According to the latest Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists , who created the Doomsday Clock in 1947, the world stands at 2 Minutes to Midnight.
They point out that the world security situation is,''as dangerous as it has been since World War Two''.
I would argue that if the present situation in Syria and wider Middle East gets worse, and yes it can get alot worse, then we will be looking at parallels with the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962.
The USA and its coalition of the killing is driven by a fanatical ideological crusade, that is fulled by economic and geo-political considerations, to reimpose their dominance over the Middle East.
They will only be satisfied once they have full economic, political and military control over the region and its mineral resources.
Having said this, Russia could put a temporary spoke in their wheel by standing up to U.S. aggression right now. Russia must make it clear that it will shoot down any U.S./Israeli missiles fired at Syria.
The history of appeasement shows that failure to stand up to an aggressor power only encourages it to be more aggressive.

It is not all doom and gloom. All of us as individuals can make a difference and have a choice to make. Stand passively by and say nothing or pressure our respective governments to back down from war and go back to diplomacy. As The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists points out:

"It is urgent that, collectively, we put in the work necessary to produce a 2019 Clock statement that rewinds the Doomsday Clock. Get engaged, get involved, and help create that future. The time is now''.