Most Americans expect to see World War III this decade, report reveals

Americans by wide margins expect to see another world war this decade — and they’re pretty confident they’ll be on the winning side. Fully 61 percent of US adults said a Third World War was likely in the next five to ten years, a YouGov survey reveals. Respondents felt assured that America and its NATO allies would defeat their most likely foes — Russia and China.

About half of those surveyed said Western allies would beat those two countries, even if Beijing and Moscow had themselves joined forces. The survey comes after Russian missiles and drones rained down on Ukraine overnight, and as China builds up its forces to regain the breakaway island territory of Taiwan , maybe as early as 2027.

YouGov researcher Jamie Ballard wrote in her report that while many Americans see a massive war on the horizon, they are not eagerly reaching for a uniform and an assault rifle. ‘The majority of Americans believe that another world war is at least somewhat likely to happen in the next five to 10 years,’ Ballard wrote in a report.

‘But most don’t think they would volunteer to serve in military roles or non-combatant roles if the US were to be involved.’ The planet has only seen two world wars, with the campaigns of 1914-18 and 1939-45 drawing groups of big powers into epic struggles. Analysis have been predicting a third such face-off since before even the Second World War ended.

There have been moments, such as the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis — when mankind came close. Nowadays, there are many reasons to be worried we’re close to all-out conflict. Russia has pushed into Ukraine since annexing Crimea in 2014, while China’s leader Xi Jinping has set 2027 as a likely year to recapture its self-governed province Taiwa, a US admiral told the Senate this week.

Israel’s assault on Gaza militants could yet spiral into a feared conflict involving Iran and Arab states, while climate change or the rise of artificial intelligence could also trigger some kind of military escalation . The Doomsday Clock, a symbolic measure of how close mankind is to a global catastrophe, was in January set once again at 90 seconds to midnight — the closest we have ever been to the symbolic moment of the apocalypse. These factors doubtless influenced the 1,000 US citizens who fielded YouGov’s survey last month.

Three in five said a world war was likely in the next five to 10 years. Republicans were much more worried about a clash — nearly three quarters of them saw a massive war on the horizon. When it comes to picking partners, respondents said Britain, Ukraine, Israel, France, and Germany would probably be on America’s team. Most likely, they would be up against Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, and Iraq — or some combination of those foes.

Most respondents fancied their chances — fully 53 percent said the Western allies would trounce Russia, and 45 percent said they would prevail against the combined might of Moscow and Beijing. But, of course, respondents were well aware that such a conflict would involve more than just troops, tanks, frigates, and fighter jets. More than two thirds said the next major conflict would involve nuclear weapons. And while they were willing to contemplate a world war, very few respondents were keen to fight in one.

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