@AnarchoNinaWrites fwiw I think that's a matter of perspective. I think I'm a little more like you, but I can understand your partner's perspective too. My bf said WWIII had begun with operation al aqsa flood. My thoughts are more in line with it having begun in earnest with the war in Iran that is now spilling out of control to directly involve, probably soon, everyone. There may be some who will not count it until bombs are falling in dozens of nations not confined just to one region (in this case West Asia). It's like, where does your intuition place the line between a cold war and a hot war? When does hostile diplomacy and spycraft become a war in earnest, not just conflicting interests? I think we are seeing the same things play out, but just have a more or less conservative notion about what constitutes a hot war. I think about this a lot.