John Loeffler: February 8, 2016

With silly season in full swing, it is important to examine our past and determine if our country is walking down a familiar path today. In this week’s boralogue, John looks back to the stock market crash in 1929 and our government’s unhelpful reaction to it. What lessons can we learn from this? More importantly, with politicians offering free goodies and decrying capitalism, are we ready to listen? We’re taking a whirlwind tour of the globe this week beginning in Sweden, where we invite Nima Gholam Ali Pour (www.situationmalmo.nu), Vice Chairman of Perspectives on Israel, to analyze the Palestinian-friendly Kairos document and how it and the Swedish media are fomenting a growing anti-Israel movement in that country. Next we travel to the Orient with columnist and East Asia expert Gordon Chang (www.gordonchang.com) who discusses not only China’s crumbling economy and military expansion but also the dangers of North Korean missile testing. Could the United States be vulnerable? John takes some time to discuss U.S. interest rates and the markets, Russia’s involvement with Ukraine and Syria, and the persecution of Christians by ISIS-controlled countries in the Middle East. We end our global tour back in Europe where David Goldman (www.reorientgroup.com), Managing Director at Reorient Group, studies Germany’s identity crisis in the wake of refugee violence and shows that their reaction to the emergency is related to their past. Could an identity crisis also be at the heart of Islam in the modern world, influencing violent incidents? John’s quote of the week: “Knowing who you are is important to functioning in the world especially in terms of a worldview. When you forget who you are – as a country, as a person, as an organization – then you typically get into trouble when you encounter other groups that don’t have that problem.” As always, join us online for our Section 6 intelligence briefing featuring analysis by John on important stories highlighting emerging geopolitical trends around the world. Please like us on Facebook at the Steel on Steel page and remember to join Praying for Persecuted Christians on Facebook as well for the latest information concerning Christians suffering for their faith around the world.