potential

As the title says, what are some conflicts of the 20th/21st century that could’ve turned into full blown war. Here are some examples -Turkish invasion of Cyprus -1998 Iran-Taliban War over the killings of Iranian diplomats -2001-2002 India-Pakistan stand-off -Sino-Soviet border conflict Can...

So, historically, what countries do you think had the potential to become great powers/empires but remained weak and (relatively) insignificant on the world stage instead of becoming great empires? What PODs would have made said "empires which never were" develop and why? What of said "empires...