The Third World War Is Here

And it's not what you think

The world came close to two of its biggest conflicts merging into one this week. Ukraine attacked an Iranian vessel in the Caspian Sea that was carrying supplies to Russia. Iran threatened a response and weighed firing a missile at a Ukrainian port.

That strike would have tangled the long-running Ukraine-Russia war with the carnage currently being wreaked in the Middle East by the US, Israel and Iran. Media commentators suggested this could have been the start of the next world war.

They were wrong. The Third World War is already underway, has been for a while, but remains unrecognised because it doesn’t follow the patterns we know.

We all become trapped by the past. We see the design formed in days gone by and unconsciously project it on to the future as if this is a science where the rules of cause and effect are defined.

The first two world wars were geo-political endeavours — three if you include the Cold War. But that was in the twentieth century and everything has changed.

We’ve moved into the Age of the Oligarch which is defined by a network of the rich and powerful and the authoritarians they prop up. The group transcends national borders and has zero interest in the countries that elevated them to power.

The global war that is being fought right now is between the rest of the world and Trump and his backers and Putin and his oligarchs.

In the transnational web of allies is Milei in Argentina, Orban when he controlled Hungary, Bolsonaro when he was President of Brazil and hopes to be again through his proxy, his son. The new Far Right leaders in Central and South America. Farage in the UK would love to be a member of this global force.

They help each other out, not always overtly, and they refuse to restrain any member of the group because they are all working towards the same aim.

They are not fighting for land, not ostensibly despite Trump trying to lay claim to Venezuela, Cuba, Canada and Greenland.

Their aim is simply to destroy the rules-based order so that they are free to plunder wherever they want.

This is why Trump is trying to wreck the UN, NATO, the International Criminal Court and any other organisation that will stop him doing exactly what he wants to do.

Trump doesn’t care about the US at all. Putin doesn’t care about Russia. They use the illusion of patriotism to bind people behind them, but they would jettison every national ideal if they saw an advantage for their group. Trump says he loves the Constitution while his actions show only contempt for it.

In the second tier of allies you will find people like Peter Thiel and Elon Musk who care nothing about democracy and work tirelessly in the background to advance the agenda of the international group of would-be conquerors. Musk speaks to Putin. Thiel has spent time with Orban in Hungary and plans to set up camp in Milei’s Argentina.

Borders are irrelevant. All that counts is the destruction of rules that will give them the untrammelled freedom to do exactly what they want.

And you can see already how they are working together to fight their world war. Musk boosts Far Right groups in the UK, Germany and elsewhere in a bid to destabilise those states and Putin funds those same groups. Vance and Rubio are working hard to undermine the UK and EU. Putin is launching cyber attacks, sabotage and well-funded propaganda to cause divisions in the EU and in the UK.

Putin is currently shipping more men and resources to Africa, where the former Wagner mercenaries now rebranded Africa Corps are propping up governments and securing jewels and gold and raw materials in the Sahel States of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, as well as Libya and the Central African Republic. Trump has dabbled in Africa, wasting cruise missiles attacking Islamist positions in Nigeria, while being careful not to step on Putin’s toes or doing anything to restrict Russia’s interest.

Trump has launched an illegal war in the Middle East with one eye on Iran’s oil. He’s fixated on building his riches with developments on the former homes of displaced Palestinians in Gaza. Putin was heavily invested in the Middle East, in support of the dictator Assad in Syria until the revolution, and he still tries to wield influence in Gulf States’ relations, though the Ukraine War has severely weakened his position.

Trump is interfering in elections in South and Central America to get his favoured candidates in charge, people who will work with him to dismantle societal restraints. His operation in Venezuela was simply to install a puppet.

When there is discussion about a world war, China is often mentioned as a power that would come in support of rogue states like Russia, Iran and North Korea. However Xi is not trying to enrich himself personally or the elites. China requires the rules-based order for its global trade policy which props up the economy. The Chinese Communist Party is still focused on what it believes to be best for China, as well as maintaining power — both are seen to be the same thing.

China has certainly been involved in supporting Russia, but there’s a broader strategic aim here. China requires a multi-polar world and the weakening of any US influence. And it is gradually turning Russia into a vassal state which is in China’s longterm interest.

The EU remains on the other side of this war too. Its values are starkly opposed to what Trump and Putin stand for. That’s why so much energy has been invested in destabilising it.

We’re blind to this world war because we think it happens with an army marching into Sudetenland. This 21st century war is being fought behind the scenes of everyday events and no one is fighting back because they think it’s just individuals, not a concerted effort to smash all that protects global citizens.

It looks like the players are separate, but they’re working in cohesion, to one end. Conquering territory doesn’t matter when you can simply strip away all rules so you can operate with total freedom anywhere.

Make no mistake, they are at war with us and we are at war with them, whether we see the enemy for what they are or not.