There is a palpable sense that the world order is changing from the “rules-based” order established after the end of the Second World War and the American hegemony that followed the end of the Cold War, to be replaced by a multi-polar world of competing empires and spheres of influence.
Whilst Donald Trump may speak of “making America great again”, the reality is that American isolationism is seeing a diminution of US power and influence as other nations increase their military and economic power. The military parade held in Beijing on 3 September to celebrate victory over Japan was a very visual demonstration of this new reality, as Presidents Xi Jinping and Putin stood shoulder to shoulder alongside Prime Minister Modi of India and Kim Jong Un of North Korea.
All these leaders are authoritarian nationalists, and it seems as though the liberal democracy of the West is in retreat on the world stage, and in trouble at home with the rise of populism. Surveys suggest that an increasing number of Americans and Europeans would prefer an authoritarian regime, that can effect change, to the current morass.
Does God find any of our church practices ‘silly’?
Just after Christmas the Irish Government released state papers from the year 2000. They told how the Queen had expressed …