Tensions between the US, Russia, Iran, China were already bad before the start of the

coronavirus pandemic, and now there's all the more reason for everything to get a lot worse.

The UN says we're facing a famine of biblical proportions.

Russia has just suspended exports of wheat, and Donald Trump has just tweeted,

I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian

gun boats if they harass our ships at sea. Now this is escalating tensions. It was not that long ago

that US naval ships in the Persian Gulf were swarmed by Iranian gun boats. This is a kind of natural

escalation, I suppose. But the next and main story I have for you, it's actually really scary.

The US has sent warships into the disputed South China Sea. Now I'm not a military analyst,

I'm not going to necessarily tell you how China could or would respond to this.

But there's a lot in this story. There's a lot going on, and I have said in a previous segment,

we're on the brink of war with China because of something called Thucydides trap. It basically

states that as a rising power seeks to challenge a dominant power, war becomes inevitable.

Now it isn't inevitable, but according to some academics who wrote for the Atlantic,

12 out of 16 times over the past 500 years when a rising power has challenged a dominant power war

has been the result. And now the US has deployed warships into the South China Sea. China views

this as their territory. I don't know how they will respond, but I can only surmise that at least

to a certain degree, they will view this as an act of, well, it's called trespass to say the least.

But sending military vessels into territory you claim as your own, I can only imagine

will lead to very dangerous escalation. And Australia is joining in. This is the next big update.

Australian, Australia joins US warship in South China Sea as tensions grow. Beijing

angered itself, Southeast Asian neighbors by creating two administrative units on the disputed

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