I recently read a quote somewhere, I forget where or who wrote it, but it was basically saying that we're probably about three weeks away from WWIII.

Of course it wasn't meant to be taken literally, but I don't think anyone can deny that we're currently living through probably the most dangerous times since then end of WWII, and things seem to be getting worse by the day. There are currently no states, perhaps France I guess comes close, who seem remotely interested in trying to calm things down. On the contrary, no matter in which direction you look around the world, there is an ever increasing appetite for the next big one to get going. Whether it's Israel vs Palestine, Pakistan vs Iran, Russia vs Ukraine, China vs Taiwan, US/UK vs Houtis (Iran), the very real threat of all that's going on in the Middle East spreading... the world seems more unstable than I've ever known it - and I grew up in the 70s/80s in the midst of the cold war.

I was listening to the BBC yesterday, and they began talking about the very real possibility of the British Government introducing conscription if things got too out of hand. They were speaking very hypothetically, but there was an undertone of seriousness in the discussion, which I found a bit alarming, and which also raised some questions.

My immediate thought was - well, if it all did kick off, I'm probably in one of the safest places. There are no current threats to Cambodia, and any wide-spread escalation of any current conflicts are unlikely to spread this far. I guess the only exception to that could be if anything were to kick off between China and Taiwan, but even then, I could be wrong, but I can't see how or why Cambodia would be drawn into that.

I was also wondering about how conscription works for expats. Could governments try to force us to return to 'do our duty'? What about those that refuse? I'm personally too old now to be conscripted anyway, but I still find it an interesting scenario. When thousands of fighting aged men left Russia at the start of the Ukraine conflict, Russia didn't seem all that bothered and didn't seem to do much to try and stop them, so I'm guessing the idea trying to conscript expats wouldn't be a thing?

I'm just thinking out loud to be honest. There's not a clear point to this post other than wondering how safe you feel as an expat in Cambodia, given the current state of the world. Personally, I feel much safer here than I would be back in the UK, especially as things continue to escalate.

Unless China plants the idea for Cambodia to reclaim stolen lands and starts a war with Thailand and Vietnam, Cambodia is quite safe from war.

But Cambodia gets lots of imported goods that could be affected by a major regional war.

Get used to eating traditional foods and lack of western products and everything will be fine.

Still a good place to retire for me.

US, Europe (including Italy) are all targets for conflict.

My opinions, of course.

We've been three weeks away from WWIII four weeks ago, and chances are that we'll be three weeks away from WWIII four weeks from now, still.

A bit like the good old "we'll run out of oil withn 10 years" scare of old, maybe?

Or it could just kick off over something completely random and/or silly. Tonight.

Meh, not really worth my time, I'll just continue to leave the worrying to the worried noodles. Served me well throughout the Covid insanity, too. And about conscription in particular, I'd guess most of us on here are too old for us to have to worry about that anyway. I will serve in no army, that much is clear, if forced my first (and final lol) act will be to shoot my CO in the head.

Compared to so many countries in South or Central America, Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and places like PNG we are an island of peace.

That could change quickly though, always be prepared for blood-baths.