I believe we truly are still at war on a global scale, with USA and ww2 allies rivaled against Russia and China in a nuclear threat down, and with multiple proxy wars active and some stalemated or in arms race or standoff, but everywhere with these two apposing forces funding and organizing the rush to arms. Iran and Korea I think are two very good examples of a proxy war with nuclear-armed adversaries funding apposing forces and threatening combat. These two fronts as well as those surrounding Israel and Taiwan are on hair triggers and in a constant state of military buildup and threats of action on all sides. Be it a war with Syria or Iran or Korea, one of these or any other host of dangerous nations caught in the middle of this great game of empires vying for world dominance getting into a full fledged war with our alliance could quickly turn into a nuclear war of escalating catastrophe. This kind of a war is a common theme, where potential adversaries get into a war by way of their respective allied nations going to war. Another concern of mine is a major nuclear exchange could be caused by missile defense. Right now the Russian military analysts and media spokespeople complain that they feel the USA is weakening there deterrent force (there ability to retaliate with total and unacceptable nuclear retaliation even in the event of attack) These arguments are chipping away at the very notion that mutually assured destruction can continue to afford us protection from a game ending nuclear exchange. Our missile defense is seen as a potentially offensive force, to use in concert with a surprise missile attack. They estimate at present a full assault without warning would take out 80 percent of Russia’s retaliatory capability, and the remaining 20 percent assumed immediately launched could be targeted by multiple layers of ground, sea, and air based anti missile sites, and even some of those sites and sea based systems could be targeted during the initial sneak attack, thus eliminating the vast majority of there retaliation. In this context a nuclear war could almost seem winnable, and that very fear, (which has been expressed) whether real or imagined, is a very dangerous issue. There is no telling where this could lead us but in my opinion nuclear war is unavoidable at some point in the not too distant future on the present course and there is little hope in me for Obama smoothing things over. Right now Russia has rewritten some of their nuclear war doctrine and as the American side, are allowing for the use of preemptive war in the face of a threat to their sovereignty. This is a very real threat and follows a theme of heating rhetoric over missile defenses, icbm and nuclear armament reduction treaties, and former USSR satellite states being caught in an arms races and tug of wars between east and west. As always seeking understanding and insight. Please reply