In a week in which former allies in a redividing globe separately commemorated the 80th anniversary of the end of the second world war, the sense of a runaway descent towards a third world war draws ever closer.
The implosion of Pax Americana, the interconnectedness of conflicts, the new willingness to resort to unbridled state-sponsored violence and the irrelevance of the institutions of the rules-based order have all been on brutal display this week. From Kashmir to Khan Younis, Hodeidah, Port Sudan and Kursk, the only sound is of explosions, and the only lesson is that the old rules no longer apply.
Indeed Fiona Hill, the policy analyst and adviser to the UK government on its imminent strategic defence review, argues the third world war has already started, if only we would recognise it.
If anything current could be called a prelude to a world war it would be America’s trade war against the rest of the world because virtually nothing else going on involves enough nations to qualify.
I agree, also because USA is alienating allies, and this clearly emboldens China, Russia and Iran.
But this will hurt USA too, and Trump will hopefully declare victory soon and end it.