Current Events & Trends: America and Britain: a public display of weakness
Over a very short time Western intervention in Syria seemed to be coming at a fast pace.
Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron advocated military intervention from the air, but he then suffering the acute embarrassment of a decisive rejection by the House of Commons.
U.S. President Barack Obama likewise stated a determination to intervene with air strikes. Yet his appeal to the U.S. Congress for support was cleverly interrupted by Russian President Vladimir Putin's surprising proposal to get Syria's Bashar al-Assad to destroy his chemical weapons.
On the surface Putin's counter-intervention got America, Britain and the West off the hook in Syria. But what about consequences—simple cause and effect?
The Economist's lead editorial put forward an excellent analysis in late September, stating: "But this week, a decade after the invasion of Iraq, it suddenly became clear just how far the influence of the West has ebbed. The pity is how few Americans and Europeans seem to care about that" ("America, Russia and Syria: The Weakened West," Sept. 21, 2013).
As Edward Luce expressed it in the Financial Times in another context: "Credibility matters. It may be hard to pin down, but you know when it is leaking" ("Washington's Rolling Seizures Short-Circuit US Soft Power," Oct. 6). This remains a critical long-term trend that we cannot afford to ignore.
The Economist'sinsightful analysis continues: "Yet the deal looks good only because the mess Mr Obama had got himself into was so bad. Step back, and the outcome looks rotten. For a start, the deal itself is flimsy because it will be so hard to enforce ... It is hard to impose disarmament during a civil war. As time drags on, Mr Assad is likely to frustrate the process—both to keep some chemical weapons and to be seen to defy America. America's credibility as an ally has been undermined."
Notice this newsweekly's overall assessment of the dark consequences: "Now every tyrant knows that a red line set by the leader of the free world is really just a threat to ask legislators how they feel about enforcing it. Dictators will be freer to maim and murder their own people, proliferators like North Korea less scared to proceed with spreading WMD, China and Russia ever more content to test their muscles in a vacuum left by the West."
How do these trends fulfill Bible prophecy? They simply underscore the obvious moral decline already severely afflicting America and Britain—foretold in the pages of the Bible.
No other Bible study aid booklet that we publish expresses these tragic consequences better than The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy. Thankfully this Bible study aid also shows that everything will come right when Jesus Christ returns to rule the world, bringing us God's way of life. (Source: The Economist.)
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: November - December 2013
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.
