When that agenda failed (lockdowns blocked, mask mandates ignored, vaccine passports defeated and the CDC caught inflating vaccination numbers), the WEF and Klaus Schwab conveniently disappeared from the media radar.

When globalists tried to permanently establish ESG as a way of life for corporations, they introduced the Council For Inclusive Capitalism, run by Lynn de Rothschild and partnered with the Vatican. When ESG was exposed for what it really is (a bridge to full bore communism in which corporations enforce far left social engineering), the CIC vanished from the limelight as quickly as they appeared.

That said, there is one globalist group that has consistently been in the background during most of these operations – The Atlantic Council. Whenever there’s a propaganda push in play to misdirect the western public, whenever there’s a policy initiative to take away your freedoms, whenever there’s a regional war that might explode into a world war, I always end up finding the fingerprints of the Atlantic Council.

The council was deeply involved in covid propaganda from 2020 onward and they also have their hands in climate change propaganda, but their bread and butter is regional proxy wars.

In my recent article ‘Globalists Are Trying To Escalate The Ukraine War Into WWIII Before The US Election’, I outlined how the council is deeply interwoven into the escalation of the Ukraine war through their Eurasia Center and their Scowcroft Center. They have been stoking conflict in the region for at least a decade with the intention of drawing NATO forces into a direct confrontation with Russia.

In a report published by the Atlantic Council in 2014 titled ‘A Roadmap for Ukraine: Delivering on the Promise of the Maidan’, the group notes:

“Last fall, as Ukrainians massed on the Maidan to demand a better government and closer ties to Europe, the Atlantic Council began to mobilize on Ukraine. An Atlantic Council delegation visited Warsaw and Kyiv in March to map out our strategy, and during the visit of Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk to the Council that same month, we launched a one hundred- day campaign to galvanize the transatlantic community behind Ukraine’s democratic future in Europe.

As the crisis worsened, we convened at the highest levels, making vital connections between Ukrainian, American, and European policymakers and thought leaders. We deployed our substantial expertise to launch “red team” exercises that anticipated Russia’s actions and outlined strategies to respond to likely scenarios. Our rapid response working groups (“tiger teams”) made recommendations on issues fundamental to Ukraine’s success. An Atlantic Council delegation delivered this report, which brings all of these findings together, to Prime Minister Yatsenyuk and other leaders in Kyiv the first week of July. The findings are also being shared with American and European policymakers…”

On Ukraine’s security policy, the Council advised both NATO and Ukraine officials.  The document goes on to outline how NATO could covertly and overtly engage with Ukraine to strengthen their chances of joining with the EU over time; a move which Vladimir Putin claims was one of the very reasons for his invasion of the Donbas.  Finally, the paper described how NATO could foster a proxy war against Russia through Ukraine without directly declaring war on Russia.  As the Council states:

“Russia’s aggression provides an opportunity of strategic clarity and urgency that should be used to expedite building a robust, modern, and capable Ukrainian defense and security establishment…”

I believe the Atlantic Council is a root instigator behind every globalist scheme to trigger a larger war between the East and the West. Their ideal scenario seems to be the creation of a proxy conflict that acts as a first domino in a chain that leads to world war, a bit like DARPA’s “Linchpin Theory” which I have written about in the past.

To be clear, the council is not only interested in Ukraine and Russia. They’re happy to embroil Americans in a larger war wherever they can.

This past week, the Atlantic Council has published another war scenario report dealing with Iran titled ‘The Future of US Strategy Toward Iran: A Bipartisan Roadmap For The Next Administration’. The goal of the report is to influence a new defense doctrine with a mission to insert the US directly in the middle of the burgeoning war between Iran and Israel.

As the report states:

“In simple terms, the goal was to develop a US policy toward Iran, not a Democratic or Republican one. We termed the effort the Iran Strategy Project (ISP). And when we began recruiting experts to join our advisory committee and working group, we did so with two overriding principles in mind. First, ideological diversity and bipartisanship could not just be talking points—they were requirements. The wild swings of US policy toward Iran over the last decade created significant policy gaps that Iran exploited to more rapidly advance its regional malign influence and nuclear program…”

The assumption in the notion of a “bipartisan” posture on Iran is that there is common ground to be harvested between conservatives and leftists when it comes to war in the region. To be sure, the Democrats and the Neo-Cons are in full agreement on most things.  But Neo-Cons are not conservatives and the political base on both sides of the aisle has little interest in another war in the Middle East.

The wild card here is Trump. The establishment media reports that Iran hacked the Trump campaign’s election strategies and gave them to the Harris camp. There are also rumors spread by US intelligence agencies that Iran was working to have Trump assassinated.  Are these claims true? There’s little public evidence available to prove it.

Maybe Iran really wants to take Trump down. Or, maybe this is part of a plot to ensure that Trump backs a full blown war with Iran should he win the election.  Trump has said repeatedly that he intends to end the war in Ukraine upon his return to the White House. This would ruin over a decade of planning by the Atlantic Council. But what if they can sink the US into a different conflict with the same potential for a world war? That’s what Iran is – Another linchpin.

The council asserts that they will seek to tie the US inexorably to the fate of Israel by positioning a permanent American military force in the region:

“Deterring the threat posed by Iran and its proxies requires a multifaceted approach that includes maintaining an adequate military presence in the region and a willingness to respond with appropriate force to attacks on US interests and those of US allies; working with allies to enhance cooperation on regional security; collaborating with partners on ways to reduce conflicts and instability that create openings for Iran to exploit; and expanding security cooperation beyond traditional realms.”

They also want the US to create its own red line declaration; if Iran obtains nukes, then Iran must be destroyed (keep in mind, it is confirmed that Israel already has its own nuclear arsenal).

“The United States needs to maintain a declaratory policy, explicitly enunciated by the president, that it will not tolerate Iran getting a nuclear weapon and will use military force to prevent this development if all other measures fail. To support this policy, the United States should refrain from stressing that it does not seek conflict with Iran; announce that it will conduct yearly joint exercises with Israel, such as Juniper Oak.”

Juniper Oak was a joint live fire war exercise organized by US and Israeli defense forces in 2023 which is viewed as a theoretical trial run for an attack on Iran. War between Iran and the US has been a sought after outcome for globalists for a long time, but it seems to me that they are particularly interested in roping Trump into the agenda.  The following statement from the Atlantic Council report is highly suspicious:

“Because assassination plots against current or former US officials are a direct threat to US sovereignty, and in order to enhance deterrence, the United States needs to consider a standing policy of a kinetic military response against Iran in retaliation for a successful—or even close to successful—plot…”

This seems to be a direct reference or message to Trump concerning the rumors of Iran contracting his death. Given there have been at least two assassination attempts on Trump so far, I would not be surprised if after he wins the election new information is suddenly released linking Iran to at least one attack.  I would also expect a major terror attack in the US within the next year (real or false flag).

This is not to say that Trump wants war; I can’t make that claim one way or the other yet.  To his credit he was one of the few presidents that avoided the expansion of US conflicts during his first term. But as I warned back in 2016, he had a LOT of ghouls in his cabinet whispering in his ear. Keeping the Atlantic Council (among others) away from the Oval Office and Trump should be a priority in 2025.

The council appears to be positioning for a war under either administration – A war with Russia under Harris or a war with Iran under Trump.  I’m not a fan of Islamic fundamentalism, but a conflict between the US and Iran is exactly what the globalists want because it can easily metastasize like a cancer.

The council notes that there are already 40,000 US troops spread across the Middle East, and that this force could be reorganized into a contingent for rapid response to Iran, along with new troops added over time. Of course, they acknowledge that Iran’s situation has changed over the years, with far closer strategic associations with China and Russia:

“This requires recognition that Iran’s relationship with Russia and China has evolved in a manner that makes it difficult to convince either country to support new economic or military restrictions against Iran…”

In other words, the council understands that a war with Iran could escalate into a larger conflict with Russia and perhaps China.

The fight between Israel and multiple nations in the Middle East does not concern me. I have no stake in the success of either side. I’m an American and I care about America, but there are powerful people out there that WANT us to become invested in foreign wars. They want us to pick a side and they want us to cheer for American troops being sent to fight and die over these foreign conflagrations.

The greater concern here is that one day these proxy wars and regional wars will explode into something that lands on our doorstep. In the past Americans have been lured into apathy when it comes to foreign entanglements because we never have to deal with them in our daily lives. They’ve always been out of sight and out of mind. In the next war, we may not have that luxury.

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In other words, we are on the brink of the sort of all-out war between Israel and Iran that I specifically warned about in a chapter entitled “The 3 Wars Of The Apocalypse” that was featured in a book that I published last year.  I know that virtually everyone in the U.S. is really focused on the upcoming election at the moment, but what is going on in the Middle East right now is really big news.

We just witnessed the largest Israeli attack on Iran ever.  It is being reported that “dozens of fighter jets” were involved in a massive operation that struck targets all over Iran and Syria…

Dozens of fighter jets hit ballistic missile factories, air defence batteries and missile launchers. Israel launched a simultaneous attack on military targets in central and southern Syria. Among the pilots and navigators involved in the Iran strikes were a number of women, praised by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) for their bravery.

It is thought the secret research base near Tehran was developing ‘kamikaze drone’ technology, designed to loiter over a target until instructed to attack.

According to Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari, the Israelis now have “broader aerial freedom of operation in Iran”, and this will make it easier for the IDF the next time it becomes necessary to strike the Iranians…

Israel’s first open attack on Iran targeted missile production facilities and air defense systems, the military said Saturday, tempering fears of a broader foray but giving Israeli aircraft the ability to operate more freely in Iranian skies as the region entered a new phase of escalation.

“Israel now has broader aerial freedom of operation in Iran,” an Israeli military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said in a statement after the attack concluded. The remarks signaled Israel’s willingness to strike Iran in the future, even as Israeli officials said the attacks were tailored to minimize casualties and allow Iran to deny major damage.

The Biden administration is trying to play down the size and scope of the Israeli operation, and Joe Biden is desperately hoping that the Iranians will choose not to respond…

“It looks like they didn’t hit anything other than military targets,” President Joe Biden, speaking to reporters in Philadelphia, said of the Israeli strikes. “I hope that this is the end.”

We should all hope that this is the end of it. But it appears that the Iranians have already made their decision.

The Daily Mail is reporting that Iran has “vowed revenge” and that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is using the phrase “no limits” to describe what Iran might do…

Iran vowed revenge yesterday after Israel’s missile blitz on Tehran destroyed up to 20 key military sites, including a top-secret research facility.

Foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran had ‘no limits’ in defending its interests and was obliged to take retaliatory action.

Those are very strong words.

And we are being told that Araghchi has already delivered a letter to the United Nations that declares that Iran has the right to respond to the Israeli attack…

Iran’s top diplomat has condemned Israel’s unprecedented attack on multiple military sites across the Islamic Republic and has asserted Tehran’s right to respond to the latest escalation amid a year-long Middle East conflict in a letter obtained by Newsweek.

The letter was attributed to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and sent Saturday to United Nations (U.N.) Secretary-General António Guterres and U.N. Security Council President Pascale Christine Baeriswyl via Iranian Permanent Representative to the U.N. Amir Saeid Iravani.

According to Araghchi, Iran “reserves its inherent right to legal and legitimate response to these criminal attacks at the appropriate time”.

To me, it sounds like the Iranians do not plan to respond immediately. But a response is definitely coming. And the Israelis have already warned that they will hit Iran again if the Iranians strike back.

So this is it. The big war between Israel and Iran is here.

Of course the big war between Israel and Hezbollah has already been raging. In recent days, fierce fighting in southern Lebanon has resulted in a substantial number of Israeli casualties…

Ten Israeli soldiers were killed and at least 28 more wounded to varying degrees amid heavy battles against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, Israel Defense Forces announced Thursday and Friday.

The soldiers were killed in three separate incidents in just over 24 hours. Since the start of the ground offensive in Lebanon, 27 soldiers have fallen amid the heavy fighting.

In the most recent incident, five reservists serving in the 8th Hazaken Brigade’s 89th Battalion were killed, and 19 others were wounded, with four in serious condition, when a Hezbollah rocket struck a supply point at a building in a southern Lebanese village.

We aren’t hearing much about this from the big news networks in the United States, are we?

If they give too much attention to what is going on in the Middle East right now, that could make Kamala Harris and the Biden administration look bad, and so they are being pretty quiet about it.

The big news networks in the United States are also being pretty quiet about the stunning Russian advances that are happening in eastern Ukraine…

With Russia advancing at the fastest rate in eastern Ukraine since the first months of the invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been pleading with the West to allow Kyiv to fire deep into Russia with Western missiles.

The Biden administration’s plan for the war in Ukraine has completely and utterly failed.

Billions and billions and billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars have been poured into that war, but the Russians are still winning. In fact, the Russians are gobbling up more territory with each passing day. And now the Middle East is on the verge of erupting in flames.

We were warned about these wars way in advance, but most people still aren’t paying much attention.

What will it take before most of the population finally starts waking up?

Michael’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

The detailed 194-page document includes an overview of chief nuclear-armed powers and rivals of the United States, focusing especially on countries with “mature nuclear weapons programs” which are said to be “increasing stockpiles” or else “modernizing their legacy stockpiles by incorporating advanced technologies to penetrate or avoid missile defense systems” – such as North Korea.

“Countries are also developing nuclear weapons with smaller yields, improved precision, and increased range for military or coercive use,” the DIA says.

One nation’s program is gaining the most attention as a result of the DIA report, and that’s China. The intelligence agency assesses the country under President Xi is undergoing a huge and rapid expanse of its nuclear arsenal, which is the biggest in its history, assuming the projection is accurate.

The “Nuclear Challenges 2024” assesses that China is on track to possess more than 1,000 operational nuclear warheads by 2030.

The report contextualizes that this accelerated growth is being drive primarily by China’s strategic competition with the Untied States.

Below is a section providing the DIA’s bird’s eye view summary of China’s nuclear arsenal plans and expansion:

China. Beijing has far surpassed earlier growth estimates assessed in 2018, and is currently exceeding 500 deliverable nuclear warheads in its stockpile. By 2030, we estimate that China will have more than 1,000 operational nuclear warheads— most of which will be fielded on systems capable of ranging the continental United States. China probably also seeks lower-yield nuclear warhead capabilities to provide proportional response options that its high-yield warheads cannot deliver. For example, China is increasing its stockpile of theater-range delivery systems, such as the DF-26 intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM).

Below is a current snapshot of the global nuclear stockpile situation, as it stood by middle of this year…

You will find more infographics at Statista

As Statista’s Anna Fleck reports, currently, there are estimated to be 9,585 nuclear warheads in military stockpiles for potential use across nine countries, with Russia and the U.S. accounting for 8,088 of these.

There are also an estimated 2,536 retired warheads that are yet to be dismantled. China has added 90 nuclear warheads to its arsenal since January 2023, increasing from 410 warheads to 500.

This is according to data from the peace research institute SIPRI. India and North Korea have also expanded their arsenals, bringing their total figures to an estimated 170 warheads and 50 warheads, respectively.

The two European nuclear powers, France and the UK, together have 515 operational nuclear warheads. With the exception of North Korea, none of the nations in possession of nuclear warheads have tested them since the 1990s.

U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is worried that World War III could break out in the next four months due to the policies of the Democrats leading the US government.

“I actually worry about the next three months. I really do. I worry about the next three and a half four months will end up in a world war because of this, the people that we have [in government],” he said at a rally in the state of California.

The Biden administration has been making colossal mistake after colossal mistake in the Middle East.

Now the time for talk is over and Israeli tanks have entered southern Lebanon…

Israeli tanks have burst through the gates of a United Nations peacekeeper base in southern Lebanon, the UN confirmed today.

It comes after Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded the UNIFL withdraw from combat zones and Hezbollah strongholds — and accused the UN of inadvertently ‘providing terrorists with human shields’.

In a statement addressed to U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Netanyahu said: ‘The time has come for you to withdraw UNIFIL from Hezbollah strongholds and from the combat zones.

Of course Hezbollah has been quite busy as well. On Saturday, Hezbollah fired missiles at four different Israeli military bases…

Hezbollah claimed it had destroyed four military bases in Israel today as it launched a blistering rocket attack across the southern border.

The Iranian-proxy group said it had hit bases in Al-Jarrah, Za’rit and bases in the Golan Heights after claiming to have pushed back advancing forces late Friday.

Its fighters were ‘targeting the explosives factory there with a salvo of… missiles’, the group said in a statement this morning.

Then on Sunday, a massive Hezbollah drone attack injured more than 60 people in northern Israel…

More than 60 people have been injured, several of them critically, in a drone attack in northern Israel, according to first responders.

There were no immediate official reports of deaths from the attack, but the high number of injuries reported makes the attack one of the bloodiest since the war started last October.

The news comes after Hezbollah said Sunday it had fired a swarm of attack drones on an Israeli “Golani” infantry training camp in Binyamina, south of Haifa. The Lebanon-based militant group said the attack was in response to Israeli strikes in Lebanon on Thursday that killed 22 people and injured 117, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.

Most Americans are not really paying much attention to this war yet.

And most Americans don’t seem to realize that we will be directly involved.

In fact, it is being reported that approximately 100 U.S. troops will be operating the THAAD air defense systems that are about to be sent to Israel…

On Saturday we were among the first outlets to report that the United States is preparing to deploy THAAD anti-ballistic missile systems in Israel, a major development which will put American troops directly in harm’s way (or… boots on the ground) amid the tense showdown with Iran.

The Pentagon in follow-up statements to the NY Times has confirmed the THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) systems will be sent to Israel, and that about 100 American troops will operate them.

If Iran and Israel start lobbing thousands of missiles at one another, those troops will be very heavily involved in what is happening.

Israel has promised to respond to Iran’s recent missile attack, and that could unleash a chain of events that nobody will be able to control.

According to the Daily Mail, the Iranians are making some very alarming threats…

Iran has threatened to recalculate its nuclear weapons programme if Israel launches a revenge strike as Biden has insisted Tehran is not building nukes. Since Hamas’s October 7 attack last year on Israel triggered a wave of regional hostilities between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants, officials in Tehran have warned the Islamic republic could change its nuclear doctrine if it faced an existential threat. But they have been deliberately vague about what that might entail.

Pretty soon, both sides will be forced to reveal all of their cards. And once that happens, everything will change.

Meanwhile, the Russians continue to gobble up more territory in eastern Ukraine…

Russian forces have seized control of another eastern Ukrainian settlement, Moscow said on Sunday, in what would be the latest in a string of gains in the Donetsk region if confirmed.

The Kremlin said on Sunday that its Center group of forces had captured the Donetsk village of Mykhailivka.

Several settlements in Ukraine bear the same name, and Russia’s Defense Ministry statement is likely referring to the village immediately east of Selydove, southeast of the strategic Ukrainian-held hub of Pokrovsk where Moscow has been concentrating its efforts.

The Russians clearly have the upper hand at this stage.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky desperately wants NATO to give him permission to use western missiles to strike targets deep inside Russia, and he is also accusing the Russians of using North Korean troops against him…

Zelensky’s comments came days after visiting several European capitals to press his case for more military and financial help in the war against invading Russian forces.

“We see an increasing alliance between Russia and regimes like in North Korea,” Zelensky said in his evening address.

“It is no longer just about transferring weapons. It is actually about the transfer of people from North Korea to the occupier’s military forces.

“Obviously, in such circumstances, our relations with our partners need to be developed. The frontline needs more support,” he said.

Both sides just continue to escalate matters, and I am entirely convinced that it is just a matter of time before the U.S. and Russia are directly fighting one another.

If our leaders had any sense, they would sit down at the negotiating table before things ever have a chance to reach that point.

Before I end this article, there is one more thing that I wanted to mention.

According to the Wall Street Journal, fleets of unidentified drones have been flying over U.S. military bases on the east coast…

U.S. Air Force Gen. Mark Kelly wasn’t sure what to make of reports that a suspicious fleet of unidentified aircraft had been flying over Langley Air Force Base on Virginia’s shoreline.

Kelly, a decorated senior commander at the base, got on a squadron rooftop to see for himself. He joined a handful of other officers responsible for a clutch of the nation’s most advanced jet fighters, including F-22 Raptors.

For several nights, military personnel had reported a mysterious breach of restricted airspace over a stretch of land that has one of the largest concentrations of national-security facilities in the U.S. The show usually starts 45 minutes to an hour after sunset, another senior leader told Kelly.

The first drone arrived shortly. Kelly, a career fighter pilot, estimated it was roughly 20 feet long and flying at more than 100 miles an hour, at an altitude of roughly 3,000 to 4,000 feet. Other drones followed, one by one, sounding in the distance like a parade of lawn mowers.

I would very much encourage you to read that entire article, because it is absolutely stunning.

Our military has no idea where the drones are coming from, and they are not being allowed to shoot them down…

Officials didn’t know if the drone fleet, which numbered as many as a dozen or more over the following nights, belonged to clever hobbyists or hostile forces. Some suspected that Russia or China deployed them to test the response of American forces.

Federal law prohibits the military from shooting down drones near military bases in the U.S. unless they pose an imminent threat. Aerial snooping doesn’t qualify, though some lawmakers hope to give the military greater leeway.

If a fleet of unidentified aircraft is flying over highly sensitive military bases, you shoot them down.

I don’t even understand why there would be any debate.

My guess is that the drones are probably from either Russia or China. But if they are not from either Russia or China, that is probably an even more troubling scenario.

In any event, it has become clear that we are living at a time of wars and rumors of wars.

This war in the Middle East has escalated to an extremely dangerous level, the war in Ukraine is reaching a critical stage, and I believe that it won’t be too long before a conflict between the U.S. and China erupts.

World War I and World World War II both killed millions of people. World War III will kill billions of people, and it is right at the door.

Michael’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

Without a doubt there is a contingent of power brokers within our society that would benefit greatly from such an event. Large scale wars, even when they are fought through regional proxy states (like Ukraine or Israel), lead to chaotic financial conditions that in turn lead to tighter government controls on everything.

During WWII the US spent over 40% of its GDP on defense; compare that to only 4% today. Americans in 2024 have no concept of the resource bottleneck that occurs during periods of large scale industrial warfare. I’m not talking about sending 100,000 troops along with naval contingent to fight low tech guerrillas in country like Afghanistan; I’m talking about 15 million troops or more (most of them drafted) and a massive scramble for resources on a scale not seen in a century. Very few people alive in the west today know what this means.

Consider for a moment the disaster that would befall the global supply chain. A large percentage of commodities and manufacturing come from the East and from the Middle East. American manufacturing has all but disappeared compared to the last world war. The amount of capital needed to revamp that kind of industry is immense. The time to train enough Americans for manufacturing work during wartime is considerable.

But beyond the lack of an industrial base to feed the vast military machine needed to sustain a global conflagration, there are a host of resource issues that no one thinks about. For example:

• Millions of young men being sent off to fight means far fewer potential workers across the board. Numerous sectors of the market would be desperate for skilled labor.
• Businesses dealing in vital resources and components will be pressured to forgo consumer markets and focus on government contracts in the name of national security.
• National spending would skyrocket creating more inflation, and this would be on top of supply shortages. Price controls would be the result, destroying all profit incentive and leading to many smaller businesses shutting down.
• It’s likely that most vital industries would be nationalized and managed by the government under the rationale that they might collapse otherwise. This would include agriculture (food).

Rationing would be pervasive, as it has been during every major war. The majority of goods would go to the war effort and consumers at home would be stuck with ration cards (digital versions) greatly limiting their ability to stockpile necessities for the future. Prepping would essentially die out at this point, except for those with access to black markets, and all preppers would have to shift into pure survival mode.

Rationing and price controls create a culture of government dependency, which is the last thing you want if you hope to keep your society free. Once a population is dependent on rations or some form of Universal Basic Income (UBI), the downhill slide into full tyranny begins.

The final stage of a long term war economy is usually resource confiscation. In other words, the government may try to implement imminent domain over land, crops, arms and even food stockpiles. This is not done because they necessarily need these goods. This is done to ensure that there’s no resources available that the public can use to rebel.

At this point, the only choice is to fight back or starve to death like peasants in a Soviet-style famine. This is why organization among patriots and preppers is so important – NEVER let yourself end up in a position where you have to give up your preps.

Currently, the war in Ukraine is balancing precariously on the edge of escalation. In the Middle East the powederkeg has already exploded (as I warned it would) between Israel and Lebanon, and it’s only a matter of time before a ground war with Iran erupts. The Biden Administration has clearly indicated that it will move to support Israel, especially if Iran enters the fray.

Meaning, world war has already started. There’s a reason why so many western government have been talking openly about conscription in the past year – They have been preparing the public mentally for a draft. There is no way the US, for example, would be able to fight across Lebanon, Syria and Iran without a draft. There is no way the EU and the US would be able to fight a war with Russia (or China) without a draft. It’s that simple.

By my observations there is a large percentage of American men who will not comply with conscription. There will be attempts to force them to do so. As we saw during the pandemic mandates, officials will try to create economic punishments for those that refuse to accept a draft. The government will try to prevent them from holding a job, deny them access to certain places, or even try to deny them ration cards.

The non-compliant will have to be self sufficient and prepared, and those who are prepared will be labeled treasonous. None of that matters.

Unless you actually believe that another world war is a noble and righteous endeavor, what matters most is that we have the ability to say no. And, the more resources we have at our disposal the easier it will be to say no. The insidious control that comes with multinational war is rooted in fear; fear of resource denial, fear of social ostracism and fear of legal repercussions.

Having the ability to rebel if necessary means having no fear. This all begins with a lifestyle of self sufficiency and community for mutual security.

I COULD make the leap because I do believe in signs in the heavens as the Bible describes. I’m just not ready to accept the comet as one of them. It just doesn’t seem big enough, but I’m open to being proven wrong. I do find the correlation to the Jewish holidays intriguing… just not intriguing enough. Not yet. Nevertheless, it’s an interesting topic so we’re posting. It. Here’s Michael…

(End of the American Dream)—All of a sudden, everything has changed.  Israeli troops have entered southern Lebanon, Iran has fired hundreds of missiles into the land of Israel, and it appears that all-out war has arrived.  This war doesn’t seem to have a commonly accepted name yet, and so I am just going to start calling it “the Biggest Middle East War” until somebody out there comes up with something better.  Is it just a coincidence that this war has suddenly exploded as the “Comet of the Century” is flying past our planet?

I went through the details of Iran’s attack on Israel in an article that I posted earlier, and so I will not repeat all of that information here.  Since I posted that article, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly stated that Iran has “made a big mistake” and that the Iranians “will pay” for what they have done…

“Iran made a big mistake tonight – and it will pay for it. The regime in Iran does not understand our determination to defend ourselves and our determination to retaliate against our enemies,” he said.

That sounds rather ominous. So what should we expect?

Well, one Israeli news source is reporting that the IDF intends to conduct “powerful airstrikes throughout the Middle East”…

Following Iran’s missile barrage, which saw more than 180 rockets launched across Israel, the IDF vowed Tuesday night to carry out “powerful airstrikes throughout the Middle East.”

The military confirmed that the Air Force remains fully operational. Additionally, Israeli and U.S. defense systems effectively intercepted many of the incoming missiles, with the IDF reporting close cooperation in detection and interception efforts.

Senior Israeli officials vowed Tuesday evening that Jerusalem will not remain silent following Iran’s large-scale missile attack. A defense official promised a “severe response,” while another Israeli official warned, “What Iran has suffered so far is only a fraction of what it will face now.”

Of course the IDF has already been bombing pro-Iranian targets all over the Middle East.

Ultimately, I expect something even more dramatic.

Could Israel strike Iran itself? That is certainly possible.

Naftali Bennett is even suggesting that this is a perfect time to “destroy Iran’s nuclear program”…

With emphasis added, former prime minister Naftali Bennett calls for Israel to act “now” against Iran’s nuclear program, saying the Islamic Republic “made a terrible mistake” with its major missile attack this evening.

“Israel has now its greatest opportunity in 50 years, to change the face of the Middle East,” Bennett writes in an English-language post on X. “We must act *now* to destroy Iran’s nuclear program, its central energy facilities, and to fatally cripple this terrorist regime.”

Such an attack would definitely trigger an unstoppable chain of events.

Iran has warned that there will be a “crushing attack” if Israel responds, and the Iranians also seem to be threatening the United States…

Iran’s armed forces warn against any direct military intervention in support of Israel in response to Iran’s missile attack.

“In the event of direct intervention by countries supporting the regime [Israel]… their centers and interests in the region will also face a powerful attack by the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the armed forces says in a statement quoted by Fars news agency.

The Biden administration promised Iran that there would be “severe consequences” if the Iranians launched missiles at Israel. It is put up or shut up time for the Biden administration.

As all of this has been going on, the “Comet of the Century” has been putting on a spectacular show in the heavens…

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is putting on a delightful early-morning display for those fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of the spectacle before it’s lost in the glare of the rising sun. But it’s not just the early birds with good seats to the show: astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) are also enjoying the spectacle.

We are being told that there will be two windows for those of us in the northern hemisphere to view this comet…

Weather permitting, everyone in the Northern Hemisphere should be able to see Comet A3 in October.

There are two windows to catch it, one from now through October 2 and another from October 12 to 30, according to a press release from Massey.

Interestingly, the first window ends as the festival of Rosh Hashanah is beginning, and the second window starts on Yom Kippur.

And it is now being projected that Yom Kippur will be the time when this comet is the closest to our planet and when it will also be the brightest…

If the comet survives perihelion, it will make its way back to Earth. According to StarWalk.space, the comet will be brightest on October 12 when it makes its closest approach to our plant. During this time, Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS will be located relatively high above the horizon in the evening sky.

That is some “coincidence”, eh? On top of everything else, a “ring of fire” solar eclipse will occur on Wednesday…

For the first time since April’s solar eclipse—during which eleven contiguous states in the U.S. were in the path of totality—some will be able to see another eclipse this coming week.

This noteworthy event, called an annular eclipse, or a “ring of fire” eclipse, will be visible over parts of South America on Wednesday, Oct. 2. A partial eclipse will also be visible in parts of the world.

At the time of this eclipse, the sun will already be down in Israel and the festival of Rosh Hashanah will have commenced.

Amazingly, the first solar eclipse that occurred in 2024 happened on the first day of the first month on the Biblical calendar, and the second solar eclipse that will occur in 2024 will happen on the first day of the seventh month on the Biblical calendar.

These two solar eclipses will be exactly six months apart on the Biblical calendar, and they both fall on very important dates.

The fall festivals begin on the first day of the seventh month, and throughout the fall festivals the “Comet of the Century” will be making history in the skies above our heads.

Meanwhile, here on Earth everyone is bracing for what comes next in the Middle East.

I do not believe that it is a coincidence that all-out war, the “Comet of the Century”, a “ring of fire” solar eclipse and the fall festivals are all happening at the same time.

As I detail in my brand new book entitled “Why”, God has been directing the course of human history for thousands of years, and He continues to do so today.

What we are witnessing right now should be a major league wake up call for all of us, but for the moment most of the population still appears to be in a very deep state of sleep.

Michael’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

“As long as Hezbollah chooses the path of war, Israel has no choice, and Israel has every right, to remove this threat and return our citizens to their homes safely,” Netanyahu told the General Assembly, adding, “And that’s exactly what we’re doing.”

During his speech, Netanyahu showed world leaders two maps of the Middle East, pointing out the difference between a “blessing” and a “curse.”

“Now look at this second map,” he said, pointing out, “It’s a map of a curse. It’s a map of an arc of terror that Iran has created and imposed from the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean.”

Netanyahu added: “There is no place in Iran that the long arm of Israel cannot reach – that’s true for the whole of the Middle East.”

Even with broadening war risks in the Middle East, the geopolitical risk premium in Brent crude has all but evaporated – overshadowed by economic slowdown fear in China and the US. Not even the China stimulus story earlier this week could ignite crude prices.

On Thursday, we noted the usual anonymous sources reporting by corporate media were back, and pressured Brent crude prices lower. The first report was published by Reuters earlier this month. In that report, journos cited anonymous sources that said OPEC+ was set to proceed with a production hike in October. Then an FT report on Thursday joined the anonymous-source-citing oil manipulation game with the news that the Saudis were ready to ditch the unofficial price target of $100 a barrel for crude.

Also, recent headlines surrounding a possible ceasefire in the Middle East have pressured oil prices. We must ask what exactly ‘the powers that be’ are afraid of?

Maybe Goldman analyst Lindsay Matcham’s note to clients this morning shows precisely what ‘the powers that be’ are afraid of…

“We’re continuing to keep a close eye on the conflict in the Middle East amid intensifying tensions between Hezbollah and Israel.” 

Matcham added:

“We think further escalation in the conflict could have material market implications, especially if it involves a potential closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which would likely lead to a spike in oil prices here.” 

Strait of Hormuz…

In a separate note, Goldman analyst Lina Thomas outlines four positive near-term drivers for crude markets:

• The easing in global policy.
• Inventories are still drawing.
• Positioning and valuation remain low.
• Oil markets are not pricing a significant risk of geopolitical disruptions.

Fast forward to noon today, Brent prices jumped to the mid-point of the $72 handle after IDF airstrikes targeted Hezbollah headquarters in Beirut.

Massive Israeli Airstrikes In Beirut Target Hezbollah HQ, Nasrallah https://t.co/uqp8T0VZyM

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) September 27, 2024

Broadening war risks come as speculators have placed record bearish bets in crude markets.

Brent prices hover around $72/bbl in late morning trading in the US.

The looming question for Brent traders is: When will the war risk premium return?

A potential IDF invasion of Lebanon could provoke Iran, although there are currently no signs of Tehran’s imminent closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Given the Israel-Hezbollah escalation in conflict to the end of the week, traders should monitor these events as traders hold record net-bearish bets on crude.

(End of the American Dream)—Events in the Middle East and in Ukraine are bringing us dangerously close to the unthinkable, but meanwhile most people in the western world are paying very little attention to what is going on.  We literally have not been this close to an apocalyptic global war since the end of World War 2, and yet most of the population is partying.  Unfortunately, it won’t be too long before they are shaken out of their slumber.

On Sunday, it was being reported that a Ukrainian drone has hit a facility in Russia that houses one of the highly sophisticated nuclear missiles that Russia has started to produce…

A Ukrainian kamikaze drone strike reportedly struck Vladimir Putin’s Satan-2 nuclear missile, prompting an apocalyptic explosion yesterday morning.

A secret ammunition silo facility at Toropets in Tver region that housed one of the Russian President’s nuke missiles was hit by Ukrainian drone, it was claimed yesterday.

It allegedly happened just ten miles from an ‘indestructible’ 30,000 ton munitions storage site that had been obliterated on Wednesday.

It is literally insane to use kamikaze drones to attack nuclear missiles. But that is the entire point.

The Ukrainians are losing the war, and so they are desperately trying to provoke an “over the top” reaction from the Russians that will force NATO to get directly involved in the fighting.

And they need to do it before the U.S. presidential election in November, because if Trump wins he fully intends to try to end the war.

So that is why the Ukrainians just attacked a nuclear missile.  They are in a race against time. Of course Ukraine does not have the ability to identify strategic targets deep inside Russia.

As far as these long-range drone attacks are concerned, we frequently pick the targets, and in many cases we actually guide weapons to their targets. But we aren’t really supposed to talk about that.

Now Ukraine wants permission to use long-range missiles provided by us to strike targets all over Russia…

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged Joe Biden to allow Ukraine to carry out long-range strikes inside Russia with US-supplied weapons, and to earn “a place in history” by “strengthening Ukraine” before he leaves office.

Speaking before a crucial trip next week to Washington, where he will meet Biden and the US vice-president and presidential nominee, Kamala Harris, and address the UN, Zelenskyy said he would present a “victory plan” to end the war.

This could easily spark World War 3, because it would cross very important “red lines” that the Russians have established.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has once again stressed the importance of not crossing those “red lines”…

“We talk about red lines, expecting that our assessments, statements will be heard by intelligent, decision-making people. It is not serious to say that if tomorrow you do not do what I demand of you, we will press the ‘red button,’” the Russian foreign minister said. “I am convinced that in such situations, decision makers have an idea of what we are talking about. Nobody wants a nuclear war.”

When the Russians speak of “nuclear war”, they are being deadly serious.

Why can’t our leaders seem to understand this?

Meanwhile, the war in the Middle East appears to have reached a critical turning point.

On Sunday, Hezbollah continued to pummel northern Israel with rockets.  In fact, we are being told that some even landed near the city of Haifa…

Israel and Hezbollah continued to trade hundreds of strikes on Sunday as the sides appear to be spiraling toward an all-out war following months of escalating tensions.

The Iran-backed militant group launched more than 100 rockets across a wider and deeper area of northern Israel, with some landing near the city of Haifa. The barrage overnight set off air raid sirens across northern Israel, sending thousands of people scrambling into shelters.

Israel’s military said the rockets were fired “toward civilian areas,” pointing to a possible escalation after previous barrages had mainly been aimed at military targets.

One of the areas that has been getting hit the hardest is the little town of Nazareth.

Needless to say, Nazareth is a town that has a tremendous amount of significance to Christians all over the globe…

“Another barrage of Hezbollah rockets at Nazareth. The hometown of Jesus, a town which is 70% Muslim & 30% Christian and almost entirely Arab,” noted American Evangelical leader Johnnie Moore, president of the Congress of Christian Leaders, on social media.

“For months Hezbollah has been targeting the Galilee, the geographic heart of Jesus’ ministry.”

The IDF has been attempting to minimize the damage by taking out as many rocket launchers as it can.

In fact, it was being reported on Sunday that Israeli aircraft hit about “400 militant sites” over a 24 hour period…

The Israeli military said that it carried out a wave of strikes across southern Lebanon over the past 24 hours, hitting about 400 militant sites, including rocket launchers. Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military spokesman, said those strikes had thwarted an even larger attack.

It also appears that Israel has started to use bigger bombs than we have seen in the past…

BREAKING: Lebanon hit with massive bomb, one of the largest Israel has ever sent.

Developing.

Shockwave felt many many miles away..

Both sides just continue to escalate matters, and it is just a matter of time before an all-out war erupts.

When an all-out war erupts, Hezbollah will be able to count on assistance from allies all over the region.

Could this also include Turkey?  This weekend, the president of Turkey once again had some very threatening words for Israel…

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan believes that Israel acts as a terrorist organization, its target being not only the Gaza Strip but the whole region.

“I have been saying all along that Israel targets not only the Gaza Strip. The recent attacks on Lebanon have confirmed our suspicion that the Israeli leadership’s plan is to spread the war to the entire region. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his gang have been staging all kinds of provocations to implement their radical Zionist ideology. The pressure on Israel must be intensified further to prevent the region from being dragged into an even greater disaster,” Erdogan told the media before flying to the United States for the UN General Assembly session.

He said he would address the UNGA on the first day to ask the participants to remember “the need for taking action against genocide in the Gaza Strip and Israel’s aggressive policies.”

The Biden administration seems to think that a major regional war could be coming too.

On Saturday, the U.S. State Department warned all Americans living in Lebanon that they should leave while they still can…

The US State Department on Saturday urged Americans in Lebanon to leave the country while commercial options remain available, as the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah flares.

“Due to the unpredictable nature of ongoing conflict between Hezbollah and Israel and recent explosions throughout Lebanon, including Beirut, the US Embassy urges US citizens to depart Lebanon while commercial options still remain available,” the State Department said in an updated advisory.

“At this time, commercial flights are available, but at reduced capacity. If the security situation worsens, commercial options to depart may become unavailable,” it added.

Personally, I think that this warning is not nearly strong enough.

Once all-out war erupts, you will not want to be anywhere in the entire region.

As I have repeatedly warned, my personal opinion is that this is going to be an “apocalyptic” war that far surpasses anything that we have ever witnessed in the Middle East before.

Events have pushed both sides to the brink of a precipice, and what is going to happen over the next few months will change our world forever.

Michael’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

It directs the Navy to develop “readiness for the possibility of war with the People’s Republic of China by 2027,” pointing to China’s preparations for a possible invasion of Taiwan in the same year.

“The Navy emphatically acknowledges the need for a larger, more lethal force,” the document, titled “Navigation Plan for America’s Warfighting Navy,” states.

“By 2027, the Navy will be more ready for sustained combat as part of a Joint and Combined force, prioritizing the People’s Republic of China as the pacing challenge and focusing on enabling the joint warfighting ecosystem.”

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which rules China as a single-party state, claims that Taiwan is a part of its territory that must be united with the mainland through any means necessary.

However, Taiwan is self-governed by a democratically elected government and has never been controlled by the CCP.

CCP leader Xi Jinping has nevertheless ordered the communist regime’s military wing to prepare for war and to develop the capabilities required to invade Taiwan.

The regime has since engaged in a more than decade-long shipbuilding spree, massively expanding its fleet, drone capabilities, and nuclear arsenal.

Most importantly, for a Taiwan invasion scenario, it has also launched its own advanced aircraft carriers and destroyers.

That poses a problem for the United States, as the U.S. Navy floats far fewer ships than the Chinese, and must spread them more widely to maintain its global military presence.

China, meanwhile, can position the vast majority of its naval and coast guard units close to home, where they can receive cover from land-based units and where it is easier to maintain their supply lines.

A congressional report published in July found that “the U.S. military lacks both the capabilities and the capacity required to be confident it can deter and prevail in combat” against China.

The July report also said that China is likely to increase its hostile behavior in the coming years to “normalize unlawful behavior” around Taiwan as it seeks to take advantage of the United States’ lack of ability to deter conflict.

Key to the new Navy document’s goals, therefore, is the fulfillment of Project 33, a naval initiative aiming to ready the force by eliminating delays in maintenance, scaling the use of autonomous and robotic systems, and increasing navy recruitment, among other things.

“We cannot manifest a bigger traditional Navy in a few short years, nor will we rely on mass without the right capabilities to win the sea control contest,” the document reads.

“Nearer-term operational challenges demand that we integrate proven robotic and autonomous capabilities as soon as possible.

“We must do so with a focus on how we will use these systems in war. By 2027, we will integrate proven robotic and autonomous systems for routine use by the commanders who will employ them.”

Scaling the deployment of autonomous systems is just part of the puzzle, with the document underscoring that the United States’ grim position in the Indo-Pacific “goes well beyond just the size of the PLA [People’s Liberation Army] Navy fleet.”

The document notes that China’s joint forces are developing into an integrated fighting force “specifically designed to defeat ours” and are backed by China’s massive industrial base.

The document also calls on the Navy to work with Congress to secure critical supply chains and lays out a vision in which all fleet headquarters in the service will field their own maritime operations centers.

The goal of the latter directive is to ensure that the U.S. Navy can continue to maintain superiority in command and control, military intelligence, and maneuvers, even against a numerically superior foe in a vast and distributed region.

“We must meet all the objectives in this Navigation Plan to field the people and capabilities needed to fight and win today, in 2027, and beyond,” the document states.

There are many ways in which wars are fought.  In our current situation WWIII is being fought through proxies like Ukraine and Israel (and maybe Taiwan in the near future).  The war is also being fought on the global economic stage through sanctions, inflation and the dumping of the US dollar as the world reserve.  To be sure, these situations can easily escalate into something bigger and that is exactly what I suspect they will do.  However, planetary nuclear war is the least likely scenario.

Survival and preparedness communities have a tendency to hyper-focus on the obviously Apocalyptic.  We talk a lot about EMP strikes and split-second grid down calamities.  We talk about solar flares, overnight economic crashes and nuclear holocaust.  I think survivalists do this because it acts as a mental exercise – A way to better clarify what the best preparedness solutions are.  But as I’ve said for many years, collapse is a process, not an event.

These things happen slowly, and then all at once.  If you went back in time ten years ago and warned people that in 2024 the US would be in the middle of a stagflationary crisis with a 30%-50% average price increase on all necessities, they would probably dismiss you as a doom-monger.  Well, guess what, that’s exactly what a handful of alternative economists (myself included) were doing well over a decade ago.  And we WERE dismissed over and over again.  Welcome to our world.

The reason people refused to believe us is because the danger was not immediately obvious.  The economic threat was not hitting them in their wallet yet.  Stock markets seemed to be doing fine.  The jobs market was still functioning somewhat normally.  They could only view economic crisis through the lens of a total collapse.  The idea that it would happen incrementally never crossed their minds.

Even today there are still people who argue that everything is fine.  The stock market is “fine.”  The labor market is “healthy.”  If you suggest all is not well, you’re a “chicken little.”  This is the incredible danger of having a Hollywood fantasy idea of what a collapse looks like.  We may never get to 100% systemic implosion; but an 80% collapse is still a survival situation.

The same dynamic goes for WWIII.  We must not overlook the dangers right in front of us simply because intercontinental ballistic missiles aren’t crisscrossing the sky.

Consider for a moment the possibility that world war will be fought between major powers on proxy battlegrounds.  The weapons of mass destruction will be financial instead of nuclear.  The conflicts will go on for a decade or longer in various parts of the world, all adding up to a world war, but maybe never officially declared a world war.  Perhaps there is a nuclear event somewhere; maybe a false flag or a limited strike.  It still doesn’t mean global strikes are an inevitability.

I’m bringing up this topic because it’s important preppers don’t get stuck the psychological trap of defining a collapse event with such strict parameters.  People also need to understand that the powers-that-be also have a lot to risk should a war devolve into nuclear exchange.  If it was really that easy for them to launch warheads, wipe out the majority of the human population and then establish a global dynasty, they would have done it already.

Global war on such a scale is inherently unpredictable.  The elites have spent trillions of dollars and the better part of the last century constructing the most complex surveillance and control grid in history.  It would be foolish to turn it all to ash in the blink of an eye and I highly doubt that’s the plan.  They would be putting themselves and their legacy at risk of being erased forever.

Does this mean I will be ignoring the potential for a nuclear event?  No.  I will always keep it in mind and have preps ready just in case.  A single nuke set off anywhere west of your home could result in radioactive fallout that would take around three weeks to dissipate.  And, these events are indeed survivable.

Here’s an interesting fact to ponder:  The US government has tested at least 1050 explosive nuclear devices over the decades.  Around 216 of those were atmospheric tests that resulted in massive fallout across the country.  Some people in close proximity got sick over time from these tests, but they didn’t result in an overnight mass death event in the Midwest.

Perhaps, at a moderate distance, these weapons are not as dangerous as we’re led to believe?

The real threat from nuclear weapons comes from the initial blast and the resulting damage to national infrastructure.  The economic system would also take an immediate dive from even one strike, and it could be anywhere in the world.  A single nuke in Ukraine would send shockwaves through already unstable markets.  If the globalists wanted to accelerate a worldwide collapse, they wouldn’t need a nuclear war, just one well placed device.

There is a lot of misinformation on the web surrounding nuclear disaster, but the preparations for radioactivity are relatively simple:  Store enough sealed food and clean drinking water for at least three weeks.  Have enough potassium iodide pills on hand for a daily dose for each member of your family.  Buy a digital Geiger counter and a radioactive test card to make sure the device works.  If you think fallout is a danger then seal up windows and doors with plastic.  Avoid going outside if you can and put as many physical barriers between you and the fallout as possible (basements are best).

The average half-life of nuclear fallout is 2-3 weeks.

Water doesn’t actually become irradiated; the dust from an attack is what ends up in open sources and makes you sick, so you certainly don’t want to ingest it.  The dust has to settle in these water sources and the radiation has to be given time to dissipate.  Clean water will be at a premium for at least a month after the event.  The more clean water you have the more likely you will be to get through the crisis without physical effects.  Rain water will be safe after the first two weeks.

The biggest danger from WWIII is not nuclear exchange (as unlikely as it is), but the disturbing changes societies go through when the conflict expands.  Totalitarianism is much easier to institute during war.  Freedom of speech is often suppressed and criticism of the government is often criminalized.  People who rebel against this are accused of “working with the enemy.”  Military conscription is usually enforced and young people are sent off to die overseas over a conflagration that makes little sense.

The economy nose dives and the supply chain tightens.  Price controls and rationing are initiated.  Black markets flourish but those who participate are aggressively targeted by the government.  In the case of the US, armed revolution in some states is a certainty.

Our planning should focus far more on these eventualities and less on the idea of nuclear Apocalypse.