World News and Trends: Is Russia a U.S. ally?
Vladimir Putin's Russia has covertly and systematically undermined U.S. interests, particularly in the Middle East, yet continues to purport to be America's ally in the war against terrorism.
Russian companies provided Iraq with high-tech military equipment, including advanced antitank missiles, night goggles and GPS jamming equipment, putting coalition soldiers' lives at risk. Russia denied that they were responsible for such sales, claiming that they might have been sold to the Iraqis through third countries. Yet they can't explain why Russian specialists were discovered in Iraq training Saddam's troops to use the high-tech weaponry.
Even worse, coalition forces discovered documents showing that in recent months Russia had provided the Iraqi regime with secret information on Western leaders and had helped train Iraqi agents.
This kind of political underhandedness is not new to Russia. Throughout the 1980s, while the Cold War was at its hottest, U.S. President Ronald Reagan often called the Soviets' bluffs. He went on the attack and labeled them as the "evil empire," thereby keeping their feet to the fire.
Consider this: Russia is building a nuclear reactor in oil-rich Iran, thereby supplying Iran with technology that can be used to produce nuclear weapons. They also continue to arm North Korea in spite of the fact that North Korea has threatened the United States with nuclear attack.
It appears that Russia is pursuing an agenda of seeking to deprive America of its leading role in world politics. Apparently the Cold War is heating up. How can America respond? A temporary answer might be to follow Ronald Reagan's lead. After all, didn't the Soviet Union break up at the end of President Reagan's eight-year term? Obviously, Russia can't aid and abet America's enemies and say it is an ally.
Scripture has the best answer to political intrigue and man's inhumanity to man. One day there will be only one government on earth, and that government will have as its goal the welfare, security and peace for all of mankind (Daniel 2:44). To better understand these trends, request our free booklet The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy and The Book of Revelation Unveiled.
(Sources: The Washington Times, San Francisco Chronicle, The Telegraph [London].)
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: May - June 2003
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.
