Fears of another world war have been sparked after a ground to air missile took down Malaysia Airlines MH17 the other day. While Russia themselves didn’t directly attack this plane, rebels that they support and arming most likely did which in turn in is an attack by Russia, but due to the complicated laws surrounding what is deemed an act of war, the situation isn’t clea-cut.
It took a plane full of 300 innocent civilians for us to give a shit about what is happening in Ukraine. Up until now, the world has kept out of the conflict in Ukraine allowing Russia to commit unspeakable acts of murder and force, the strike on MH17 made the world stand-up and take notice of the conflict.
While many might romanticise about the possibility of a World War 3, I don’t think the attack on Malaysian Airlines MH17 is going to be what causes it. It would take an almost direct strike or attack on any country within the US alliance, say Russia decides to attack Australia, this would be an act of war and the US would instantly get involved.
The beginning of something greater…
There is talk that the attack on flight MH17 is only the beginning of something greater. There is no evidence to prove this, but it’s not something that can be instantly dismissed either.
The reality of war is that it is expensive and no country has the funds to go into war unless it benefits them or it has too. Attacking Russia wouldn’t really offer the US or other countries anything substantial that would warrant the price of war.
Cause For War
There is another reason that the likes of the United States would want to attack Russia: if it saw them as a logical threat. It’s no secret that Russia has a serious arsenal of war-capable weapons, as does the US.
The specific counts are unknown for strategic purposes, but if it ever came to a battle of the weapons, the winner would be declared based on who’s nukes hit whom first (if both countries don’t destroy themselves at the same time).
So, while we could be witnessing the birth of World War 3, we aren’t going to be seeing a war taking place anytime soon. That’s not to say we won’t see another world war involving Russia once more. We all remember how it went last time though.
