Oh, goody. World War IV in all corners of the globe. That’s really all it takes, a big one somewhere and others see their chance to move because the world hates to split their armed resources.
On a more serious note, somebody at FR that lives in Japan said earlier this year some of the news reports from there were really scary. I can’t remember the thread, though. I think it was about the fishing thing.
You may be onto something here. Everyone thinks a world war can be sparked by the need for oil. Well okay, a war machine needs oil. But what if hostilities begin over something as simple as a clash of fishing trawlers? If hostilities break out, food is going to get scarce real quick for millions of people around the Pacific Rim, because they rely on fishing on a large scale in the Pacific Ocean. The Chinese and others have clashed over territorial claims for fishing. A trawler sunk or shot up by a hostile military vessel may lead to a larger war, leading to shortages of seafood and panic in Asian cities.