War in Syria Pushing Turkey Toward Russia and Iran

Since 2019, the Syrian situation has been largely at a stalemate, with authority divided among three de facto enclaves, each dependent on the sponsorship of outside powers. The Assad regime, guaranteed by Russia and Iran, controls around 60-65% of Syria’s territory, including the coastline and the main cities. The US-backed, Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces hold most of the area east of the Euphrates, comprising roughly 30% of Syria’s area. Turkey, in partnership with the self-styled “Syrian National Army”, the remnants of the Sunni Islamist rebellion, remustered under Turkish auspices and with the jihadi Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, controls an area in the northwest, comprising around 10% of Syrian territory.

 This de facto partition has mostly held since early 2018. Turkey shifted the balance somewhat in October-November 2019, with a ground incursion east of the Euphrates. This resulted in the establishment of an enclave of Turkish-controlled territory biting into the Kurdish-controlled area, and in the deployment of regime and Russian forces east of the Euphrates in order to deter further Turkish advances. Since then, the military situation on the ground has been static, the broader question of Syria’s future unresolved.

 There are indications of renewed movement. Specifically, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been carrying out an air campaign against targets in the Kurdish/US area since November 20th of last year. Erdogan has already threatened a ground incursion, with the intention of pushing the Kurdish forces back 30 kilometers from the border and conquering three towns – Tal Rifaat, Manbij and Kobani. Turkey is now also moving toward more diplomatic ties to both Russia and Syria. “We want to take a tripartite step as Syria-Turkey-Russia,” Erdogan told reporters on his way back from Turkmenistan, as reported on the Al-Monitor news website. The statements followed talks in Istanbul between the Turkish and Russian deputy foreign ministers, and a phone conversation between Putin and Erdogan.

 This is a far cry from the Erdogan of a decade ago. Turkey emerged as the first and most determined supporter of the Islamist insurgents who sought to destroy the Assad regime. In 2012, in the early days of the insurgency, Erdogan effectively opened the border to the rebels, allowing them to ferry weaponry and supplies into Syria. Now, as the last protector of what is left of the revolt, the Turkish leader appears to be pursuing a very different goal – namely, rapprochement with the Assad regime, under Russian auspices.

 The Turkish leader’s stance indicates that while he may have for the moment abandoned his ambition to stand at the head of a group of Sunni Islamist regional states, this is not leading him to return to a pro-US regional policy. Rather, he appears to be seeking to draw closer to Russia in order to further weaken and eventually nullify the Kurdish-led entity in eastern Syria. Erdogan considers that this body, aligned with the US in its fight against ISIS, is a front for the PKK (Kurdish Workers Party), with which Turkey has been at war since 1984. His efforts since 2015, when it became clear that the rebellion was not going to defeat Assad, have been mainly directed toward seeking the destruction of the Kurdish-led area. In this regard, Turkey finds natural partners in Russia and Assad. Assad wants to reassert his nominal control over the entirety of Russian sovereignty. Russia supports this goal too, as does its ally Iran, and both would like to see the departure of the US troops currently guaranteeing the continued existence of the Kurdish-led enclave. As Turkey moves away from NATO and toward Russia and Iran, could this be setting the stage for Gog and Magog?

 Biblical Connections: Ezekiel 38-39 talks about the battle of Gog and Magog in which Turkey, Iran and Russia will align with other nations to invade Israel in the future.

 PRAY: Pray for God’s will to be accomplished throughout these events in the Middle East.

Doomsday Clock Moved to Closest Setting Since the End of World War 2

The world is closer to annihilation than it has ever been since the first nuclear bombs were released at the close of World War II, The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists said recently. The time on the Doomsday Clock moved forward from 100 seconds to midnight to 90 seconds to midnight. It’s a reset of what has come to be known as the Doomsday Clock, a decades long project of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists featuring a clock face where midnight represents Armageddon.

Between Russia's nuclear brinkmanship in its war on Ukraine, the real threats of climate change becoming increasingly dire and ongoing concerns about more possible pandemics caused by humans encroaching on formerly wild areas, the Bulletin chose to set the clock the closest to midnight yet. The world is facing a gathering storm of extinction-level consequences, exacerbated by the illegal invasion of Ukraine by Russia. This explains the latest advance of the clock, said Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. "The threats are even more acute, and the failures of leadership even more damning. We live today in a world of interlocking crises, each illustrating the unwillingness of leaders to act in the true long-term interests of their people," she said.

The Bulletin was founded in 1945 by Albert Einstein and University of Chicago scientists who helped develop the first atomic weapons at the Manhattan Project. Two years later they launched the clock as a way to warn humanity just how close to nuclear apocalypse the world was. "It's a way to remind people of issues that are so big they pose a threat to civilization as a whole," said Steve Fetter, a professor of public policy at the University of Maryland and member of the Bulletin's Science and Security Board, which sets the clock each year.

The clock has ticked minutes or seconds toward or away from catastrophe over the years. Wars bring it closer, treaties and cooperation further away. For the past two years, it has been at 100 seconds to midnight. The movement of the clock to just 90 seconds to midnight sends a message that the world's situation is urgent, with possible broad consequences and long-standing effects, said the Bulletin's president, Rachel Bronson. "What we're conveying with this clock move is things are not going in the right direction, and they haven't been going in the right direction. Those who are listening say 'The world doesn't feel safer today,' – they're not alone," she said.

Their hope is that this year's announcement will focus on world awareness and push people toward action and away from a business-as-usual mindset. Scientists are unequivocal, said Robinson. "Leaders, wake up! This is your responsibility. This is on your watch," she said. The clock ticked forward largely, though not exclusively, because of the nuclear dangers posed by the war in Ukraine, the Bulletin said in its statement. "Russia’s thinly veiled threats to use nuclear weapons remind the world that escalation of the conflict – by accident, intention, or miscalculation – is a terrible risk. The possibility that the conflict could spin out of anyone’s control remains high," the statement read.

Biblical Connection: Matthew 24:36 states, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.” While no one knows the time of Jesus’ Return, the dramatic events of the last few years certainly seem to portray a dark future. How much longer the world can continue to move forward before all-out nuclear war seems to lessen every year.

PRAY: Pray that as many people as possible will hear the Gospel and be saved before the time finally comes for Jesus to return for His bride.

Israel, US Hold Air Drill Simulating Striking Iran Nuclear Program

The Israel Air Force held one of its largest drills in years with the United States Air Force simulating offensive strikes against Iran’s nuclear program. The drill took place over the Mediterranean Sea and Israel. It included long-range flights such as those that Israeli pilots might need to make in order to reach the Islamic Republic. The exercise included refuelers as well as fighter jets from both forces. Washington and Israel have signed an agreement that would see the US come to assist Israel with missile defense in times of war, and the two militaries have held numerous joint air defense exercises in recent years.

 These drills occurred at a time when tensions between Israel and Iran remain high. Iran, which possesses over 1,000 short- and medium-range ballistic missiles, continues to smuggle weapons to countries and non-state actors such as Hezbollah, which is estimated to have an arsenal of some 50,000 missiles on Israel’s northern border. With tensions high over Iran’s nuclear program and regional hostility, Israel and the Islamic Republic have been threatening each other with senior officers stating that their militaries are capable of striking the other. Israel has significantly increased its readiness level and has taken steps throughout the past year to prepare a credible military option against Iran’s nuclear facilities.

 The NIS 58 billion defense budget set for the IDF in the coming year is expected to allow the Israeli military to focus on the threats posed by Iran across the region, with some NIS 3.5b. designated specifically for this very task. The drill was discussed by IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kohavi during his visit to Washington recently. Kohavi, who returned to Israel a day earlier than planned following a deadly double bombing in Jerusalem, met with senior American officials including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, and CENTCOM Commander Gen. Michael Kurilla. In the last year, the IDF and CENTCOM forces have held several joint drills as well as operational missions.

 Kurilla was in Israel a week prior to Kohavi’s visit and toured the northern border as well as the IAF’s fleet of F-35 Adir stealth fighter jets. “We are operating together on all fronts to gather intelligence, neutralize threats, and prepare for various scenarios in either one or multiple arenas” Kohavi declared. His counterpart, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kohavi, also stated, “We are operating together on all fronts to gather intelligence, neutralize threats, and prepare for various scenarios in either one or multiple arenas,” adding that the two countries were “developing joint military capabilities at an accelerated rate” against Iran and other threats in the Middle East.

 Outgoing Defense Minister Benny Gantz told reporters that while Israel has the capabilities to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities, Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu must consider the issue “carefully” before giving the order. “Israel has the ability to act in Iran. We have the readiness, development capabilities, and long-term plans we are managing. We need to prepare for this possibility, and we will also need to consider this issue very carefully before carrying it out,” he said.

 Biblical Connections: Ezekiel 38-39 has Israel being invaded in the future by a coalition in which Iran is a major player of in the battle of Gog and Magog. The fact that Iran and Israel continue to have major tension in the region should be a warning to followers of Biblical prophecy. In prophecy, Israel is attacked without allies and only through God’s intervention are they delivered. It will be interesting to see what role, if any, America would play in that future invasion.

PRAY: Pray for peace in the region and that the tension between Iran and Israel would not lead to a major war.

Human Rights Violations Against Believers Investigated

Persecution of Christians is on the rise in at least 18 countries, especially in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, due to growing jihadism and nationalism, according to a report released by the group Aid to the Church in Need. The ACN examined human rights violations against believers in 24 countries where it is particularly difficult to be a Christian. An analysis of the persecution in the years 2020-2022, compared to 2017-2019, shows that the situation for Christians has become worse, or “slightly worse,” in at least 18 countries.

These countries include Syria, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Mali, Sudan, Nigeria, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Myanmar, Russia, North Korea, China, Vietnam, India and Qatar, according to the report titled “Persecuted and Forgotten? A Report on Christians oppressed for their Faith 2020-22.” Around the world, more than 360 million Christians live in places where they experience high levels of persecution just for following Jesus — that’s one in seven believers worldwide, according to Open Doors USA’s World Watch List, which ranks the top 50 countries where Christians experience the worst persecution for their faith.

The ACN said its report was presented in the Houses of Parliament in the U.K. with a keynote address by Nigeria’s Bishop Jude Arogundade. Arogundade’s Diocese of Ondo was targeted by gunmen who killed more than 40 people at a packed Sunday service on Pentecost Sunday last year. He commented, “no one seems to pay attention to the genocide” taking place in swathes of Nigeria’s Middle Belt. “The world is silent as attacks on churches, their personnel and institutions have become routine. How many corpses are required to get the world’s attention?” he said.

African countries saw a sharp rise in terrorist violence from non-state militants, with more than 7,600 Nigerian Christians murdered between January 2021 and June 2022 the ACN reported. In May, a video was released showing 20 Nigerian Christians being executed by Islamist terror group Boko Haram and Islamic State’s West Africa Province.

In Asia, “state-authoritarianism” was behind the worsening oppression, especially in North Korea, where religious beliefs and practices are routinely and systematically repressed, it said. The report also noted that religious nationalism has triggered increasing violence against Christians in the region, with Hindu nationalist and Sinhalese Buddhist nationalist groups active in India and Sri Lanka, respectively.

The report noted that India witnessed 710 incidents of anti-Christian violence between January 2021 and the start of June, “driven in part by political extremism.” It cited an example of a mass rally in Chhattisgarh state, where members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party applauded as right-wing Hindu religious leader Swami Parmatmanand called for Christians to be killed.

In the Middle East, the report said a migration crisis threatened the survival of some of the world’s oldest Christian communities. In Syria, the Christian population declined from 10% to less than 2%, falling from 1.5 million just before the war began to around 300,000 today. ACN added that while the rate of exodus is slower in Iraq, there was a community that numbered around 300,000 before the 2014 invasion by ISIS had halved to 150,000 by the spring of 2022.

Even Europe was not immune to the rise in persecution. From 2020-2021, over 1,500 anti-Christian hate crimes occurred. Open Doors USA’s 2022 World Watch List, which looked at incidents reported between Oct. 1, 2020, to Sept. 30, 2021, found at least 5,898 Christians were killed, 5,110 churches were attacked or closed, 6,175 Christians were arrested without trial, and 3,829 Christians were kidnapped. 2021 saw a 24% increase in Christians killed for their faith.

Biblical Connection: The Bible describes a great persecution on the Tribulation Saints that will arise in the last days. Could current situations be laying the foundation for this prophecy? Only time will tell.

PRAY: Pray for the persecuted church throughout the world.

Persecution Continues to Rise Against Jews in Academia

Recently, Law Students for Justice in Palestine (LSJP) at University of California, Berkeley, School of Law promoted a bylaw  that would create what critics have characterized as “no-go zones for Jews,” “LSJP is so excited to announce that multiple student affinity groups and clubs at Berkeley Law have adopted a pro-Palestine bylaw divesting all funds from institutions and companies complicit in the occupation of Palestine, and banning future use of funds towards such companies!” the group wrote in an Instagram post in August. “LSJP is calling ALL student organizations at Berkeley Law to take an anti-racist and anti-settler colonial stand and adopt the bylaw into their constitutions ASAP!”

 In addition to urging student groups to support the ongoing BDS campaign against Israel, the bylaw also included troubling language to expunge any speech by individuals who might be considered pro-Israel or pro-Zionist, especially speech meant to correct the many factual and historical inaccuracies in the pro-Palestinian bylaw. “In the interest of protecting the safety and welfare of Palestinian students on campus,” the suggested language read, groups who adopt this bylaw “will not invite speakers that have expressed and continued to hold views or host/sponsor/promote events in support of Zionism, the apartheid state of Israel, and the occupation of Palestine.”

 And in language which is Orwellian in its attempt to paint bigotry as virtue, cooperating student groups, the bylaw read, will proclaim that they are “publicly stipulating the organization’s position of anti-racism and anti-settler colonialism to speakers, ensuring that proposals for speakers emphasize the organization’s desire for equality and inclusion,” all of this for the purpose of creating “a safe and inclusive space for Palestinian students and students that are in the support of the liberation of Palestine.”

 The implementation of a litmus test of ideological allegiance — only targeted at Jews who support Israel — is part of a decades-old campaign to malign Israel and transform it into a pariah state. It excludes its supporters from progressive groups, by falsely alleging Israel is an apartheid, racist regime of white supremacy that continues to oppress innocent Arabs who were the actual indigenous residents of the land now called Israel.

 Imagine if a student government yanked accommodations for halal food on campus because Islam can be linked to terrorism, the same spurious linkage these social justice cretins have created for “apartheid” Israel, Zionism and kosher food from pro-Israel companies. The campus-wide howling about Islamophobia and bigotry would be deafening.

 The Berkeley situation is, of course, part of a broader effort to marginalize Jewish students, malign Israel and Zionism without debate or counter-argument, contort history and facts to elevate the Palestinian cause and denigrate the Jewish state, and promote hatred and hostility to any supporter of Israel. The real intention of pro-Palestinian radicals, now encompassing a large swathe of academia, is to exclude Israel and Zionism as reasonable topics of discussion and to prevent supporters of the Jewish state from even defending it or offering counterarguments. While Israel is not a perfect country and when they do make mistakes they should be called out on those mistakes. However, the immense hatred of the Jewish people that has arisen to almost pre-World War 2 levels is a sign that Satan is continuing his attacks.

 Biblical Connection: In Revelation 12, the nation of Israel, depicted symbolically by a woman figure, is attacked by both Satan and the forces of the Antichrist.

 PRAY: Pray that the Jewish people will be protected from these types of unjust attacks in the public square.

Russia and China Moving to Create a New Global Threat?

A top Chinese official said that his country will continue its partnership with Russia in the hopes of creating a new international order that will rival western influence. “The Chinese side is willing to work with the Russian side to continuously implement high-level strategic cooperation between the two countries, safeguard common interests and promote the development of the international order in a more just and reasonable direction,” Director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China Central Committee Yang Jiechi recently stated.

 The comments come amid Russia’s ongoing war with neighboring Ukraine, which has resulted in international outrage and an effort by many western governments to sanction Russia and cut off its influence around the globe. But the international influence campaign has seemingly brought Russia and China closer together, with Chinese President Xi Jinping set to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Xi’s first foreign trip since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

While China has not provided Russia with direct support or relief from sanctions, it has extended its trade partnership with a Russian economy struggling to find international partners. About 81% of Russian car imports during the second quarter came from China, Bloomberg reported, while China’s Xiaomi phone brand became the most popular in Russia during the same time period. China has also been a dependable consumer of Russian fuel, buying up liquefied natural gas (LNG) at a steep discount from Russia. The arrangement has benefited both countries, giving Russia a buyer for its energy resources while China has used the windfall to sell energy sources at a markup to a European economy that has found itself short of resources amid sanctions against Russia.

 “Russia and China are building a massive $55 billion pipeline called the ‘Power of Siberia,’ delivering gas from Siberia to Shanghai,” Rebekah Koffler, a former DIA intelligence officer and the author of “Putin’s Playbook: Russia’s Secret Plan to Defeat America,” told Fox News Digital. “This is a major development of strategic importance as Putin is pivoting to Asia in a big way. The Kremlin has concluded that Russia-U.S. relations are irreparable and that the U.S. and Western sanctions are here to stay indefinitely.”

Russia and China have also worked together to send money transfers to China in yuan without using the SWIFT messaging system, which helps Russia bypass international sanctions and works toward the Chinese goal of devaluing the influence of the U.S. dollar. “Russia already has established a method of transferring payments to convert wire currency into Chinese yuan, bypassing SWIFT,” Koffler said, adding that the Russian Finance Ministry also announced the country is “transitioning to yuan, playing into China’s strategic goal of replacing the U.S. dollar with the Chinese yuan as the dominant international reserve currency by 2049.”

 This is yet another example of Russia moving away from Western relationship and making strong connections with other more savory nations. Western sanctions of the war in Ukraine have driven Russia into stronger trade and military relationships with Iran, North Korea and now China. If these nations continue to grow closer and gain more strength and power in the international community, it could spell trouble on a global scale.

 Biblical Connections: Russia has always been seen as a problem in biblical prophecy because of the Gog-Magog prophecy of Ezekiel 38-39. Making strategic alliances with other nations like Iran and China do not help to alleviate fears that they could once again become a major problem not only in the global community, but specifically in the Middle Eastern theatre, where they already have influence with both Syria and Iran.

Iran Declares It Can Use Nuclear Missiles to Turn “New York into Hellish Ruins”

“And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.”

Revelation 6:8

  The Iranian regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps recently said that it can develop a nuclear weapon within a rapid-fire amount of time and obliterate New York with ballistic missiles. The London-based Iran International news organization reported that the Bisimchi Media (Radioman Media) Telegram Channel aired a short video titled, “When Will Iran’s Sleeping Warheads Awaken.” The video said the Islamic Republic of Iran is capable of building nuclear bombs in a compressed period of time “if the US or the Zionist regime make any stupid mistakes.” The Iranian theocratic state refers to Israel as the “Zionist regime.” The IRGC-affiliated video said that Iranian ballistic missiles have the capability of “turning New York into hellish ruins.” 

 The video said, “the nuclear facilities of Fordow have been built deep under mountains of Iran and are protected against trench-busting bombs and even nuclear explosion… all infrastructures required for nuclear breakout have been prepared in it.” According to the Iran International report, the video said Iran has advanced its uranium enrichment process to develop a nuclear weapons device in the underground facilities of Fordow, near the holy city of Qom. Some other key takeaways from the IRGC-affiliated videos include Iran’s dangerous proximity to developing nuclear weapons, joining the club of nuclear powers.

 “These threats are a direct result of a weak and unclear foreign policy coming from the White House,” stated Lisa Daftari, an expert on Iran and the editor-in-chief of the website The Foreign Desk. “The Iran regime would not be so brazen as to make threats toward the U.S. if it did not feel that it has the upper-hand in dealing with the US and world powers….”

The Biden administration kept going back to the negotiating table for a deal making it clear that Iran did not have to show any good behavior or change in demeanor to get a deal.” Daftari noted that “Iran is playing out the clock and taking advantage of the current White House’s policies.” 

 The Biden administration seeks to cut a deal with Iran’s clerical rulers that would impose temporary restrictions on Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for massive economic sanctions relief. President Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid the United States will never allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon as Tehran seeks stronger guarantees from Washington for the revival of a nuclear deal with world powers. Israel opposes a return to the 2015 deal, which imposed curbs on Iran’s nuclear weapons program in exchange for the lifting of U.S., European Union and United Nations sanctions on Tehran.

 The Trump administration designated the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization. The second IRGC-affiliated Telegram channel Sepah-e Qods republished Bisimchi Media’s video with the caption: “Iran Prepared to Carry Out Top Secret EMAD Project. Building First Nuclear Warhead if Natanz Comes Under Attack.” Natanz is one of Iran’s principal nuclear sites and EMAD is an Iranian weapons program.

 Biblical Connections: The rise in the desire to proliferate nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction should not shock readers of the Scriptures. The Book of Revelation makes it clear that in the last days there will be massive war and bloodshed unlike any seen in the history of the world. For example, the horseman of Revelation 6 bring war and destruction to the globe and a fourth of the world is killed. The presence and prominence of these types of weapons make this a very real possibility.

 PRAY: Pray that either negotiations will prevent Iran from creating nuclear missiles or something will stop their potential nuclear capabilities.

Iran is Becoming a World Leader in Drone Technology

Iran has made steady advances in the design and production of military drones in recent years and has stepped up their transfer to militant groups across the Middle East as it seeks to shift the dynamics of battlefields from Yemen to Gaza. Those efforts now extended far beyond the region.

 Iran is now seeking to build its global clout and sell increasingly sophisticated weapons-capable drones commercially to other nations, including those that have been subject to various sanctions in recent years, like Venezuela and Sudan, according to Iranian news media, satellite images and defense experts inside and outside Iran. That has provided an important source of funds and political influence for Iran, which is itself isolated and struggling under U.S. financial restrictions.

 “Iran is increasingly becoming a global player in terms of drone exports,” said Seth Frantzman, a Jerusalem-based defense analyst and drone expert. The fact that newer drones, such as the Mohajer-6, are now being seen in places like the Horn of Africa shows that countries see them as a potential game-changer,” he added, referring to an advanced Iranian drone claimed to have a range of about 125 miles and the ability to carry precision-guided munitions.

 Tehran began drone development in the 1980s during the Iran-Iraq war. Despite crippling sanctions imposed on Iran over its nuclear and missile programs in recent years, it has managed to produce and field a vast array of military drones, used for both surveillance and attack, according to experts.

That program has become a major concern for Israel and the United States in recent years. Israel has targeted drone production and storage sites in its escalating shadow war with Tehran. And the U.S. Department of Defense said in a statement on July 21 that “the Iran-proliferated network of attack unmanned aerial systems,” or drones, was a key topic of discussion at a recent regional security meeting in Qatar.

 A United Nations embargo aimed at preventing Iran from selling and buying weapons expired in 2020, despite protests from the United States, which wanted it extended, removing a significant legal obstacle, analysts said, for Iran to export its drones and carve out its status as a global player in drone technology.

 Hossein Dalirian, a military analyst with close ties to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, posted a video on his YouTube channel in January in which he said that Iran was exporting drones to Ethiopia and Venezuela. “The Islamic Republic has long reached mass production level in the production of various drones including military surveillance and suicide drones and now has a very large stock,” Mr. Dalirian said by direct message. “Because the drones are effective and some countries have been enthusiastic about the drones, in recent years Iran has been exporting drones such as New Mohajer-2 (M2-N) and Mohajer-6 (M6) and even Ababil (AB-2).”

 Iran has both political and financial incentives to sell drones to such countries, as well as supplying them to proxy groups as part of its regional policy in the Middle East. The sales allow Tehran to build international links in defiance of Western efforts to isolate it and provide an additional source of revenue alongside oil sold in contravention of sanctions. “They have created this viable drone capacity, so it is no surprise that other countries are interested in obtaining such technologies,” said Farzin Nadimi, a military analyst and associate fellow at the Washington Institute who specializes in Iran’s defense industry. “Iranian drones should be taken seriously as a weapon,” he said.

 PRAY: Pray that Iran’s continual sale of drones to people with bad intentions will be stopped and peace will reign in the region.

The Taliban and Russia Cozying up Over Oil Sales

While many in the West thought that sanctions against Russian goods, including oil, would bring Russia to the negotiating table with Ukraine, Russia has been able to remain afloat financially because of their relationships with less than desirable nations, first Iran and now Afghanistan. Taliban officials and Moscow are finalizing a deal that would allow the isolated rulers of Afghanistan to purchase much-needed fuel while helping prop up Russia's heavily sanctioned economy. A delegation of Taliban officials met in Moscow to negotiate a deal with their Russian counterparts to secure imports of wheat, gas and oil. The negotiations come as the Taliban seek to thaw the diplomatic freeze that followed their armed takeover of Afghanistan last year and as Russia sidesteps Western sanctions due to its invasion of Ukraine. An unnamed source in Afghanistan's office of the Minister of Commerce and Industry told Reuters that the contracts are expected to be finalized soon.

 No government has formally recognized the Taliban's government after the hardline Islamist group seized power after the U.S. withdrew its presence last year. But Russia, China and other countries antagonistic toward the U.S. have kept their embassies open in Afghanistan's capital city of Kabul. Saddled with severe economic sanctions since the war began in February, Russia has also hosted talks with Taliban trade officials. Afghanistan already gets the majority of its food and oil from Russia and trade between the two amounts to $200 million annually, according to Afghanistan's TOLOnews. Russia already offers less expensive wheat and oil, the news outlet reported, citing the country's Chamber of Commerce and Investment.

 Oil exports have been a key economic lifeline for Russia. Despite the sanctions, Russia saw roughly $93 billion in revenue from fossil fuel exports during the first 100 days of its invasion of Ukraine. Demand for Russian energy was driven primarily by China and India. Additionally, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, France and Poland also helped keep demand for Russian energy high despite the sanctions.

 While Russia has not sold as much oil as previous years, because of the rising cost of oil globally over the summer, they have actually made greater revenue. "Import volumes fell modestly in May, around 15% compared with the time before the invasion, as many countries and firms shunned Russian supplies.” However, reduced demand and lower price for Russian oil cost the country about $200 million a day in May but rising demand globally for fossil fuels has meant Russia's average export prices remained 60 percent higher than last year. Thus, any thought that a lack of oil sales would force Putin to negotiate will definitely not come to pass, especially with the winter months coming to Western Europe and a greater need to oil to possible break oil sanctions.

 While trade deals between Russia and the Taliban may be near, other barriers may prevent the two from exchanging goods. Nooruddin Azizi, the Taliban's acting minister of Commerce and Industry, told TOLOnews that most of the Afghan and Russian banks remain under sanctions, meaning a third country will facilitate the exchange of money. "Some of our technical teams are still in Russia and they want to work on the details, such as what kind of money transfers we may have," said Azizi. Even still, nothing good can come from Russia making deals with the Taliban.

 Biblical Connection: Russia getting more and more involved with the Middle East instead of the West makes complete sense from a biblical perspective. One day in the future, Russia will make an alliance with several Middle Eastern nations in an attempt to destroy Israel (Ezekiel 38-39). We can only expect Russia to continue to push towards the Middle East in the future.

 PRAY: Pray that God’s will, even in areas that we sometimes do not understand, will continue to be accomplished and His plans will push forward.

Western Response to War in Ukraine Pushing Russian-Iranian Relationship

It is no secret that Russia and Iran have formed a closer relationship over the previous decade. Russia has provided cover for Iran within the United Nations security council with their veto power and has been in Iran’s corner for much of the discussion of the nuclear deal between Iran and the West. Many believe that Russia wants to increase their influence in the region, as evidenced by their support in Syria, and see Iran as a potential ally, along with Turkey, in furthering their ambitions. 

 In a new development, Iran will start to supply aircraft parts and equipment to Russia and service Russian aircraft in a new agreement signed between the two countries. Western nations and their allies moved to isolate Moscow after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine. While initially this looked like it may be effective since Russia trades significantly with the west, Russia looked to other rogue nations, including Iran, to help circumvent the sanctions and ride out the immediate economic impact. China and India purchased Russian energy in the run-up to the invasion, and China made some key trade deals with its northern neighbor. Iran has stepped in to sign an agreement that will provide Russia more flight options and airplane assistance in the near term, according to The Moscow Times, citing the Mehr agency.

 The agreement includes a pledge to increase flights between the two nations up to 35 per week – a significant boost when only about 19 countries or states provide direct flight access to Russia. Even those nations have advised that passengers face the risk of lawsuits in countries considered “friendly” with Russia. Western nations ordered the termination of Russian carrier contracts during the earliest phase of sanctions.

 The deal follows an agreement between Tehran and Moscow to supply Russian forces with drones so that the Kremlin can sustain its war offensive, which shifted from a broad attack and attempt to conquer the whole of Ukraine to focus only on the eastern Donbas region. Russia, which believed it would accomplish its goals in Ukraine quickly and easily, was not necessarily equipped to fight a drawn-out technological war and therefore needs significant investments. Iran has become known in recent years as a major player in the drove/UAV market. They have been using them in attacks themselves and also sell them along with training to other nations and terrorist groups.

 National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan disclosed that intelligence agencies had obtained information that indicated Tehran would supply Moscow with drones, as well as training the troops in their use. “Our information indicates that the Iranian government is preparing to provide Russia with up to several hundred UAVs, including weapons-capable UAVs on an expedited timeline,” Sullivan told reporters in the White House briefing room. It’s unclear whether Iran has delivered any of these UAVs to Russia already,” Sullivan said, “but this is just one example of how Russia is looking to countries like Iran for capabilities.” As long as Russia can continue to maintain their economy and supplies through these types of deals with non-Western powers, it is unlikely that Western sanctions alone will bring Russia to the negotiating table.

 Biblical Connection: Many see the Gog-Magog War in Ezekiel 38-39 as an alliance between Russia, Turkey, Iran and several other nations against the nation of Israel that will occur in the end days, either prior to the Rapture, during the Tribulation or at the end of the Millennial Kingdom. A Russian-Iranian relationship should not shock anyone familiar with Bible prophecy.

 PRAY: Pray that plans of those who seek to do evil throughout the globe will be thwarted and peace will prevail.

Israeli Persecution in the Media

When President Joe Biden visited Israel and Saudi Arabia, the eyes of the global mainstream media were trained on the citizens and leaders of the epicenter as they covered the Biden trip every step of the way. Yet an exclusive new poll commissioned by ALL ISRAEL NEWS reveals that Americans have a staggeringly low degree of trust in the mainstream media, and a significant degree of outright anger at journalists and their editors for how they cover events and trends affecting the Jewish state.

 What’s more, the survey reveals that a large number of Americans describe themselves as downright “angry” at the mainstream media and want to find a new source of news and analysis to help them understand what’s happening in Israel and why it should matter to them. Among American Evangelicals, the survey revealed far lower trust in the mainstream media than the general population. That said, the survey also found there is a noteworthy gap between how Evangelicals of different races view the media. The term “mainstream media” generally refers to well-known news gathering corporations and organizations in the U.S. and around the world operating in the print, broadcast, cable, and/or digital spaces. These include The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC, and the major broadcast news networks, among others.

 Here is the specific question that were asked in the survey: When it comes to media coverage of Israel, which statement best reflects your view? The results show that only 30% of Americans age 18 and old who were surveyed say they trust the mainstream media’s coverage of Israel. Half of all Americans (49%) say they do not trust the mainstream media’s coverage of Israel or are downright angry about the media and looking for an alternative source of news and information about Israel. Of these, nearly a third of all Americans (31%) say they do not trust the media’s coverage of Israel because they find such coverage is too often “unfair, dishonest, and biased against Israel.” Nearly 1-in-5 Americans (18%) say that they are angry at the media and looking for a news service covering Israel that they can trust.

 Particularly significant is the fact that 18% of Americans are so turned off by the mainstream media’s dishonesty and bias against Israel that they are interested in finding a news service covering Israel that they can trust. That means 46 million Americans of all religions, races and regions wish they could find a credible, honest, trustworthy alternative source of news and analysis regarding Israel and the Middle East. When it comes specifically to born again Evangelical Christians, the numbers are even more striking. Only 25.6% of American Evangelicals say they trust the mainstream media’s coverage of Israel. Almost 6-in-10 Evangelicals (57.4%) say they do not trust the mainstream media’s coverage of Israel or are downright angry about the media and looking for an alternative source of news and information about Israel. Of these, 38.7% say they do not trust the media’s coverage of Israel because they find such coverage is too often “unfair, dishonest, and biased against Israel.”

 Biblical Connection: While antisemitism in the media comes as no real surprise, it is significant that Israel consistently is treated unfairly in both the media and the United Nations. This type of mindset will make it very easy for the Antichrist to persecute the Jewish people during the Tribulation period (Revelation 12-13), just like Hitler was able to use a similar mindset during the events of the Holocaust.

 PRAY: Pray these antisemitic tendencies will continue to be called out and the media will treat Israel in a fairer manner.

Morocco Opening New Embassy in Israel

After a year of waiting, Israel announced the new opening of a Moroccan embassy in the country as confirmed by Yair Lapid, head of Israeli diplomacy. No exact details have yet been given as to when this new phase of good diplomatic relations will officially begin, but it will be available from this summer onwards. Lapid did say that Nasser Bourita, the Kingdom’s Foreign Minister, is expected to pay an official visit to the Hebrew state to welcome the embassy in September. Thus, the relationship between the two peoples, which is constantly developing, is again being consolidated.

The opening of the embassy has been on the table for a year now. Moreover, this coincided with the Kingdom’s decision to transform its liaison offices into official embassies. These changes corresponded with Yair Lapid’s visit to the Alawi kingdom in the summer of last year. This trip was a historic moment in Moroccan-Israeli relations, marking a turning point in ties between the two nations. “Following our visit to Morocco, we have decided, together with the Moroccan Foreign Ministry, to raise the level of diplomatic relations with the Kingdom and transform the two Liaison Offices into two Embassies,” Lapid said on his visit to the country.

The head of Israeli diplomacy stayed in Morocco for two days, where he took it upon himself to accentuate relations between the two sides. In addition to the announcement of the opening, Lapid also inaugurated the Israeli diplomatic mission in Rabat and was responsible first-hand for signing several cooperation agreements. This move is very groundbreaking, as Morocco is roughly 99% Muslim. Many foreign policy experts think that as more and more predominately Muslim nations continue to create international relationships with Israel, it will open the door for other nations to create these relationships as well. However, some do caution that if Israel continues to make new friends in the Middle East and Northern Africa, Iran could feel threatened to quicken their plans for any attack on Israel.

Although the opening of the embassy comes later than expected, the two countries began working on the next steps to establish the embassy last year. In October 2021, Israel announced that Morocco already had an ambassador on its territory. David Govrin accepted his new position as ambassador after moving from being the director of the Israel Liaison Office in Rabat.

The Abraham Accords pushed to establish relations between the two countries. The two countries jointly signed the normalization and restoration of their relations after years of tension and no contact. This new treaty, orchestrated under the administration of former US President Donald Trump, has allowed the Hebrew state to improve ties with some Arab nations and has developed new ties and forms of cooperation between all parties involved. Since that time, the two countries have not stopped establishing agreements and treaties in key sectors of their economies. These have been determining factors that have shown that Morocco and Israel have left the past behind and see a joint future of peace and stability.

In early July, there was hope in Israel that Saudi Arabia was warming to relations when they agreed to open their airspace to Israelite travel planes. However, Saudi Arabia’s decision to grant Israeli airlines the right to fly through its airspace is not a step in the direction of normalization, the country’s deputy ambassador to the UN Mohammed Al-Ateeq said. “The decision to allow the use of our airspace to all airlines is in line with our international obligations,” Ateeq told the UN Security Council on during its monthly meeting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “This step will not be a prelude to other steps,” he said.

Biblical Connections: Genesis 12:3 states, “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

PRAY: Pray that more nations will continue to open relations with Israel and they will be able to create allies in their region.

China’s Rapid Expansion a Problem for the West?

House Republicans are warning that China’s “rapid expansion and militarization” of the Indo-Pacific is a “significant threat” to the United States and allies around the globe, while the Biden administration maintains it has made its concerns “clear” about Beijing’s “shadowy, unspecified deals” in the region. Republican Rep. Lance Gooden led Republican colleagues Nancy Mace, Ken Buck, Lisa McClain and Louie Gohmert in a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken. It warned that if China is “left unchecked,” the U.S. and allies “will be unprepared and unable to respond to China’s presence in the region…China’s rapid expansion and militarization of the Indo-Pacific region is a significant threat to the United States and our allies across the globe.” They noted that, in recent years, China “has used coercion and intimidation to demand policy changes, assert illegal maritime claims, and threaten countries that work with the United States or our allies.

One example Gooden gave was Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visiting several Indo-Pacific countries in recent weeks to “expand China’s military presence in the region” — specifically the Solomon Islands, which recently signed a security agreement with China allowing the PRC to “send military personnel and Chinese warships to utilize their ports for ‘logistical replenishment…This agreement establishes a concerning precedent and could begin a domino effect destabilizing the entire region,” Gooden wrote. Gooden and Republicans demanded Blinken “undertake all necessary measures to strengthen existing and foster new relationships in the strategic Indo-Pacific region to counter China’s growing influence.”

Gooden pointed to the U.S. treaty with the Republic of Kiribati, which has been in place since 1979, and prohibits Kiribati from “making facilities for military purposes available to third parties except with the agreement of the United States…Despite this treaty, the PRC has previously had a military operation under the guise of a space tracking station on Kiribati’s South Tarawa Island,” they wrote. “Due to China’s growing influence in the region, there are concerns that this facility may reopen in direct violation of our agreement with the Republic of Kiribati.” 

A State Department spokesperson stated that the department “appreciate(s) the bicameral and bipartisan support from Congress for deeper engagement in the Indo-Pacific…As we have said before, we must match action with our policies,” the spokesperson told Fox News. “The president has urged Congress to pass the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, which would authorize over $3.25 billion in diplomatic and foreign assistance resources for the Indo-Pacific.” The State Department spokesperson said the Biden administration envisions an Indo-Pacific that is “open, connected, prosperous, resilient and secure — and we are ready to work together with each nation to achieve it.”

The Biden administration is continuing to broaden engagement in the region, the spokesperson said, referring to President Biden’s recent trip to Japan and Blinken’s trip to the Pacific Islands. “As we have said, each nation will make its own sovereign decisions,” the spokesperson told Fox News. “We, along with allies and partners, including those in the region, have made our concerns clear about China’s shadowy, unspecified deals with little regional consultation.” The administration welcomes “contributions by the PRC to regional development, so long as it adheres to high standards, including in areas such as transparency, the rule of law, sustainable financing and respect for the autonomy of development aid recipients.”

Biblical Connection: While China is not necessarily named in the Bible, the fact that they represent a secular society that continually persecutes Christians should warn believers of the types of governments and political movements that will occur during the Tribulation, where Christianity will be outlawed and massive persecution and martyrdoms will occur (Revelation 6:9-11). 

PRAY: Pray that China’s continual push to expand and persecute will be stopped and religious freedom will be restored in the region.

Britain Continues Attack on Traditional Christian Beliefs of Gender

A London-based employment tribunal has ruled that the British Equality Act protects Christians’ beliefs that do not affirm transgenderism, but they cannot express those beliefs in the workplace. The Employment Appeal Tribunal in London delivered the judgment in a case concerning a Christian doctor whose work contract was terminated over his refusal to refer to a man as a woman.

 In July 2018, Dr. David Mackereth, an A&E doctor with 30 years of experience, was forced out of his job in the Department of Work and Pensions. He subsequently took his case to the tribunal which ruled that biblical beliefs on gender are “incompatible with human dignity” and not “worthy of respect in a democratic society.” The doctor then sought to challenge that ruling.  At first read, this judgment sounded very favorable. It means that the belief that God created humans as male and female and not transgender is a protected belief under both the Equality Act and the Human Rights Act, said the British charity Christian Concern, whose legal arm, the Christian Legal Centre, represented the Christian doctor. “Furthermore, it means that more narrow beliefs flowing from that core belief, such as that affirming a transgendered person in their gender identity belief is harmful, are also protected. The right not to believe in transgenderism is also protected,” Christian Concern added.

 However, the appeals tribunal also affirmed that “while the belief, or lack of belief, in transgenderism was protected, its manifestation in the workplace was qualified.” Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, called the judgment “confusing and muddled…The way in which the judge has driven a wedge between holding a belief and manifesting it means these basic Christian beliefs are protected on paper but not in practice,” Williams said. “The freedom to hold a belief, but not be able to express it, is no freedom at all,” he added.

 Mackereth said during proceedings that he was asked in a conversation by his line manager: “If you have a man 6 foot tall with a beard who says he wants to be addressed as ‘she’ and ‘Mrs,’ would you do that?” And Mackereth replied that in good conscience, he could not. His contract was subsequently terminated.

 Mackereth said he was grateful to the court for at least “recognizing that a belief that we are made by God, both male and female ‘in His image’ is not incompatible with human dignity.” However, he also said he will be taking the case to a higher court. Mackereth said everyone in the NHS should be able to say “publicly without fear that a person cannot change sex, but instead we are being forced to accept a massive change to our concept of the medical reality of sex, with no scientific basis for that change.” He continued: “As Christians, we are not trying to be unkind to people in any way. As Christians we are called to love all people with Christian love. But we cannot love people truly when we live and disseminate a lie. If we are to tell patients that they need to ‘follow the science’, then we must not tell them that they can change sex.”

 Biblical Connections: Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:3-4 that, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” We are clearly seeing a change in Western culture in which Christianity is tolerated only as long as it does not offend someone else. The moment someone becomes offended, religious freedom is placated.

 PRAY: Pray that this drive in Western culture toward ungodliness would stop and Christian principles and truth would be put back into the public square.

46 Retired Generals, Admirals Urge Against Iran Nuclear Deal

In an open letter to President Biden, 46 retired U.S. generals and admirals voiced their opposition to the ongoing negotiations with Iran on striking a nuclear deal. “In Ukraine, we are bearing witness to the horrors of a country ruthlessly attacking its neighbor and, by brandishing its nuclear weapons, forcing the rest of the world largely to stand on the sidelines,” the letter, penned in coordination with the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), said. “The new Iran deal currently being negotiated, which Russia has played a central role in crafting, will enable the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism to cast its own nuclear shadow over the Middle East.”

 Retired Air Force Gen. Charles Wald, who also formerly served as deputy commander of U.S, European Command, said he supports finding a solution to the nuclear issue in the Middle East through diplomacy, but argued no deal is better than a bad deal.

 “The idea of an agreement is a good idea. We agree with diplomacy,” Wald told Fox News. “But we agreed with a fair agreement that would not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon breakout and then have weapons delivery systems that would then change the dynamic in the Middle East – particularly for Israel but all other countries too.” Wald said one of his chief concerns with the latest deal is that the Biden administration is not considering Iran’s role in fueling terrorism and backing rebel groups in the war in Yemen – a war that has prompted one of the greatest humanitarian crises.

 President Biden made re-entering a nuclear agreement with Iran a chief priority of his administration and indirect talks through European allies have been on and off for roughly a year. But reports surfaced suggesting the administration was considering a request from Iran to remove its top military branch, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), from the U.S. list of foreign terrorist organizations. In exchange, the U.S. has called on Iran to end its support for terrorist organizations fueling unrest in the region – but several groups from Iranian American scientists to retired military commanders have little faith Iran will live up to this commitment. “That’s a red flag,” Wald said in reference to removing the IRGC as a designated terrorist group. “That just doesn’t sit well with us because the IRGC is the most malicious group in the region.”

The retired general said the death of 600 U.S. military members could be attributed “directly” to IRGC, and noted they continue to attack U.S. and allied forces in the region. Talks between western nations and Iran appeared to be stalled and officials involved in the negotiations remain tight-lipped on deal specifics. Wald said he would need to see “unfettered access by the IAEA” and assurances that Iran will not continue with its ballistic missile system even if a nuclear agreement is reached, in order for him to support a deal with Iran.

 “The Iranians will push up to the point where they know something bad is going happen to them,” Wald continued. “So the more difficult we make for them to operate with impunity, the more they’re going to take advantage of it.”

 Just last week it was reported that thankfully the Biden administration will not agree to removing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from the State Department’s list of foreign terrorists, thus stalling negotiations for the time being. However, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz has warned the world that Iran is weeks away from having the necessary materials for a nuclear weapon.

 PRAY: Pray for President Biden to heed the warnings about Iran and to work to keep them from nuclear capability.

Is America Becoming too Weak to Stand up for Freedom?

As the war between Russia and Ukraine has captured the attention of the world, one thing that has clearly stood out has been the great passion and love of homeland of the Ukrainian people. Thousands of Ukrainians have flocked to enlist in the military in order to defend their homeland, even many who did not reside in the country at the outbreak of the conflict. Regardless of the ultimate outcome of the war, the strength, passion and dedication of the Ukrainian people for their nation has clearly been demonstrated and has captured the attention of the globe.

 This has led many throughout the globe to question how much of a love of homeland they themselves have.  In a recent poll, Americans were asked what they would do if they were in the same position as Ukrainians are now: stay and fight or leave the country? A majority (55 percent) say they would stay and fight, while 38 percent say they would leave the country. Republicans say 68 - 25 percent and independents say 57 - 36 percent they would stay and fight, while Democrats say 52 - 40 percent they would leave the country.

 This has led many to question what exactly has happened to America? Why is there such a large percentage of the population not willing to stand and fight for their country?

 In a recent Wall Street opinion, Matthew Hennessey wrote, “One can hardly imagine Americans of yesteryear exhibiting such high levels of yellow-bellyism. Where have all the Minutemen gone? The Molly Pitchers? The Audie Murphys? The Todd Beamers? In the aftermath of Pearl Harbor and 9/11, when the nation was on its knees, the call was answered without hesitation by rock-ribbed Republicans and true-blue Democrats alike. Even the turbulent Vietnam era didn’t inspire such pusillanimity. Between 1964 and 1973, 2.2 million Americans were conscripted into military service. Another 15 million were granted deferments for one reason or another. Less than 2% of those who were eligible for the draft opted to evade it, either by going underground or emigrating.”

 Cal Thomas similarly wrote, “After two generations where students in public schools and major universities seem to have been taught by mostly liberal teachers and professors that America is not an exceptional nation and is, rather, a country whose “original sin” of slavery and record wealth is an embarrassment, why would anyone want to fight to preserve sin and embarrassment? Maybe in Las Vegas they might ask where these two qualities are in abundance…If the Quinnipiac survey is accurate – and given the current cultural condition, why wouldn’t it be? – the willingness to act seems to be shrinking. Inertia can only last for so long before the power that launched it expires. We have been living off the bravery and sacrifice of ‘the greatest generation’ for some time. It must be renewed if freedom is to be extended for us and for other nations.”

 Now, some might say that love for one’s country is not something that should be a high priority. However, we must remember that it was America that stood against the Nazis. It was America that combated atheistic communism for decades. It is America that has fought the War on Terror for two decades.

 While America certainly has its issues and problems, God has used this nation as a restrainer on evil throughout the globe for many generations. If America no longer has the will or determination to stand up against the forces of evil across the globe, then trouble could be on the horizon.

 PRAY: Pray that America will continue to show the determination to combat evil throughout the globe.

Israeli’s Believe Ukraine is a Sign for Iran’s Future

For many years, Vladimir Putin has complained about the injustice of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the loss of Russia’s rightful hegemony of the former Soviet Republics. In 2005, he said “the demise of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century... Tens of millions of our citizens and fellow countrymen found themselves outside the Russian Federation.” The world watched him take northern Georgia (2008), Crimea and eastern Ukraine (2014), and did little about it. He took the measure of America during the Afghanistan retreat and read the polls of the American people’s appetite for foreign engagements. The dictators watched closely when the US did not respond to attacks on its soldiers in Syria near al Tanf.

 Putin watched, learned and acted. The authoritarian President Xi Jinping in China, the Revolutionary Shi’ite Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his Republican Guards henchmen, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, are all watching. They are now analyzing and strategizing the best time to invade Taiwan; attack the Gulf states; let loose proxies in Gaza, Yemen and Lebanon; confront India, and threaten the Far East.

 Authoritarian birds of a feather flock together, vocally supporting Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. During the unprovoked assault, Putin met with Pakistani Prime Minister Khan, while President Xi of China offered his support of Russia. The “Butcher of Tehran,” Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi told Putin, “The continued expansion of NATO is a serious threat against the stability and security of independent countries in various regions of the world.” The Iranians know that the US desperately wants to rejoin a weakened nuclear deal. It is an agreement that demands absolutely no restrictions on Iran’s expansionism; its support of aggressive proxies in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen; or any limits on Iran’s terrorism, human rights abuses or missile development. The lesson of Ukraine for Iran is to hold out for more, as America under this administration is perceived not as a superpower but more of a 98-pound weakling.

 As Yoav Limor, writing in Israel Hayom, says, “The lesson for the world is broader: Without resolve, the familiar global security order will crack. The Russian invasion of Ukraine poses dangers that could extend beyond the immediate battlefield, potentially changing the world security order for the worse.”

 The Israelis are watching closely and know that their national security is in worse shape than just a month ago. The lesson of Ukraine for Israel is that it must rely on itself by itself, and that is the message most other nations will also take. With a new nuclear agreement whose feeble restrictions on nuclear development will evaporate in just a few years, it means that Israel will need to act sooner rather than later to strike Iran’s nuclear weapons program.

 Ukraine is the flashing signal telling Israel it has to go it alone regarding Iran. The weak western response to the naked Russian act of aggression has increased the chance for regional and global wars.

 Unlike the rest of the world, Israel believes what its adversaries say. Supreme leader Khamenei has called for the destruction of the Zionist entity on innumerable occasions: “Our stance against Israel is the same stance we have always taken. Israel is a malignant cancerous tumor… that has to be removed and eradicated: it is possible, and it will happen.”

 What is the Ukrainian connection to the Middle East? Russia is also the leading outside power in the region with the influence and desire to recreate the Soviet sphere of influence in the Levant and North Africa.

 Russia has solidified its military status with new naval facilities at Tartus and an upgraded airbase at Khmeimim, both in Syria. It now projects on-the-ground military power from its bases in Syria into the eastern Mediterranean, affecting Cyprus, Turkey, Greece, Israel, the Gulf States and Egypt. Those Russian bases are close to the Black Sea and Crimea and in range of the Suez Canal, the Straits of Hormuz and Bab-el Mandeb – gateways and choke points of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.

 Appeasing Iran with a weak nuclear agreement in 2015, forgetting about previous Russian hegemonic invasions in eastern Ukraine (2014) and Georgia (2008), and ignoring China’s moves in Hong Kong and the South China Sea, were signboards for the dictators to move now or in the near future.

 America’s poor leadership on the global stage, rhetoric with evaporating red lines, and an isolationist sentiment are a perfect storm to ignite regional wars in the Far East, Mideast, Eastern Europe and southern Asia. America is a nation that has lost its way, looking more like America in the 1930s, which ignored the rise of Hitler and Japan until there was no choice. When Emmanuel Macron is the most decisive leader in the West, you know that your adversaries will take notice and act.

 To avoid war, you need the means to fight and for your enemies to believe you have the will to use them. America has the former, albeit somewhat hollowed out in recent years, and lacks the latter.

 Unless things change, by 2030, Xi will be in Taipei. Israel will have struck Iranian nuclear facilities, and Hezbollah and Hamas will have sent tens of thousands of missiles into Israeli civilian areas.

 PRAY: Pray for the protection of Israel. Pray for the return of strong American leadership on the world stage.

Russia and China Use Ukraine to Pressure Biden’s Foreign Policy

As Russian tanks amassed along the frozen marshes of the Belarus border with Ukraine on January 25, President Joe Biden put 8,500 U.S. troops on high alert for possible deployment. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) moved additional fighter jets and naval ships toward Eastern Europe. “I have made it clear early on to President Putin that if he were to move into Ukraine, that there’d be severe consequences,” Biden said.

However, the opposite has happened: Putin’s gamesmanship has exacted damaging consequences on the U.S. and the Biden Administration. Putin wants to assert Russia’s relevance on the world stage, embarrass Biden, and test the unity of NATO countries. He’s already well on his way to achieving those ends. Putin has dragged Biden into responding to a frustrating series of escalations, complicating the U.S. response to Russia’s actions, distracting from other diplomatic priorities, and upping the political stakes for Biden. His approval ratings sagged after a turbulent withdrawal from Afghanistan last summer led the Taliban to take control of the country. Ukraine is Biden’s second major foreign policy test as President.

Putin’s gamble is paying off—at least in the short term. “He’s back in the center of attention,” says Charles Kupchan, a professor of international affairs at Georgetown University and former director of European affairs on President Bill Clinton’s National Security Council. “Putin craves being at the table and profoundly laments the Soviet Union’s dismantlement and Russia’s fall from grace.”

Putin now has the world’s attention, forcing the U.S. and NATO to hand formal written responses to Russia’s list of demands that Western forces withdraw from Eastern Europe and disallow any other former Soviet-bloc nations, like Ukraine, from joining the alliance. Secretary of State Antony Blinken cautioned NATO would not close its “open-door” policy to new members but said there was room for negotiation in other areas. “Whether they choose the path of diplomacy and dialogue, whether they decide to renew aggression against Ukraine,” he said, “we’re prepared either way.”

The standoff is proving a major challenge for Biden. So far Putin has played his hand to his advantage. Putin has “shown that he is still very relevant in geopolitical terms,” says Matt Pottinger, who was President Donald Trump’s deputy national security advisor. “He’s amassed leverage to extract concessions that Russians have wanted since soon after the close of the Cold War 30 years ago.”

Biden’s aides spent days cleaning up his confusing responses during a January 19 White House press conference. He said if Putin launches a “minor incursion” the U.S. and allies will “end up having a fight about what to do and not do.” The next day, Biden tried to clarify that “any assembled Russian units” moving across the Ukrainian border would be considered “an invasion” and there would be a “severe and coordinated economic response.”

Putin’s show of force comes at a time when Biden’s foreign policy apparatus wants to focus on countering China’s growing influence in the Pacific. While much of the world’s attention was on the crisis in Ukraine, China flew a large formation of warplanes toward Taiwan. “The White House, they want to focus on China, because they correctly see that as the big strategic challenge for the next three or four decades, and they were sort of hoping that Russia would remain quiet. Well, Russia didn’t accommodate,” says Steven Pifer, U.S. ambassador to Ukraine from 1998 to 2000.

Ryan Crocker, a retired diplomat who served as ambassador in Lebanon, Kuwait, Syria, Pakistan, Iraq and Afghanistan over his 37-year career, believes Biden’s mishandling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan caught the attention Russia and China. Following his decision to abruptly pull out of America’s longest war, Biden failed to closely consult and coordinate with Western partners, essentially leaving them to scamper for the exits, Crocker said. “The whole world saw what happened,” Crocker says. “He’s got to show that he can do a whole lot better on another major international issue than he did on Afghanistan.”

PRAY: Pray for wisdom for President Biden and his foreign policy advisors and for opportunities to deescalate rising tensions.

Will Climate Change Kill National Sovereignty and Increase Globalism?

As we collectively hurtle into the era of climate change, international relations as we’ve known them for almost four centuries will change beyond recognition. This shift is probably inevitable, but it will also cause new conflicts. Since the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, diplomats — in peacetime and war alike — have, for the most part, subscribed to the principle of national sovereignty. The Charter of the United Nations says foreign countries have no right “to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state.”

The concept was born, along with the entire system of modern states, in the physical and psychological rubble of the Thirty Years War. Starting in 1618, European powers intervened in one another’s territories at will. Round after round of war left about one in three dead. It was in that continental graveyard that statesmen stipulated it was best if every state henceforth minded its own business.

Nobody at the Peace of Westphalia was deluded enough to think this realist notion would end war. After all, by acknowledging sovereignty, the system accepted that countries pursue their national interests, which tend to clash. But at least the new consensus offered the chance of preventing additional indiscriminate bloodletting. Even then, the principle of sovereignty was never absolute or uncontroversial. For a long time, the best idealist counterargument was humanitarian — countries have not just the right but the duty to intervene in other states if, say, those are committing atrocities such as genocide.

Now, however, there’s an even more powerful push against sovereignty, put forth by thinkers such as Stewart Patrick at the Council on Foreign Relations. It’s that in a world where all countries collectively face the emergency of global warming, sovereignty is simply no longer a tenable concept.

An early demonstration of this shift in international relations was the dust-up in 2019 between Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and French President Emmanuel Macron. Bolsonaro was allowing fires to burn wide swathes of the Amazon rainforest. Speaking for many, Macron accused Bolsonaro of abetting “ecocide.” Sounds like the new genocide, doesn’t it? Bolsonaro shot back that Macron was a neocolonialist, a European power again trying to force his ideas on another sovereign nation.

The underlying issue is sovereignty: Is a rainforest located in Brazil the business of Brazil or of the world? Would, in a hypothetical future scenario, an alliance led by France be within its rights to declare war on Brazil to prevent ecocide? This opens a new line of thinking about world affairs. Policymakers are already steeped in analyses of the new types of conflict that global warming will cause within and between countries. Those include wars over access to freshwater, the disappearance of arable land or mass migrations.

Will some powers or alliances contemplate military interventions in other states to end what they will define as ecocide? Others may even go to war if they believe rival countries are taking unilateral measures against climate change that threaten their own interests.

This has caused many to claim national sovereignty should be forfeited and the need for an ecological equivalent to what the World Trade Organization is to commerce: A new international body that makes the conundrum explicit and attempts to maintain order. This sounds very much like a global government that can force individual nations to do whatever it deems “best for the globe”. Could this push lead to a stronger emphasis on globalism and a one-world government? It certainly looks like it could be a possibility, and something strongly pushed by progressives in the future.

PRAY: God has called us to be good stewards of the land. Pray for those seeking to establish a one-world government to achieve their goals.

Did the United Nations Create the Beast of Revelation 13?

A new giant statue installed outside the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan is being likened to an End Times “beast” described by the Apostle John in Revelation 13:2, which states, “The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority.”

 The U.N. released a statement about the new statue. “A guardian for international peace and security sits on the Visitor’s Plaza outside #UN Headquarters. The guardian is a fusion of jaguar and eagle and donated by the Government of Oaxaca, Mexico … It is created by artists Jacobo and Maria Angeles,” the U.N. says in a tweet that includes a photo of the statue.

 This new statue has led many to identify it as the beast of Revelation. This has led to some confusion, with some wondering if this is a sign that we are now in the Tribulation. However, there are several problems with this idea. First, the two beasts in Revelation 13, the beast out of the Sea and the beast out of the land, are not actual beasts but are symbolic representatives of actual people in the future. This is very similar to the four beasts found in Daniel 7, which are not actual beasts either but represented the nations of Babylon, Media-Persia, Greece and Rome. In Revelation 13, the beast out of the Sea represents the future Antichrist and the beast out of the land represents the future False Prophet.

 The characteristics of these beasts are symbolic of their power and abilities. For example, the “ten horns” of the beast represented the power of the beast, given to him by ten future kings that will empower his empire. Much of the symbolism that John writes about in the Book of Revelation comes right out of the Book of Daniel. If the beasts in Daniel were symbolic, then it should be clear that the beasts in Revelation are similarly representative of other things. Thus, the beast statue should not alarm us into thinking that the Tribulation period has started in any way. There is no literal future beast figure that is coming that matches the physical descriptions given in Revelation, but instead the Antichrist and his False Prophet fulfills these future beasts.

 Second, the assertion that this statue in any way means that we are somehow in the Great Tribulation is also inaccurate. The Rapture of the Church has yet to occur. The Antichrist has not risen to power. It is only with these two event that the Tribulation can occur. Therefore, we should not be worried about this statue representing any beginning of the Tribulation.

 However, while we should not view this statue as any “sign of the apocalypse”, what it should do is alarm us at the increase of wild speculation that the COVID pandemic has brought into our culture. Instead of being faithful to the Biblical text, people are jumping at whatever they see that vaguely resembles anything from the Bible and trying to make it fit into their narrative. They are reading the newspaper first and then trying to make the Bible fit with current events. Instead, what we must always do as good followers of the Biblical text is to try to understand it in its proper meaning. For example, the Beast of Revelation 13 cannot mean we are already in the Tribulation because the Bible makes it clear the church will not be in the Tribulation. We must be wise and biblical in our interpretation and make sure we are always following the true meaning of the text!

 PRAY: Pray for believers to be wise and biblical in interpreting the Bible and world events.