World News and Trends: Will America coexist with a nuclear Iran?
With the knowledge that Iran now has nuclear capabilities, will America continue to work alongside?
Diligent diplomatic efforts are being made to avoid any kind of Western military conflict with Iran. When questioned during her recent visit to Britain, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice emphasized the importance of reliance on diplomacy to achieve the goal of persuading the Iranian leadership to abandon any activities that would lead to creating a nuclear arsenal.
The recently revised National Security Strategy statement says, "This diplomatic effort must succeed if confrontation is to be avoided" (The New York Times, emphasis added throughout).
The Bush administration recently reaffirmed its policy to possibly employ preemptive military strikes against potential threats to American national security. As recently as April 1, the United States warned that "an American-led attack on Iran's nuclear installations is 'all but inevitable' if the country fails to comply with the United Nations over its nuclear programme" (The Sunday Express).
How the Islamic world might react is a major wild card—as, for that matter, is the possible reaction from supposed continental European allies like France and Germany.
According to the Financial Times, "Germany's foreign minister has urged the Bush administration to hold direct talks with Iran over its nuclear programme." This suggestion has been rejected in favor of collective diplomacy with European nations in the forefront. That this was even suggested is taken as a sign that the European powers privately have little confidence in the ability and capacity of the UN to restrain Iran. Hard choices are ahead for Western leadership, especially the United States.
Some observers warn of unpleasant surprises perhaps much like those that have emerged in Iraq . This much we do know: Serious conflicts in the Middle East will eventually be the spark that ignites a time of unprecedented world troubles leading to the second coming of Jesus Christ. This scenario is laid out in our free booklet The Middle East in Bible Prophecy. (Sources: The Sunday Telegraph, The Sunday Times, Financial Times [all London], The New York Times.)
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: May - June 2006
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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.
