The Third World war is a hypothetical world war which would have followed the second.

Uses of the expression

It draws its origin in fear that confrontation between the two super powers of the Cold war, the the USSR and the the United States, does not lead to a All-out war using the nuclear weapons. It would have resulted from it a final Armageddon with the fall from civilization and the extinction of the human race.

This fear was relayed by various media and in various forms, including many fictions taking again the assumption and maintaining the collective psychosis.

The Cold war itself is sometimes described as Third World war, in particular in the idea that the Guerre against terrorism would be, it, the Fourth World war. This thesis is based on the fact that world confrontation between the two blocks, Communists and Westerners, had as a consequence of the wars or the food of wars. Those have as a common point makes it be the theater of wars by procuration between the USSR and the United States: War of Korea, War of Vietnam, Civil war of Angola, War of Afghanistan, etc

Those which believed there thus introduced the idea of a Fourth world war, by giving him the light evolution that, contrary to the third which would be the fine future ends, the fourth already began the September 11th 2001.

But the expression Third World war was also employed by the President of the United States George W. Bush to indicate this total war with terrorism. A possible conflict américano-Iranian was also described kind.

References

Random links:

Sant' Angelo has Cupolo | Raising | Autopsy volume 1 | County of Qingchuan | Equip Rabobank cyclist - Season 2004