The head of the Western military alliance has issued a stark warning that the United Kingdom must prepare for the possibility of a major war breaking out within the next five years.
A Dire Warning from NATO's Leader
In a sobering address delivered in Germany this week, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stated that Russia is already escalating a covert campaign against Western societies. His alarming assessment comes amid persistently high tensions over the ongoing war in Ukraine, where President Volodymyr Zelensky has firmly rejected ceding any territory to Russia.
Meanwhile, reports suggest a potential peace proposal drafted by Washington and Moscow could involve Ukraine surrendering significant chunks of land to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Adding to the fraught atmosphere, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has admitted that while Russia does not seek war with Europe, it "will respond to any hostile steps", including the deployment of European troops in Ukraine.
The rhetoric from Moscow has grown increasingly menacing. Russian state media propagandists have chillingly declared that the presence of British forces in Ukraine could constitute a "casus belli" – a justification for war – for a nuclear strike on UK soil. One prominent anchor, Vladimir Solovyov, told viewers that "a nuclear strike on Britain is inevitable."
Expert Predicts a Three-Phase World War
But what would a third world war actually look like for Britain? Professor Anthony Glees, a security and intelligence specialist at the University of Buckingham, has provided a detailed and eerie prediction. He believes we are already "fighting for our way of life" and must rearm swiftly.
Professor Glees anticipates that any future large-scale conflict would likely mirror the war in Ukraine, being fought with conventional weapons rather than immediately going nuclear. He outlined a terrifying three-phase scenario for how World War Three could unfold for the UK.
Phase One: Subversion and Threats
The first stage, according to Glees, would involve intensified Russian intimidation and sabotage. If Putin claims any form of victory in Ukraine, he would then apply pressure to NATO members who joined after 1997, seeking to "soften us up" and fracture British society and politics from within.
Phase Two: A War of Attrition
Should subversion fail, Glees forecasts a conventional war of attrition with UK troops deployed as part of NATO forces. Life in Britain would be upended: fresh food would run out in days, petrol would become virtually unobtainable, and a massive Russian cyber-attack could cripple bank accounts, utilities, and the national grid.
Rationing modelled on the Second World War would be introduced, medicines would disappear, and the nation would become reliant on allies like the USA and Canada for supplies. Glees also predicts the imposition of a curfew, blackouts to save power, and the conscription of all adults aged 18 to 40.
Phase Three: A Pro-Putin Administration
The professor's final, most dystopian phase predicts that within a month of conventional war, a "British Quisling government" sympathetic to the Kremlin could be established in Downing Street. Within a year, he warns, the UK could become a Russian-run colony with a secret police, forced labour camps, and the Russian language imposed in schools, while the Royal Family would likely flee abroad.
In a recent comment following the death of a British paratrooper in Ukraine, Professor Glees emphasised the urgency, stating the UK needs to "up our game" and visibly demonstrate its military might. The combined warnings from NATO's chief and security experts paint a picture of a nation that must, however unsettling, seriously consider its preparedness for a conflict that now seems a tangible threat on a five-year horizon.
