The World War Three Meme and What it Means for our Future

Anonymous Writer, ‘21

January 2020

World war three is, apparently, upon us. The United States’ inability to negotiate with foreign nations has allowed these memes (and naval bases) to blow up overnight. It seems that as soon as the new year started the United States, the federal government has become involved in a conflict that has instilled fear within the American and Middle Eastern youth. All over social media, there has been a spur of World War Three memes that display a possibility of war with Iran and even a possible end of the world if the United States and Iran were to engage with nuclear weapons. However, is all of this true? What is actually happening between the United States and Iran?

First, let’s deal with the events that have led to social media outbursts. On December 30th the US bombed five locations in Iraq that were allegedly associated with an Iranian-backed militia without informing the Iraqi government. On December 31, 2019, hundreds of Iraqis protested America’s disregard of Iraqi sovereignty outside of the American embassy in Baghdad, with protests ending January 1, 2020. On January 3, 2020, the US responded to the protests by killing the head of Iran’s Special Forces, Qasem Soleimani, in a rocket attack on Baghdad International Airport. Thus, it is true that the United States has engaged with Iran. Although the exact reasons why the United States and Iran have had a sudden shift in their relationship is unknown, they have issued statements saying that Iran has displayed some indications of escalatory behavior threatening the United States. Thus, in order to preserve the United States’ reputation as powerful, the US federal government felt the need to fight back, putting the American people, innocent Iranians, and possibly the world, at risk.

Additionally, there is a large fear amongst young people everywhere about a possible draft, especially when none of them had anything to do with the election of Trump nor the engagement of violence with Iran. However, there is not much to fear about a draft because the last draft in American history was in 1973 in the Vietnam war after much opposition for men to fight in the war. Additionally, there was widespread support to end the draft, so in order to reinstate it, Congress would have to go through a long process that would also require widespread support to pass it. Although all young men ages 18 to 25 sign the selective service form, that doesn’t neglect the fact the law of imposing drafts would have to be reinstated in Congress. Additionally, the draft has not gained any sort of popularity since its removal, so the possibility of a draft becomes even slimmer. Furthermore, the United States has one of the largest militaries in the world with around 1.2 million troops, which more than fulfills the average number of troops needed in war. What about women being included in the war effort? As of now, the United States federal government is reviewing whether it is unconstitutional for women to not sign the selective service form after a Texas federal judge stated its unconstitutionality. 

As of now the United States and Iran are still engaging in violent attacks against each other, and if they were to escalate possibilities of nuclear warfare, it would mean bad news for everyone. Despite this, the U.S. is not in intense conflict with Iran, so we could stop growing tensions if we were to negotiate with Iran properly (which Trump stated that Obama would not be able to do). Without any political debate, it is important to note that the government needs to prevent any plausibility of war in order to maintain any sort of public approval.

In the end, despite the outbursts of memes regarding World War Three, we are still a long way away from actual war and a draft is much less possible.