The Nightmare Scenario for World War III

And What Led Us to This Moment

The prospects of a potential World War III have been on the minds of the people of the world. Russia’s recent threats of using nuclear weapons in Ukraine and the labeling of the United States as ‘Satanists’ have brought tensions to an all time high, tensions that are hotter than they were during the Cold War with the Soviet Union. Escalations in Asia have occurred as well. North Korea sent fighter jets into South Korean airspace triggering South Korean jets to intervene, North Korea also fired off various ballistic missiles when Vice President Kamala Harris came to and left South Korea, and the country also sent a nuclear-capable Intercontinental Ballistic Missile past Japan, triggering the country to urge citizens to stay indoors, seek shelter and caused air raid sirens to blare across Tokyo, leaving the citizens in disarray wondering if North Korea was about to strike their country with a nuclear missile. The People’s Republic of China is threatening Taiwan with an invasion, even going so far as to say that the United States getting involved would be a red line that is crossed and that the country is “playing with fire.” These tensions are arising around the world with key nations capable of pursuing invasions against each other. These issues were non-existent just two years ago. So that begs the question… How did we get here? Well, it all started in April of 2021. President Joseph R. Biden Jr. announced the United States would be ending the twenty-year-long war in Afghanistan. Much of the country at the time supported the idea of removing 2,000 U.S forces from Afghanistan and, given the emergence of a democracy in Afghanistan, it sure did feel like job well done and that is was time to pack up and go home. But what the Biden Administration did not expect is that the United States was about to waste twenty years of work in a matter of eleven days. In August of 2021, the United States Military began to withdraw troops from Afghanistan. However, something happened that the Pentagon had warned President Biden and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan about. There were movements by the insurgent forces in Afghanistan, the terrorist group known as the Taliban, was moving closer to the capital city of Kabul. In a matter of a few days, Afghanistan’s government fell to the Taliban and a new uncertain situation prevailed. The U.S Embassy in Afghanistan scrambled to get U.S citizens and Afghan allies out of the country. Biden abandoned Bagram Air Force base against the Pentagon’s advice and used Hamid Karzai International Airport to evacuate citizens and allies instead. The Taliban began to set up a perimeter against the vulnerable facility and Biden was forced to send more forces to Afghanistan to aid in the evacuation. The U.S Embassy gave contradictory and confusing information to citizens and allies during the time, giving them inconsistent advice on when to evacuate or not to evacuate. The airport was closed and reopened multiple times, and the Administration even had to rush to find a safe place to land evacuees. There was literally no planning in the operation other than that it would not require additional U.S forces, that Bagram could be left behind, and that Kabul was not going to fall. But all were wrong. The climax of the situation occurred when a suicide bomber drove up to the entrance of the Kabul airport, blowing up a truck load of bombs. This attack killed 13 U.S service members and many citizens. The Administration failed to secure a perimeter around the airport, thus allowing the Taliban to control who could enter or exit the airport. The evacuation was a mess and a complete strategic failure. Furthermore, it was revealed, though not originally admitted by the Administration that the U.S military was ordered to leave behind all of the equipment, weaponry, and aircraft that were present in Afghanistan. On top of this, the existing military of Afghanistan which the United States gave tens of billions of dollars of weaponry, aircraft, and equipment all went to the Taliban, a terrorist group. President Biden made the excuse that he left the equipment there in the hopes that the Taliban would use their newfound military equipment for peaceful purposes and for defense. All these failures in under a month sent signals across the world, it was open season…

In October of 2021, the Biden Administration began to pick up on satellite imagery showing movements of Russian military forces, medical bays, and tanks along Ukraine’s border. According to whistleblowers, the CIA knew about Russia’s building up of forces across Ukraine’s border at least seven months prior to the invasion on February 24th, 2022. Instead of signaling Russia to move away from Ukraine, sending forces to Ukraine, or alerting Russian officials to stop moving towards the border, the Biden Administration sent a delegation to meet with Chinese officials on a regular basis. During these meetings, the U.S gave China all of the latest intelligence on Russia’s movements towards Ukraine. The Biden Administration asked China to convince Russia to stop building up forces along Ukraine’s border and cancel their plans for invasion. The Chinese played the Biden Administration, telling them that they were relaying that message to the Kremlin. However, immediately after the meetings, China would send the intel to Russia. The fact that the United States asked China, a nation which is Communist and supports autocracy for help on something like this made them realize that something was wrong with this Presidency. China’s President, Xi Jin Ping who had met with Biden many times when he was Vice President soon realized that the Biden Administration was not well equipped to handle military issues.

The Beijing Olympics of 2022 is nearly underway. Athletes across the world are excited to play in a game of who’s the best nation in the world of sports. But while the nations of the world were focused on the spectacle of the Olympic games in China; Xi Jin Ping met with Vladimir Putin of Russia to discuss more important matters. It is unknown what the two spoke about, but it can be assumed that the two were finalizing their plan to abuse the United States’ weakness. China had been in communication with Russia over their planned Ukraine invasion already. And given the fact that China sent the intel the U.S had given them on the matter to Russia, it can be inferred that Xi Jin Ping supports the Ukraine invasion. It is likely that the two discussed each others plans for invading countries. It’s not just Russia that had planned that year to invade a country, but China too had their eyes on a country.

The day came… February 24th, 2022. Russian President Vladimir Putin announces a Special Military Operation in Ukraine and vowed to destroy the Neo-Nazis that, in his view, unlawfully ruled the country. Military analysts expected Ukraine to fall within two days. Russia tried to push into Kyiv, but shockingly, failed miserably. Russian forces were soon pushed back, but they began to gain significant ground in other regions. A few months into the war; it was looking like Russia might actually win after all. But then the cracks began to show… Russia began to retake ground until September of 2022, when Ukraine led a counter-offensive which has been hailed as one of the greatest David and Goliath turnarounds of all time. Ukraine started to push Russian occupiers closer to the border. By then, Russia lost tens of thousands of forces, thousands of tanks, and nearly all of their gains since the war began. In a desperate but smart move, Vladimir Putin officially annexed four regions of Ukraine on September 30th, 2022. However, Ukraine has already begun to take back territory in those annexed regions and it won’t be long until they begin to push closer to Russia’s border. Before the annexations, Putin announced a draft of 300,000 reserves to fight in the Ukraine war. Right now, those forces are tasked with holding the annexed regions. But now the question remains… What’s next?

Since September 30th, 2022, tensions between the allied NATO and the United States against the Russian Federation have skyrocketed. The sabotage explosions of the Nord Stream pipelines have the world’s powers on alert as Russia could potentially be planning to strike energy infrastructure. Furthermore, the Putin regime has pushed a new narrative that the United States is ‘Satanist,’ and says that the U.S wants to colonize Russia. Putin has also said that the U.S set precedent for using nuclear weapons in war when Former President Harry Truman ordered the first ever use of nuclear bombs in Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Imperial Japan. Russia has also been saying that the country will use all means possible to defend the newly annexed regions. The fear now is that Ukraine will push into Russia’s newly annexed territories, and since Putin now has the power to order a nuclear strike against Ukraine if they do invade Russian territory or sovereignty, that now that those regions are technically (to Russia) Russian territory, Putin may order a nuclear strike against Ukraine in retaliation for attacking annexed regions. Though military analysts and experts think that this is unlikely, the Biden Administration is taking these threats seriously, even going so far as to purchase $290M worth of radioactive treatments in the event of a nuclear strike on U.S soil. President Biden has even said that if Putin were to use a nuclear weapon in Ukraine, that it would lead to “Armageddon,” and that the situation right now between the United States, allies and Russia are at the highest tensions since the Cuban Missile Crisis which nearly led to war between the United States and the Soviet Union. This is where we leave off our run-up to the situation that could lead to World War III, and begin to discuss a realistic worst-case-scenario of what the war could look like.

The worst-case-scenario, or the nightmare scenario of what a global conflict could look like would involve multiple factors which can be interchangeable. There are a few basic contingencies that would obviously devolve society into war, but let’s look at a realistic set of contingencies and outcomes given the present situation we are in. First and foremost, since Ukraine is pushing into Russia’s newly annexed territories, and since in Russia, those lands are considered Russian sovereignty; Vladimir Putin has the power to strike Ukraine with a nuclear weapon, which, otherwise, he would not. Now the question arises, if Putin were to use a nuclear weapon, what kind? There are two kinds of nuclear weapons: strategic and tactical. Strategic weapons can destroy an entire city, whereas tactical weapons can wipe out sections of a city. If Putin wanted to prove a point, he could send a tactical nuclear missile and hit the Baltic seas near Ukraine just to scare the international community. But if Putin feels he’s backed in a corner and is about to lose annexed territories, he may order the strike on Ukrainian soil. This would bring devastating impacts to those in the vicinity of the blast, and would kill many. However, much more destruction, death, and radioactive fallout would occur if Putin used a strategic nuclear weapon. Now, President Biden has supposedly said that if Russia hits Ukraine with a nuclear weapon, it would trigger a response. But as to whether that means NATO and the U.S would get involved with the Ukraine war or even respond in like kind with Russia’s nuclear missile, that is unknown. But it could be that NATO and the U.S are bluffing. Europe already said they would stop buying Russian oil exports, yet they simply changed the way they purchased them, not that it wasn’t still coming from Russia. Russian imports didn’t stop until Nord Stream was shut down by Russia in August 2022 for “maintenance.” And since then, the pipeline has been permanently shut down after the sabotage explosions. So actually, Russia was the one that cut off Germany and the rest of Europe from their energy exports, and Europe, though acting like they were tough on Russia with sanctions, were begging to keep Nord Stream online. So who is to say that NATO and the U.S aren’t bluffing here too? If Putin feels he can get away with using a nuclear weapon in Ukraine, it will be more likely that he will actually do it. So let’s say in our scenario that Putin uses a strategic nuclear missile in a heavily populated area in Ukraine killing 147,500 people over time. And let’s say that NATO and the U.S’ bluff was called and there is no response to Russia’s atrocity other than a few statements at NATO Headquarters in Belgium, and at the United Nations in New York. What then could happen? Well, it could potentially turn the tide of war if NATO and the U.S don’t get involved, and Putin could continue his military operation in Ukraine and send more forces, possibly even take over Ukraine. But let’s say that NATO and the U.S are not bluffing, and that they are actually serious about getting involved in the Ukraine war. Well, if this were to be, then World War III would officially begin and the use of nuclear weapons in the war would be desensitized. Likely, the conflict would spread rapidly beyond Ukraine’s borders and it may end up the way Biden put it: “Armageddon.” But let’s say this conflict is a drawn out one, and both sides quietly agree (not with each other but by instinct) that hyperactive use of nuclear weapons would mean mutual destruction. So let’s say at best, the conflict is filled with ground and air warfare, and not nuclear weapons, or at least the limited use of tactical nuclear weapons. Well, while Europe and the United States are busy fighting World War III with Russia, China may take advantage of the situation and invade Taiwan. China certainly has the capacity to invade Taiwan, and regardless if World War III happens or not in 2022, the invasion will still happen in 2023. So, China invades Taiwan. This could also trigger World War III in and of itself. The reason why? Two countries near Taiwan that have good relations with the island country: South Korea and Japan have been interested in defending the country militarily if China invades. President Biden has said (though his White House corrects and contradicts him) if China were to invade Taiwan that U.S troops would enter to defend the country. This would end the United States policy of strategic ambiguity with Taiwan. If this happens, then the United States and China will be officially at war with each other. Furthermore, South Korea and Japan will be emboldened to fight for the country alongside the U.S military. Thus spreading the conflict further. If you look at where Japan and South Korea are geographically, they are in as much risk of being invaded by China as Taiwan would be. These two nations are very close to China’s land. Though separated by water, it would not take much for China to bring the fight to their respective homelands. And what about South Korea? Are not tensions high between North Korea and South Korea? It could be inferred that given China’s war in Taiwan, the involvement of South Korean forces in the theater, that North Korea may work with China to invade South Korea. And if Japan is also invaded by China, then it creates the nightmare situation of democracies under attack. World War III would officially be a global conflict in two continents, Europe and Asia. It could easily spread into North America as well, if China or Russia were to strike the United States or Canada. From this point on, you can imagine how things can escalate even further. During World War II, most countries did not have nuclear weapons, and the United States didn’t have one until later in the war. But what makes World War III much more different is that Russia and China, NATO, Europe, and the United States, for the most part, all have nuclear weapons. All it takes is for one of these to be fired on by either of these countries or territories with a nuclear weapon and it would spark a flurry of nuclear strikes all across the world. In the end, no one would win and the geopolitical system would crumble. This, is the nightmare scenario for World War III. A scenario in which nobody wins…

But there is another scenario. What if the best possible events occurred? Though still bringing the world to war, but, not to the extent of a global conflict like World War III. It would be the situation that Russia continues to invade Ukraine without use of nuclear weapons, and that China, too, invades Taiwan. Whether or not the two are successful, this route would prevent World War III. But this would rest on the United States and whether the nation will defend Taiwan from China’s invasion. If so, World War III would begin. But if Biden is bluffing here, or maybe even Putin’s invasion is such a big failure that it deters China’s invasion of Taiwan, at least it won’t devolve into a global conflict.

I pray to God, and I know so many others do as well, that this nightmare scenario does not happen. Although one day the world will end, that does not mean we should just let ourselves destroy what God has created. But of a truth, even if a global nuclear war happened, it would not destroy life. Not every place in the world would be hit with a nuclear missile, and it’s unclear what the effect on the atmosphere will be if 1000’s of nukes were just thrown around the world. But one thing is certain, mankind will recuperate. Now of course, we need not fear death. We know that in Jesus Christ we have the resurrection of our souls. Though our bodies can be destroyed, no man can take away our soul. Turn to God and have faith and may God guide you, may God keep you safe and sound. This world is fleeting and one day will be gone. But rest assured, God is Eternal and will give you eternal life by His Holy Spirit.

Hopefully this time around we will get better leadership. These things were not happening two years ago. We shouldn’t even be thinking of these drastic situations. But the possibility of a World War III is here. Hopefully Vladimir Putin will stop his war in Ukraine and just face his people. Instead of digging himself and Russia a bigger hole by using a nuclear weapon in Ukraine. Mr. Putin, just give up. You will not restore the Soviet Union, you are not a czar, you are not a Russian war hero. You are a war criminal, you have allowed atrocity after atrocity to occur in this war against not only the government of Ukraine, but the innocent citizens too. You are not bringing honor to the motherland, you are not bringing honor to Russia. You say the United States is Russophobic but it is you who deny your people basic rights, free elections, a fair judicial system. You, Putin were once a great and courageous fighter for the people of Russia but your ambitions to recreate the Soviet Socialist Republics has led you down a path of corrupting the nation you swore to protect. Stop this war and face your people. Apologize for your crimes and pray to God that He will forgive you of your sins. I understand that power can lead you down a path of corruption, so then, give up your power. Resign. Or at least withdraw your forces from Ukraine, apologize for your actions, and let the people decide your fate in a free election. Do the things that need to be done to create a better motherland.

Thanks for reading this essay. May God bless you, may God bless Ukraine, Taiwan, and the United States. And may God protect our troops.