Preparing For The Next Great War

U.S. soldiers walk after a ceremony for the arrival of the first company-sized contingent of about 150 U.S. paratroopers from the U.S. Army's 173rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team based in Italy in Swidwin, northern west Poland April 23, 2014. Credit: Reuters/Kacper Pempel

West Ponders How To Stop - Or Fight - A New Great War -- Peter Apps, Reuters

(Reuters) - After more than a decade focused on combating Islamist militancy, Western military planners are once again contemplating potential war between major powers - and how to prevent one happening by accident.

Although the Cold War rivalry with Moscow has never been forgotten, current and former Western officials say Russia's annexation of Crimea has NATO powers tearing up strategic assumptions and grimly considering both conventional and nuclear fights.

As late as March, most NATO powers - with the exception of eastern members such as the Baltic States long worried by Moscow - had assumed Europe itself faced no imminent military threat.

It is still the case that few believe Russia would attack any NATO state, but, in order to deter, Western officials say they must consider and plan for the contingency.

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My Comment: I have always liked the concept of having systems in place for preventing a war by accident ....  but in today's world of instant communications and having equipment in place to conduct surveillance almost instantaneously .... I sometimes wonder if we have to much in place that will only result in automatic responses and actions while what we may need is a moment to hesitate and ponder what may be the consequences of our actions if we go forward.