We may not be going into WW3 with Russia over Syria after all.

[Court Jester]

WW3...with Russia?  A country with a GDP less than a US state?  It would be the shortest world war in history.  That's the big lie...the one Putin tries hard to peddle.  That Russia, on it's own and by it's own merit..is still a credible threat to anyone.  A powerful state.  It's not.  Those days are gone.  We're a threat to ourselves...and Russia can use that...but that place, itself is a rinkydink shithole with a cartoon version of the mafia calling the shots.

The only credible candidates for WW3 anymore are the US, the EU, and China.  Look at that list.  Allies whose fates are almost inextricably intertwined.  China isn't even going to come riding in over N. Korea...in all likelihood...they'll be the ones to eventually bitchslap the shit out of them. They have more reason to than we do.

Sure, it;s a matter of time until some asshole detoinates a nuke somewhere (or worse........a massively virulent bioweapon)...and that might have seemed like a WW3 scenario at the end of WW2...or during the cold war. Now, it;ll just be a horrible act of terrorism or aggression by a pariah state. Dealt with immediately by the global community, if for no other reason, than their own self interests.

^^^^
What they said

[Anomalocaris]

WW3...with Russia?  A country with a GDP less than a US state?  It would be the shortest world war in history.  

Yes, Russia's economy might be 1/10th the size of the US economy, but Russia still has a larger nuclear arsenal than the US, and can end the war by utterly destroying the US, while being destroyed itself in return, in far less time than it took for the Japanese to conduct the first of the two bombing raids against Pearl Harbor on Dec 7, 1941, or for the Germans to seize the first polish town after crossing the frontier on September 1, 1939

[Silver]

I don't think we were ever in danger of WWIII with Russia over Syria. I'm more concerned with North Korea and China.

Of course not, because Trump's in bed with Putin. Maybe that's why Melania's unhappy in her marriage to Trump.

[The Grand Nudger]

WW3...with Russia?  A country with a GDP less than a US state?  It would be the shortest world war in history.  

Yes, Russia's economy might be 1/10th the size of the US economy, but Russia still has a larger nuclear arsenal than the US, and can end the war by utterly destroying the US, while being destroyed itself in return, in far less time than it took for the Japanese to conduct the first of the two bombing raids against Pearl Harbor on Dec 7, 1941, or for the Germans to seize the first polish town after crossing the frontier on September 1, 1939

Not sure why they'd commit national suicide...and if both parties are dead instantly (counted in hours, anyway)...there's not really much of a war to be fought.

IMO, the future of war isn't in mutually assured destruction or massive land battles for territory..but in sporadic conventional weapons fire and arms length "insurgencies" servicing micro targeted economic goals. That seems to be russias plan, in any case...they've made that much clear. Asymetric capability is the new name of the old game. It costs less and it's worth more.

I'm simply suggesting that people tend to worry about the wars of the past, but things have changed.

[Minimalist]

WW3...with Russia?  A country with a GDP less than a US state?  It would be the shortest world war in history.  

Yes, Russia's economy might be 1/10th the size of the US economy, but Russia still has a larger nuclear arsenal than the US, and can end the war by utterly destroying the US, while being destroyed itself in return, in far less time than it took for the Japanese to conduct the first of the two bombing raids against Pearl Harbor on Dec 7, 1941, or for the Germans to seize the first polish town after crossing the frontier on September 1, 1939

I wonder what would happen if Putey pushed the button?  Maintenance does not seem to be a big Russki priority.

[Anomalocaris]

Yes, Russia's economy might be 1/10th the size of the US economy, but Russia still has a larger nuclear arsenal than the US, and can end the war by utterly destroying the US, while being destroyed itself in return, in far less time than it took for the Japanese to conduct the first of the two bombing raids against Pearl Harbor on Dec 7, 1941, or for the Germans to seize the first polish town after crossing the frontier on September 1, 1939

I wonder what would happen if Putey pushed the button?  Maintenance does not seem to be a big Russki priority.

Up to 80% of the Soviet strategic arsenal was essentially abandoned and allowed to decay into trash during the 1990s, much of it under the auspices of various armament reduction treaties.  Much of the images of dilapidation shows submarines and aircraft from that decay.

The 20% that remained nominally operation was not derelict, but was also poorly maintained and had low level of readiness in 2000.   However since about 2005, after the color revolution in Ukraine, Russia has made huge gains in not only brining the 20% remaining back up to respectably states of readiness, but also carry out a series of upgrades and modernization, including deployments of new, much more capable and fully state of the art missiles and submarines.

The 20% of the former soviet arsenal is plenty for the purpose of permanently removing the US from the ranks of top 20 economic, military and geopolitical power in the world, and I would not gamble that sufficient number of their weapons would malfunction so as to failed to achieve that outcome when called upon to try.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

The only credible candidates for WW3 anymore are the US, the EU, and China.

You're going to feel a proper Charlie when the New Zealand-Finland-Maldives entente comes marching down Main Street USA, pal.

Boru

[Anomalocaris]

The only credible candidates for WW3 anymore are the US, the EU, and China.

You're going to feel a proper Charlie when the New Zealand-Finland-Maldives entente comes marching down Main Street USA, pal.

Boru

The US navy will keep the dreaded New Zealand sheep Cossacks off of our shores.   But the EU is on its own should Finnish reindeer lancers charge across the Baltic.

[A Theist]

I don't think we were ever in danger of WWIII with Russia over Syria. I'm more concerned with North Korea and China.

China is the much larger danger, I think. Their activities in the South China Sea are much more provocative that the odd test launch from an attention-whore of a nation. They play angry at the NoKors for being ugly, but are happy that our attention is diverted from the Spratley Islands and their own artificial islands, over which we flew two B-1s last week.

North Korea, on the other hand, has a regime worried about maintaining its role in that society, which role would be destroyed by even a conventional war.

I agree. China by itself is a far greater threat than NOKO. My concern, though, with NK is its close ties with China. I don't think China's really going to be helpful in curbing NOKO. Sooner or later we're going to have to deal with them in some way that will put us on a collision course with China.

[Thumpalumpacus]

I don't think China's really going to be helpful in curbing NOKO. Sooner or later we're going to have to deal with them in some way that will put us on a collision course with China.

Of course they won't help in curbing NoKor. NoKor, to the Chinese, is a lemon, to be squeezed of all its juice and then dropped when it is no longer useful.

But they will drop NoKor before dropping us, if for no other reason than economics. They cannot afford to lose 20% of they exports -- and that's not counting Europe, which would certainly have something to say in any collision.