As you know there is lots going on around the world, old geezer.
Russia/Ukraine
Japan/China
Isil and the general mess in the middle east
UK/Argentina
Why did I ask.....well whilst out enjoying the festive period the topic has arisen with three different people (who don't know each oher and not mentioned by me first) I was wondering if ABers felt uneasy.
Russia backing Argentina is an interesting one for us.
Do not fear ... we have Trident ... it has worked so well against The Argies, Al Qaeda, the IRA and now has ISIS quivering in their sandals ... possibly :(
I assume that is from what you have read, Zacs (or you are older than I thought) certainly in my lifetime this is the first time I have thought it may happen.
I think we are nearer. So many imbalances and trouble spots make it more likely that one reaction will spark a chain of events - as in WW1. '62 was close, but specific.
In 1979 I thought we were close. I was in Paris, pregnant and thinking the best place to be would be back in Canada, probably in the Rockies in a cave. In 2001 after 7/11 I thought maybe again something would happen, I had a five month old baby, we were living in BC and genuinely thought -well this is it. Its a different war now -a war that is already being fought by Terror. That cave in the Rockies looks very inviting....
There is always lots going on.
I doubt there will ever be a WW3.
I do not know how long it will take before we manage to get along without wars though, which is a pity.
talbot, in1962 I was in the RAF on a bomber base. If the russians had not pulled back from establishng nuclear missiles in cuba we were 15 minutes away from launching and it would have been nuclear war. Kennedy called their bluff so we are still here.
Like alexanderd, I too was in the RAF in 1962 and took part in the atomic bomb testing in the Pacific carried out by the Americans. I believe this testing was the worlds salvation as it proved conclusively to the Russians in general and Khrushchev in particular that America had the capability to deliver what they threatened and it wasn't bluff. In my opinion this was definitely the nearest to annihilation the world has ever been but to answer the question I don't think we are close to ww3. Major and minor wars will take place but not on the scale of world war 2, providing of course the nuclear deterrent is kept.