Unlike other political analysts and observers who see the various wars and recent conflicts as precursors to a hypothetical Third World War, Endowment of Middle East Truth (EMET) legislative fellow Joseph Epstein believed World War III had already begun.
In his opinion piece in Newsweek, Epstein said that the US, by flinging its support to Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan, has caused Iran, Russia, and China, respectively, to unofficially declare war with it.
However, Epstein's Third World War was "not an all-out war" like the previous two, but a "decentralized" one that had "unconnected fronts" spanning continents.
"It is fought in a hybrid style, meaning both with tanks and planes and with disinformation campaigns, political interference, and cyberwarfare," he said. "The strategy blurs the lines between war and peace and combatants and civilians. It puts a lot of extra fog in the "fog of war.'"
Anti-US Axis
While having nothing in common, China, Russia, and Iran have a similar goal of getting rid of US, NATO, and other allied influences among its neighbors in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, as well as in Africa due to the recent coups there.
Since the US has become a large war machine, the three nations have instead used other means to weaken US presence and hegemony in the world since they could not win direct contact with the US. These measures include propaganda, cyberattacks, and diplomatic undermining.
"China has launched an unprecedented espionage campaign against the United States. Russia has spent billions of dollars on disseminating pro-Kremlin, anti-Western propaganda within and outside its borders. Iran maintains a network of militant proxies that wreaks havoc in the Middle East and has openly attacked U.S. troops," she explained. "Iran, Russia, and China have all carried out or poised themselves to carry out cyber-attacks on U.S. critical infrastructure."
How the Israel-Hamas War was Connected
The Hamas attack on Israel was just a new front in the unusual World War III, Epstein added. The Biden administration has rushed to claim that there was no proof that Iran was involved in the attacks despite evidence saying that Iranian proxies such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis do not act independently in matters affecting Iranian geopolitical strategy.
In the past month, Iranian authorities have attacked US forces across the Middle East, but Washington authorities were still labeled as "asleep at the wheel" in terms of providing a concrete US strategy other than preparation for a large conventional war, containment, and weak deterrence, Epstein continued.
In conclusion, he said the US should remain vigilant in monitoring and deterring any and all potential threats to its sovereignty and the world's stability to win what he now deemed as the Third World War.
"The US foreign policy establishment must recognize the hybrid war being waged against it and show up on the irregular field of battle," he added. "Like it or not, the United States is the guarantor of stability in the world. By retreating from its responsibilities, the only thing Washington is guaranteeing is dark times ahead."
