# World War III in the Pacific?



## BombTaxi (Mar 13, 2009)

Hi folks

When most of us think of WWIII scenarios, I would guess that we mainly think of tank battles in the Fulda Gap or a total nuclear holocaust, maybe even both. But it has long struck me that in the Pacific, there were, and still are a number of potential flashpoints. Firstly, there is still a simmering dispute between Russia and Japan over the ownership of the Kuril islands. Secondly, the USA and USSR were in very close geographic proximity in the far northern Pacific. Thirdly, a Third World War in Europe might well re-ignite the Korean conflict as a sort of secondary war by proxy.

My question is, how would a war in these circumstance been fought? Was there a 'War Plan Orange', as it were, for the Cold War? Was there a Russian counterpart to it? Any and all thoughts, information and/or points of discussion would be most welcome 8) 

Cheers

BT


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## syscom3 (Mar 13, 2009)

The Spratley Islands dispute is another flash point.


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## drgondog (Mar 13, 2009)

Taiwan is a huge potential flashpoint


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## GrauGeist (Mar 13, 2009)

The U.S. and China just locked horns over military vessels being to close to each other in that region.


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## Matt308 (Mar 13, 2009)

Indonesia vs Singapore/Australia/New Zealand over Islamic Naziasm.

Spratly Islands - China, Vietnam, Taiwan

... and more east... India vs China

And God forbid Russia vs China


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## evangilder (Mar 13, 2009)

India and Pakistan are potential flashpoints as well, both are nuclear armed too.


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## BombTaxi (Mar 13, 2009)

Thanks guys, a few things there I had forgotten about, and some I was not aware of. Was/is there any detailed strategic planning for a US vs USSR or US vs PRC clash in the Pacific, or would it be seen as a secondary theatre in a 'Hot War' scenario, with the main US/USSR fighting being in Europe?


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## evangilder (Mar 14, 2009)

I would think there probably is strategic planning and that the scenarios have been gone over at the Pentagon, Rand and other places. I doubt details of that kind of thing would be readily available to the general public for OpSec reasons.


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## Ferdinand Foch (Mar 17, 2009)

Well, I wanna say that the Philippines might be right in the middle of a war if it was between the U.S. and China. 
India vs. China would be a very interesting speculation.


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## Negative Creep (Mar 19, 2009)

Don't forget North Korea, a crackpot country if ever there was one


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## Clay_Allison (Mar 19, 2009)

Russia vs. China will happen. God help us stay out of it.


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