World War III Mapped, as Rising Tensions Reveals Potential for Global Mayhem

President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” philosphy has thrown the globalists of the world into a state of upheavel and anger — so much so that some on the world stage are actually talking about the potential for World War III, and mapping out the scenarios they see as possibly unfolding.

Among the hand-wringing by global powers: Trump has committed to sending more troops to Afghanistan. Trump’s rhetoric has stoked angry North Korea fires. And Trump’s no-nonsense and military-minded Cabinet is not diatmetrically opposed to taking the fight to the battle field — unlike the former Barack Obama administration.

So World War III on the horizon?

Some are preparing.

The Express reports:

The North Korea crisis, the fight against ISIS, the war in Syria and the conflict in Libya have a ‘critical’ impact on US interests, according to the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).

The Taliban in Afghanistan, tensions in the East China Sea and the South China Sea dispute are also given ‘critical’ status by the New York-based think tank.

The map below shows the 18 conflicts identified by CFR’s conflict tracker as having a ‘critical’ or ‘significant’ impact on American interests.

These ‘critical’ conflicts are likely to trigger US military involvement or threaten the supply of critical strategic resources.

In contrast, the ‘significant’ conflicts affect countries that have strategic importance but do not involve a mutual defence treaty commitment.

The war in Afghanistan has been thrown back into the spotlight after Donald Trump agreed to send as many as 4,000 extra troops to Afghanistan.

The Taliban is now believed to control more territory than at any time since America invaded Afghanistan in the wake of the 9/11 attacks in 2001.

Since then, ISIS has replaced al-Qaeda as the world’s most feared terrorist group after taking over swathes of war-torn Syria and neighbouring Iraq.

The war in Syria divides the world with Russia and Iran supporting Assad but the US, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and others in the region backing the anti-Assad rebels.

In contrast, the North Korea is isolated and only wields power on the global stage due its advancing nuclear weapons development.

North Korea’s state media has pointed out the downfall of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi came after he gave up developing nuclear weapons.

The recent war of words between Mr Trump and Kim Jong-un has sparked fears that tensions could lead to conflict or even World War 3.

While the US is encouraging China to put more pressure on its trading partner North Korea, it is also trying to resolve the South China Sea dispute.

CFR says: “Territorial and jurisdictional disputes in the South China Sea continue to strain relations between China and other countries in Southeast Asia, risking a military escalation.”

There are also tensions between China and Japan over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands in the East China Sea.

Although not included on the CFR map, China is now demanding that India pulls back troops from the Doklam plateau – a contested region high in the Himalayas.

Meanwhile, the crisis between Qatar and four Arab countries is straining a Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen’s government in a two-year war against Iranian-aligned Houthis.

In June, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the UAE cut ties with Doha. Qatar rejects accusations that it funds extremist groups.

At the heart of the crisis is the accusation that Qatar supports the Muslim Brotherhood, which was founded in Egypt and is an affiliate of the Islah party in Yemen.

Elsewhere, there are long-running conflicts between India and Pakistan and Israel and Palestine while the conflict in Ukraine could damage US-Russia relations.