how far will it spread?

A few weeks ago, I spent a few hours with a client. These guy are in their 60s and huge history buffs. I'm not very well studied in history and these guys are quizzing me at lunch. It was kind of like be in a loser's consolation round of jeopardy when you should not have even qualified in the first place. "Who were the five consecutive republican presidents." Heck, the guy couldn't remember the fifth himself. So they keep mentioning that we are already in WW III and that it may be difficult for them to buy equipment (heavy trucks) for their business if we in a full scale war. At first I was thinking these guys are nuts. So I go home and actually turn on the news and realize that history often repeats itself and they have already witnessed it first hand in their lifetimes. Fast forward to today where a little spark that's been smoldering for a long time in the Middle East is turning into a fire storm - rockets raining down. Will this escalate further and will the peace talks actually go anywhere?