Question, is World War Three already underway? No one is saying that it is specifically, but if it were, how would we know? Is this something that can only be determined from the rearview mirror of history or would we know it?

This question has been coming up a lot lately and given what we can see and what we know, it’s a valid question. We know all too well about the current misadventure in the Middle East. The promised “rapid victory” never materialized and now it seems America is likely entangled in yet another war without end and one political party will likely pay a price for that major miscalculation (I’m being kind, there was never any calculating), but taxpayers will still foot the bill.

Even worse, it has exposed serious US military shortcomings for all to see.

The same can be said for Russia’s forever war with Ukraine which now looks a lot more like Russia’s misadventure in Afghanistan many years ago. It would be foolish to think China isn’t taking notes on the many vulnerabilities of the other two superpowers. Projection of military might works so much better when you have actual muscles to flex. Quagmires and weak leadership doom armies.

And even though Ukraine is making a fool of Russia, Putin’s appetite for more pain and suffering hasn’t abated given his almost concealed actions against Moldova, Poland, and most recently Germany. With NATO under constant threat and US leadership MIA, how soundly are the Taiwanese sleeping tonight?

Taken all together this begs the question: is WW3 already in progress?

Remember, World War II didn’t start with Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1939. It was an accumulation of regional wars and crises starting with Japan’s invasion of Manchuria in 1931 that gradually gathered into one global conflict. No one in 1932 would have called it the “Second World War” but we know now that’s what it was.

Radio hams prepping for the coming conflict may have already missed their window: there’s no siren, no clear line to cross. Historians are the ones who get to draw that line years later, with the benefit of knowing how the story ends.

So, is World War Three already underway? Maybe the honest answer is we won’t know until someone writes the book.