Amidst signs of a further escalation in conflict levels, vis-à-vis the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war — and accompanying new rhetoric of an even wider conflagration in the offing — concerns about the possibility of a Third World War have gone up by several notches. During the past few days what is further evident is that both sides seem intent on enlarging the scale of the conflict, rather than trying to end it.
Battle cry and response
This past week, the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), buoyed by the perceived success of Ukraine’s resistance to Russia’s aggression, have further raised the stakes by pledging additional packages of lethal weapons to Ukraine (amounting to several millions of dollars), which the West had, till now, refrained from supplying Ukraine.
