Perhaps a better question would be: are we closer than ever to the start of World War Three?
When I was a boy we lived through the Cold War. We lived through sporadic, unjustified, and cruel conflicts all over the world. The Second World War was history — something we learned about in school, or something you heard about from a grandparent who had lived through it. It was at arm's length. War was cruel, but it did not hit home unless you had someone who served.
I always loved war stories. The fiction part of war stories. I have been fascinated by them since I can remember — which is partly why I wanted to build a story universe set against the backdrop of a World War Three scenario.
Today, I am not so sure how fictional that feels anymore.
My heart, prayers, and thoughts go to all the parents, children, and innocent victims caught in the conflicts currently unfolding — in the Middle East, in Europe, and wherever else suffering is happening that does not make the front page. I cannot begin to imagine what they are feeling. That goes for all sides.
"There is innocence on both sides. And anger that any of this is happening at all. You are adults. You ought to know better."
Is World War Three Around the Corner?
Taking the horror of current events to one side — and trying not to fall into conspiracy theory traps — could we actually be heading toward a full global conflict? I am not a geopolitical expert. I am a struggling fiction writer. But here are my thoughts.
Will Regional Conflicts Escalate to Global War?
Personally, I do not think any single regional conflict — however devastating — automatically triggers a world war. History has been full of catastrophic local conflicts that did not escalate globally, even when great powers were involved. But the conditions for escalation are more present now than they have been in decades. The interconnection of alliances, the involvement of nuclear states on multiple sides, the speed at which information and disinformation spread — all of these raise the stakes.
The Secret Ingredient: Competing Alliances
What concerns me most is the combination of conflicts rather than any single one. When you have Eastern powers aligned against Western powers in multiple theatres simultaneously, the risk of miscalculation grows. Not necessarily deliberate war — but accidents, misread signals, retaliatory cycles that spiral past the point anyone intended.
What About Nuclear Weapons?
I would like to believe that humans are too smart to go there. I would also like to believe that the events of recent years were impossible before they happened. We do not have a great track record when it comes to restraint under existential pressure. The deterrence logic that has held since 1945 depends on rational actors making rational calculations. I hope that holds. I genuinely do.
What This Means
I write about apocalyptic scenarios for a reason — they let us explore the worst outcomes in a safe space, process our fears, and perhaps understand what we want to protect. The Kill Them Dead universe is fiction. But the anxieties behind it are real, and they are getting harder to ignore.
Stay safe. Pray to whoever you pray to that this will end — that the suffering of innocent lives will stop and that cooler heads will find a way through.
