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Staying Alert in a Dangerous World:
India and Pakistan
in Perspective
It's supremely important that you keep your finger on the pulse of our age, especially
on the world's recent nuclear developments.
by John Ross Schroeder
"Despite long-standing intelligence
monitoring, India's five nuclear tests on land . . . took the world by
surprise." So stated the June issue of the magazine Strategic Comments. So
much for stability in an uncertain age.
Two Eastern nations--India and Pakistan--rattled the relative peace and well-being
of the world with their recent nuclear tests and saber-rattling directed at each
other. The threat is made more ominous by a potential war that would be partially
motivated by deep-seated religious differences.
Not many years ago the Berlin Wall fell, and the communist Soviet empire virtually
collapsed. In those--from the Western point of view--heady days, some observers thought
it possible that the world was adopting a new order, one that would usher in an unprecedented
age of international cooperation. One hundred fifty nations soon signed a fairly
comprehensive treaty to ban nuclear tests.
Recent events show that no end to the nuclear threat is in sight. If more countries
develop or gain access to these nightmarish weapons, the world will become an even
more dangerous place. The West has solid reasons for wanting to contain the nuclear
spread. Yet Libya, Iran, Iraq and possibly North Korea are seen as nations with the
disconcerting capacity to gain nuclear arsenals in the not-too-distant future.
A Sobering Press Briefing
This writer recently attended a press briefing at the Foreign Press Association
in London at which Gerald Segal, director of studies at the International Institute
for Strategic Studies, analyzed recent India-Pakistan developments in the light of
the nuclear threat.
Dr. Segal lamented the harm done to the discernible progress that previously had
been made in limiting the nuclear threat. He noted that nations such as the United
States, Russia and Britain had already made drastic cuts in such weaponry and that
South Africa and Brazil had apparently pulled out of the atomic race.
Dr. Segal described the recent tests as "a wakeup call to us all" and reminded his
listeners that bad decisions now will increase the threat to human survival.
The director of strategic studies shocked some in the audience when he declared that
China is the main reason India possesses and develops nuclear weaponry. Particularly
in the long term, India is far more afraid of China than Pakistan, he said. Many
observers have already labeled China as the next superpower.
National prestige affects Indian thinking. According to Strategic Comments,
"India wants to be seen to have a hydrogen bomb both because these devices are vastly
more destructive than fission bombs (as used in Hiroshima in 1945) and for reasons
of national prestige.
"The possession of such weapons would clearly raise India above Pakistan, and--so
Indians think--place them in the club of the five recognised nuclear-weapons states
(America, Russia, Britain, France and China). These countries are also permanent
members of the UN Security Council, to which India believes it has a right to belong."
A Growing Fraternity
The number of nuclear powers is growing. Experts recognize the existence of five
such nations, but, according to Dr. Segal, in reality there are now "five plus two"
now that India and Pakistan have joined the nuclear club. He, along with some other
analysts, believes that other countries, including Israel, also possess nuclear arms.
As nuclear weaponry expands, other nations feel it crucial to develop and add nuclear
devices to their defense arsenals. To them it is a matter of common sense and survival.
This situation considerably weakens world community control over the nuclear-arms
race.
Economic pressures in Pakistan are adding to the fear that she will share her nuclear
secrets with nations such as Iraq and Iran--for a hefty price, of course. Western
sanctions that could greatly increase Pakistani economic hardship might drive her
into making sales to dangerous and unstable regimes.
It's a catch-22 conundrum. The West feels sanctions are an important deterrence to
further nuclear activity, but if overly applied they could easily backfire. It's
a delicate balancing act.
No one wants to be faced with such dilemmas. Somewhere we have gone wrong. Is there
a source that tells us the significance of these and other world-altering events
and where we can expect to be 10, 20 and 50 years from now?
The Largely Ignored Biblical Perspective
The nuclear threat is not divorced from the Bible. Though 2,000 years old and more,
the Scriptures are quite up to date and applicable to our world. They specifically
warn us that an unprecedented time of universal distress will descend on planet earth.
Several biblical authors describe an era of earth-jarring events and chaos.
Consider these words from the book of Daniel (ca. 535 B.C.), written by a prophet
of God: "At that time Michael (an archangel) shall stand up, the great prince who
stands watch over the sons of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble,
such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time" (Daniel 12:1, emphasis
added throughout).
Even earlier the prophet Jeremiah wrote similar words of warning: "Ask and see: Can
a man bear children? Then why do I see every man with his hands on his stomach like
a woman in labour, every face turned deathly pale? How awful that day will be!
None will be like it. It will be a time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be saved
out of it" (Jeremiah 30:6-7, New International Version).
Until the mid-20th century mankind could not have grasped the horrendous portent
of these words. Yet they are rendered more ominous by the later warnings of Jesus
Christ Himself: "It will be a time of great distress; there has never been
such a time from the beginning of the world until now, and will never be again.
If that time of troubles were not cut short, no living thing could survive;
but for the sake of God's chosen it will be cut short" (Matthew 24:21-22, New English
Bible).
Therefore, Watch
Ours is a world fraught with unexpected dangers. Our future is in jeopardy. We
need to make sure we are spiritually on our guard. Jesus Himself warns: "Watch therefore,
and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will
come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man" (Luke 21:36).
Our biggest problem is that we have lost sight of God and His way of life. That is
why the United Church of God publishes booklets on many topics relevant to the Bible
and our world. We announce these new titles to our readers in the pages of The
Good News magazine as soon as they are prepared and printed.
In the meantime, why not request our free booklet The Gospel of the Kingdom.
It provides the background vital to understanding much of the prophetic portions
of the Bible.
©1999 United Church of God, an International Association
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