Violence is escalating between both Russia and Ukraine, and Israel and Iran-backed groups in the Middle East.
On Sunday (August 25) the dominant political faction in Lebanon, Hezbollah, launched some 300 drones and missiles across the Israeli border into Israel. The strike is believed to be delayed retaliation for the killings of high-profile Hamas and Hezbollah leaders inside both Lebanon and Iran.
Then, on Monday morning (August 26), Russia launched a ferocious drone and missile attack on Ukraine, in what is thought to be retaliation for Kyiv’s ongoing incursion into Russia’s Kursk region.
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With ongoing strife in Gaza, Ukraine and elsewhere, there is growing unease about these battles escalating and drawing in the world’s superpowers. These incidents led the Daily Star to dig into its archives.
Back in May of this year, we spoke to experts about which of these conflict zones could be most likely to explode into a wider fight, or even World War Three. While all of these conflicts have moved forward since then, both defence specialist Matthew Powell and General Sir Richard Barrons took into account the long-term dangers the battles posed. Here’s what they had to say.
(Image: Al-Manar/AFP via Getty Images)
Mr Powell, a conflict and defence specialist from the University of Portsmouth, shared his insights: “I still think that the biggest flashpoint is going to be Israel [and] Gaza. I think that’s got the potential with all the interests in the region [like] Saudia Arabia, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt. You’ve got all these nations that are increasing their predominance of the Middle East.”
He added: “The West has got interests in that area as well in terms of Arabic nations the West are big supporters of Saudi Arabia. I think this is where you’re going to see the major flash points.”
Discussing the ongoing conflict in Eastern Europe, which has hotted up in recent weeks following Ukraine’s incursion into Russia, and Moscow’s subsequent aerial bombardment, he said: “In terms of Russia and Ukraine, it’s not stable by any means but both sides seem to be accepting what the other is doing.
(Image: Getty Images)
“What Russia is doing is increasing the rhetoric and the threat of nuclear strikes against the West for continuing to support Ukraine [but] it’s unlikely they’ll do that because of the consequences that will follow so I think there’s a stalemate there.”
Matthew remarked: “The way the Israelis view the fighting is as an existential crisis, fighting for Israel’s existence. The way they’ve gone about in conducting it that’s not going to make friends and will make them more isolated, then you become more willing to take risks.”
Nevertheless, Matthew contended that the real flashpoints wouldn’t stem from the “deliberate” intentions of leaders. He suggested that “mistakes and missteps, perhaps not fully understanding how an adversary is going to react” might be the trigger instead.
(Image: Phil Harris)
Yet, he didn’t foresee that any conflict, including the ongoing strife in Gaza, would escalate into a confrontation involving major global powers.
“I’m not sure any of these is going to lead to a major global conflict between the major powers of the world.”
General Sir Richard Barrons expressed his views on the Middle East situation, he commented: “The risk of a regional war erupting in the Middle East is under control now, but the risks from a deepening of the crisis around Gaza and the West Bank are still there.”
Discussing Russia’s confrontation with the West, he stated: “The Russian confrontation with the West is about much more than Ukraine, but circumstances in Ukraine could still spiral up into the Russia/NATO war everybody sane wants to avoid. If China is now supplying Russia with lethal material to use in Ukraine that could become a game changer and far more dangerous – but not proven yet.”
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