In Brief... World News Review

APEC, East Timor and the New Asian Reality

Posted on Jul 23, 2010 by Cecil Maranville, Darris McNeely, John Ross Schroeder, Peter Eddington Estimated reading time: 1 minute

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The Asia Pacific Economic Forum (APEC) had more important things than economics on the table. Peacekeeping for East Timor, the stability of Indonesia and security for critical sea lanes,the China-Taiwan crisis and North Korea missile tests are all key issues. Economics haven't disappeared, but they have been overshadowed by politico-military issues.

The stunning fact is that where Africa has the Organization of African Unity, Asia has no regional security framework. Asia fantasized that they would never need one, that perpetual economic growth would keep politico-military uncertainty at bay. Asia has hit reality at APEC. Asia is a normal part of the world. The only number Asia used to care about was the growth rate. Now APEC has to focus on another number: the casualty rate (Stratfor.com, September 13, 1999).

Cecil Maranville
Darris McNeely
Beyond Today Presenter
Darris McNeely works at the United Church of God home office in Cincinnati, Ohio. He and his wife, Debbie, have served in the ministry for more than 43 years. They have two sons, who are both married, and four grandchildren. Darris is the Associate Media Producer for the Church. He also is a resident faculty member at the Ambassador Bible Center teaching Acts, Fundamentals of Belief and World News and Prophecy. He enjoys hunting, travel and reading and spending time with his grandchildren.
John Ross Schroeder
(1937-2014)
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Peter Eddington
Media Director, United Church of God
Peter serves at the home office as Media and Communications Services operation manager.