So how can we write about its history Were discussing World War III as a concept, and the earliest indications of that notion in our culture began during.At the height of the Cold War the possibility of a Third World War was a real and frightening possibility. As conservative talk show host Glenn Beck stated this month, WW3 is on the horizon and. But WWIII could certainly start differently. Has World War III already begun WWI began with an assassination, WWII began with Hitlers invasion of Poland. Sky News National security analyst Arash Aramesh discusses the ongoing talks between Iran and international governments about the country's nuclear program and how close a deal is to being.Certainly, the intent of the new administration to challenge the status quo, from trade policy with China to the value of NATO, the disarray of the European Union, the relentless spread of jihadist terror and its consequences into every aspect of life in Europe and North America, the spread of violence around the world underscored by never-ending wars in Afghanistan, Syria, Libya and Yemen all underscore the sense that the world is untethered, that international institutions are increasingly impotent, that the global order is coming apart as it descends into ever greater chaos and disorder.The rumors of wars has certainly begun as we have more and more political figures either stating WW3 is just around the corner or is already here. In a world war, one sees death, destruction and sorrow everywhere followed by the collapse.

A bit farfetched given the current state of American relations with Russia. Intervene on behalf of Russia, Moscow joining NATO, and culminating in a rogue nuclear missile attack launched by Beijing against the United States. The novelist Tom Clancy even postulated a Sino-Russian war that would see the U.S. Armchair strategists speculated about possible U.S.-China conflicts or even a limited U.S.-Russian clash over Eastern Europe and the former Soviet states. Professional historians wrote 'contra-factual histories' of how the war had started, played out and its ultimate consequences.With the end of the Cold War the prospect of a Third World War seemed to recede from the playbook of potential conflicts. Novelists and screen writers mined the topic for countless thrillers.

The United States, supported by various NATO members and assorted Arab governments, has fought two wars in the Gulf, one to expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait and one to create a regime change in Baghdad, and another war in Afghanistan. The current impression of Russian ascendency and the restoration of a bipolar world is owed more to clever Russian diplomacy than it does to a restoration of Russian military power.In the meantime, there is another very real war that is being fought worldwide. Although Russia still retains a significant military force and the largest nuclear arsenal in the world (7,000 Russian warheads versus 6,800 for the United States), it lacks the breadth and depth of forces to engage the United States and its NATO allies on a worldwide basis. Conflict would breakout all over the world, hence the designation 'ThirdВ World War,' but it would be in Europe that the main confrontation would be played out.The Soviet Union is no more.

Finds itself increasingly confronted by Iran and its Shia proxies throughout the Middle East.At the same time, both al-Qaida and Islamic State have spread their operations around the world, collectively creating more than 75 'franchises' in various countries in the Muslim world and setting up cells throughout Europe, North America and Australasia. Forces intervene directly and indirectly in a broad stretch of Muslim countries from Mali to Pakistan and, in particular, in civil wars in Syria and Libya and, to a lesser extent, in Yemen as well. Over the last two decades, U.S.

In December 2016 alone, there were a total of 1,378 deaths and 1,737 injured from 188 incidents of jihadist terror in 27 countries. The FBI has identified and opened active investigations on more than 1,000 would-be American jihadists, spanning all 50 states.According to the website thereligonofpeace.com, worldwide, there have been a total of 30,000 incidents of jihadist inspired violence since the attack on September 11, 2001. There have been scores of planned terrorist attacks, some admittedly bordering on the comical, that have been thwarted by law enforcement authorities.

Many of these have already returned.One of the ironies of Europe's war against jihadist terror occurred after the Paris attacks of 13-14 November 2015. What is more troublesome, is that Interpol estimates that around 10,000 EU passport holders have trained and fought with jihadist organizations throughout the Middle East. Since 2015, there have been a total 35 terrorist attacks and an additional 25 planned attacks that were thwarted across Europe. Between the Brussels suicide bombings, the Nice truck attack and the Berlin Christmas market attack, there were a total of 134 people killed and 830 injured. To put these statistics in perspective, in a typical year there are 9,000-gun related homicides in the United States.Just in 2016, Europe experienced three major terrorist attacks and scores of additional jihadist incidents.

Denis, an imposing medieval abbey church that dates to the 12th century, which was the final resting place for all but three of France's kings and queens.Buried there also, in a modest grave, is Charles Martel. Denis is home to the Basilica of St. Denis as a predominantly Muslim neighborhood and dutifully quoted French police admonitions that the neighborhood was prone to crime and unsafe at night.В They missed, however, a most sublime irony. He was subsequently killed following a shootout with French police.Western reporters correctly identified St. The mastermind, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, was finally cornered in an apartment in the Paris suburb of St.

There have not been many attacks against symbols of Christian culture in Europe, such as churches, even though such locations are undefended and would represent very soft targets of attack. The targets of jihadist violence have, to a large degree, been secular symbols of Western societyвЂ“a free press, tourism sites, music halls, etc. It is a struggle that has waxed and waned across Europe and the Mediterranean world since the 8th century, a struggle that has twice seen Muslim armies on the verge of overrunning Europe and that has seen Europe respond in-kind.From the 18th century on, especially after the battle of Navarino in 1827, the Muslim world and the Ottoman Empire, which was its leading edge, had been on the defensive gradually seceding territory to Europe's powers until World War I finally broke the Ottoman Empire and the Sykes-Picot treaty divided its remaining lands among the European victors.Jihadist iconography with its references to avenging the Christian crusades as well as past Muslim defeats, from the sieges of Vienna and Malta to the Battle of Lepanto its repudiation of the Sykes-Picot boundaries its incorporation of the mythology of epic Islamic victories at Qadisiyyah or Yarmouk and its declarations that jihadists will reconquer the lost lands of the historic Muslim empires of the 9th to the 12th centuries, further reinforce this impressionвЂ“so does the jihadist practice of singling out Christians, especially clergy, among its prisoners for immediate execution.Nonetheless it would be incorrect to see the current jihadist violence as simply a continuation of the Christian-Muslim struggle of the past Millennium.В For one thing, Europe today is largely a secular society. It is tempting to see the current conflict between Islamic jihadists and the Western world as little more than the next round in a clash of civilizations that have been at war with each other for the better part of a millennium. Who said that history's muse doesn't have a sense of humor?The historical analogies can, however, be overplayed.

In the Middle East, however, Christian churches and landmarks have often been singled out for attacks. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican.

How Close Are We To Wwiii