Is It Possible That the World Is Too Prosperous?

ALTHOUGH THE GLOBE is scarred by violence, a world war is less likely now than at any other time within living memory. Attention has been centered on Syria, where several different armies or quasi-armies are engaged and where air strikes hit humanitarian-aid convoys and UN columns. But Syria isn’t a seed bed for world war. It’s of importance to Saudi Arabia and Iran because of the religious issues at stake. But the so-called caliphate of the Islamic State has failed to establish itself, and as a guerrilla force, ISIS is in manifest disorder.