Is A Major Middle Eastern War Possible With Today's Conditions?

Deir al-Zour, like many sites in Syria, has been laid waste by the war, leaving more Syrians fleeing as aid runs low. Credit Khalil Ashawi/Reuters

Steven P. Bucci, Real Clear Defense/Heritage Foundation: The Conditions Are Ripe For A Major Middle Eastern War

For years, the great nations of Europe spent huge sums of money to build their military might. They assembled themselves into blocs, all the better to play a dangerous game of power politics. Slowly, surely, they were stumbling toward war.

In June 1914, an assassin shot the heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the powder keg was lit. The results were disastrous.

The Middle East today looks frighteningly similar to the Europe of the early 20th Century.

For years, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have competed—Iran, as the champion of the Shia Islamic world, the House of Saud as the de facto leader of the Sunni world.

WNU Editor: We are still a long way-off from such a scenario .... but the trends are disturbing.