World News and Trends: Threat to Australian security
Australians are nervous about defending their north shore for the first time since the Vietnam War and the days of Indonesian leader Sukarno (1901-1970).
Sukarno is reputed to have vowed to kill every Australian. But lately intensive sectarian and ethnic conflicts are affecting many of the small Pacific islands around Australia's northeastern border.
Recently the decision was finally made to build a new 1,200-mile railway in the Australian outback from Alice Springs to the northern port of Darwin, which is closer to Singapore and Djakarta than to Sydney and Melbourne. The emphasis has been on the economic advantages, but one wonders whether military considerations such as much easier troop and weaponry movements might be a serious background consideration.
Though many of the nation's soldiers are engaged in peacekeeping operations in places like East Timor and Papua New Guinea, troop numbers are likely to fall below 50,000-the lowest in modern history. This is a small force indeed for a nation nearly as large geographically as the United States. Also, Australia's defensive equipment has been allowed to seriously run down during the past 10 years. Defense spending is at its lowest level since 1938. (Sources: The International Herald Tribune, Sunday Telegraph [London].)
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: September - October 2000
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.
