Information Related to "World News & Trends September/October 2010"
| Audio/Video |
Democracy isn't really working well in the developing world. "Despite an economic renaissance, much of Africa is drifting toward a new age of authoritarianism" (Jason McLure, "Why Democracy Isn't Working in Africa," Newsweek, June 18, 2010). Even leaders in the countries that have recently begun the democratic process have only used it to become elected autocrats.
The Russian leadership fell into this trap some time after the breakup of the Soviet Union. "Vladimir Putin, riding on high approval ratings while Russian president in the early 2000s, stripped regional governors of influence, eviscerated the national parliament and began to neuter influential media" (Joshua Kurlantzick, "Democracy in Danger," Prospect, June 2010).
The Independent reported the onset of new legislation in Russia confirming this trend. The upper house of Moscow's parliament recently passed a bill that "gives Russian security services sweeping powers to question people about crimes that have not yet been committed" (Shaun Walker, "New Russian Law Revives Sweeping KGB Powers," July 20, emphasis added throughout). Russian president Dmitry Medvedev's signature turns the bill into law.
In addition, "Venezuela's Hugo Chavez appears to be deploying similar tactics, using his power to entrench his allies and undermine checks on his presidency-for instance, by revoking the license of the nation's most vocal private television network and those of dozens of radio stations" (Kurlantzick).
Examples could be cited in the opposite direction, but those are notable exceptions to the rule. Newsweek commented, "But backsliders have them outnumbered, a shift that hasn't gone unnoticed in the West" (McLure). Even supposedly fairly well-established democracies have succumbed to the danger, Thailand being a clear case in point.
The European Union (EU) was largely created to both inhibit and prevent warring and dangerous dictatorships from developing again in Europe. The Bible plainly tells us that this carefully contrived human strategy will not work in the long run.
Although one Turkish politician described the EU as "the greatest peace project in the history of mankind," God's Word tells us that a charismatic dictator called "the Beast" is destined to arise and dominate the European scene-controlling the world at large as well. The final book of the Bible warns us of what will happen: "And all the world marveled and followed the beast" (Revelation 13:3). Masses of people will exclaim: "Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?" (verse 4).
His authority and influence will spread over the whole planet. The apostle John wrote, "And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue [language], and nation" (verse 7). To understand much more, request or download our free booklets You Can Understand Bible Prophecy, The Book of Revelation Unveiled and Are We Living in the Time of the End? (Sources: The Independent, Prospect [both London], Newsweek.)
A new gene that makes bacteria resistant to virtually all antibiotics has been discovered in patients in the United States, Britain and South Asia, according to an Aug. 11, 2010, Reuters report by health and science reporters Kate Kelland and Ben Hirschler. The new gene apparently originated in India and is being spread outside the country by patients traveling there for inexpensive health care.
The article quoted Timothy Walsh of Cardiff University in Britain, who said: "At a global level, this is a real concern...Because of medical tourism [traveling abroad for medical procedures] and international travel in general, resistance to these types of bacteria has the potential to spread around the world very, very quickly. And there is nothing in the (drug development) pipeline to tackle it."
A longtime problem in health care is the ability of bacteria to develop resistance to antibiotics, meaning researchers are constantly forced to develop new antibiotics to treat infections.
A particularly troubling development in recent years was the spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, which takes thousands of lives worldwide every year due to its resistance to most antibiotics. This new gene raises the stakes even higher, as no new drugs are in development that can effectively deal with it.
Because India is becoming a growing provider for cosmetic surgery for Americans and Europeans, it's likely bacteria with the drug-resistant gene will spread worldwide, with potentially devastating results. (Source: Reuters.)
British Labour Party Member of Parliament Denis MacShane recently summed up Turkey's current circumstances: "In the Cold War years Turkey was unquestionably accepted as the West's most important frontier nation. Now it seems to prefer coddling Iran over backing the U.N. Security Council's harder line against Tehran. Disputes with Israel, once a key friend of Turkey, have become so bad, there is almost a rupture between the only two democracies in the region" ("Stop the Blame Game," Newsweek, July 23, 2010).
Turkey has even voted against United Nations–sponsored sanctions intended to rein in Iran's nuclear ambitions.
Time magazine selected "Turning to the East" as the title for a feature article about Turkey. The teaser for the article stated, "Feeling betrayed by Israel and snubbed by Europe, Turkey is forging a new identity as an independent regional power" (Pelin Turgut, July 5, 2010).
Modern Turkey's claim to a unique global role is partially based on its development out of the Ottoman Empire (roughly 1345 to 1918)-stretching from just outside Vienna, Austria, to the Persian Gulf. Ankara, Turkey's capital, also remains centrally located between East and West-theoretically interfacing between these two different worlds.
Newsweek'sfeature piece placed "Ankara in the Middle." The article stated: "Once an unquestioning U.S. ally, and [today] at odds with most of its neighbors, Turkey is now forging a new foreign policy, with itself at the very center" (Owen Matthews, Newsweek, July 26, 2010).
U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates observed that "if there is anything to the notion that Turkey is, if you will, moving eastward, it is, in my view, in no small part because it was pushed, and pushed by some in Europe refusing to give Turkey the kind of organic link to the West that Turkey sought" (as quoted by Marc Champion and Peter Spiegel, "Gates Says EU Pushed Turkey Away," The Wall Street Journal, June 10, 2010). Clearly America's political leadership has become very concerned about this new direction in Ankara's thinking. (Sources: Time, Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal.)
A popular column in The Economist stated that "America still towers over rivals in scientific virtuosity, military power, the vitality of democracy and much else. Polls show that Americans are still among the most patriotic people in the world" ("Where Has All the Greatness Gone?" July 17, 2010). But this brief assessment of America's stature also acknowledges the nation's serious difficulties-it being "battered by recession, deep in debt, mired in war."
America faces multiple international problems on many fronts. North
Korea is but one. Recently both Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates were present at the heavily fortified
demilitarized zone (DMZ) where troops from both the North and the South
constantly face each other across no-man's land. South Korea has 600,000
soldiers, and the United States still stations a force of 28,000 there
to protect the South. On the other side, North Korea's army numbers
about a
million soldiers.
The show of solidarity included the arrival of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington in Pusan. As a July 27, 2010, Associated Press article observed, "If you want to let someone know you are thinking about them, send a massive aircraft carrier." This demonstration of force was "designed to send a clear message to North Korea that its aggressive behavior must stop," said Gen. Walter Sharp, the top U.S. military commander in South Korea (Associated Press, July 28, 2010).
China denounced the entire exercise and was particularly annoyed that these military exercises occurred in the Yellow Sea near the Chinese coast. In Singapore, Sino-American tensions have also flared up again over Taiwan. "The wary relationship between the militaries of the U.S. and China flared openly-though courteously-at a conference here this weekend, a brief flash of the long-standing tension that's centered on Taiwan but extends to their broader alliances and differing worldviews" (Evan Ramstad, "U.S., China Display Military Wariness," The Wall Street Journal, June 7, 2010).
Then the Chinese decided not to invite Secretary Gates (as had been previously expected) to the People's Republic for a visit. Also during the Singapore conference "China...refused to criticize North Korea but sharply criticized Israel" (ibid.).
The long-standing American alliance with Japan also may be facing a period of worrying fragility. Washington's diplomatic relationship with Japan has long been "a cornerstone of peace and security" in the region (Tobias Harris, "Japan-U.S. Relations Could Get Bumpy," Newsweek, July 16, 2010). Japan's political instability at home gets the blame for the present disruption. Economic growth has been somewhat unsteady for 10 years and more.
Yet "Japan will likely grow even more dependent on the U.S. for its security, with the difference being that the relationship will be more fragile. For Japan, every U.S. initiative toward China will be scrutinized for signs that the U.S. is abandoning Japan in the region"-certainly a catch-22 conundrum for America (ibid.).
While these international relationships in East Asia remain seriously threatening, they pale when compared to Afghanistan. President Barack Obama, who inherited the Afghan and Iraq wars from the previous administration, has decided to step up efforts in Afghanistan while drawing down in Iraq.
A Spectator writer summed up his take on the U.S. dilemma, and he is by no means alone in this view: "Obama has in effect bet the house on America's ability to determine the fate of a quasi-nation possessing marginal significance to the West...The Most Powerful Man in the World finds himself a prisoner of events he cannot control" (Andrew Bacevich, "Obama Is in Hock to the Hawks," July 3, 2010). Recall that Lyndon Johnson was forced to grapple with a similar situation involving the Vietnam War in the 1960s.
On the other hand, Joe Klein's column in Time magazine advises the U.S. to forget Afghanistan: "Afghanistan is really a sideshow here. Pakistan is the primary U.S. national-security concern in the region … It has a nuclear stockpile, and lives under the threat of an Islamist coup by some of the very elements in its military who created and support the Taliban" ("Beyond the Leaks: Our Pakistan Problem," Aug. 9, 2010). In fact, both countries constitute enormous problems for America.
The United States will have to confront even greater challenges in the future. Yet the fate of the nation remains firmly in God's hands. If our Creator decides that the gospel of the Kingdom should go out with much greater power and influence, He may hold off calamitous national and world events to accommodate His overall purpose.
The whole story of how and why America became a great nation and why its leadership will be severely tested again and again is thoroughly explained in our free booklet The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy. Request or download your free copy! (Sources: The Wall Street Journal, The Spectator [London], The Economist, Time, Newsweek, Associated Press.)
"War is hell," stated American Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman as his Union soldiers crossed the Pearl River after the fall of Vicksburg, Mississippi, in 1863. Today, war is still hell for the soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, but a new problem has surfaced within U.S. military forces that shows the stress soldiers face.
"A record high number of Army suicides are linked to an increasingly 'permissive' environment in the service where soldiers take personal risks in their lives by using alcohol and drugs, committing crimes and refusing to get psychological help, according to a sweeping internal investigation released by Army officials," said a July 29, 2010, USA Today article (Gregg Zoroya, "Army Suicides Linked to Risky Behavior, Lax Discipline"). In many cases, the report says, commanders don't do enough to curb the behavior.
"The review commissioned last year by the No. 2 Army commander, Gen. Peter Chiarelli, says this 'Army-wide problem' is linked to a tally of deaths last year that included 160 active-duty soldiers who committed suicide and 146 more who died during risky activity or behavior such as drug use. Seventy-four of those deaths were drug overdoses. There were also 1,713 attempted suicides last year."
The number of suicides and attempted suicides in the U.S. military is tragic. War truly is hell, and the more American society tolerates the abuse of alcohol and drugs, the weaker will be our values. The Bible shows this will all change after Christ's return, when peace will break out all over the world. As Micah 4:3 tells us, all nations will beat their swords into plowshares and will at last learn war no more. (Source: USA Today.)
| © 1995-2022 United
Church of God, an International Association Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. All correspondence and questions should be sent to info@gnmagazine.org. Send inquiries regarding the operation of this Web site to webmaster@gnmagazine.org. |
|
Related Information:
Table of Contents that includes "World News & Trends September/October 2010"
Other Articles by John Ross Schroeder
Other Articles by Jerold Aust
Origin of article "World News & Trends September/October 2010"
Keywords: democracy authoritarianism suicide
Japan: