World News and Trends: Ice Station Putin
The race for Arctic riches in black gold is on. In midsummer Russia planted its flag on the North Pole via a submarine stunt beneath the Arctic ice.
The race for Arctic riches in black gold is on. In midsummer Russia planted its flag on the North Pole via a submarine stunt beneath the Arctic ice. Members of the British Parliament's Select Committee on Foreign Affairs fear that "the West could be on a collision course in the struggle for energy resources with ‘an authoritarian bloc opposed to democracy' that was based on an alliance between China and Russia" (The Times, Aug. 6, 2007, emphasis added).
According to The Sunday Times, Canada is spending a large amount of money on military vessels in anticipation of a struggle with Russia. The United States, along with many European nations, shares Canadian anxieties. "At stake . . . [is] access to what geologists believe are a quarter of the globe's oil and gas reserves—in short the solution to the crippling energy shortages that will begin throttling Western economies within the next two decades" (Aug. 5, 2007).
Resisting Russian claims to ownership of Arctic mineral resources will require strong political will from the Western world. " Russia already controls the world's largest reserves of natural gas and is second only to Saudi Arabia in oil production. Both European and American officials are concerned that the West may be forced into politically damaging dependence on Russian energy production if Moscow's claim to 463,000 square miles of [the] Arctic is not challenged."
Clearly Russian President Vladimir Putin has seized the strategic initiative. In an area twice the size of France, it is estimated that possibly 500 billion barrels of Arctic oil and an incalculable amount of natural gas may be at stake. Is the world moving towards the beginning phases of another kind of Cold War? (Sources: The Times, The Sunday Times [both London].)
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: September - October 2007
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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.
