World War III has been popping up in my writings ever more often, and it is high time to look into this proclivity of mine a bit more carefully. Searching through my Residua website, I got a pretty good picture fast. Before 2011, this ominous expression comes up mainly in addenda. There are two such in 1982, and one each in 1995, 2000, 2008, 2009, and 2010. In this period, it appears in several pieces of writing, as well. In particular, it appears in two pieces in 2000, and one each in 2002, 2008, and 2009. Interestingly, the piece from 2009 examines this expression by means of Google Trends (“Google Trends: World War III,” November 22, 2009). This piece has been extended by a couple of more recent addenda, too.

Now, the expression is gaining momentum in the last decade. It appears four times in 2011, five times in 2012, four times in 2013, thirteen times in 2014, nine times in 2015, four times in 2016, seven times in 2017, twice in 2018, and once so far in 2019, not including this piece. The explosion took place in 2014 and 2015, though. This is hardly surprising in view of the growing dangers of global conflict, and especially between America, Russia, and China. Climate change and environmental degradation leading to growing migration only adds to the solemn picture.

Judging by the growing number of pieces involving World War III, the danger is growing at a clip. Wherever one looks on the World Wide Web, the expression pops up more and more often. And the only response that is in evidence at this time is growing military spending across the globe (“On World Military Spending,” May 6, 2018). Preventing global conflict is evidently of little interest to the leading powers at this stage of the game. It can thus be expected that all sorts of weapons will be stockpiled at an ever-faster rate in the years to come. This also applies to nuclear weapons of all descriptions. Lately, space is turning into another frontier for global conflict, and there is a race to ensure supremacy in this vast domain. Again, countries to watch are America, Russia, and China. Although they will do their best not to get into direct conflict, proxy wars will flourish across the planet under their guidance. It is only a question of time when World War III will be unleashed. Alas, a silly mistake would be all it takes!