Steven Collins
October 5, 2007
 
The Wall Street Journal warned in an October 3, 2007 article entitled “Putin the Great” that Russian President Vladimir Putin will effectively be controlling Russia’s foreign and domestic policies even after he leaves the Presidency. Not a man to let Constitutional prohibitions stand in the way of his continued power, the article notes that Putin is likely to “rule Russia from his parliamentary office or…return to the presidency after a decent interval.”
 
This means Russia will increasingly act as a superpower rival to the USA and the West in the future. The Journal cites Putin’s policies of “meddling in the politics of Russia’s neighbors…[and his] increasingly assertive foreign policy that often seeks to undermine U.S. interests.” In other words, the Cold War era is being revived, and it could not be coming at a worse time for the USA and the West. The USA and the West greatly reduced their militaries when the Cold War took a hiatus, and they will have a hard time rebuilding them. Indeed, the small US peacetime army is now all but wore out in the unending wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Strangely, President Bush and the US Congress have decided to fight two wars in Asia without bothering to expand the US military to meet those needs.
 
The Journal article solemnly warns that Vladimir Putin is “reviving Russian authoritarianism, and the world’s democracies need to prepare for its consequences.” The Journal  is right, but so far, there is no indication that President Bush, the US Congress or any of leaders in the Western world are ready to face this reality. They are still in denial.
 
Ezekiel 38’s prophecy indicates the Western world’s state of denial may last quite a while. Russia is clearly identified as the leader of an anti-Western alliance which will attack the modern nations of the ten tribes of “Israel” in the latter days. Verses 10-13 of that chapter indicate the attack, when it comes, will be a complete surprise to the attacked nations. Newcomers to this blog can find detailed information about this prophesied attack at the Articles section of this website (see “What Ezekiel 38-39 Reveals about a Future World War III”). The Wall Street Journal article indicates Russia will have a Putin dictatorship for some time to come. The bellicose Russian attitude confirms that the prophecy of Ezekiel 38 is marching steadily toward a fulfillment in our future. We do not know the year that this attack will occur, but Russia’s prophesied alliance with China and Iran has already occurred and “the pieces are moving” on the geopolitical chessboard. Russia is playing for keeps. The Western world’s leaders have yet to realize it.