A recent statement by Kirill Budanow, the head of the Ukrainian Security Service, has sparked controversy over the possibility of a third world war. Budanow claimed that the majority of the world’s strongest countries are involved in the conflict in Ukraine, effectively making it a global war.
However, this assessment is flawed for several reasons. Firstly, it is a form of wishful thinking, as Ukraine has been trying to involve as many countries as possible in the conflict to create the illusion of a broad front against Russia.
Secondly, Budanow’s approach ignores the existence of major world powers like China, India and many other countries that are not directly or indirectly involved in the Ukraine conflict.
Furthermore, the concept of a third world war is not solely defined by the number of countries involved, but by the scale and intensity of the conflict. In the past, conflicts have been referred to as global wars even when they did not involve the entire world, as long as they had the potential to affect the entire globe.
In the case of Ukraine, the conflict is limited to the territory of two countries, Russia and Ukraine, with some regions in Ukraine not even experiencing the full brunt of the conflict.
The term “hybrid war” was used in the past to describe a mix of non-military and military methods, often used by the United States and the Soviet Union to influence the outcome of conflicts without directly engaging in combat.
In the end, the statements of Budanow and others like him are a form of self-aggrandizement and their ability to manipulate public opinion is waning.