World News and Trends: Missile threat greater than during Cold War
"The risk of a missile attack against the United States involving chemical, biological or nuclear warheads is greater today than during most of the Cold War and will continue to grow in the next 15 years, says a new global threat assessment by the National Intelligence Council," writes Vernon Loeb in a Washington Post article.
The council, composed of experts from U.S. security agencies, academia and business interests, predicts that, while the outlook for the United States is generally optimistic, terrorist attacks directed against the United States "will become increasingly sophisticated and designed to achieve mass casualties." Looking to possible threats to the United States in the next few years, the report warns of disturbing possibilities:
"A 'de facto geo-strategic alliance' among China, Russia and India to counterbalance U.S. influence. "A collapse in the U.S.-European alliance due to trade disputes, political differences and conflict over global security.
"Formation of an international terrorist coalition with 'diverse anti-Western objectives' and access to chemical, biological and even nuclear weapons.
"Serious Mideast upheaval, caused by eroding living standards in major Arab nations and a failure by Israel and the Palestinians to reach a peace accord."
With the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s, the United States and its Western allies have enjoyed a decade of peace and prosperity minus serious threats. It seems that other dangers are looming. As Franklin Roosevelt put it when talking of a previous threat: "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance." (Source: The Washington Post.) GN
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: January - February 2001
Course Content
John Ross Schroeder
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.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
Melvin Rhodes
Melvin Rhodes is a member of the United Church of God congregation in Lansing, Michigan.
