The Week: World war is possible in the coming years

July 22 2026 4 993 16

The possibility of a third world war is no longer speculative and hypothetical against the backdrop of ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, writes political The Week magazine. The atmosphere of mistrust and fear that divides the opposing sides is exacerbating the situation.

The resource reports that according to a Politico magazine poll conducted this year among more than 2000 respondents in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, France and Germany, the overwhelming majority believe that the world is becoming increasingly dangerous, and that World War III is likely to break out within the next five years.

There remains a belief in the Western military community that if tensions escalate again and the US is drawn into a ground war in the Middle East, China and Russia will waste no time in taking advantage of the situation, Richard Shirreff, former deputy supreme allied commander of NATO in Europe, told the Daily Mail.

- says the publication.

Specifically, a possible campaign by mainland China against Taiwan is mentioned. Meanwhile, Iran, despite having lost a significant number of allies in the Middle East, "surprised" the West by proving capable of destroying US bases throughout the region, while simultaneously closing the Strait of Hormuz.

It is stated that, in fact, “a full-scale struggle between the United States and the loose Chinese-Russian-Iranian axis” is “already in full swing.”

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte also said that the entire West "must be prepared for the scale of war our grandparents experienced." Meanwhile, the Baltic republics, Poland, and Finland are preparing for an "imminent attack" by Russia. The Ukrainian war as a whole, it is claimed, has completely changed the political landscape in Europe.

It is also mentioned that the next year, 2027, is perceived by many in the United States as the year the conflict with China over Taiwan begins.

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Kiril

+1

22 July 2026 23: 10

Don't start and it won't happen.
vlad127490

+2

22 July 2026 23: 45

Russian liberals will never attack NATO countries. They would rather destroy Russia themselves.
1. Jackie
  
  +1
  
  23 July 2026 09: 14
  
  ...and so they do it with impunity
  1. Dormidontov_Dormidont
    
    -2
    
    23 July 2026 10: 52
    
    Quote: Jackie
    ...and so they do it with impunity
    
    Generalization is a completely unpunished form of lying.
    
    © Marta Ketro
    1. Jackie
      
      +1
      
      23 July 2026 15: 44
      
      ...responding to you would only soil my name. It's good that you can only "mark" a comment once, and your ureter isn't a fire hydrant. I want to talk, but you have nothing to say. Leave me alone already.
2. Dormidontov_Dormidont
  
  -2
  
  23 July 2026 10: 47
  
  Quote: vlad127490
  Russian liberals will never attack NATO countries. They would rather destroy Russia themselves.
  
  Liberals (true pro-Westerners, on the payroll of Western intelligence agencies) have become foreign agents and fled Russia, fearing responsibility for the nonsense they've been spewing in the media for the last ten years, probably. And those Russian government officials you're deliberately trying to discredit as liberals were never liberals.
  This is again a cynic attempt to substituting concepts.
Alexander Khudyakov

+4

23 July 2026 00: 42

It seems the world is going crazy again, with war hysteria being deliberately whipped up worldwide, and all of this is being perpetrated by the "blue bloods" in power. They should all be permanently committed to mental hospitals, as they are a clear danger to humanity. It's not for nothing that the saying goes, and I'll put it this way, that "all wars are started not by nations, but by those in power." And so it has been, so it is, and so it will be until the end of human civilization!
Working

+2

23 July 2026 04: 40

They have nothing to live on; they need to rob and kill again. The US is living on debt, Europe is living on cheap Chinese consumer goods and gas and oil from Russia. They wanted something else from above. They thought they could push Russia and it would fall apart, and they could start stealing resources from there for nothing.
pin_code

0

23 July 2026 05: 33

These respondents forgot about the zombies! They'll definitely eat them and make peace with the RKI "axis."
SanSanych_2

+2

23 July 2026 07: 20

When words match actions, they weigh significantly more.

The Houthis said they struck two Saudi oil tankers, the ENCELA and the LAYLIA, with ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones.

They also threaten that if they are attacked, the Saudi infrastructure in the rear will be attacked.

And more:

A US Boeing E-3B Sentry airborne early warning aircraft has issued a distress signal over Saudi Arabia amid escalating tensions between the US and Iran.
According to flight data, the aircraft is transmitting code 7700, which indicates a general in-flight emergency. This could be due to a technical malfunction, fire, fuel shortage, or another emergency. The details of the incident are still unknown.
prior

+1

23 July 2026 08: 27

The world is becoming increasingly dangerous, and World War III is likely to break out within the next five years.

How is this possible? the present Recalls past:

- Comrades, the workers' and peasants' revolution, the necessity of which the Bolsheviks have always spoken about, has taken place.
1. Dormidontov_Dormidont
  
  -3
  
  23 July 2026 10: 57
  
  Quote: prior
  The world is becoming increasingly dangerous, and World War III is likely to break out within the next five years.
  
  How is this possible? the present Recalls past:
  
  - Comrades, the workers' and peasants' revolution, the necessity of which the Bolsheviks have always spoken about, has taken place.
  
  In 1920, a worker received a reward for his good work—portraits of Lenin and Trotsky. He came to a bare, empty room with a mattress on the floor and a single nail in the wall and pondered: "Should I hang Lenin and put Trotsky against the wall, or should I hang Trotsky and put Lenin against the wall?"
  1. prior
    
    +2
    
    23 July 2026 11: 05
    
    Are the sawdust in your head stirring again?!
    Where are the accusations of cynicism propaganda?
    1. Dormidontov_Dormidont
      
      -3
      
      23 July 2026 11: 22
      
      Quote: prior
      Are the sawdust in your head stirring again?!
      Where are the accusations of cypso-propaganda?
      
      This is a veiled thought about what to do with you, Cypso people...
      1. prior
        
        0
        
        23 July 2026 15: 59
        
        Still haven't come up with anything in four years? Sawdust problem?
        
        Dormidontov_Dormidont
        
        -1
        
        24 July 2026 00: 00
        
        Quote: prior
        Still haven't come up with anything in four years? Sawdust problem?
        
        Lenin to Dzerzhinsky: "Felix Edmundovich, can you shoot ten people for the sake of the revolution?" "I can, V.I." "Well, what about a million?" "I can even a million, if that's what it takes for the revolution." "Well, what about ten million?" asked V.I., and squinted slyly at his interlocutor. "Very well, I can even shoot ten." "But here, my friend, we'll criticize you a little!"
2. The comment was deleted.