December 2000 Vol.3, No. 10

Contents What Lies Ahead for U.S. Leadership?    by Darris McNeely U.S. Election Crisis - End of Political Stability?    by Melvin Rhodes World Watches U.S. Post- Election Predicament    by Cecil Maranville The Perfect Prophetic Storm    by Mario Seigle In Brief...World News Review     by Darris McNeely,    Cecil E. Maranville    John Ross    Ross Schroeder This is the Way...One Moment in Time    by Robin Webber U.S. Election Crisis -End of Political Stability? Political stability is rare. It's essential that those countries that have found the way to enduring stability hold fast. Has the historical stability of the U.S. form of government begun to wane? by Melvin Rhodes We awoke to the sound of gunfire. It was a Monday morning. I turned on the radio. Handel's Water Music was playing, unusual music in the West African nation of Ghana. A friend rushed into the house. "A coup. A coup. A coup!" was his excited cry. Many countries in Africa, South America and Asia and island nations around the world have experienced similar violent changes of government. These sudden, often unforeseen, violent upheavals certainly make for more interesting politics than what we have in the Western democracies. But they take an enormous toll, not only in lives lost, but also in terms of economic progress and stability. Without political stability, it is impossible to have economic progress. Until a nation has a stable political system in place, it is impossible for people to plan their lives, to conduct business successfully, to go about their daily routine with any hope for the future. What is truly remarkable is how few nations of this world have had political stability during the last one hundred years. If longevity, together with the continuous and repeated peaceful transfer of power without civil war or other internal upheaval, are indicators of political stability, then there are few success stories in the world of today. Interestingly, the nations that stand out in this regard are the English-speaking nations whose people are descended from the biblical tribe of Joseph. The election of 2000 has left the world bewildered, with people wondering if America is going to start to have the succession problems that other nations frequently experience. Political stability essential, but uncommon Great Britain itself has enjoyed political stability since the "Glorious Revolution" of 1688. Following the death of Queen Anne in 1714, the same dynasty has been on the throne for almost 300 years with peaceful transfers of elected governments taking place periodically in that time. Through ties with the British crown, other nations have also enjoyed this same stability, notably Canada, Australia and New Zealand. A unique system of checks and balances has ensured that no one person has too much power, thereby safely guaranteeing a peaceful, stable government. When nations have severed the tie with the crown, political instability has often been the result. The American system of government is built on similar checks and balances. The United States has enjoyed 135 years of political stability since the end of the Civil War. No other modern nations can boast of such longevity. Whereas Germany, France, Italy, Russia and China have cultures that go back thousands of years, the political systems they now have are relatively new and follow periods of great upheaval. The German Federal Republic is less than 50 years old. France's Fifth Republic dates back to 1958 and is the latest of many constitutional arrangements that have been tried since the revolution of 1789. Italy's republic is also post-World War II and has seen more changes of government than any other Western nation, while Russia and China have suffered through a century of revolutions, civil wars and other political problems. Political instability has been the norm for most of the new nations of the world, given birth since World War II as the European powers dismantled their colonial empires. Most of these countries are republics with their own presidents, but few have been able to manage successfully the peaceful transition from one leader to another. Even when there are democratic structures in place, endemic corruption denies any government a real claim of legitimacy. Ironically, many former colonies that benefited from political stability in colonial times, have known only chaos since independence. British colonies were able to share the benefits of the stable British political system while under colonial rule, sometimes for centuries. Promised blessings When considering the physical blessings promised to Abraham and his descendants in Genesis, chapter 12, one of those blessings must surely be the stable political systems evolved over centuries that enabled economic development to take place on an unprecedented scale. "In blessing I will bless you" (Genesis 22:17). Joseph's descendants could not have been "a fruitful bough" (Genesis 49:22) in the "last days" (verse 1) without political stability. The United States and the older members of the British Commonwealth have been politically stable for so long that few of their citizens today appreciate what they have. Demands for constitutional changes that could seriously rupture that stability are increasingly heard. "God Save the King" (or Queen) is an old cry, dating back to Old Testament times (1Samuel 10:24; Daniel 2:4; 5:10). There are good reasons that people wanted the king to live a long time. The reigning monarch was a known entity. His style of rulership was usually predictable. That meant stability. In order for that stability to continue, he must have a male heir. Even today, church bells ring out across the land in some European countries to announce the birth of a royal heir, assuring the people of another generation of political stability. Russian czars once held their naked newborn sons up in the air on the palace balcony so that the people could see that a male heir was born, alive and well. They could now go home safe and secure in the knowledge that there would be stability at least for the remainder of their lives. Constitutional government The British system of constitutional monarchy evolved over centuries. Angry and frustrated at the excesses of some of the medieval kings, nobles gradually increased the powers of the Parliament until the English Civil War in the 1640s involved both king and Parliament in a struggle for dominance. Parliament won. The king lost his head, and England was for a few years a republic. But the republic ended up a dictatorship under Oliver Cromwell. Determined that no other politician should ever have dictatorial powers, the country restored the monarchy. Additionally, the monarch's powers were limited, with ultimate power residing in the Parliament. Over a century later, when the United States was formed, America's founding fathers had a real challenge - to establish a lasting democratic republic that would not become a dictatorship. Historically, republics have not lasted very long. America today is the oldest democratic republic in the world. This is an incredible accomplishment. What is truly amazing is that no other country has been able to copy the American system of government successfully. It is as if the American system of government is uniquely suited to the United States of America. It has worked well - until now. The presidential election of November 2000 has left the world bewildered, with people wondering if America is going to start to have the succession problems that other nations frequently experience. If so, then political stability will be a casualty and America's economic progress will suffer, affecting other nations badly at the same time. If America is perceived as unstable, other nations will lose confidence in her. If the president lacks legitimacy, it will be much more difficult for world leaders to look to the president of the United States as the leader of the free world. What the future holds What has gone wrong? Could it happen again? We need to understand that no political system is perfect. The British and American systems have worked better for longer than any other political systems in today's world, but they are still man-made. Neither country is the Kingdom of God. Jesus Christ made it clear in John 18:36 that His "kingdom is not of this world." His kingdom, to be established at His return, will be a perfect kingdom. Interestingly, "of the increase of His government and peace there will be no endSto order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever" (Isaiah 9:7). Political stability is promised "forever." Meanwhile, all nations have to do the best they can to work out their own systems. Humanly speaking, the British and American systems have worked better than others, for longer periods. Interestingly, the two institutions upon which this stability has been built, the British monarchy and the American presidency, have taken quite a battering during the last decade, mostly due to scandals that could easily have been avoided. At the same time, greater openness has removed the awe. Further weakening of these institutions can only be a negative development for the American and British peoples. It is of supreme importance that those who reside in the White House and Buckingham Palace recognize the serious responsibility they have in contributing to the stability and well being of the nations over which they preside. When politicians squabble over who holds the supreme office, it is understandable that fears of America becoming a "banana republic" are heard, both at home and overseas. Political uncertainty over the presidency is to be expected in some of the poorer, less politically stable nations of the Third World. People do not expect to see the same in the richest nation in the world, a nation that has been politically stable longer than anybody can remember. A nation divided The recent election brought out how deeply divided America has become. In an article titled "Election Reflects a Nation Divided," ABC-TV news correspondent Cokie Roberts and her husband, Steven, wrote the following: "As the election returns show, the voters are as divided as the politicians. Even though Gore and Bush both ran as centrists, exit polls demonstrate they were appealing to two very different constituencies. Start with geography. The Democratic states are grouped mainly in three clusters: the Northeast, the upper Middle West and the Pacific coast. The rest is GOP (Republican) country, with almost no regional overlap. "Then there is race. Whites and non-whites are living on different planets. Six in ten Latinos voted Democratic nationwide and so did nine of ten blacks. Whites favored Bush by 12 points. Gender differences were almost as striking. Men voted Republican by 11 points, women favored the Democrats by the same margin. That figures out to a 22-point gender gap, the largest since exit polling started and five points larger than the difference four years ago" (Denver Rocky Mountain News, November 9, 2000). Two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ warned that "a house divided against itself cannot stand" (Matthew 12:25). Other factors also cause concern. For a democratic system to work, everybody must be willing to play by the rules, to accept the result and then unite behind whoever wins. This election will long be remembered as the first (of many?) when the rules themselves were openly criticized and the results constantly questioned. It is doubtful whether the supporters of the losing candidate will unite behind the new president no matter which one takes the oath of office in January. Many have expressed concern at the important role played by both the media and the legal profession in this election. The media announced the result, based on their own predictions, before the polls closed, thereby affecting voter turnout in some areas. Accusations of media bias are common. After the election, the close election result led to lawyers and the courts playing a major role in determining the outcome, thereby setting precedents that will long influence future elections. Whatever the outcome of the present impasse and the future consequences, it is clear that the world has been jolted into a realization that America's political stability cannot be taken for granted. This is something new for America and for her friends. Also for her enemies who may take advantage of this new situation. One thing is certain - American elections will never be the same again. v

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