Putin has been clear: If Ukraine fires long-range missiles into Russia, the country will consider the missile-supplier, as well as other NATO countries, its enemies in its war against Ukraine.

“If this decision is made, it will mean nothing less than the direct participation of NATO countries, the United States, and European countries, in the war in Ukraine," he said back in September.

And now America finds herself on that precarious edge of what many are saying will be the next world war, as President Biden has authorized Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to launch ATACMS missiles deeper into Russian territory following a major shift in policy that occurred over the weekend.

The Ukrainian government has been persistent in urging Washington to approve ATACMS for a while now, but Biden has remained reluctant to greenlight the initiative to avoid more U.S. involvement in the war.

But now that that’s changed, there are two burning questions we’re all asking: What does it look like for Russia to consider the United States its enemy in the war? And why would President Biden do this?

Glenn Beck and his head writer and researcher Jason Buttrill explore the possibilities.

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World War III?

“Biden has put us at the brink of World War III,” says Glenn.

“The threat of that is obviously a lot higher,” agrees Jason, who’s a former Department of Defense intelligence analyst.

However, “I think Putin's response will probably be to take out those missiles as quickly as possible.” Even though “the threat of a nuclear weapon is there,” the chances are, “Putin is not going to nuke a city.”

“The biggest threat will be a tactical nuclear weapon,” which is “a low yield weapon made specifically for the battlefield,” Jason predicts.

“Let's say there's some ATACMS surrounded by several battalions of Ukrainian troops. Well, the only way to be sure that they take it out is to use a tactical low yield nuclear weapon that will take out that entire battle space, including the ATACMS,” he explains, adding that is “the more likely scenario.”

Even though this wouldn’t be the kind of nuclear warfare everyone fears, it “would still be a big international faux pas if [Russia] did something like that,” and it would certainly “be escalatory.”

Undoubtedly, it would put the United States in a precarious position.

“Do we allow them to press the button on it and fire that missile, or do we send actual U.S. assets in to take out the areas inside Russia so they don't even have time to press the button?” asks Jason.

If the latter happens, “Then it escalates to a completely different level.”

Why now?

“Why would we do this?” asks Glenn.

Jason’s theory is “regime survival.”

When it comes to “the DOD-security-military complex ... I think that they are terrified of any change in the status quo with the Trump administration,” he says. “I think that they would love to see us push to a point of no return, where we can't do the things that Trump said that he was going to do.”

“I think they are driving us to a point of no return, where Trump and his Cabinet have no choice but to continue,” he adds. “That's the only reason that makes sense two months before they take power.”

To hear more of the conversation, including whether or not Russia wants the U.S. more involved in the war, what’s going on with the undersea communications cables in the Baltic Sea that were suddenly cut on Monday, and British Airways losing communications with its aircraft following a major IT outage, watch the clip above.

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