Information Related to "World News & Trends: November/December 2009"
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More than five months before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Time magazine published a major article about the Republican style of U.S. diplomacy (April 2, 2001). Its author, Johanna McGeary, defined international diplomacy in the introductory paragraph: "Diplomacy is an art form, a subtle construct of gestures and words, body language and rhetoric carefully arranged for a single purpose: to persuade another country to behave the way you want ... How do you convey your views so they're firm and forceful without putting the other side's back up?" ("Dubya Talks the Talk," emphasis added throughout).
The Time feature article was basically about former President George W. Bush's tough diplomatic style. Current President Barack Obama's own style brings out the sharp contrast of his administration's fundamental approach to international diplomacy. Scrapping the Bush administration's planned placement of an American missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic to help protect Europe and Israel from the Iranian missile threat represents a major turning point in Washington's way of dealing with crucial world problems.
President Obama appears to want to rely on sanctions to change Iranian behavior. But do sanctions work? Frankly, no! There is a steady flow of illegal exports to rogue regimes already under sanctions. There was a tenfold increase in such exports to Tehran even during the Bush years.
The reaction from the right to the missile pullout was both sharp and predictable. Many in both Warsaw and Prague felt that America had betrayed them. A headline in The Daily Telegraph read: "US Missile Shield: Appeasement Is Alive And Well in Barack Obama's White House. President Barack Obama's Decision to Abandon the Missile Shield Will Weaken the US and Embolden Its Enemies" (Sept. 18, 2009). A day later the paper's official editorial stated that "Obama is gambling with Europe's security."
London Financial Times columnist Philip Stephens expressed clear-sighted points about America's role in the Middle East-points that apply to the U.S. global position as well. He stated: "But the shifting balance of power is about more than Iran's nuclear ambitions and its president's Holocaust denial. American power in the region has been hobbled by the war in Iraq, the insurgency in Afghanistan and by a consequent perception among Arab states that Washington cannot deliver" ("Four Things You Must Know About the Global Puzzle," Sept. 25, 2009).
Even America's closest ally in the Middle East rejected President Obama's call to halt settlement expansion. "The Israeli prime minister's rebuff signalled that he, too, sees the US as a waning power" (ibid.).
The following questions must be asked: Will Washington's recent approach to international diplomacy really work in the long run? Will America be able to maintain its dominant position in the world through this style of diplomacy? Will this approach persuade rogue regimes like Iran and North Korea to respond positively and mend their ways?
To understand both the historic and prophetic background to these current international dilemmas and where they are taking America, request or download our free booklet The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy. (Sources: The Daily Telegraph, Financial Times [both London], Time.)
A feature article in USA Today stated: "With President Obama presiding over an historic session, the UN Security Council unanimously approved a U.S. sponsored resolution ... committing all nations to work for a nuclear weapons-free world. Russia, China and developing nations supported the measure, giving it global clout and strong political backing" (Associated Press, "UN Aim: Nuclear-Free World," Sept. 25-27, 2009).
Dealing with the specifics of his Sept. 23 speech to the UN General Assembly in New York City, President Obama stated that "a new era of engagement" was needed to deal with the world's problems (The Daily Telegraph, "America Alone Cannot Solve World Problems, Insists Obama," Sept. 24, 2009).
The president also spoke of building a new world order: "The time has come for the world to move in a new direction. We must embrace a new era of engagement based on mutual interest and mutual respect, and our work must begin now." If only our human nature would allow us to truly work together this way! God lamented about ancient Israel: "O that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!" (Deuteronomy 5:29).
Nuclear disarmament remains one of the chief pillars of the president's program. Although the Russian arsenal is numerically larger than America's, Moscow's weaponry is steadily deteriorating and in terms of operational nuclear missiles remains on a par with the United States. Clearly Russia needs a disarmament agreement far more than America.
The dangerous age we live in will not become less so with unilateral U.S. disarmament while a few nations manage to cleverly hold on to their own atomic weapons and rogue nations like Iran and North Korea join the nuclear club. We must ask why the nations are being propelled on a path that can only lead to a world crisis far worse than the two world wars that blighted the 20th century.
A future world with ever-weakening American power and influence will find itself in far more trouble than it currently faces. The reality is that "the US, of course, remains the world's sole superpower, stronger than its rivals in every dimension. If Washington cannot always get its way, no other nation is anywhere near ready to replace it as guarantor of global security" (Philip Stephens, "Four Things You Must Know About the Global Puzzle," Financial Times, Sept. 25, 2009). Whether they realize it or not, it is not in the interests of civilized nations to rejoice over the continuing decline of the United States.
To obtain a much-needed overall perspective as to which direction this troubled world is taking and where it will ultimately end, request or download our free booklets You Can Understand Bible Prophecy and Are We Living in the Time of the End? (Sources: The Daily Telegraph, Financial Times [both London], USA Today.)
As discouraging as this latest recession has been to many, we have not seen the end of it, as indicated by various sectors of society and our economy. And it's having some repercussions not immediately evident.
A Sept. 22, 2009, Associated Press article points out: "The recession is profoundly disrupting American life: More people are delaying marriage and home-buying, turning to carpools yet getting stuck in ever-worse traffic, staying put rather than moving to new cities."
The article quotes Mark Mather, associate vice president of the nonprofit Population Reference Bureau, as observing: "The recession has affected everybody in one way or another as families use lots of different strategies to cope with a new economic reality. Job loss-or the potential for job loss-also leads to feelings of economic insecurity and can create social tension" (ibid.).
The article notes that marriage has also suffered as a result of the recession: "Nearly one in three Americans 15 and over, or 31.2 percent, reported they had never been married, the highest level in a decade ... The never-married included three-quarters of men in their 20s and two-thirds of women in that age range. Sociologists say younger people are taking longer to reach economic independence and consider marriage, because they are struggling to find work or focusing on an advanced education."
A turn to God and His Word can provide the answers America needs to right its self-inflicted wrongs (Deuteronomy 8). (Source: Associated Press.)
Files recently smuggled out of Russia freshly reveal former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's and the late French President François Mitterrand's true views of German reunification. Actually Mrs. Thatcher had previously mentioned them herself in her own memoirs (The Downing Street Years, 1993, pp. 792-793).
As Britain's Daily Mail reported on this latest development: "Margaret Thatcher was warned by France that a re-unified Germany might dominate Europe. A united Germany might 'make even more ground than Hitler had,' she was told by President Mitterrand of France only a few weeks after the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989. Papers being published ... by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office show the scale of Anglo-French fears on German re-unification" (John Chapman, "Thatcher's Fears After Fall of the Berlin Wall," Sept. 11, 2009).
In fact, the former British prime minister needed little coaxing from the French president to convince her about the potential perils of German reunification. "'We do not want a united Germany,' Margaret Thatcher told President Gorbachev [of the former Soviet Union] at a lunch meeting in the Kremlin . . . two months before the fall of the Berlin Wall" (Andrew Roberts, "Why Thatcher Feared a United Germany," The Sunday Telegraph, Sept. 13, 2009).
At that time Mrs. Thatcher thought reunification might well endanger British security in various ways. Her strong views concerning Germany were formed as a teenager listening to Winston Churchill's speeches in 1940 during the heat of World War II and afterwards.
Bible prophecy speaks of the future rise of a new geopolitical superpower in Central Europe that will astound the world's inhabitants. Germany stands in the very center of these coming events. To understand much more, request our free booklet The Book of Revelation Unveiled. (Sources: Daily Mail, The Sunday Telegraph [both London].)
With apologies to Mark Twain, it seems the rumors of the death of the European Constitution have been greatly exaggerated. The latest approvals of the Lisbon Treaty signal the coming of a United States of Europe.
Those who have followed developments in Europe may remember that European Union leaders not long ago tried to institute, through popular referendums and national parliamentary votes, a constitution that would bind the EU countries into a federal superstate with centralized power. But it failed to garner the needed unanimous approval of these countries, being rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005.
Many claimed the integration process was thereby permanently halted. But the elitist architects of this process were determined not to let a little thing like the will of the people stand in the way of their grand dream of European political unity. Some even advocated that repeated votes be taken in the obstructing nations until the desired outcome was achieved. And remarkably, this strategy has succeeded.
A few changes were made to the massive document and it was trotted out at the end of 2007 for approval once more-called now simply the Treaty of Lisbon or Reform Treaty to sound less like what it was. Nearly all countries were denied a referendum, their parliaments for the most part rubber stamping the treaty. Only Ireland put it to a public referendum in 2008, and the treaty was rejected. Many assumed this would scuttle the project for good. Not so. In a new referendum in October 2009, the Irish approved the treaty. (According to Daniel Hannan, a Conservative Member of the European Parliament for Southeast England, the EU broke its own rules in funneling money into this referendum.)
The Irish yes vote was followed swiftly by the approval of Poland, which previously had reservations. The only remaining hold-out on the treaty as of the time of this writing is the Czech Republic, though that may have changed by the time you are reading this. (Both houses of the Czech parliament have passed the treaty but it remains to be seen whether President Vaclav Klaus, who has opposed it, will sign on.)
There had been talk among leaders that if Ireland voted no again it might be possible to create a two-tiered EU, wherein a "core Europe" could go ahead with implementation of the treaty. Yet that doesn't appear necessary at the moment. Indeed, were the Czechs to reject the treaty now, it would no doubt be repeatedly pushed on them until they acquiesce.
European political union is surely coming. The Lisbon Treaty calls for a new president of Europe-at first appointed by the member states. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has been consistently touted by many for this position, though some would prefer a leader from a eurozone country-that is, one that has adopted the euro as its currency.
In any event, European integration presses inexorably onward. Be assured that it will happen whether the people want it or not-and not just because elitist leaders are intent on ramming it through. Rather, Scripture foretells an end-time revival of the Roman Empire that derives its power from the evil ruler of this world (Daniel 2 and 7; Revelation 13 and 17; compare 12:9; 13:2). Keep watching events in Europe. The world is in for big changes. (Sources: Agence France-Presse, Telegraph.co.uk, The Brussels Journal, EUobserver.com.)
According to a report from Nairobi, Kenya, in The Economist: "Famine stalks the land. The failure of rains in parts of Ethiopia may increase the number needing food handouts by 5 [million], in addition to the 8 [million] already getting them, in a population of 80 [million]. The production of Kenyan maize, the country's staple, is likely to drop by one-third, hitting poor farmers' families hardest. The International Committee of the Red Cross says famine in Somalia is going to be worse than ever. Handouts are urgently needed by roughly 3.6 [million] Somalis ..." ("A Catastrophe Is Looming," Sept. 26, 2009).
Other places like the Central African Republic are also beginning to be affected. The high price of food doesn't help. The future does not look good. "The drought cycle in East Africa has been contracting sharply. Rains used to fail every nine or ten years. Then the cycle seemed to go down to five years. Now, it seems, the region faces drought every two or three years. The time for recovery-for building stocks of food and cattle-is ever shorter. And if the rains fail before the end of this year, an unimaginably dreadful catastrophe could ensue."
The third horseman of the book or Revelation, representing famine (Revelation 6:5-6) already rides in East Africa. But the time will come when such horrific conditions become global. (Source: The Economist.)
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Keywords: Obama diplomacy U.S. power disarmament nuclear weapons engagement drought
Nuclear weapons: