Faced with the growing instability of the international system, greater uncertainty, and declining predictability in the course of international developments, the military, politicians, and experts have been increasingly compelled to speculate about the possibility of a major international military conflict. Most often, debates on this subject contain allusions to the international situation on the eve of World War I.
The political antagonisms of the modern world have reached a degree that is indeed alarming. No less destabilizing than the lowered pain threshold that used to guard against the use of force or wars between the states – is the visible imbalance between the advancing technological warfare capabilities and the lack of practical experience in using these technologies. This is one of the reasons why the contours of a large-scale military clash between major or comparable powers are still unclear.
