Dumb question, What constitutes a world war?
 

The whole world seems to be at war. How much more fighting can it handle? We must be almost there.
Maybe the terminology "world War" can no longer be used to describe what we know to be WW1 and WW2. This constant fighting is a sad and depressing thing IMO.

I know you will all think this is a pretty dumb question.

a war engaged in by all or most of the principal nations of the world.

I don't think today's world fits that.

Give it time.

There is a difference between a world war and a wars in the world. WWI and WWII was a period where nearly every nation or sovereign territory was on one side or the other of a single conflict--there were very few neutral nations in either conflict. This is not like the current state for several reasons. First, although it may seem that the whole world is at war, that is not the case by a long shot. Looking at the total number of sovereign nations and territories in the world today, the number that are at war with each other is a small fraction of those involved in the World Wars. Second, those that are at war, are not allies in a single war effort but are, at best, involved in regional conflicts as opponents or as allies against other allied countries in the region. Third, you have conflicts within nations--Syria, Iraq, Ukraine, Somalia--which may influence world politics and actions of interested nations, but are more civil war in nature.

Bottom line, there have always been wars being fought somewhere in the world and today is no different. Rapid communication and global interests have made these wars more noticeable but they do not directly involve the armed forces of nations much beyond their regions.

Yes, there is a lot of fighting.
No, it was not a dumb question.

Thanks Ossiblue., very well said. Perhaps my question could be because that I'm older now. I think I take a bleaker view of things than when I was a young man.

In any case your answer was spot on. Thanks

The US hasn't been involved in a declared war since 1945, so there is part of your answer.

I just read the Wikipedia article. Seems to make sense to me.