WASHINGTON: Former White House Russia adviser Fiona Hill argued in April 2025 that interconnected international conflicts could already resemble World War III, although she distinguished the comparison from a global nuclear war.
Speaking to Channel 4 News, Hill pointed to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and conflicts across the Middle East and Africa.
She argued that wars involving multiple countries could reshape the international system even without direct confrontation between major powers.
Hill served on the United States National Security Council during President Donald Trump’s first administration. In a July 2025 interview with the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, she clarified her earlier remarks.
Hill said different wars were becoming increasingly connected through military support, international alliances and competing strategic interests.
She cited China’s support for Russia, Iran’s military cooperation with Moscow and North Korea’s deployment of troops. According to Hill, these relationships had drawn countries from Asia and the Middle East into the wider consequences of the Ukraine war.
She also warned about sabotage, cyberattacks and threats to infrastructure as forms of confrontation beyond conventional battlefields.
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Not all analysts share her interpretation. Political commentator Michael Lind argued in October 2025 that the present situation more closely resembled a new Cold War.
He pointed to proxy conflicts, arms competition and economic rivalry rather than direct warfare between major powers. Other assessments distinguish today’s regional conflicts from the world wars of the 20th century because governments have not undertaken comparable levels of military and economic mobilisation.
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Hill returned to national preparedness in a lecture published by Brookings in May 2026. She examined how societies could strengthen their resilience against changing military threats and attacks on civilian infrastructure.
With input from Channel 4 News, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Brookings and UnHerd.
