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" Hello, historians of the future. I can only assume you&amp;#039;ll be reading about March 12, 2014, because it proved to be a crucial day that witnessed the escalation of nearly every world conflict. No matter what happens next\u2014war, economic collapse, reordering of global power, or welcome but unlikely pullbacks from the brink\u2014future analysts, pundits and students will want to know what the Western World was thinking as everything slid towards the abyss. Well, here&amp;#039;s what&amp;#039;s happening today. Middle East Today included a volley of roughly 50 missiles shot from the Gaza strip into Israel. The Iron Dome protective system shot down only two of the weapons, meaning it&amp;#039;s not much of a deterrent against future launches. But the deterrent will come soon: Israeli Army sources says there will &amp;quot;obviously&amp;quot; be a response. By the late afternoon word came from Israeli Defense Forces: 29 terror sites in Gaza attacked, and &amp;quot;direct hits were confirmed.&amp;quot; Meanwhile in Syria, Bashar Assad made an appearance near the front lines, talking with displaced civilians. It&amp;#039;s probably a campaign stop of sorts: Syrian elections are coming up, and Assad has hinted that he&amp;#039;ll run. The opposition continues to tear itself apart: Today, Islamic State fighters attacked the village of Shuyoukh on the Turkey-Syria border, killing at least 20 people. The Syrian conflict is likely to end with the worst possible outcome for the West: The Assad regime still in power, and a cadre of disappointed, radicalized, and experienced jihadists looking for a new place to fight. Asia The biggest escalation on the biggest continent comes as China moves in the South China Sea. This bit of geopolitical craziness began 15 years ago, when the Filipino navy ran a hospital ship aground on the Second Thomas Shoal. It&amp;#039;s been there ever since, and the Philippines claims this proof of ownership. Now, China has blocked Filipino ships from resupplying the soldiers that guard the useless hulk, sparking a diplomatic crisis that has dragged in the Japanese and Americans. This is not the only escalation of the day, however. The PLA Navy is also in motion. The government in Tokyo today reported Chinese frigates and supply ships 49 kilometers east of the Japanese island of Yonaguni. You can see Taiwan from this obscure East China Sea island. Yonaguni has grown more important as the Japanese government announced plans to station 100 soldiers from its Self-Defense Force here. Today, we see a Chinese response with warships. Oh, and more bad news: China is losing its ability to control North Korea. They are complaining that unplanned rocket launches are putting commercial airliners at risk. Ukraine Now to the biggest crisis of them all, Russia&amp;#039;s move into Crimea. Today, Russian president Vladimir Putin continues to move troops to the Ukranian border, and everyone wonders if he plans to invade Ukraine or will be content with keeping Crimea and using the threat of greater invasion as leverage. Today he called into question the legitimacy of the Ukraine&amp;#039;s split from the USSR. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry today said: &amp;quot;It can get ugly fast if the wrong choices are made. And it can get ugly in multiple directions.&amp;quot; Europe is on edge, and the pieces are moving: The Pentagon today announced 12 F-16s and 300 airmen from Italy will head to Poland this week &amp;quot;until further notice.&amp;quot; Meanwhile, Russian allies in Belarus are asking for more Russian warplanes to be stationed in their territory in response to NATO&amp;#039;s moves. Tanks and armored columns are on the move. New Cold War, anyone? "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/a10269/today-in-dangerou-military-escalation-16587321/>