Could one, tiny mistake in Ukraine lead to World War Three?
The authoritarian leader of Belarus, President Alexander Lukashenko, warns that Poland’s proposal to deploy peacekeeping troops in Ukraine “will mean World War III.”
Lukashenko’s warning came only days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that failure in negotiations with Russia could lead to a world war.
U.S. Intelligence officials believe 40,000 Russian troops have either been killed, injured, or captured in combat in Ukraine. So, what’s the likelihood that the current stalemate there could lead to a broader global war – one with potential nuclear consequences?
Appearing on the CBN News program The Global Lane, Jared Knott, author of the book, Tiny Blunders. Big Disasters: 39 Tiny Mistakes that Changed the World Forever, said Putin has already made mistakes and miscalculations with his war in Ukraine.
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“He wishes he hadn’t made the invasion in the first place, in my opinion. Of course, now it’s too late. And what he’s doing is turning to desperate measures as you know, firing rockets, flying artillery, hitting civilian targets. It’s turned into a kind of a terrorist campaign,” Knott explained.
So, how might one small blunder actually lead to a third world war?
A Historic Mistake
It has happened before. Knott said a chauffeur’s wrong turn in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, triggered events that led to World War I.
“He happened to bring the Archduke (Franz Ferdinand) and his wife in front of Schiller’s delicatessen, just when one of the assassins was in the city trying to kill him happened to be there,” Knott explained. Ferdinand was the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary.
“If the chauffeur had not made that wrong turn, if it had been missed and we don’t know when, or if World War I would have ever started and really World War II which was kind of a reaction to what happened in World War I,” Knott explained.
He said that one wrong turn was one of the biggest mistakes in world history.
Presidential historian Craig Shirley, author of the new book, April 1945: The Hinge of History, believes the United States must respond with more military aid to Ukraine as FDR did with Great Britain and the Lend-Lease program prior to U.S. entrance into World War II.
“It’s probably not a bad idea to try to organize humanitarian and military assistance to Ukraine freedom fighters,” Shirley said. “What FDR devised was rather brilliant. He lent Great Britain and Winston Churchill used military equipment, including used destroyers, used guns, things like that so that they could fight off the Nazi onslaught.”
Red Line Response
During his visit to Brussels to attend meetings with the G20 and NATO, President Biden pledged to send more than one billion dollars in humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.
Shirley suggests while it’s important for the United States to engage by helping Ukrainian victims of Russia’s invasion, President Biden must also remember the lessons of the second world war and America’s response to Adolph Hitler when dealing with Putin and Ukraine.
“That doesn’t mean we have to put boots on the ground, but we have to be engaged. He (Putin) wants to obtain more territory, which opens a question. When, if ever, does he come after the United States?” Shirley asked.
“So, we have to draw a line in the sand and it has to be that the existing borders have to stay where they are and not to try to recreate the old Soviet Union. That time has passed.”
Below: Watch the full interviews with Jared Knott and Craig Shirley, and be sure to check out The Global Lane on the CBN News Channel. The complete episode of The Global Lane airs Tuesday at 6:00 pm Eastern on the NRB Channel.
WATCH – Putin and Ukraine: Remembering WWII’s Lessons.
The remainder of this article is available in its entirety at CBN