The recent events are only WW III if you consider the remilatirazation of the Rhineland or other prewar events as a direct part of WW II. I believe that what is happening now is setting the stage for a more global undertaking, but "our side" still has not awakened to the fact that we are at war. Oh, there are a few exceptions. But few understand why Israel is hitting back in Lebanon and few can see what happened in the former Yugoslavia where the Moslems won the war they began centuries ago - with the active help of Clinton and NATO.
How would Free Republic have reacted to the rise of Germany, Italy, and Japan before the Second World War if that had been possible? Would we have buried our heads in the sand as most of what later made up the Allies did? Would we have tried to bring attention to the issues? These are interesting philosophical questions, but they will not save a single soul from Islamic terrorism.
I would have been saying, starting in about 1923:
1) 1923: Assassinate Stalin, attack the USSR head on
2) 1931: An immediate and massive war effort to contain Japanese aggression in NE Asia.
3) 1933: Embargo of Germany
4) 1935: Invasion of Italy in response to African aggression
5) 1936: MOU with Franco to render no support to Communist orgs in return for distancing from Hitler
6) 1936: All out war on Germany
There you have it, WW2 all done in 1937.