The thing that makes me doubt a WW3 is that those in power, who have shown through Covid that they'll do anything to maintain/increase that power, run the risk of having it all come tumbling down in a war.

I agree, which is why I think it would most likely only happen when those in power fear losing that power, and we're getting close to that situation now on three fronts.

Russia. The west has put Putin's economy in a strangle hold. Sooner or later, Russians are going to feel the pain, and it's going to start with the richest and poorest of them. He's going to start feeling the heat, and he'll be in danger of a revolt either by those rich enough to take him out, those poor enough to have nothing to lose, or both. In such a situation, war provides an out for him, a war on a far larger scale that what we have now.

China. Xi's zero policy is a dead end. It won't work. It will either crash the economy or result in popular rebellion, or both. If he's smart, he'll find a creative way to back out of it without losing face. The problem is that they've held this policy for so long that the population has not had the opportunity to build a natural herd immunity, like most of the rest of the world. So if he loosens up, covid will ravage China. If he doesn't, he's facing riots. It's a no win situation. Moving on Taiwan would help Xi under either of these outcomes.

US: The US dollar will rise in all this turmoil as the safe currency, but the fact is that it's an empty currency. It's financed through debt. When countries turn to the USD as a safe haven, they're buying what they perceive to be the safest form of debt. It's gotten so out of control that nobody in their right mind really believes that these currencies have any value other than what they can buy day to day. This inflation we're seeing is a long time coming. It's just the start. The US is on a precipice, and it's hanging on by a fingernail. When things get like this, they collapse not over the course of years, months, or weeks. They collapse over the course of a few days. That's what's going to happen in the US. A good old fashioned war would help people stay in office.

Unless, it's as you mentioned before: a limited, tactical nuclear war in designated regions - including a gentleman's agreement that we don't newk each other's safe-zones.

It will be dramatic, whatever it is. Enough to get people's attention and compliance.