Putin has been threatening nuclear war for almost three years, but even Russians themselves no longer take these statements seriously.
Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin is increasingly trying to scare the world with nuclear war in order to cause panic and force Ukrainians to lay down their arms. But those who believe in his threats only make him stronger and actually bring World War III closer.
This opinion was expressed by American historian, professor of Yale University Timothy Snyder in his article “World War III? Let's help those who are holding it back.”
Reasonable fear or self-destructive panic
To explain the risks of World War III, the historian compared them to a “burned city.”
According to him, it would be bad if the city where you live burned down. And being afraid of the burning of the city is a “reasonable fear.” But when your neighbor's house is on fire, it is completely inappropriate to blame the firefighters for the fire and to interfere with their actions by organizing a protest at the entrance to the burning house. Such behavior is self-destructive panic.
“It would be bad if World War III started. This is a reasonable fear. When Ukrainians resist Russia, they make all the scenarios of such a catastrophe [World War III – ed.] less likely. On the scale of our world, Ukrainians are firefighters. There is no point in blaming them for the Russian invasion or preventing them from doing their job. This is no longer fear, but self-destructive panic. Hysteria only makes World War III more likely,” Snyder emphasized.
Probable scenarios for World War III
According to Timothy Snyder, three scenarios for World War III are most likely:
The historian is confident that the resistance of the Ukrainians restrains the development of any of these scenarios and “makes the rest of the world safer.”
“These scenarios of World War III did not come true because the Ukrainians are taking risks,” the professor emphasized.
He recalled that after the end of World War II, the most common version of the coming global armed conflict was a war in Europe due to Moscow's invasion.
“This invasion happened. Thanks to Ukraine, the ongoing war is limited to one country – their own. Russia invaded Ukraine without provocation in 2014, then expanded the invasion in 2022. Despite the overwhelming predictions, Ukraine has survived… But this is such a huge achievement that we tend to overlook it,” Snyder wrote.
The worship of “big men” creates great danger
According to Snyder, hysteria leads to “the worship of a big strong personality,” and the people now spreading hysteria about World War III are divided into those who believe in “big strong Putin” or “big strong Trump.”
The former listen to the nuclear threats of the Kremlin dictator and want to force the Ukrainians to surrender, which makes World War III more likely. But Putin has been threatening nuclear weapons almost continuously since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and even the Russian Federation has stopped taking it seriously.
Those who believe in the great and strong Trump expect him to quickly and easily solve all problems. For example, the realization of his fantasy of “ending the war in 24 hours.”
“As we can see, this was nonsense. Trump does not have the power to force the Russians to stop the war, just as he does not have the power to force the Ukrainians to stop resisting. The Russians hope to persuade Trump to stop supplying weapons to Ukraine, which would make the war easier for them, but would not end it. To do this, they are trying to whip up American hysteria about the risk of starting World War III,” the historian explained.
Don't interfere with the Ukrainians
An American professor urged not to confuse the real war in Ukraine with a TV show or podcast and to realize what the Ukrainians are doing for everything peace.
“The Ukrainians took a titanically difficult situation and made it as easy as possible for us. With their resistance, they have strengthened our national security in every way. Their courage gives us the opportunity to choose cowardice. But imposing our hysteria on courageous people who are strengthening our security is the most dangerous thing we can do,” Snyder noted.
The historian added that no one in their right mind wants World War III to start. Therefore, there is no need to interfere with the people who are holding it back or refuse to support them.
Let us recall that, according to the former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhny, after the direct involvement of the DPRK military in the war against Ukraine, it can be considered with absolute certainty that World War III began in 2024.
Similar topics:
More news
