Coming Soon: WW3?

I have an approved retirement date and can't help but think of my wife, who left active duty (albeit after only a single enlistment) in July of 2001, missing out on the Global War on Terrorism that defined the majority of my career. I'm gonna miss the big one, aren't I?

But now we've got Al-Khamenei backed into a precarious position where years of proxy backing has been "called out" by an Israeli nation that is simultaneously savvy and desperate. Nicholas Maduro, desperate for an external pivot as he's trashed a nation overflowing with every possible geographic advantage collapsing under the weight of his stupidity, seeks a war to conquer tiny Guyana. I've lost count of the coups in Africa. Kim Jong-un fires missiles and rattles sabers. Putin continues to occupy a nation with a Jewish president he calls a Nazi for over two years in the bloodiest war in Europe since 1945. And Xi Jinping has surrounded himself by yes men who probably also tell him some truths - China, if they want to conquer Taiwan, probably can't (they won't tell him that part), and their best chance, if ever, is soon (probably actually true).

This is bigger than that. This is about authoritarianism challenging democracies. About collectivism justifying itself by framing capitalism as the villain.

In the midst of all this, there's added bonus crazy. Not just Gaza and the Houthis and ISIS-K, but we get random things like Iran and Pakistan ready to throw down and Turkey changing their foreign policy at the drop of a hat. I genuinely wonder if things will continue to be regional, or if everything will pop off all at once.

My FirstAlert feed is crazier right now than Gary Busey's fever dreams.