In essense WW3 would be a rerun of WW1 in the pacific rim, an unexpectedly rapid escalations of long existing tensions and military commitments beyond anyones control. The UN would be about as much use as the League of Nations was prior to WW2, given that the two primary combatants have permament seats on the security council.
Military estimates suggest that it will take only 2 weeks for the PLA to overwhelm th Taiwanese defense, I have a gut feeling that those will turn out like the ten days it was meant to take the germans to invade Belgium, decisively in error.
It will feel and happen much like this financial crisis, rapidly, faster than anyone can understand or predict until suddenly it's happening and noone really knows how we got here.