Is Putin’s Ukraine invasion the start of World War III?

Feb 25, 2022
The Big Story

In this handout photo taken from video released by Russian Presidential Press Service, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressees to the nation in Moscow, on Feb. 24, 2022. Russian troops launched their anticipated attack on Ukraine on Thursday, as President Vladimir Putin cast aside international condemnation and sanctions and warned other countries that any attempt to interfere would lead to “consequences you have never seen.” Putin justified it all in a televised address, asserting that the attack was needed to protect civilians in eastern Ukraine — a false claim the U.S. had predicted he would make as a pretext for an invasion.(Russian Presidential Press Service via AP) Russian Presidential Press Service

In this handout photo taken from video released by Russian Presidential Press Service, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressees to the nation in Moscow, on Feb. 24, 2022. Russian troops launched their anticipated attack on Ukraine on Thursday, as President Vladimir Putin cast aside international condemnation and sanctions and warned other countries that any attempt to interfere would lead to “consequences you have never seen.” Putin justified it all in a televised address, asserting that the attack was needed to protect civilians in eastern Ukraine — a false claim the U.S. had predicted he would make as a pretext for an invasion.(Russian Presidential Press Service via AP) Russian Presidential Press Service

In today’s Big Story podcast, it sounds like hyperbole — unless you listen to the Russian president’s thinly veiled threat to use nuclear weapons on any country that intervenes with his aggression in Ukraine. That doesn’t mean this conflict will escalate to a multi-nation war, but the possibility is certainly there, according to experts. And nobody knows what happens next.

What does this mean for the future of the international order and traditional alliances? What does it mean for millions of innocent Ukrainians? For countries like Canada who are on the sidelines? How will this conflict reshape the world in the weeks and months to come?

GUEST: Balkan Devlen, senior fellow at McDonald Laurier Institute, Superforecaster for Good Judgment, Inc.

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You can also find it at thebigstorypodcast.ca.

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