World News and Trends: A disturbing aspect of American decline
Contemplating a world without American restraint in international affairs can be a bleak exercise indeed.
Financial Times columnist Philip Stephens said this about the WikiLeaks situation: "What all this says is that American power is indeed waning. In a world of rising states, nuclear proliferation and international terrorism, Washington cannot be sure of getting its way. How pleased the rest of us should be about this is another question. Courtesy of WikiLeaks and 250,000 cables we have been given a look at some of the alternatives. What's a little diplomatic chicanery, we might ask, against, say, a nuclear arms race in the Middle East?" ("A History of the Present in 250,000 Cables," Nov. 30, 2010, emphasis added throughout).
Contemplating a world without American restraint in international affairs can be a bleak exercise indeed. But that is precisely where we are headed. In his article about the staggering U.S. national debt, International Herald Tribune columnist Thomas Friedman warned:
"Many people understand that we are slipping as a country...If we fail to come together and invest, spend and cut really wisely, we're heading for a fall—and if America becomes weak, your kids won't just grow up in a different country, they will grow up in a different world. We have to manage America's foreign policy, and plan its rebuilding at home, at a time when our financial resources and our geopolitical power are more limited than ever while our commitments abroad and entitlement promises at home are more extensive than ever" ("Got to Get This Right," Nov. 30, 2010).
Christopher Dickey, writing for Newsweek, stated: "Apathy, not activism, is likely to dominate U.S. foreign policy after November...Americans have been in this sort of apathetic but emotional mood many times before, and the record is grim. After World War I, the United States turned away from the League of Nations and back in on itself, only to watch from an unsafe distance the resurrection of Germany under the Nazis" ("America Turns Inward," Nov. 1, 2010).
There remains, however, much more to understand about the American story, historically and prophetically. Read our booklet The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy. (Sources: Financial Times, International Herald Tribune, Newsweek.)
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: January - February 2011
Course Content
Jerold Aust
Jerold Aust has served in the ministry for 52 years, as a public speaker for 58 years, a published writer for 38 years, and is employed by UCG’s Media and Communications Services. He is a Senior Writer, interviewer, and editor for Beyond Today Magazine and has taught Speech Communication for UCG’s ministerial online program and the Book of Revelation for ABC.
Jerold holds a BA in theology from Ambassador College, Pasadena (1968), an MA in Communication from California State University, Fullerton (1995), a distance-learning Ph.D (2006), and a Famous Writers School diploma in non-fiction writing (1973). Additionally, he studied post-grad communication at University of Southern California (1995), radio, TV, voice-overs, and Public Relations at Fullerton College (1995-1996), and graduate communication at Wichita State University (1978). Jerold has taught communication at the University of South Alabama (7 years) and ABC (17 years). His published works include, Ronald Reagan’s Rhetoric: Metaphor as Persuasion and EZSpeakers: Public Speaking Made Easy in 7 Steps. Jerold's overarching goal is to share with humankind its incredible destiny!
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.
