The head of Britain’s armed forces has warned that the current global uncertainty and anxiety over the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic could risk another world war.
General Nick Carter, Britain’s Chief of the Defense Staff, made the comment in an interview with Sky News on Sunday, saying economic crises in the past have led to security threats and that a widespread conflict could happen again given the blow inflicted on the world economy by the pandemic.
“I think we are living at a moment in time where the world is a very uncertain and anxious place and of course, the dynamic of global competition is a feature of our lives as well, and I think the real risk we have with quite a lot of the regional conflicts that are going on at the moment, is you could see escalation lead to miscalculation,” Carter told the British television news channel.
Asked whether his words meant there was a genuine threat of another world war, Carter replied, “I’m saying it’s a risk and we need to be conscious of those risks.”
The top British commander underlined that it was important to remember those who had lost their lives in previous wars as a warning to those who might repeat past mistakes.
“If you forget about the horror of war, then the great risk I think is that people might think that going to war is a reasonable thing to do,” Carter said.
“We have to remember that history might not repeat itself but it has a rhythm, and if you look back at the last century, before both world wars, I think it was unarguable that there was escalation which led to the miscalculation which ultimately led to war at a scale we would hopefully never see again,” he added.
Nearly 50 million people have been reported to be infected by the new coronavirus across the globe and 1,245,761 have lost their lives, according to a Reuters tally.
Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December last year.
Many people have lost their jobs or seen their incomes cut due to restrictions imposed to tackle the coronavirus crisis, with unemployment rates having increased across major economies in the world as a result.