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Surveying a seriously troubled world security landscape
The world is now grappling with a number of unresolved conflicts not only with certain rogue nations, but with murderous terrorist groups as well.
The recent annual assessment of The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) is not very encouraging. General Director John Chipman firmly stated: "Many parts of the world are engaged in brutal combat . . . Overall the dangerous triptych of Iraq, Afghanistan and Iran continues to dominate the security agenda as do the wider, iconic problems of terrorism and [nuclear] proliferation" (The Guardian, May 25, emphasis added throughout).
The Middle East, where we see a resurging Taliban problem in Afghanistan, continued crippling loss of life by insurgencies in Iraq, and a stubborn Iran seemingly determined to acquire nuclear weapons in violation of the nonproliferation treaty it has signed, dominates world security concerns. But in fact the global security landscape threatens to boil over in the year ahead when crucial tipping points could come together resulting in several simultaneous crises around the world.
Among them are China's continued military expansion and aggressive hunt for oil, the undisguised nuclear ambitions of North Korea, the explosive Palestinian problem and increasing violence in Southern Asia and parts of Africa such as the Sudan.
Apparently China wants to build a navy that will challenge America in the Pacific. The Chinese military buildup has become obvious, including an additional deployment of 300 J-10 fighter jets. China has also expressed great interest in buying land-attack cruise missiles from Russia.
Realistic assessments of China's military budget show that defense outlays now approach 3 percent of the nation's gross domestic product. IISS leader John Chipman stated, "[Military] expenditure is on a sharp upward trend and will remain so in view of popular and elite support for accelerated defense modernisation and because of China's increasing capacity to sustain spending at a high level without noticeably undermining other developmental goals."
The Chinese military trajectory is no secret, nor is the country's continuing designs on Taiwan.
The IISS also stated that North Korea now has "enough plutonium to build between five and 11 nuclear weapons." Consider noted historian Niall Ferguson's report in The Sunday Telegraph: "In 2002, the North Koreans restarted their nuclear facilities at Yongbyon (which had been closed under the US-North Korean agreed framework of 1994) with the clear intention of enriching uranium. Since then they have been busy producing weapons-grade plutonium" (June 4).
The Western world, even along with Chinese and Russian participation, has engaged in periodic diplomacy supplemented with generous economic sweeteners. But as Mr. Ferguson concludes, North Korea "shows no sign of renouncing their nuclear ambitions."
The latest report (by writers of the Financial Times stationed in Washington D.C. and Seoul) is truly frightening. "North Korea is preparing for a possible test of an intercontinental ballistic missile with the potential to hit the US, according to Washington officials. A senior official said that there were 'enough indications' to suggest that Pyongyang was getting ready to fire a Taepodong-2 missile from a launch pad in North Korea ."
There is, of course, a possibility that Kim Jong II, the North Korean dictator, is simply indulging in a dangerous bluff hoping to create some sort of an international crisis.
As Jesus Christ foretold, the time before His return would be one of "wars and rumors of wars" (Matthew 24:6). His description sounds remarkably like our day! (Sources: The Sunday Telegraph, The Guardian [both London], Financial Times.)
The United States as world policeman
Notwithstanding the fact that the United States is the world's only remaining superpower with a military budget that is the envy of many nations, American resources are far from unlimited. Some observers already feel that the nation's human and financial resources are becoming dangerously overstretched.
Earlier this year the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff bluntly stated: "We are in a critical time in the history of this great country and find ourselves challenged in ways we did not expect. We face a ruthless enemy intent on destroying our way of life and an uncertain future" (The Guardian, Feb. 15, emphasis added).
The American military brief has been dubbed "The Long War." Naturally the main focus is Islamic terrorism. The United States expects and plans for a generation of anti-Islamist conflicts. But Washington 's military commitments embrace many megaproblems far more widespread than the daily threat of world terrorism.
America is not finished with its commitments overseas in the wake of World War II, which ended more than 60 years ago. Nearly 70,000 U.S. troops are still stationed in Europe. More than 68,000 remain in Japan. Nearly 70,000 are still in South Korea following the Korean conflict of the early 1950s. Qatar and Bahrain together have nearly 10,000.
Figuring in Iraq, with well over 100,000 U.S. personnel in harm's way, American military commitments abroad in both men and weaponry are truly staggering. The total global picture stands at about 350,000. According to military officialdom, "The US will work to ensure that no foreign power can dictate the terms of regional or global security."
That is truly a tall order! Given the reactions we see on television and read in newspapers and magazines, do Americans have the staying power to endure the sacrifices that will inevitably be required by growing domestic and foreign tensions? Can America continue to remain the world's policeman indefinitely?
Closer to home, the United States appears to be losing support in its own backyard of Latin America. Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Evo Morales of Bolivia are trying to take their countries out of the shadow of North America while looking abroad to China.
Did you ever ask yourself why the United States became a world superpower with Britain standing by its side as a loyal ally in most instances? Our free booklet explains just who the English-speaking peoples are descended from and where they are headed according to Bible prophecy.
The Bible reveals that enormous troubles lie not far ahead and that the Middle East and Europe will become even more the focus of future headlines and problems. To better understand, request or download our free booklets and (Source: The Guardian.)
The Republic of Ireland searches for its moral compass
Until recent years one got the distinct impression that Eire or the Republic of Ireland was somewhat immune from some of the social problems that have generally dogged our Western world. Now it appears that Ireland is experiencing some of the West's disturbing trends with a vengeance.
Many Irish teenagers did not realize that it was illegal for a girl under 17 or a boy under 15 to be sexually active with partners. As one teen said, "Most of my friends would be fairly sexually active, from about 13." A reporter observed that "explicit sex acts go on both inside and outside the teen disco" (Sunday Independent [Eire], June 4).
A recent legal technicality permitted a convicted pedophile to walk free. A virtual tsunami of public anger spread throughout the republic. Various parents commented that "children are definitely in danger" and that "Ireland is a haven for pedophiles." Schoolteachers stated that "dangerous liaisons and dance halls are the real sex educators."
The Republic of Ireland is rapidly waking up to some of the dangers inherent in our present Western way of life. (Source: Sunday Independent [Eire].)
Proposed "Sexual Orientation Regulations" threaten traditional marriage in Britain
According to a recent report in The Daily Telegraph, "New governmental proposals could require clergy to bless homosexual 'weddings' or face prosecution, the Church of England said yesterday" (June 10). These new Department of Trade and Industry proposals (labeled Sexual Orientation Regulations or SOR) are apparently designed to protect homosexual men and women from discrimination with regard to goods, services and facilities on the basis of their sexual orientation.
It is understood that religious schools "could be required to teach that homosexuality was of equal value to heterosexual marriage and if ministers of religion were not properly protected they could be open to legal action" (ibid.).
To give the Anglican Church its due, on the whole its leaders have responded to these new governmental proposals with diplomacy, courage and conviction.
For instance, the church's information pack states: "Christians of course earnestly desire the repentance and salvation of homosexuals. However, the Bible is clear that the only right sexual relationship for which we were created, is a relationship between a man and a woman in the context of a legitimate marriage. Consequently, there are times when Christians need to be free to discriminate against homosexuality in order to be constant and clear . . . in teaching that the Bible says homosexual practice is sinful" (Anglican Web site, emphasis added).
The British government wants these new regulations to become the law in England and Wales by October. However, it has formally asked if there should be any exceptions to protect religious groups.
According to the Anglican information pack, "The regulations have been described by some leading Christian figures from across denominational lines as representing an even greater threat to Christian liberty than had been posed by the Racial and Religious Hatred Bill."
Christians should pray fervently that the final outcome of the proposed legislation will make provision for ministers and others to obey God's laws without suffering legal penalties. (Sources: The Daily Telegraph [London], the Anglican Church Web site.)
Why earthquakes?
The Bible tells us that in the end times, there will be earthquakes in various places (Matthew 24:7). Although earthquakes likely have shaken our planet as long as it has existed, it appears that more numerous intense earthquakes have happened over the past century.
Jesus Christ said earthquakes, along with other natural disasters, would cause human suffering until His second coming. A final globe-girdling earthquake greater than any before is prophesied to shake the entire earth immediately before Christ returns (Revelation 16:18).
Recently in Bantul, Indonesia, a 6.3-magnitude earthquake killed more than 6,200 people, injured 30,000 more and destroyed 135,000 houses across Java Island (Associated Press report, June 2). The world's largest archipelago is Indonesia, located on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanoes that ring the Pacific Basin. There are 76 volcanoes in Indonesia alone, the largest concentration in the world.
The Supreme Designer has built the earth in such a way that tectonic plates can morph and, on occasion convulse, creating dramatic shifts of the earth's surface. Over time such geologic movements redistribute and recycle minerals crucial to keeping the earth habitable for plants, animals and people. At the same time earthquakes can cause great human suffering and, in some cases, encourage human beings to turn to God. This is one prophetic reason that earthquakes occur (Revelation 16:17-21).
European Union not yet united
"The sky is clearing up . . . the thunderstorm clouds of the last year are slowly disappearing," Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik told a news conference after two days of talks in Klosterneuburg abbey near Vienna over the weekend of May 27-28. The talks produced fresh consensus on the need for EU treaty changes to be agreed on at least before 2009 (EUObserver.com).
There are numerous biblical and secular road signs on the global fast lane to a world-dominating confederation of nations (the fall of which is described in Revelation 18). The world is temporarily blinded to this coming great power, though the Bible specifically reveals its coming emergence (Revelation 13 and 17).
Scripture shows that a future Europe-centered confederation will rise above all other geopolitical powers. Europe will revive its roots, apparently in a final version of the Holy Roman Empire. This process has been in the works for years. To learn more, request or download our free booklet .
Don't forget avian flu
Experts tell us that from the viewpoint of public health, Avian flu is the number one threat facing humanity. "When we think of major threats, the first to come to mind are nuclear proliferation, rogue states and global terrorism. But another kind of threat is lurking, one from nature, not human—an avian flu pandemic. An outbreak could cause millions of deaths and threaten the security of governments around the world" (International Herald Tribune, June 7, emphasis added).
Did you ever take a moment to imagine the heartbreaking decisions physicians would be forced to make should we face a serious outbreak of avian flu? Who do they try to save and in what order—the medical and emergency personnel who can help others survive rather than the average person? The young over the old? Mothers with young children over the middle-aged?
Can you foresee the enormous numbers of people who may have to be quarantined? Can you imagine not being able to leave your dwelling to go to work or get groceries? Homes could very well become temporary prisons. The very people who keep our water and electrical power running may not be able to go to work. Did you ever consider that possibility?
Recent incursions of the virus into kinds of animals not previously infected may be an indication that the virus could soon mutate into a form easily transmissible to and between human beings. Most experts think that if the virus gets into the human family it will spread first from Southeast Asia. An infected person could board a plane in someplace like Bangkok and be in Chicago or London the next day. We need to think about what may lie ahead of us. (Source: International Herald Tribune.)
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Keywords: bird flu avian flu China Ireland North Korea U.S. power homosexual marriage earthquakes
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