World War III (Trumped up World)

World War III (abbreviated WWIII) was a short-lived global armed conflict between members of the American-led coalition and members of the Russian-led Eastern Alliance. The conflict is generally agreed to have started on 9 June 2017 and ended on 14 January 2018, however low-level conflict continued afterwards and many of the insurgencies that had previously plagued many countries (particularly in the Middle East) continued afterwards. Unlike the first two world wars, World War III was marked by generally low support for the war by many countries involved and a resulting lack of the "total war" seen in these previous conflicts. Many countries limited their involvement in order to satisfy war-weary citizens. In addition to this, the war saw many ceasefires being negotiated but failing to follow through.

The conflict began as a result of the imposition of a "civilian safe-zone" in Syria by United States forces without consent from the Syrian government. As a result, Syrian Russian and Iranian forces attacked US ground and air forces involved in the operation. The conflict quickly escalated with more countries becoming involved and other theaters of the war began in Eastern Ukraine, Western Russia, Iran, Yemen, Iraq and Palestine.