I'm half way through reading Canada in the Great Power Game 1914-2014. In it the author Gwyn Dyer mentions an observation by British physicist Lewis Richardson and later confirmed by Jack Levy that wars follow the power law. If this is the case then does this mean we will inevitably have a large scale conflict?
To get things started, the books reference was in comparison to the assassination of Arch Duke Ferdinand which in the grand scheme of things was actually a pretty minor event. OTOH, it was also part of the sum of a lot of minor events. Given that, at what point do we reach that ugly tipping point. Going nuclear over a Trumpedite calling a North Korean despot fat suddenly doesn't seem so out of place. Ridiculous yes, unreasonable yes, idiotic yes. Foreseeable? Sadly yes.
To get things started, the books reference was in comparison to the assassination of Arch Duke Ferdinand which in the grand scheme of things was actually a pretty minor event. OTOH, it was also part of the sum of a lot of minor events. Given that, at what point do we reach that ugly tipping point. Going nuclear over a Trumpedite calling a North Korean despot fat suddenly doesn't seem so out of place. Ridiculous yes, unreasonable yes, idiotic yes. Foreseeable? Sadly yes.