I'm gonna bet on Germany for the hat trick. Like c'mon two of em already, why not go for a third. But let's see other countries out there. There's North Korea to pick from. They're some crazy little koreans there with nukes now! But you also got Iran who could start the next world war.

Please be serious about this and not just say america cuz bush in the president! Let's be smart now.

i have my money on those beer swilling, weinerschnitzel eating germans too.




















no offense lecter

Well isn't Germany almost in a state of Civil war so its always possible but to unlikly because of their involvement in the UN and with the advent of the European Economic community, I just don't see taht happening.

Realisticly the top few right now are N. Korea, Iran and Isreal/Palestine.

But Germany didn't start the first world war. It started when the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on Serbia after Archduke Franz Ferdinand had been murdered in Sarajevo by Gavril Princip (sp?).

What ??

Well, it could be Israel/Iran conflict that could trigger it. Israel has publicly said that they won't let Iran build a nuclear weapon ever, and Iran seems to be heading in that direction. And, if they actually do end up being close to acquiring a nuke, Israel is not going to be quiet, and any preemtive attack on Iran by Israel may trigger it. Russian, China, France and North Korea are not going to let the opportunity go by and are going to plunge in to get US into the war too. US economy is still so strong that any kind of war in that scale is going to push it back to at least 50 to 100 years (provided nukes are not used), using nukes by any country is just going to put us back centuries.

Anyways, tha't just my 2 cents. I don't think Germany or Japan will play as big a role as they did in the earlier wars.

The first WW wasn't germany. germany wasn't even really germany.

If Germany started World War III, it'd be defeated within...say...2 days?

The saying in the '80s that was common was, I don't know how or when the next world war will start but I do know it will be over in 30 minutes (rough length of time an ICBM takes to hit target).

Yes, Albert Einstein also said "I do not know with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."

Canada

EXACTLY. No one would suspect it. We just assume they go around eating pinecones all day, but c'mon, they're so similar to America they HAVE to have some secret evil plan thought up!

First of all: Actually, the Austrian Empire started WW I! (see some posts above - it was the thing about Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo).

@ Germany starting WWIII: Germany and Austria are the last countries I would think! There are not many countries in this world which are more neutral than these two (like Arthur said - we would be defeated in about 2-3 days). I think you got a completely wrong picture of these two countries.

So let's see which countries could start the next WW...


hmmmm


Canada is all I can think of... :? :wink:

Saying that the killing of Franz Ferdinand started the WW1 is about as honest as saying that the Poles' invasion into Germany started WW2.

There'd be no war if the powers that be hadn't already commited to it.

I agree. The stage was set well before the assassination took place. What allowed for that event to be the trigger was that it led the Austro-Hungarian Empire to declare war on the Serbian territories which had just doubled and which Austria saw as a threat to its southern, Serbian regions.

The problem was that Russia had promised to back up Serbia, and France was in alliance with Russia. Britain was also on the side of those two. Germany, on the other hand, was firmly on the side of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, so that Austria's declaration of war against Serbia meant that Austria/Germany would be in a conflict opposite Russia/France/UK.

Britain also had another reason for declaring war on Germany, which was that Germany got into war with Belgium, which Britain had promised to protect.


But even these aren't the only causes of it, not even close. A race to control the world via imperialism, basically, was happening as well, with UK/France, and even Germany snatching up almost everything in Africa and elsewhere. Conflicts and wars erupted in those regions as well, prior to the battles in Europe during WW1.

Going back even further, the Congress of Vienna could be seen as a very early cause, since it forced about the shifting of various borders and re-alignments of various territories that in turn would have inevitably led to conflicts.

And of course that in turn had been caused by Napoleon and the Napoleonic wars, which in turn would not have occurred if not for the French Revolution, and so on.


Incidentally, a somewhat similar situation occurred in the case of WW2 as well. Hitler had already prepared Germany for war and was desperate to start it. There was no way to get back, so any small reason for it was good enough. So, he used Danzing as a justification and invaded Poland, and there we go again...

I would say either North Korea or a Middle eastern country.

Canada.

No seriously. Here's what's going to happen. We have been laying dormant for years. WE pretend that our armies and military have been depleted. But all of this time since WWII, we have been saving our pennies and nickles and dimes and putting them towards a state of the art military machine that will not be stopped. It won't be this regime but some day we will unveil to the world our secret weapons and the first thing we are going to do is take back Maine and then maybe Alaska. No one will see it coming and with the rest of the world by our side, we will defeat the evil empire to the south. :wink:

Why are you telling them our plans?

But maybe it could be canada. The government isn't on a deficit so we are somewhat saving our money. It would be nice to live in a superpower I guess

China.. during the 2008 Olympics when we're all distracted

oOooO good call.

all this planning for Alaska and Maine!?!? We could do better .. you know ... thats a waste of a secret weapon.

Middle eastern countries will not start a war unless you're looking at israel and palestine ...

the others wont start jack ...

Iraq ring a bell?

ehem .. iraq itself never started this war either ... the US did : )

and now, iraq seems crush.

and if iraqi insurgence can actually compete and somehow create a world war, its still the US that started it.

So technically, the US will start the third world war, not iraq

bABA has spoken.

My my, how short our memory is.

It seems it was only 2 decades ago when Iraq was starting wars left and right (literally).