There is a war being waged against the United States. It is a war of increment. Little by little the hegemony of United States is being challenged and gradually weakened by Russia and China, the two largest competitors of the United States. And they work in tandem with each other.
Consider this. Gazprom, Russia’s giant state-owned gas company is starting to sell gas in currencies other than U.S. dollars, including Yuan to China, Rubles to Russians, and Euros to Europeans. Gazprom chief Alexander Dyukov said that “95 percent of those under contract with the company were ready to make the switch.” While the changeover won’t happen over night, it has nevertheless begun with China and Russia signing a deal to trade energy in each other’s currencies. And they are now discussing how to sell gas in Euros. This is a direct challenge to the United States because if the U.S. dollar is no longer the world’s reserve currency, the United States will have severe economic problems. This will lead to war.
And consider this: Russia asserts itself in Ukraine and annexes Crimea. Again this tested the will power of the United States to see if it would resist Russia’s incursion into Ukrainian territory, perhaps through NATO, or any other means. America did not, at least so far, giving Russia more freedom to flex its muscles in the region. The action in Ukraine has terrified other Eastern and Central European and Baltic states. They have never lived under self-rule except when Russia was weak, such as after the fall of the Soviet Empire. Now with Russia growing noticeably stronger again, they fear they will be drawn in under Russian control again. They know that they cannot last long as independent nation states without outside help. These nations are not getting the help they want from NATO, which is largely dominated by the United States. They hope that they can encourage Europe to get its foreign ministry organized in time to become a deterrent to further aggression from Russia. Meanwhile the United States stands on the sidelines and does little.
So, consider this. China has ongoing disputes with almost all of its neighbors over territory. In November of 2013, China boldly expanded its Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) to cover the entire East China Sea. It overlaps the Japanese, South Korean and Taiwanese ADIZ zones to some extent, which is a direct challenge to their own sovereignty, but also to the mutual defense treaties between them and the United States. This expanded zone includes major commercial airline routes. China imposed requirements and restrictions on aircraft passing through this territory, something that has never been done before over international waters. The nations affected are allies of the United States. This is certainly a test to see if the United States will take measures to resist the Chinese expansion and defend the sovereignty of those nations. While many nations around the world protested the move, the United States also advised U.S. airlines to comply with Chinese restrictions.
And lastly, consider this. While the United States does little about Russia’s aggression in the Ukraine, China has begun to strengthen its control of the South China Sea and harassing Filipino fishing ships and other civilian boats. In 2012 the Chinese navy seized the disputed Scarborough Shoal, which had been under Philippine control and well within its economic territory. And the United States didn’t do anything. Now, China is asserting itself again. A small civilian boat was carrying soldiers, food and water recently to a grounded Philippine Navy ship about 100 miles from the Philippine coast when a Chinese coast guard ship intercepted it. This new incident will again test the mutual defense treaty between the Philippines and the United States.
China sees that Russia gets away with aggression without U.S. interference and takes the opportunity to strengthen itself beyond its boarders. Russia sees that China gets away with aggression without U.S. interference and acts to strengthen itself too. Neither nation is any match for the U.S. military, but they are finding ways to challenge its global hegemony in an effort to increase their own power and test the strength and will power of the only remaining superpower.
Wars are fought on many different levels. A hot military war is often the result of an ongoing underlying war of propaganda, action, counteraction, retaliation, intervention, geopolitical posturing and confrontation. Money and power are at the root of it all. These developments can only lead, eventually, to a hot war.
“In the last scenes of this earth’s history, war will rage. There will be pestilence, plague, and famine. The waters of the deep will overflow their boundaries. Property and life will be destroyed by fire and flood. We should be preparing for the mansions that Christ has gone to prepare for them that love Him. There is a rest from earth’s conflict.” Maranatha, page 174
Source References
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Gas Replaces Weapons in New Russia-West Standoff [1]
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Dollar’s Reserve Currency Status Challenged by Russia’s Euros-for-Oil Plan [2]
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After Ukraine, Countries That Border Russia Start Thinking About Nuclear Deterrents [3]
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Air Defense Identification Zone (East China Sea) [4]
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The Panatag Shoal Standoff Timeline [5]
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Philippines says new China ship aggravates sea row [6]