth century.  At the same time, I think that we have become a bit more sophisticated in our approach to dealing with nations and governments, using diplomatic, economic, and other channels to bring political establishments into the mainstream.  One can only hope that such elements can be avoided by those in the position of power and that citizens are mindful that governments that thrive off of citizen apathy are ones more prone to the abuses of power that can lead to a wide and intense conflict.

I don’t believe we are, unless a rogue nation with nuclear weapons launches an ill-advised attack against another country. Even then, I believe that the deterrent effect will kick into gear and the superpowers will work together to ensure that WWIII does not break out. Every nation in the world is economically interdependent with the rest of the world; finances are the most powerful incentive the superpowers have. I am of the opinion that the superpowers’ financial interests will far outweigh the religious extremism of any rogue nation’s government.

"Heading for world war three" is an expression that has connotations of something likely to happen in near future. I don't see  any signs of such possibilities for World War III. However the kind of human and national tendencies that caused the fist two world wars continues in the world unabated. As a result wars continue to be fought in the world even today, and are likely to be continue to be fought for a long time to come. Further, because of globalization there are all the possibilities that over a period these localized conflicts and wars will escalate into war.

The national and human tendencies the lead to conflict and war I refer to are the desire and willingness of people and nations to improve their own lot unmindful of impact of their own prosperity and progress on other people and nations. It is easy for one who is better off to justify his or her good fortune on the basis of some claims of superiority. It is also easy for them to become arrogant. But the wheel of fortune will continues to turn as it has been for thousands of year. The people who have less will definitely clamour for more, and sooner or later will be in stronger position to demand a bigger share of the pie. Disagreements and conflicts to occur in situations like this, and flare up in major wars, cannot be ruled out.

World War III is a possibility with alread the allies lining up such as Iran, and North Korea and the threat of nuclear war does indeed exist.  The one hope that World War III will not happen is that we have in place the UN, European Union, and a president of the United States who just was nominated for the Noble Peace Prize, and is dedicated to bringing good relations together with our country and others.  I think as a people we need to focus on the good changes that have happened recently and support our leader and do as much as we can as educators and people to teach people, love, respect, and open-mindedness.

One country that frightens me in regards to WWIII is Iran.  Some of Mahmud Ahmadinejad's threats which are now beginning to be backed up with nuclear capability, sound eerily similar to Hitler's threats and actions. We certainly don't want to follow Chamberlain's inept process of negotiation, but the other options don't look any more promising. Ahmadinejad has threatened to wipe Israel off the face of the earth, and many are afraid that Israel will take action preemptively.  If it does so, Arab nations could publicly side with Iran but would most likely be secretly happy that their Persian enemy has been hit.

Would all of this mean the end of the world?  Nobody can predict that because the world has often known maniachal dicators such as Kim Jong Il in North Korea. But, it does seem that right now more than other times in recent history, that the situation for another world war is ripe.

In regards to #7, what are the good changes that have happened recently?  I'm just curious.  We should focus on the positive, but we cannot turn a blind eye to very real threats.  The United Nations has done nothing but send "stern" resolutions to countries such as Iran and North Korea.  When was the last time the UN was effective in accomplishing anything for peace's sake?  One more question, how does our President winning the Nobel Peace Prize help prevent World War III; Obama said himself that he hasn't done anything to deserve the prize.  In my eyes, and in many others', giving "inspirational" speeches does not prevent wars.

When was the last time the UN was effective in accomplishing anything for peace's sake?... In my eyes, and in many others', giving "inspirational" speeches does not prevent wars. Posted by scarletpimpernel

It is very easy to claim the UN never prevented a war, but how would you know? If a war never happens, it is very hard to prove the UN prevented one. India-Pakistan would be a good candidate for a situation where talks and diplomatic intervention have made very important contributions to prevent conflict, possibly even nuclear conflict.

You attitude seems to be (in a nutshell) "wars are inevitable, so let's start one whenever we feel threatened." That of course, makes wars inevitable. Then you blame wars on the ineffectiveness of peace-makers (Chamberlain, Obama, UN etc), failing to take responsibility for your aggression and your rejection of peace. You seem to have made yourself a beautiful simple belief-system that allows you to believe you may start wars and blame peace-makers for it.

Good things recently...

1. End of the cold war.
2. Northern Ireland.
3. Cyprus
4. South Africa
5. Turkey-Greece
6. Egypt-Israel
7. Jordan-Israel
8. East Timor
9. Ukraine
10. Nepal

There are others.

Frizzyperm, why can't you seem to post a response and maintain professionalism at the same time?  We, as educators, are supposed to be modeling to students what a logical, fallacy-free debate is.  In many of your posts, you practice namecalling, setting up a strawman, hasty generalizations, and distortions of other posts.  Your misinterpretations of my comments and beliefs and many other posters have little if any logical ground.  Just because someone disagrees with you, doesn't mean that that person is simple-minded, loves war, or is uneducated.

In regards to your examples of the UN's accomplishments, it is debatable that many of them can be attributed to the UN. Additionally, several of the nations you listed are not at peace.  For example, my current Ukrainian student speaks often of the problems between Russia and his country and disagrees with your statement that his country is at peace, especially because of any "action" on the UN's part. Likewise, many in Northern Ireland are not at peace--they want their independence their way and will not rest until they get it.