When the average high school student hears the words “civil war,” they instantly think of the war a couple centuries ago between the Union North and the Confederate South, but that’s not the only time there was a civil war. Today, there is another power struggle between a government and its people in Syria. But unlike the American Civil War, this war is headed toward a world war.

The United States is inching closer and closer to intervening in Syria with reports of chemical weaponry being used against innocent citizens and children in an effort to end the rebellion.

Why is chemical weaponry the “red-line” that sparks the debates for intervening? In 1968, 18 nations agreed to ban the production, manufacturing and stockpiling of chemical weapons. The US being one of the original ten members, swore to protect innocent people from the horrendous effects of chemical weapons.

But what led Syria to use chemical weapons against its own people?

It started in February 2011 when 15 high-school-aged students were arrested in Syria for spray-painting onto the walls of a school “The people want to topple the regime.” While the students were in prison, rumors spread that they were being mistreated. The rumors sparked protests across the entire country. Fearing a repeat of Egyptian riots, the Syrian government sent in military police to subdue the protests.

Protests turned into riots when four participants were shot and killed during a demonstration. These four deaths are said to be the first deaths of the civil war. The riots eventually built up enough to become an all-out war between the people and the government.

How will the US intervening in Syria spark a world war?

Russia and Syria have been long time allies. In the last few years, Russia made $5 billion just by selling arms to the Syrian government, analyst Peter Fragiskatos told CNN. If the US were to help the rebels overthrow the Syrian regime, Russia would lose a huge trading partner.

With the stressed relationship between the US and Russia already, events in Syria are only going to make the relationship more volatile.

Even Syrian President Al-Assad agrees that US Intervention will risk a full-scale war. “Everyone will lose control of the situation when the powder keg explodes,” he told French newspaper Le Figaro.

If left alone though, a worst case scenario would be that the fighting in Syria spills over to the neighboring countries (Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel and Turkey). With that in mind, the question becomes: should the US intervene to contain the fighting or should it just mind its own business?

So how are things going to turn out? Only time will tell, but everyone can hope for a peaceful resolution.