Will Xi attack Taiwan and spark WWIII? That may depend on how Xi sees China’s economic woes.

And like Putin, Xi has his eyes on a neighbour: Taiwan. While much of the world watches Ukraine, Xi has quietly expanded China’s military footprint in the seas, including through seeking treaties with Pacific island-states that might allow the deployment of troops. China’s Xi Jinping is not only as vain as Putin he also has far more resources at his disposal than Russia’s sputtering economy has ever permitted. (In fact, hours after his deputy foreign minister warned Finland and Sweden of “consequences”, Putin told them that he had “no problems” with them).Ĭhina, on the other hand, is far scarier. A war with Finland and Sweden would be suicidal for Russia, especially because it risks wider confrontation with far more powerful militaries. He has since wound down his ambition to consolidating friendlier territory in eastern Ukraine. That attempt was botched, and Putin replaced the man in charge of his war. In its early days, Moscow tried to go straight for the jugular and take the capital city, Kyiv. In truth, Russia has struggled in Ukraine. If they succeed, many believe, Russia will attack them.īut it’s not so simple. Ironically, that has come to have a greater probability now than it did before Putin started his war to prevent it: Finland and Sweden have junked decades of neutrality and applied for NATO membership. Putin’s initial pretext for the war was a purported threat of NATO expansion right to its borders. Yet, the war in Ukraine is far less explosive than most people think. In 1914, the murder of an understated Austrian archduke lit the fuse on the first world war (although there were, of course, other causes that had brought the situation to a simmer). In fairness, countries have previously hurtled into a world war over far less. Everyone I meet seems to think that the Ukraine war could just be the opening shots of World War III. And across much of the world, nationalist egos are on the rise.īut if there is one thing that I learnt very early on about global geopolitics, it is that there is never a black-and-white, yes-or-no answer to most questions concerning it. Meanwhile, China has quietly militarised the Asian seas. In Ukraine, Russia’s aimless war is now over three months-old and has killed more than 4,000 innocent civilians. Everywhere I go these days, folks seem to ask me the same question: “Is there going to be a third World War?”

When was world war 3