Are we heading for World War Three? Experts give their verdicts

The head of the British Army said UK citizens should be "trained and equipped" to fight in a potential war with Russia, describing those living today as the "pre-war generation". General Sir Patrick Sanders' comments prompted anxiety about conscription - something Britain's former top NATO commander General Sir Richard Sherriff said it was time to consider. Sir Patrick added that the war in Ukraine was a "pressure point" and added that "we cannot afford to make the same mistake" as our predecessors who "stumbled into... ghastly wars", such as the First World War in 1914. Meanwhile in the Middle East, UK and US forces have launched airstrikes on Yemen in response to the Iranian-backed Houthis' attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea. Sky News spoke to experts about whether World War Three is a possibility - and if we really are living in a "pre-war world". Here's what they had to say... A Ukrainian serviceman prepares 155mm artillery shells near the frontline. Pic: Reuters Image: A Ukrainian serviceman prepares 155mm artillery shells near the frontline. Pic: Reuters 'The fear is not entirely unrealistic' Alex Rossi, Sky News international correspondent "Certainly, the time we are living in is enormously dangerous. And the killing of three US troops in Jordan has increased the likelihood for the crisis in the Middle East deepening considerably. "How that would happen and whether it will lead to a bigger regional conflict and then a widening war is the significant unknown. "That is certainly the fear - and it is not entirely unrealistic. "Historians have studied and debated the events leading up to WWI and through that lens of hindsight we can now see how it started. "But at the time it was not easy to predict how a localised event would set off a chain reaction that would lead to the industrial and mechanical slaughter of entire generations. "And the warnings are here in this period - there is enormous global uncertainty and the period of unequivocal US power is over. "The spark for the next major global conflict could well turn out to be the events of October 7th. "Four months later the theatre of war is expanding with the US and its allies being drawn deeper into the region. "Washington's impulse after the Hamas attack was to provide Israel with unequivocal support but also to do everything it could to contain the fires that atrocity started - what we are now seeing are the limitations of that policy. "Iran's allies and proxies have been undeterred by the huge show of US force in the region - if anything the warships and aircraft carriers have acted as a magnet for attack. "The question now and the one that will decide whether this war expands further is how can the US restore its deterrent after the latest assault on its base in Jordan without making a bad situation worse? "There are no really good choices. A direct attack on Iran would be one way but that could also open Pandora's box. And we've already seen how little the retaliatory strikes on the Houthis in Yemen have achieved. "All of this of course comes when Russia is at war with Ukraine (and the West) and China is ramping up its posture on Taiwan. This doesn't mean that we're heading for WWIII - but frighteningly, it doesn't mean we're not." 'Nuclear risk should be taken seriously' Dr David Wearing, lecturer in international relations at the University of Sussex "In one sense the situation now is far more perilous than it was in 1914 and 1939 because the major powers all have nuclear weapons. "The danger here is not that one side takes the pre-meditated decision to spark the apocalypse, but rather that a conflict or area of tension escalates to a certain point, one party makes a move that another party misinterprets, and then a nuclear exchange begins despite the fact that no-one was looking for one. "We should take that risk very seriously, especially over Ukraine and Taiwan. "The regional war in the Middle East, with its epicentre in Gaza, is unlikely to escalate into a World War. Currently it's not a flashpoint between the major world powers. "But the dangers are real enough, both of a genocide in Gaza (as a large body of expert opinion now fears) and of a further escalation that draws in Iran, flares into the oil heartlands of the Persian Gulf, and knocks the world economy off its axis. "The US has repeatedly warned of conflict escalation in the Middle East, and yet repeatedly acted in ways that have now made that outcome a reality (supported throughout by the UK). "It is widely understood by now that de-escalation requires that the US pulls the plug on Israel's assault on Gaza. The futile and dangerous military action against the Houthis is a reflection of Washington's refusal to accept that reality."