In my opinion, based on recent history, wars in the near future at least will be started by idealogy/religion. Or more then likely a west versus east thing.

Possible future wars:

Iran: Although these **** talkers seem willing to fight, I personaly don't see it happening. The Iranian military for all it is couldnt stand up to Western backed military might and technology. But besides that, the largest population in Iran are the youth! This next generation sees Western freedoms and liberalism as a good thing, expect to see more student protests in the near future or even a complete change in government, the people will speak and maybe Iran will fix itself.

North Korea: Kim doesn't have the balls

China: Correct me if I'm wrong, but does the USA not back taiwan? Just wondering your thoughts on the consequences of Taiwan declaring independance and the subsequent invasion of Taiwan from China.

Ranger_Mike83,

You are correct on your Iranian assessment. They wouldn't stand a chance in a direct confrontation with the U.S. However, they will take the odd pot-shot, the odd capture a lá the British episode, if they think they can get away with it.

----------------

Iranian youth: How well-educated are they? If they are madrassah-schooled, and only memorized certain passages, of the Koran, the damned fools will rush to attack. Not efficiently, mind you, but whoever faces them better have a full supply of ammo.

If they can, instead, read and write, and as a result, -- think for themselves -- then it might be a different story.

---------------

China and Taiwan: The Chinese (both sides) have played a waiting game for close to sixty years. They will continue to wait. Too much reading into Sun Tzu, I'd guess.

More likely is a competition for resources in and around the South China Sea. China is growing, and will need both markets and resources. Similarly, Japan and South Korea have needs. The U.S. has markets in that area, as well. Sooner or later, something has to give.

Worst estimates are around 2015; best estimates are around 2025. Given that mainland China's peacetime army is around 8 million strong (what the *total* U.S. stength was at the end of WWII), the U.S. is going to need a bigger military in place before then, or it will go nuclear in a heartbeat.

Gaucho

Wars of the future will continue to be over the only reason for war. Resources.

Ideologies are the products of goverments.
The Machiavellian exploitation of political, religous, cultural and racial differences will continue as a pretext for war.

No war fought in the history of mankind was over anything other than financial gain.
At the back of every just cause the financial reward or loss to the aggressor has been weighed up.
It is inconcievable this will ever change.

Military interventions on purely humanitarian grounds are a myth. This is accepted fact by all military historians.
It is ironic that it is only with historical hindsight that most conflicts can be broken down to this fact.
At time of conflict, wars are presented to the populace as heroic contests between Good and Evil, the just and the unjust.
Both sides will claim the moral high ground, in attempts to convince allies, the enemy and third party nations of their legitemacy.

Recently following the end of the cold war, the previously dormant ethnic hostilities of nations and neighbours have found ground.
These smaller nationalistic and religous differences have emerged from under the shadow of the cold war, finding light when previously the resentments would have been put aside or crushed by the bigger conflict of East versus West.

The Balkans is one example.
On a smaller scale the current Iraqi sectarian violence can be cited. Following the oppression and overthrow of Saddam the larger Shia population found they were free to vent there anger on a Sunni minority.

These types of ethnic conflicts, which included Rwanda, were caused by sea-changes in political, social and economic developments.

Also nations that find themselves free from foreign interferences,
suddenly richer by the discovery of resources,
or having aligned financially or politically to another states rival soon find themselves at war, whether from within or outwith its own borders.
Wars are here to stay.

Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori

quote:

No war fought in the history of mankind was over anything other than financial gain.

Where are you getting this from? There have been many wars in the past that were about religion, you're just not looking.

Site your sources?

Any war fought under the pretext of religion can be found to be rooted in the leaders desire for monetary enrichment, prestige and personal gain.
The very reason so many Monarchs claimed divine rule was to usurp their peoples Diety, embody themselves with divine right and bend the people to their own personal will.



Will you now name me a war that you think was not for capital gain ?
I will gladly prove you otherwise.

Since you're so sure, why don't you write Military.com an essay of these wars that prove your "theory" right.

It'd be "facinating".

Pointless it's the objective viewpoint of any historian.
Go on have a try, name one you think is the exception.

Somalia?

How about The Falklands?

That was far more about "national pride" than economic gains.

quote:

Originally posted by EX_BRIT_SOLDIER:
Pointless it's the objective viewpoint of any historian.
Go on have a try, name one you think is the exception.

It's more subjective
than objective!It's so,because they would be repeating everything, all over again.Therefore,
it's a proof of religion and ideology!

The next war will be a civil war in the U.S .
Black and White americans against Illegal Immigrants, especially against Hispanics. They are Rude , refuse to speak english, raping the taxpayers with all there free medical , food stamps etc. And washington does nothing. I see the Lower levels Stepping up .

Here's an emailed letter I sent to a friend on the possible outcome of the War in Iraq and what kind of things it may entail.

A Letter to a Friend on the fate of the World...

Dear Friend,

I am greatful that you have thought to enlighten me of world matters (matters that in and of themselves are reflected here in America). I understand your concern of remaining in Iraq. I too accept the fact that if we were to retreat back home that "they" will follow, but ponder this, nothing is stopping "them" from coming here now while we are in Iraq. I find us to be especially vulnerable with our military strained so terribly and so far away, not to mention morally. And when I write "they" and "them" I mean the Islamic fanatics (those who violently proclaim themselves as Muslims). Their methods and lawlessness are not reflective of true Islam (that's not to say that Islam is not a violent faith). And in regards to Islam being violent, one must understand that in the beginning, when Muhammad was visited by Gabriel and was told that Allah would be speaking through him via the Qur'an, the world Muhammad lived in was very much the same as it is now though less civilzed (if you could imagine). Just as in the Old Testament the world was more violent and the people needed a strong leader, religious or otherwise, to bring them together.

Back to Iraq; the soldiers deployed there are as divided as their fellow Americans here at home as to the validity of their deployment. This is both positive and negative. On one hand the troops realize the tight rope situation they are in and understand that this war is far from conventional, just as the vietnam war was. On the other hand their increase in second guessing their deployment increases their vulnerability. It gives them a sense of wasting not only their lives, but the lives of their fellow troops. And a soldiers greatest fear isn't to die, but to die without just cause. I'm sure you have heard of the dissention in the ranks of our serving men and women. I worry how this will all end as Bush insists on sending more troops. There are many things that should have been done long ago before we ever embarked on our campaign in Iraq. Regretfully nothing can change the past. We must redeem our mistakes by not making them again and rethinking our plan. If only we hadn't demanded revenge so quickly after 9-11. Hotheads cannot make sane decisions.

I personally believe that fanatic Islam will never die. I can hope and pray that it does, but the reality is that evil will never cease to exist, not here on this planet anyways. We can enforce our power as we wish and try to snuff out all uprisings as we see fit. But unless the civilians of the world are not behind us, if we dishonor them, then we are facing a lost cause. We cannot fight evil (essentially that is what we are attempting to do) without the support of all the peoples of the world. We should have worked harder at uniting the countries of the world before we started and agreed to certain terms so that we wouldn't have stepped on certain people's feet. That is what we must do now in the face of N. Korea, Iran, the evolution of Iraq and Afganistan. We cannot do this alone. We cannot defeat evil on this Earth, but together with the world we can keep it at arm's length.

Islam is a faith that is vulnerable to the ideals of fanaticism and considering the terrible world and leaders that often find themselves in control there, we must understand that all to often is the case that the Muslim people find a kind of freedom in supporting such individuals, believing that their world will somehow change for the better. Unfortunately they are continually disappointed, sometimes tragically. When our soldiers first landed in Iraq they were greeted by a friendly people waving flags and chanting they love America. But after so many mistakes were made and few actions taken to resolve those mistakes the Iraqi people have been led to believe that we are not liberators, but volatile occupiers. Unfortunitely there assumptions can be justified. We on the other hand do not purposefully do this, we are not trying to occupy Iraq (or we better not be trying to do that - you never know Bush's true intentions) and we are not trying to step on the toes of the Iraqi people. But because we were so unprepared and so uneducated on the customs of the Iraqi people we have foolishly turned ourselves into their enemies. And we are trying to eliminate that stigma, but it will not be easy to do.

So as far as the plan in Iraq goes I see 4 choices. One, we can remain there with our current plan and things will get worse especially with increased troops and violence to the point where we will no longer have any control and civil war will break out with all the sect of Islam and all the surrounding countries around Iraq, where Saudi Arabia (Sunni Land) will join with the other Sunni Muslims within Iraq to fight the Shiites of Iraq who inturn will reach out to their Shiite brothers in Iran (God help us if Saudi Arabia falls) and Palestine will attack Isreal. N. Korea will attack South Korea, joined with other Communist countries including China. China in turn will attack Hong Kong and destroy its independence. Eventually the free land of Tibet will be destroyed along with the dreams of His Holiness the Dhali Lama. Once this happened China with its new found power and ally N. Korea will turn its attention North to Russia who are very frail to breath life once again into its Communist bretheren and then eventually will head Westward to America which will eventually stand alone if we do not rekindle old bonds created by the great presidents of old.

Two, we send more troops into Iraq, but drastically change our game plan and can reconnect with our allies coming to an agreement on how to proceed as a group, not a hierarchy. When we set out in 2003 to attack Iraq and Bush stating, "With or without the United Nations", it was a slap to their face and injured the trust we once had with them via the presidents of old. But if we can regain their trust and ally with them again we will have a chance at keeping the peace in the Middle East and prevent World War III.

Ending three is as such: We pull our remaining troops out of Iraq and rebuild Afganistan creating the second democratic Islamic nation after Turkey. There we create a base line to keep track of fanatic Islam along with Isreal, Saudi Arabia and Egypt who will eventually join with Saudi Arabia as the first two nations of Sunni and Shiite Islam cooperating peacefully. Eventually with the aid of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, America in Afgahnistan with it's Muslim leaders will create an independent Iraq peacfully subdivided by territory (much like America) with Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds living peacefully together under the rule of a leader born from a Shiite father and Sunni mother who will take a Kurdish wife. As an example for all Islamic nations in the Middle East, Iraq will become the flagship of Muslim brotherhood spoken of by Muhammad via Allah, who will all unite to stomp out radical Islamic fanatics who tarnish Muslim society.

Outcome four, consists of America pulling out of Iraq and Afgahnistan completely. In this scenario the radical insurgents will consider this a great victory and the people of Iraq and Afganistan will fully support them because of it. Unfortunately, the people will come to suffer as terrorist groups will submerge onto the free lands of these two countries creating a huge haven for them. Eventually the people will come under the merciless control of a military dictator not unlike Osama Bin Laden and Sadam intermixed as one. He will be ruthless and without care for the lives of the people. This man seeks power, money and followers who will do his bidding blindly without question. Eventually as His power grows, China will see him as a threat and attack. Being ever the opportunist North Korea will form an alliance with China and lend their support. As this war wears on the entire Muslim Middle East will see this as an attack on Islam and form an Islamic Alliance stretching from southern Russia to Yemen, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Isreal will fall to Palestine, much of Russia will become Muslim territory and the countries of Germany, France and Spain, along with the remaining countries east of England will fall to Arab control if America does not intercede. Most of North Africa will become, strictly, under Islamic control. Africans will form a temporary alliance consisting of tribes and urban peoples to counter the mostly Arab attack, but will fail. As India is cut off from the rest of the free world, they will join with China in an attempt to cease the onslaught of both fanatic Islam and the now converted Muslims who see no other choice than to join their radical bretheren. India will reach out to Australia who intern will reach out to America. South America will come under internal civil war rendering it in need of assistance. Mexico will request our protection from their lawless southern cousins. We will aid them and neglect the East, except Great Britain. Russia will divide into Islamic control and Chinese/Russian territory. America, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, Japan and the reunited South America will form an Alliance, joined by Ireland, New Zealand, the Phillipines, parts of Finland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Iceland and Greenland. Together they will free eastern Europe and parts of northern Russia. Then will come the freedom of North Africa. Along with the Communist Alliance, the Radical Islamic Brotherhood will be brought back under control and subsided, but China will refuse to give up its new territory in Russia and it will remain Communist. North Korea will then attack South Korea with the aid of China. Then they will look Eastward to Japan. However after negotiations will turn it's attention South to Thailand, Tibet and Taiwan. The United Nations will be reformed and will prevent any further attacks by the Communist Alliance. America and China will continue to butt heads until a 4th World War errupts...

China along with its Communist Alliance, consisting of all of eastern Asia, North and South Korea (which are now simply Korea), Northeast Russia, will turn its attention once again to Japan and the southern coutries of Tibet, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand and other neighboring countries. India with the aid of the United Nations will remain free, but the others will fall. China will push west to the European border, viewing them as weak and vulnerable. But with the threat of another Radical Islamic uprising they turn their attention further Northward. They reclaim more of Russia via a peace treaty. The centuries continue with an uneasy peace treaty between The Communist Alliance and The United Nations. Africa after much turmoil has now become a thriving continent because of the war. Its countries are now united as one and led via a democracy, but keeps many tribal traditions including its Counsel of Elders, made up of many tribal leaders acting as a type of Congress. Russia though significantly smaller is now stronger than it was before WW3. South America, much like Africa, is also now united as one country. Mexico has become part of North America, but only temporarily.

Peace be upon you,
Kurt S.F. Mebruer

It is my belief that maintaining diplomacy Keeps future wars at bay. Sometimes past wars can carry over to future wars even if it's not the governments at war. Signing treaties and Keeping them with the retributions are the best ways to keep Peace. I would like to believe in a civilized modern day society that we can avoid major crisis. I believe modern governments build the Military and Weapons as away to avoid wars through defensive purposes. When Countries economically have what they need and people can live together in peace regardless of Race, Religion, Creed or beliefs like our great philosophy of Our American government structure, then war wouln't be an option. I believe the forming of the United Nations is a great way to avoid major altercations. I believe love and understanding of other cultures and knowledge of their language or beliefs are very helpful to get rid of ignorance that can start wars.
A more important question, what will end our present war? It is the importance for Iraq to have all leaders of all Regions of their Country to start writing. They need to write their Constitution learning from other World leaders Governments. They have the capablity of forming a highly effective government just on the basis of how much more we know today when writing a constitution. They need to organize their military and they need to let their Country know that the whole Country is responsible for the future of their Country. The sooner their Country can get rid of politics which is always the weeds in the direction, the sooner Our U.S. Troops can come home.
What decides future wars? People decide future wars, lets not give them a reason to. Sincerely: Joseph A. Brancatelli Jr. New York aka Lefty

MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVILS. If folk didn't make a profit off war then war will end.
An example of WESTERN GREED today if the WORLD COFFEE MARKET. A yearly meeting of the world's coffee buyers and exporters decide the World Coffee market price. Independent Lens did a program on ETV about this inhumane economic treatment of small family own coffee growers in Ethiopia. Ethiopian small family growers average about 5 hectars of coffee farm by hand with home made farming tools. At the meetings where world coffee prices are established, European and North American companies send 600 delegates who set world coffee prices. Ethiopia sent one delegate and produces one of the best coffees in the world. Ethiopian coffee farmers receive $0.27 American for one KILO of coffee but only need to receive $0.60 American a KILO to be self-sufficient. There are only 5 international companies that buy all the coffee. Nestles and Starbucks are two of those five international coffee buyers. Poverty causes war. Poverty keeps poor countries like Ethiopia poor and constantly at war. Economic warfare kills many more folk than all the wars put together.

Wow! May a 78 year old volunteer??