Are we heading for a big European war of WWIII?

[SaltyLemons]

I need to stay away from Twitter but lots of analysts suggesting this today and I'm feeling pretty sick

@Jovanka

You won’t find the answers you are looking for on MN. None of us has a crystal ball. None of us can predict the future any more than you can.

No, but we can discuss it. I'm also fucking sick of posters trying to cancel discussion under the guise of 'scaremongering'

People said we'd lockdown and they were jumped on, people said we'd close schools again and were jumped on. No one really knows but being able to discuss possibilities is what makes the life we inhabit a free one. Stop trying to shut down discussion and control people's thoughts. Debate back why they are wrong but don't just close down arguments with 'scaremongering '

I hope not, but as my mum said, there’s not really anything she and I can do to influence that, so let’s try not to dwell on what is out of our hands

I don't think it is but I can completely understand your worries. I spent most of my teens worrying about WW3 and nuclear warfare, we used to discuss at school what we would do in our last 3 minutes

My mum remembered sitting with a baby and toddler on her lap listening to the Cuba missile crisis on the radio and was terrified.

I try not to worry now. Maybe putting some energy into something like supporting a refugee charity locally might help. And dreadful though it is, watching all the media reports won't help either you or them.

A girl at school used to carry a chocolate orange in her bag, she said she would eat it all on one go in her last three minutes, and they were bigger in those days.

@SaltyLemons

Sorry that's not my intention at all, to scaremonger. I'm just posting out of panic myself.

Well what's changed is there's been evidence of an atrocious massacre of civilians and a ramping up of escalatory language. And, you know, a changing world order. But I am definitely obsessing about worst case scenarios

These same massacres have happened in Syria, in Iraq, in Libya, Yemen, Palestine, Afghanistan, etc. Nobody declared mass outrage, intervention and there was no talk of world war on their behalf. They are happening to the Rohingya people. Nobody is declaring outrage en masse or world war on their behalf. Displaced refugees from war zones have been pouring into the continent for decades. Nobody is considering world war because of that.

But it happens in Europe with big bad Russia who the west have been trying to keep down for over a century and we all hit panic stations. The same outrage and need to quash would be communicated if any of the former axis powers tried this move. Anyone the west has ever felt threatened by.

We aren't going to war for this.

But to be fair (and I agree with you that atrocities have happened that we've turned a blind eye to, which is another point that absolutely should be made) we're talking about a potential conflict between world powers now, with nuclear weapons. I don't think the West is innocent in where we are at all. But I don't like where we are

@Greensleeves I haven't "seen" you in ages! (I name change a lot, so you won't remember me). It's lovely to see your name though. Hope you're doing well.

@SobranieCocktail hello, whoever you are! I am doing OK, thanks

Thanks for all the kind messages and messages of solidarity here. It's really calmed me down. And thanks to @MrsRobinsonsHandprints and @Greensleeves for sticking up for me for posing the question.

@FourChimneys that chocolate orange story is really sticking with me!

@SaltyLemons, I'm glad you find the concept useful, I use it for many situations and it's helped me.
@Thedogissnoringagain, I'm unclear if your comment about a lack of empathy is aimed at me or not. But in case it is, where I can help I do, donations to relative charity ect I do. It's not that I don't care about what's happening in Ukrain, it's just that I don't worry. What would be the point? My worry wouldn't change one single thing, apart from making me anxious.

If your comment isn't aimed at me, sorry.

@MrsRobinsonsHandprints - am not sure why you are quoting me. I didn’t use the word ‘scaremongering’. I can’t nor do I want to ‘debate back’ because I don’t know that the OP is wrong. None of us do. That’s my point - the OP came here looking for reassurance but who are any of us to do that?

My DP came to the UK fleeing a conflict on European soil where his neighbours were killed, tortured, raped, held in concentration camps. Up until the day that war broke out, people were saying that it could never happen, not in Europe. But it did. It did not lead to a world war. They were left to defend themselves, much as the Ukrainians are now. But that is where the similarity between those conflicts ends. Putin has wider ambitions than Ukraine.

I cannot ‘debate back’ against the OP because I have no answers. But nor did I say she was scaremongering.

Thing is no one can answer because no one knows. The west will try and avoid one, but even Putin, Biden, don't know and things can change in a moment. Also it's not really fair to say that no one on Mumsnet knows as if we are all silly little mum's. Don't you think we have political analysts, intelligence officers, investigative journalists politicians on here? We do for sure. But no one in the world knows.

Also it's not really fair to say that no one on Mumsnet knows as if we are all silly little mum's. Don't you think we have political analysts, intelligence officers, investigative journalists politicians on here?

That was not my point at all. I am a poster on MN, I have two postgraduate degrees in security and conflict zones in Eastern Europe and I don’t have a fecking clue how this will develop.

@kyiv

No.

There's no benefit for anyone in this. No nation will benefit from a global war

That's never stopped anyone before....

People are have got quite fatigued over Ukraine, despite the horror there, the Americans have no desire to get involved in yet another european war & Russia has had a bit of a wake up call on its military and its ability to fend off NATO weapons, so i doubt Putin will launch further attacks... but heck no one knows!

Jovanka apologies

I think its upped the ante a bit now with such horrific things being discovered.

The world can't just stand back and witness this. But we will, just as we have with the other war crimes in other countries

it feels like opinion is shifting slightly but mumsnet has shown itself as not the place for a discussion. People try and shut down discussion as they are too scared to face into it

I think World War 3 would be better than sitting back and letting Russia conquer Europe one country at a time, massacring civilians as they go.

The fact that it's even a possibility is hard to accommodate. I'm struggling to adjust to this new view of the world

Most of the world isn't interested in fighting Russia over this. The vast majority So no, there will not be anything resembling a world war.

What about if they invade more countries though? How far is too far?

@Florenz I think they'd have trouble doing that conventionally and if it was a NATO country then, yes, we'd be in. It's scary to see the world dividing into sides - China and India (and Africa?) are clearly with Russia

How old are you OP?

I'm 45

After showing what an ineffective fighting force Russia is - it is highly unlikely Putin will want this to escalate and lose more face on the world stage.

The entire war has highlighted the out dated training and command structure within the Russian army, navy and Air Force. It is unlikely there would be any backing from the generals for increased engagement with NATO. They have far too much to lose.