world war iii
第三次世界大戦 第3次世界大戦 WW3 world_war_3 third_world_war
A hypothetical large-scale war succeeding the Second World War. The usage of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), such as nuclear, chemical, radiological, or biological weapons is one of the major topics for the war.
Since the US bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, marking the end of the Second World War, many more countries started to develop nuclear weapons. This caused extreme tension and sparked the Cold War. Physician Albert Einstein predicted WWIII will be so catastrophic, that the Fourth World War "will be fought with sticks and stones".
There were many close calls for a Third World War but, ultimately, the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, ending the Cold War. Current flashpoints include the Russo-Ukrainian War and China's expansion in the South China Sea.