The 100 year anniversary ceremonies for World War I continue. -CNN

King Phillipe of Belgium, shortly after laying a wreath in honor of the Allied dead. -CNN

100 years ago today the United Kingdom declared war on Germany after the country had invaded Belgium. -CNN In Belgium the King of Belgium, the presidents of France and Germany and Prince William of Britain all gave speeches to commemorate the occasion and to honor the dead. Other ceremonies are taking place across the U.K. 

My Comment:

World War 1 was one of the most definitive events in human history so of course it is worth it to remember the war and those that died it in. Of course parallels will be drawn to today. With such chaos in the Middle East and conflict rising in Eastern Europe it's easy to ask "Can it happen again?". I would hope that the leaders of the world would have learned something from the 1st World War, but only a short time later there was a 2nd. It's not unreasonable to expect another one. 

So is World War III imminent? It really depends on how you look at it. Large scale conventional wars between major powers seems to be a thing of the past. Sure there is the Ukraine conflict, but as it stands right now it really is more of a local war with only periphery involvement of anyone outside of Russia and Ukraine. Obama and the EU are sure acting like they want war, but I doubt much will come from it. I hope. 

But on the other hand you also have the war against radical Islam. The scale of that conflict is certainly global. In the past month alone I have covered incidents of Islamic extremism in the Middle East, China, Europe, the United States and Africa. Some of these conflicts, like the ones in Iraq and Syria, qualify as real, brutal, horrifying wars, but does the whole conflict count as a war? I would say yes. World War III is already here and we have been fighting it for more then a decade Others would disagree.

The other parallel to World War I is the great pandemic that came on the heels of the war. The 1918 "Spanish" flu pandemic killed more people then the war. Now we have an Ebola epidemic burning in Africa. The current outbreak isn't anywhere near as severe as the Flu pandemic was, but the fears of a global outbreak are real. The chances are low but it's still something to watch.