Title basically says it all. Would it depend if it was the US, Russia or China starting it?

  • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    See, that’s the thing. We had WW3 in the 1970s. Hitler came back, and he was riding a dinosaur, and Ghengis Khan was disco dancing the night away!

    But you never heard about it because we have time travel, and decided that was a stupid timeline.

    Oh, also, none of this timeline exists either. We deleted from existence in 2012.

    The real timeline? Bernie Sanders won the 2016 and 2020 elections. Covid was a much easier thing to stop, because people got vaccinated.

    And Dorritos bought Taco Bell, and IMMEDIATELY went bankrupt.

    See? Everything is actually better now. You just never got to experience it.

  • CovfefeKills@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    The empire-ambitious Axis of convenience: US, Israel, India, China, Russia, various Islamic kingdoms etc vs. whoever is willing to get in their way.

  • favoredponcho@lemmy.zip
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    4 months ago

    Canada, Europe, Ukraine vs Russia and Belarus

    America, Japan, Taiwan vs China and North Korea.

    Israel will use the opportunity to fully genocide Palestine, expand into Lebanon and Syria sparking a regional conflict there.

    India vs. Pakistan

    In practice, some countries will lose rapidly once the nukes fly and a lot of people will die.

  • FriendOfDeSoto@startrek.website
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    4 months ago

    That depends on when it will break out. If it’s tomorrow, China and Russia will be buddies or at the very least will be in a non-aggression pact situation. Most of Europe will side against Russia but might be more mealy mouthed towards China (even if they decide to start it by going after Taiwan and that escalates from there). The US will, as it is tradition in a world war, not enter until much later or unless attacked first. And on whose side? Depends on one person’s bowel movement on that day an no longer on treaties and commitments. One of the many crucial areas to watch will be if the US honors the security alliance with Japan.

    I say it depends on when because if we give it another 25-50 years, attitudes may shift. The US could try going for a more sane leadership and affirm its NATO membership. Sentiments towards Russia may shift in Europe, especially if the US is progressing further towards Idiocracy.

    • starlinguk@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      The US will be bankrolling Russia. Russia is weak and poor. The only reason they’re still in Ukraine is China. And once they’ve conquered that, the US will happily help them invade the rest of Europe.

  • Ziggurat@jlai.lu
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    4 months ago

    Russia attacks EU, US stay neutral, US stay neutral, China leverage on Russia being busy to invade Eastern Russia, the conflict spread to former colonies where Russia, China, France, UK are already in cold war. Meanwhile, Turkey finally attack Greece, and Iran takes the opportunity gain influence most likely with their spy network.

    As usual, America stays neutral, until US get dragged in the war (Taiwan or Israel) while Argentina wait for the last day to formally declare war. Not sure whether Japan would invade China or take back the Sakhaline island

    TL/DR : Russia/Turkey/Israel versus EU/China/Iran.

    As you see I am absolutely not an expert

  • spittingimage@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    I’m from New Zealand. We’ve traditionally been a US ally but the situation being what it is at the moment, I think there’s a good chance we’d try to stay neutral.

    • fizzle@quokk.au
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      4 months ago

      Sorry bro. Not gonna happen.

      Australia and NZ really have to stand together just because of the geography. Australia is critical to NZ’s security. If a superior force conquers Australia, then NZ wouldn’t be able to resist in isolation. Logically then it will always be in NZ’s interest to stand along side Australia.

      Similarly, Australia needs a bigger more powerful friend to stare down our neighbors like Indonesia and bullies like China. That friend has been the US for the last 70 odd years, and with AUKUS that alliance will be greatly strengthened.

      In any conflict since the dawn of time people have wistfully hoped that their own clan or tribe or city or country could stay neutral, but the reality is that to maintain your neutrality you need to be strong enough to defend yourself without assistance.

      • Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz
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        4 months ago

        Australia’s biggest trading partner is China. It’s absolutely against their interest to have any kind of conflict with China. But being a puppet state of the US, they’re probably gonna do that anyway.

        • fizzle@quokk.au
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          4 months ago

          China is everyone’s biggest trading partner.

          Call us a “puppet state” if you will, but we’re not as far up Trump’s ass as a lot of other allies.

          • Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz
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            4 months ago

            China is everyone’s biggest trading partner.

            It’s not tho.

            Call us a “puppet state” if you will, but we’re not as far up Trump’s ass as a lot of other allies.

            The status of puppet state has nothing to do with whether a country’s leader opts to jerk off a clown in public, its about being willing to sacrifice your own economy for our benefit, and extends well beyond Trump.

            Also: Supporting us in every war and hostile action against countries whose subjugation doesn’t even benefit your own capitalists.

  • MerrySkeptic@sh.itjust.works
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    4 months ago

    The “sides” that the countries take is of secondary importance. Capital will benefit from any conflict, no matter what the stated sides are, and suffer minimally. That’s the true enemy

  • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
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    4 months ago

    WWI started with the assassination of a national leader that most people had never heard of, but it dominoed throughout the world into a conflagration that killed millions.

    A nuclear war is more likely to start like that. Some dumb country gets their hands on a nuke or two, and what fun is a shiny new toy of you can’t play with it? Once one goes off somewhere, it could spread fast, as nations either defend themselves, or seek revenge.

  • Tuukka R@piefed.ee
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    4 months ago

    It is possible that WW3 has already broken out, but is not called that way yet. WW2 was not immediately called WW2 either. It took some time for it to grow to the dimensions that enabled it to be called a World War.

    As in the previous two world wars, some countries will be switching sides. Just like USA has been doing now, hopping between the side of the Russia and the side of humanity about once per week, depending on how their president is feeling about things each morning.

    If we are currently in WW3, then the sides are very confusing:
    USA is against China but on the side of the Russia.
    China is on the side of the Russia but not really against anyone. Except its own minorities?
    EU and UK are against the Russia but not against USA or China.

    • porkloin@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Yeah I think it’s reasonable to assume that it could have started but we don’t know about it yet.

      Some people argue that WW2 actually started in the early 1930s with Japan’s incursions into China which ultimately resulted in the second Sino-Japanese war. In 1932 that probably felt a lot like Russia and Ukraine felt to us in 2022. I think the real deciding factor on whether it spirals into a global conflict is the extent to which a bunch of regional conflicts combine into to a global clusterfuck. US shit in South America is not helping. Neither did Israeli shit in Palestine.