Sure, but that "prologue" could a couple thousand years (or more) for all we know. ;)

We aren't though. No current national governments are itching for a WW like they were in WW1 and WW2, plus now we have nukes. Possibly the only outlier is Kim Un who seems to think he can scare S. Korea into joining his clown show.

With absolutely no information about the future, there's actually no way to claim anything has a 'decent' chance.

We have the present, where we got:

* Russia showing how to get ahead with invading your neighbors for conquest in 21st century

* Everyone else with expansionist plans taking notes and making schemes

* Russia again, pouring gasoline to every fire they see

* And the usual powder keg that the Middle East is

Meanwhile nationalism is on the increase everywhere, military spending is breaking records in anticipation. Millions of people relocate because of wars and warming climate. So it's looking to me like this one will get a lot bigger before it dies down. How big before it counts as a World War?