The current war on terror may later be referred to as World War IV, a guest professor said Tuesday.

The magnitude of the current war on terror could be later considered on par with other world wars, said Tim Luke, a political science professor at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

He addressed a group of about 20 people Tuesday night with his speech, "Reconsidering Some 'Known Knowns,' 'Known Unknowns,' and 'Unknown Unknowns': Is the 'War on Terror' Already World War IV?"

Luke, who has studied the war on terror, said although it may not be now viewed as World War IV, it could in the future.

Historians do not decide the start and end dates of world wars until after they have ended, and historians have only begun to consider the Cold War as World War III, Luke said.

He said a number of past events could have fanned the flames of the current war, such as the Persian Gulf War, oil disputes, the Iranian Revolution or the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan.

"The war on terror could be a long and bloody conflict, lasting years, if not decades," Luke said. "The war is not abating, ending or narrowing. Like the three world wars it followed, the war on terror is taking place all around the world."

Luke also said current ideas of freedom that U.S. powers are attempting to convey end up seeming politically empty.

"Liberalism, capitalism and democracy rarely have been brought successfully anywhere on the tips of bayonets," he said, referring to the current war.

Luke and audience members discussed Islamic fundamentalism as not the only type occuring globally, but also Israeli fundamentalism and Christian fundamentalism in the United States.

"Some people speak about a western Jihad," said Michael Lewis, director of the Asian Studies Center.

Shobha Ramanand, an assistant geography professor, said both President Bush and bin Laden seem to be fighting what is a moral war to them.

"Both sides, in my opinion, feel that they are fighting for good against evil," she said.