So Qatar Is The Start Of World War III?

As usual, the mainstream media is pushing alarmism.  Today, we are being told by some that the move by the Saudis, Egyptians and a few other Arab countries to cut diplomatic relations with Qatar is the equivalent to the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria in 1914, the event that started a chain reaction causing World War I.  Most of these articles don't bother even to predict who it is who will be fighting the impending World War III, so we are left to guess.  Most likely, the fighting would be between the Sunni Moslems on the one side (Saudi Arabia, Egypt, etc) and Iran and other Shiite Moslems on the other side.  A war of this sort would be a calamity for those involved, and it could hurt many others around the world since energy supplies from the Middle East would be disrupted.  Nevertheless, it is hard to imagine an actual world war coming from such a conflict.  No matter what view some pundit is pushing, neither China nor Russia is likely to enter such a war on the side of the Iranians and their allies.  Doing so might force the USA to enter on the other side, and we could see a nuclear conflict.  The Europeans are not going to get involved in the fighting either.  They won't even defend themselves; they are surely not going to take sides in a Sunni/Shiite battle.  So what other countries are left to get involved?  There's India and Pakistan.  The Pakistanis are almost entirely Sunni, so it is hard to imagine that country joining with Iran.  India has not reason to participate either, especially since if it were to join Iran, it might draw Pakistan into the war on the other side.  The only other power left in the region is Israel, and that nation's participation is also extremely unlikely.  We could see the Israelis side with the Sunnis against Iran, but not in the fighting.  Because of long standing animosity between the Sunni nations and Israel, any coalition against Iran might suffer were Israel to enter the fight.

Put all this together and what we have left is a battle much like the Iran/Iraq war of the 1980's.  It could be a long and bloody conflict, but it will hardly be a world war. 

There is no reason for alarmist media reports.