Asma Khalid

You are a historian of war.

And so, Margaret, what exactly is a world war?

Is there an agreed upon definition?

Margaret, we know that you're a historian, not a military analyst, but the context in which we are having this conversation today is the war in the Middle East.

And we wanted to talk to you about how this situation could possibly escalate into a broader war and conversely, how we might avoid it escalating into such a dire world war situation.

And so first, let's talk about scenario one, the path toward World War III.

As we are recording with you, there have been missiles, airstrikes, drone strikes, not just in Iran, but also in Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Azerbaijan, Occupied West Bank, and Cyprus.

And, you know, overall, if we include the United States involvement, we're talking about more than a dozen countries.

It is still what many people describe as a regional war.

But can you imagine a scenario where it escalates to a bigger war, possibly to a world war?

So you've studied wars in the past.

And so I want to understand from you if there are common ingredients that you have seen in previous wars that you are seeing now that give you concern that this could potentially become a larger conflict.

You said earlier in our conversation that accidents can play often a big role into determining whether wars spiral into just bigger and bigger wars.

Can you spell out an example or two from history in which that has happened?

even if not into a world war, into a much larger war?

Hi, what's up, man?

Hey, what are you doing behind our sofa?

I was cleaning the floor with a microfiber cloth.

I was cleaning the floor with a microfiber cloth.

I was cleaning the floor with a microfiber cloth.