About Eric Shangle Expertise I am able to answer questions about the US Government and it's budget cycle, military, manpower, and contracting.
Experience I spent 13 years in the US Navy as an officer. I have a defense-focused MBA from the Naval Postgraduate School emphasizing financial management and manpower.
Education/Credentials MBA, Naval Postgraduate School, 2005
M.A., Human Relations, University of Oklahoma, 2002
B.S., Ocean Engineering, United States Naval Academy, 1997
Question As a fellow expert here I understand it is sometimes frustrating when someone asks a question that you don’t generally accept, so i this is one of those I am sorry.
But really, I have an unorthodox question about the war in Iraq and diplomacy between us and the rest of the world...sort of. I have been hearing a lot about how we have started WWIII lately, and though I do not believe we have, I was wondering the likelihood of such an event happening not only in relation to the current war, but also in relation to our lifetime.
Again I am sorry if this is not a question you would normally answer, and thanks for your time.
Answer John,
Thanks for writing (and sorry for the delay).
WWIII is a relative term. If you talked to the Nazi's during WWI / WWII, they would not have thought they were in a world war. They just thought they were purifying the world (among other things). The phrase "world war" is a great term to sum up what took place, but it's mainly a marketing tool. There is no real defining factor that would make a war truly a world war.
That being said, we are not in a world-type of war right now. We are not fighting a bi-lateral opposition or a multi-theater war. We are solely fighting a single opposition in Iraq and the middle-east right now. However, if tensions do heat up in Korea, that could all change. I don't think that it would be considered a world war at that point either being that North Korea and Iraq are two mutually-exculsive conflicts.
We live in a time of mass communications and information. It's really easy for someone to think that we are in WWIII or possibly going to be in WWIII during our lifetime. I personally don't feel we will get to that point, but I do feel that a new type of warfare will emerge (and has emerged). Terrorism is the new warfare. Terrorism will drive warfare in the future.
I hope that this did answer your question a little bit. I would love to type on and on about this topic, but I do have to limit myself. :-)
Thank you.
Eric
