# Rachman warns weakening alliances and linked conflicts raise risk of wider war

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/war-is-interested-in-you-by-gideon-rachman-review-are-we-on-the-brink-of-world-war-three/
- Published: 2026-10-26T09:00:26+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-26T10:18:22+00:00
- Original publisher: The Guardian (publisher lean: Left)
- Original article: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/oct/26/war-is-interested-in-you-by-gideon-rachman-review-how-close-is-world-war-three
- Topics: Culture

## Key points

- Rachman warns that global security is worsening.
- He records 61 conflicts in 2024, including 11 wars.
- Taiwan is identified as a possible route to US-China conflict.

## Summary

Gideon Rachman’s book argues that global security is deteriorating as powerful leaders weaken international institutions and pursue nationalist agendas. The review presents this as a serious risk because regional conflicts are increasingly connected, while uncertainty over US support for allies could encourage further aggression.

Rachman counts 61 conflicts in 2024, including 11 full-scale wars, and describes ongoing wars in Ukraine and the Middle East alongside potential flashpoints such as India and Pakistan, Korea, and Taiwan. He sees Taiwan as the most direct route to a wider war because a Chinese attack could draw in the United States; China’s naval growth and Donald Trump’s ambivalence over defending Taiwan add to that uncertainty. The article also traces the weakening of the post-Cold War order to US retrenchment and the erosion of institutions such as the UN, WTO and Nato.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.