An ex-army chief from the United Kingdom claimed that Russia, Iran, and China are the 21st-century version of the anti-allied forces of 1939.
Knewz.com has learned that General Sir Patrick Sanders, who stepped down as Chief of the General Staff in June 2024, remarked that three Eastern Hemisphere countries are more “interdependent and aligned” than the pro-Nazi alliance of World War II, creating a bigger potential for the next global conflict.
The British former military chief went on to say that with the current status quo, World War III could be as close as five years.
“Most estimates will tell you that we've got somewhere between five and ten years before Russia recapitalizes and is able to pose the sort of threat that it did before the Ukraine war,” he was quoted saying.
Amidst these speculations, Sanders also referred to his country’s alleged unreadiness for war and claimed that the best way to deter the reportedly looming global conflict was for the UK to rearm.
“If we take the right steps now, if we address the threats and gaps we have in our capability, if we modernize our armed forces, if we make society and the UK more resilient, that’s how we prevent it.”
“If we do that, it’s a low likelihood [of war]. If we don’t, it increases the probability and it encourages Russia, China, and Iran.”
He compared the UK’s current military capabilities to World War II, the Falklands War in 1982, and the invasion of Iraq in 2003. He argued that the island state's forces could not field the same logistics.
He noted that the current army stocks would “put the hairs up on the back of your neck.”
“Could you scramble together the two brigades that took the Falklands? Yes, of course we could. But could we get them there? Could we have the task force that made it possible and sustain it? No.”
This is not the first time the general offered his ominous opinions. In January 2024, Knewz.com reported Sanders calling for a “shift” in public and suggesting conscription.
He supported these claims by stating that the UK struggled to commit the required 5,000 soldiers during its most recent turn at the head of NATO’s quick reaction force—in fact, so much so that some European military members suggested England skip its rotation.
Sanders’ prognosis of an impending global conflict is shared by Germany's defense leader Boris Pistorius. On June 5, Der Spiegel quoted him saying: “We must be ready for war by 2029.”
“We must not believe that Putin will stop at Ukraine’s borders,” he elaborated while addressing his country’s parliament.
Should his predictions come to fruition, it would not be the first time Germany and Russia clash. The last time the two faced off over a battlefield was in World War II. Under Hitler’s Nazi regime, the attacking forces paid a steep price for underestimating Russia’s will to fight.
Vladimir Putin still leans on the historical conflict and what he calls Nazism to defend his ongoing attempts to annex Ukraine.