It should be no surprise that the current state of the world is not the same as it was a decade ago. Life in 2016 is being reminisced about on social media as 2026 begins. The idea of World War III taking place has been joked about on the internet, but it could become a reality one day.
One reason this could happen is required to look at the world leaders of powerful countries such as the U.S, China and Russia. These three countries have great global influences over the world, and they tend to have conflicting interests with each other.
Since President Donald Trump has been in his second term, he has raised tariffs on many countries. One of the countries he has taxed most is China with a 37 percent tariff. In response, China has imposed a 31 percent tariff on the U.S. These two countries have already had a tense history, so imposing on something as important as trade, could lead one country wanting to take resources forcibly.
In January, Trump ordered the arrest of the president of Venezuela. He will be put on trial in the United States. This has left many Venezuelan citizens in chaos. They are facing nationwide power outages. Trump has also made more of a demand for the country’s oil.
According to Time, “Trump also announced that Venezuela will be ‘turning over’ 30–50 million barrels of ‘Sanctioned Oil’ to the U.S.—worth around $2–3 billion” On January 9, Trump signed an order declaring protection for Venezuela’s oil.
However, many do not know that the U.S. has bombed a country before being involved in Venezuela. In December 2025, Trump ordered bombings in the Northern region of Nigeria. According to News Republic, Trump took this course of action because Nigeria had a genocide against Christians.
“The United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even Centuries!” Trump announced on Truth Social Christmas night. “I have previously warned these Terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight, there was.”
There is an issue with this though, because terrorists in Nigeria were killing a variety of different groups of people. “This is not a Christian genocide, because the facts don’t support it,” Good Governance Nigeria researcher Malik Samuel said in November to The News Republic
Samuel continued, “If you look at the areas where this conflict is rife, even in the—even if you take Borno state alone, you look at northern Borno, many of these communities are Muslim-dominated. So most of the victims of Boko Haram violence are Muslims.”
The motto “eye for an eye” is one that many cultures recognize. The U.S is a powerful country that believes in this motto “eye for an eye” so if one country decided to take action against the U.S then it might face twice the harm, and that could trigger a war among many countries.
