"If you have concerns that either of these wars could spread into much wider conflicts, it would be wise to keep an eye on all the chess pieces on the board (so to speak). If a world war comes, it could come very quickly. A miscalculation, a gambit, or an error could lead to instant escalation. And as we have learned, the path to war is fraught with many slippery slopes. Are we on one of those slopes right now? Maybe."
Wars can spin out of control. This war with Iran is no exception. And the war in Ukraine? With the unthinkable happening where Russia could actually lose? I remember Putin saying at the on start of this horrible war, that the only time he would consider using nukes was if Russia started to lose the war. But wait - the Iran war and the Ukraine war are two separate events. No relation between the two. Or is there?
Is there a nexus between these two wars which could cause one to have spill over on the other? The other day on the news, it was reported that Ukraine has gotten so good with their drone technology, that Russian ships which are part of their Black Fleet, are being attacked by Ukrainian drones. These are ships which are coming from Iran with Shahed Drones on board. Drones which would be used by Russia against Ukraine. By taking this action, it has put Ukraine in the Iranian War on the side of the US and Israel.
Can you see the path we might be going down? Sides in both conflicts are now taking shape. On the side of Russia, there is Iran, Iran's proxies, China, and North Korea. On the side of the US, is Israel, Ukraine, Poland, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Jordan, Japan, and South Korea. But wait - what about Europe? Canada? What about them? We can count on Poland for sure. But the rest of Europe? Depends on the day.
BTW - did you also hear of the news this week that one of Russia cruise missiles missed its mark and landed well into Poland? Fortunately, it hit in a field, and nobody was hurt. But what is the point? The point is this - this was no accident. It was a probe. Testing NATO's resolve. Putin has been itching to take on NATO for some time now, and in Putin's mind, NATO has never been weaker. With the US pulling back from the Euro Zone, and relationships between NATO countries looking frayed, what a great time for Putin to pull a stunt like this one.
Remember the push back that Trump was getting on Greenland, when all Trump wanted to do was extend the Golden Dome to protect more of Europe? When Trump said this was to give us an earlier alert for incoming missiles from Russia, NATO snickered. When Trump said his Golden Dome could also shoot down some of the incoming missiles, including the hypersonic ones, NATO did not snicker - they laughed. If war does break out with Russia, who will be laughing then? I dare say no countries in projected blast zones.
If you have concerns that either of these wars could spread into much wider conflicts, it would be wise to keep an eye on all the chess pieces on the board (so to speak). If a world war comes, it could come very quickly. A miscalculation, a gambit, or an error could lead to instant escalation. And as we have learned, the path to war is fraught with many slippery slopes. Are we on one of those slopes right now? Maybe.
