The age of the Covered World War: The scale of the war is greater than it seems

British Defence Secretary John Healey said British forces were helping to prevent further violence in the Middle East by intercepting Iranian missiles aimed at Israel... Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer condemned the Iranian attacks and expressed his unwavering support for Israel's right to defend itself... Sir Keir condemned the Iranian attack on Israel and said he was 'deeply concerned that the region is on the brink'.

This was one of the most interesting news stories of recent days. Continuing with fancy phrases like 'Britain's intervention in the crisis, Britain's role in protecting world peace...', it is not known whether this news will open the horizons of those who see what is happening in the Middle East as a war between Jews and Muslims, Israelis and Palestinians, but it is important in terms of showing the dimensions of the hell we are living in.

Moreover, in the same news report there are other details that clearly show that the UK's role in this war is not limited to official messages of support. The British Defence Secretary has said that British forces are providing support to Iran after it fired ballistic missiles at Israel. John Healey, visiting military personnel in Cyprus, said on Tuesday that British forces were 'playing a role in trying to prevent further escalation', adding later that RAF jets were ready to attack Iranian targets but 'they don't have to do that'.

To make things a little clearer, the report tells us the following: Britain', using its bases in Cyprus, is de facto involved in the war on Israel's side. RAF fighter jets are on standby for the next and subsequent wars!

The BBC follows the story and analyses the potential of British military power in Cyprus, concluding: In April, RAF Typhoon jets based in Cyprus shot down Iranian drones, but they are not equipped to track and shoot down ballistic missiles.

This does not change the fact that Britain is now de facto at war.

The decision to use jets in April was taken by the previous Conservative government and has since been supported by Sir Keir. The Labour Party, which is now in power, supports Israel with all its means, as a loyal follower of the unchanging policy of previous governments, or rather of imperialist Britain as a whole.

It is also known that the US air and naval forces have significant forces in the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf.

All this shows that Israel's attacks will be supported "to the end" and if Iran intervenes, there will be no hesitation to extend the war to Iranian territory.

The nightmare of World War III, which the Ukraine crisis has brought to the world's attention, is back on the agenda.

TURKEY MAKES A LOINCLOTH

First Hakan Fidan at the end of June and then Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the beginning of July said they took the risk of a third world war seriously. Then, at the weekly briefing of the Ministry of Defence, it was stated: 'Nobody, especially our country, wants a dark picture like World War III, but it should be noted that our army is ready for any scenario.

On the days when Israel attacked Lebanon, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in his opening speech to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey that 'after Palestine and Lebanon, it will be our homeland that Israel will target' and called for 'keeping the home front intact'.

In other words, for the last four months or so, the Republic of Turkey, starting from the very top, has been thinking about a world war scenario that would eventually involve Turkey.

The US presidential election is just around the corner, and the candidates are already using the possibility of war as campaign material on their warm-up tours.

The peoples of the world are being made to believe that the days of nuclear bombs exploding over their heads are numbered.

War scenarios' create a favourable environment for any government to use in domestic politics. The Turkish government is rumbling with the determination to leave no stone unturned in this arena. In the last few months, there was talk of sending an army to Israel; today there are rumours that Israel is preparing to visit Turkey.

THE ARMS RACE IS ON A FRIGHTENING SCALE

Of course, the possibility of a war that will engulf the whole world exists objectively under the conditions of the existence of imperialism. The chain of events that we are witnessing has its origin in this material basis. Therefore, it would not be wrong to say that imperialism cannot live without war.

When the Second Imperialist War ended, it was believed that humanity would learn a great lesson from it and that war would never be allowed again. But before the corpses of millions of people who died in the war had a chance to decompose, the USA started the Korean War in Far Asia. There have been many regional or civil wars since then, the biggest being the Vietnam War (1955-1975), the Yom Kippur War (1973 - the war between Egypt and Syria against Israel), the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988) and the Gulf War (1990-1991). It is safe to say that there has never been a 'world without war'.

When we think of a 'world war' we usually think of a war between Russia and the US or China and the US and its allies. If they are not involved, or if Germany, France and the UK are not involved, it seems that we could not say that a world war has broken out even if the whole world were on fire.

Whatever the name, the fact is clear today: We are living in a world war in which all the major imperialists are involved and in which complex and changing relations are at work. On the one hand, it is causing the death of hundreds of thousands of people, plunging billions into hunger and misery and forcing millions to migrate. The whole of world capitalism is trying to wade through the crises. Only in times of great wars can so many problems come together.

On the other hand, all the countries of the world are arming themselves like mad. Investments in the war industry and military spending have reached extraordinary, unprecedented levels. Not only the big imperialist giants, but also countries like Turkey are wasting all their potential to produce and sell arms and ammunition, advanced technology, chemical and nuclear weapons.

The Sweden-based Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) reported that global military spending reached $2 trillion 443 billion last year, with the US, China and Russia spending the most on defence. The top 10 countries with the highest military spending in 2023 are the US, China, Russia, India, Saudi Arabia, the UK, Germany, Ukraine, France and Japan.

In Turkey, it was announced that 1 trillion 133.5 billion TL would be allocated to the defence and security sector in 2024, including the funds allocated to the Defence Industry Support Fund. In 2023, Turkey had allocated about $16 billion for the defence and security budget. Currently, the defence budget has increased by about 250 percent in dollar terms.

So what kind of world do we live in?

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For a thousand years, from about the 5th to the 15th century, historians later called it the Middle Ages. For a thousand years people lived without knowing that they were living in the Middle Ages! Now the situation of the world's humanity is similar: Perhaps when it is all over, if there is anyone left to write history, they will call the period we are living in 'The Era of the Covered World War'.