You make some good points that I agree with, that World War II is diminishing in its influence on global events, as a result of 9-11-2001, the millions of non-assimilating muslim immigrants in Europe who are becoming a majority in many European nations, the war and exodus of refugees you mention in and from Syria, the rise of Al Qaida and ISIS as a global Islamic threat, and the rise of China with clear ambitions to displace the U.S. as the world's superpower.
My only point that deviates from that is the world of U.S. comic books, that emerged from primarily Jewish writers and artists, and a "Buy Bonds, fight the nazis!" focus that initially brought comics to prominence in the U.S.
And that so many efforts in comics go back to those Axis-fighting glory days, to try and revive that spark. I think a large part of that 1940's appeal is its upbeatness and complete lack of cynicism.
Roy Thomas did a great deal to keep that period alive and even resurgent in the present with his Marvel work on THE INVADERS in the 1970's, and then after 1980 on his move to DC did the same with ALL-STAR SQUADRON, INFINITY INC., and YOUNG ALL-STARS. And other JSA writers have carried on from the foundation Thomas built.
Likewise Mike Mignola in HELLBOY and other spin-off books. Hellboy even has a pseudo Golden Age origin, that has him emerge from the 1940's and World War II, and rooted to other pulp heroes in a few stories. The Nazis in Mignola's stories are essentially the undead, empowered and kept alive by occult forces, that make them an enduring threat in the modern era. Mignola was on the cutting edge using zombies (or zombie-like characters), before zombies became the cross-media rage that they are now.
Your point about World Wars I and II being "the good wars" is still a widely held perception. A book that profoundly changed my worldview on that subject is Churchill, Hitler, and the Unnecessary War by Pat Buchanan (2008), that argues (citing other historians) World Wars I and II were both completely avoidable, and both wars were caused by a series of diplomatic blunders on the part of both Britain and Germany, and actually puts primary blame on the British, and in particular, Churchill.
So while not widely perceived that way, even those wars can be argued to not be "good wars", necessary wars, but wars that could have been avoided.
I don't know how the perception is in Australia or Europe or Russia or China, but the slightest awareness of the conflict in Syria here in the U.S. is virtually nonexistent, except by those most aware of the news, maybe 20% of the country.
And even watching news in the U.S., the news here is much more America-centric than, say, BBC or DW News or RT news. I'm amazed at the ratio of the broadcast devoted to world news when I watch BBC, relative to that of FOX, CNN, or even PBS News Hour.
So... while the under-30 crowd in the U.S. might be less aware of Nazis, I don't know how socially conscious or concerned they are about Syria. Certainly in the U.S., the liberal media programs its viewers to see Republicans/conservatives as a new rising "white supremacist" threat, the new Nazis, and any fear of islamic violence, muslim non-asssimilation, and outright muslim hatred of the west as "islamophobia".
The media programs the public, particularly those under 30, to see any sense of self-preservation of our culture as "racism". And therefore does the opposite of what comics and other culture of the 1940's did, that made us proud of our culture, and passionate about making any personal sacrifice in the cause of preserving it from external invasion and conquest.
Modern liberal/progressivism (that has also infiltrated comics writing) sees the U.S. and broader western culture as something to be ashamed of, built on a racist past, with a huge debt to pay for its past sins, unworthy of its sovereignty or preservation. And indoctrinated in that notion, the new generation are passively timid about defending it, out of either indifference or leftist anti-Americanism, welcome its destruction and its being melted into a new globalist/socialist order. (An anti-western/ anti-capitalist mindset that ignores the far greater corruption, inequality, brutality and genocide of any other culture outside of Western nations.)
So, amid this bombardment of leftist indoctrination, I can see where a 1940's style message of nationalism and patriotism would go against the grain of what's currently being indoctrinated. Perhaps what's needed are more comics offering a counter-narrative, to de-program readers out of the prevailing narrative.
You can see a preachy narrative in comics of the early 1970's like the O'Neil/Adams GREEN LANTERN issues. But it didn't go to the level of the current liberal narrative, that demonizes as Nazis everyone on the conservative side of the spectrum the way the current liberal narrative does.
And even demonizes even any Democrat/liberal who isn't perceived as "progressive" enough.
I wonder if it's the same in Europe and Australia and Japan as it is in the U.S. I actually suspect it is worse, because in the U.S., at least here there is a conservative media, despite that the media is 80% liberal, to push back and offer a counter-argument. From what I understand in Europe, there is no conservative media to challenge the liberal narrative.
But even most comics, TV and movies these days that portray Nazis just use them as a backdrop for zombies or other escapist fun. In the vein of Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter and so forth. So even presented for a modern audience, they've often lost their meaning.
