Editing World war (section)

==Potential third world war==
{{Main article|World War III}}
[[File:DF-ST-82-06464 Troops from the 82nd Airborne Division are dropped by parachute during exercise Reforger '80.jpeg|thumb|U.S. Army paratroopers landing in a field in [[West Germany]] during [[Exercise Reforger|Exercise Reforger 1984]], a Cold War-era [[NATO]] [[military exercise]] used to prepare for potential conventional warfare against the [[Warsaw Pact]]; such a conflict was expected to be World War III.]]

Since the [[atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki]] during the Second World War, there has been a widespread and prolonged fear of a potential third world war between nuclear-armed powers.<ref name="Biggs">Biggs, Lindy and Hansen, James (editors), 2004, ''Readings in Technology and Civilisation'', {{ISBN|0-7593-3869-8}}.</ref><ref name="Worland">Worland, Rick, 2006, ''The Horror Film: An Introduction'', Blackwell Publishing, {{ISBN|1-4051-3902-1}}.</ref> It is often suggested that it would become a [[Nuclear warfare|nuclear war]], and be more devastating and violent than both the First and Second World Wars. [[Albert Einstein]] is often quoted as having said in 1947 "I know not with what weapons World War{{nbsp}}III will be fought, but World War{{nbsp}}IV will be fought with sticks and stones."<ref>{{Cite book | first = Alice | last = Calaprice | title = The new quotable Einstein | page = 173 | publisher = Princeton University Press | year = 2005 | isbn = 978-0-691-12075-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna7406337 |title=The culture of Einstein |publisher=NBC News |date=2005-04-19 |access-date=2012-08-24 |archive-date=2013-10-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005132629/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/7406337/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=24 Jun 1948, Page 4 - The Berkshire Eagle at Newspapers.com |url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/30745506/ |access-date=2022-04-22 |website=Newspapers.com |archive-date=2022-04-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220422225558/http://www.newspapers.com/image/30745506/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Did Albert Einstein Say World War IV Will be Fought 'With Sticks and Stones'? |url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/einstein-world-war-iv-sticks-stones/ |access-date=2022-04-22 |website=Snopes.com |date=16 April 2018 |archive-date=2022-04-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220422225558/https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/einstein-world-war-iv-sticks-stones/ |url-status=live }}</ref> It has been anticipated and planned for by military and civil authorities, and it has also been [[World War III in popular culture|explored in fiction]]. Scenarios have ranged from conventional warfare to limited or total nuclear warfare.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

Various former government officials, politicians, authors, and military leaders (including [[James Woolsey]],{{citation needed|date=June 2023}} [[Alexandre de Marenches]],<ref name="MarenchesWWIV">{{Cite book| year=1992|title=The Fourth World War: Diplomacy and Espionage{{nbsp}}... |isbn=0688092187|last1=Andelman |first1=Professor David |last2=Marenches |first2=Comte Alexandre de |last3=Marenches |first3=Count De |last4=Andelman |first4=David |publisher=Morrow }}Book regarding alleged WWIV</ref> [[Eliot Cohen]],<ref name="CohenWWIV">{{cite web|year=2001|url=http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=95001493|title=World War IV: Let's call this conflict what it is.|access-date=2010-02-04|archive-date=2010-03-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100327142047/http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=95001493|url-status=live}}Why war on terrorism should be called WWIV</ref> and [[Subcomandante Marcos]]<ref name="fourth">{{cite journal |url=http://muse.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=/journals/nep/v002/2.3marcos.html |title=The Fourth World War Has Begun |author=Subcomandante Marcos |author-link=Subcomandante Marcos |journal=Nepantla: Views from South |volume=2 |issue=3 |year=2001 |pages=559–572 |access-date=20 October 2014 |archive-date=29 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141029232312/http://muse.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=%2Fjournals%2Fnep%2Fv002%2F2.3marcos.html |url-status=live }}</ref>) have attempted to apply the labels of the "Third World War" and the "Fourth World War" to various past and present global wars since the end of the Second World War, such as the [[Cold War]] and the [[War on terror]] respectively.

During the early 21st century, the [[ongoing armed conflicts]] that are taking place around the world, and their worldwide spillovers are sometimes described as [[proxy war]]s waged by the United States and Russia,<ref name="turnproxy">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/13/world/middleeast/syria-russia-airstrikes.html?_r=0 |title=U.S. Weaponry Is Turning Syria Into Proxy War With Russia |author=Anne Barnard and Karen Shoumali |work=The New York Times |access-date=14 October 2015 |date=12 October 2015 |archive-date=15 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015002734/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/13/world/middleeast/syria-russia-airstrikes.html?_r=0 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="cain">{{cite news |author=Martin Pengelly |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/oct/04/john-mccain-russia-us-proxy-war-syria-obama-putin |title=John McCain says US is engaged in proxy war with Russia in Syria |work=The Guardian |access-date=17 October 2015 |date=4 October 2015 |archive-date=12 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151012181525/http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/oct/04/john-mccain-russia-us-proxy-war-syria-obama-putin |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="prox">{{cite news |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2015/10/13/middleeast/syria-civil-war/index.html |title=U.S., Russia escalate involvement in Syria |author=Holly Yan and Mark Morgenstein |publisher=CNN |access-date=17 October 2015 |date=13 October 2015 |archive-date=17 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017044948/http://edition.cnn.com/2015/10/13/middleeast/syria-civil-war/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="stupid">{{cite news |last=Taub |first=Amanda |title="The Russians have made a serious mistake": how Putin's Syria gambit will backfire |work=Vox |date=1 October 2015 |url=https://www.vox.com/2015/10/1/9434365/putin-syria-russia-mistake |access-date=17 October 2015 |archive-date=22 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151022072913/http://www.vox.com/2015/10/1/9434365/putin-syria-russia-mistake |url-status=live }}</ref> which led some commentators{{who|date=August 2022}} to characterize the situation as a "proto-world war", with many countries embroiled in overlapping conflicts.<ref name="proto">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/10/16/world/middleeast/untangling-the-overlapping-conflicts-in-the-syrian-war.html|title=Untangling the Overlapping Conflicts in the Syrian War|work=The New York Times|access-date=19 October 2015|date=18 October 2015|archive-date=19 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151019023347/http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/10/16/world/middleeast/untangling-the-overlapping-conflicts-in-the-syrian-war.html|url-status=live}}</ref>