Tuesday, March 19Royal Holloway's offical student publication, est. 1986

Is WW3 Really Going To Happen? Probably Not

Concerns have been triggered worldwide following the assassination of Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani in a US drone strike. In response to this, Iran has sworn “harsh revenge”, dubbing the attack a “gruesome crime from criminal America”, instilling fear in the entire world.

Such events have caused a massive surge of interest online as concerns of a “World War III” grew, sparking anxiety amongst any Americans and European allies alike. This mainly due to the impending fear of being drafted due to such events, but also has surprisingly (or unsurprisingly) birthed a huge amount of memes parodying the entire situation.

Such memes have also caused the hashtag #WW3 and similar tags to become trending on social media as these memes dominate the entire internet. But this obviously begs the question, will there be a draft? Is this the beginning of another world war?

In concern to drafting, the short answer is no. At least it’s unlikely for Britons anyway, as Boris Johnson urges Trump to “de-escalate” tension in Iran despite giving implicit support to the US president’s decision to assassinate the general. Johnson held talks with Trump agreeing with the president that Soleimani “posed a threat to all our interests and was responsible for a pattern of disruptive, destabilising behaviour” in the Middle East. Despite this however, it is clear that it is very unlikely we will become involved in this conflict as we urge the US to avoid conflict and face a financial crisis of our own.

Johnson and Trump
Boris Johnson with Donald Trump.

For the American youth however, the situation is quite different. Even if war does break out, there has been no conscription in the US since 1973, when the draft was abolished after opposition to fighting in Vietnam. This was supported all across the political spectrum (i.e will likely stay that way no matter who is in power), and there has since been no arguments to ever reinstate the draft since. This could change if war breaks out, so there is still a lingering possibility however, just very unlikely.

In terms of World War Three breaking out itself, this is also very unlikely. Some have interpreted that the death of General Soleimani is a “declaration of war” by the USA against Iran. Others have interpret that Iran’s response and pledge of “harsh revenge” is also a declaration of war. Despite all of this, the action between the two countries has not yet involved any other nations directly. A world war is defined as a significant global war involving prominent nations from around the globe. This has obviously not happened yet and due to statements from Boris Johnson and other constituencies being against any involvement, it’s pretty safe to say that with current global attitudes war isn’t going to happen any time soon.

So teenagers, rest easy knowing that you’re extremely unlikely to ever be drafted in a conflict you don’t care about, relax, enjoy life and all it has to offer and keep reading The Orbital. The new year has begun with a fairly bumpy start but there are brighter days to come.