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"Going into the 1980s, the Western world has come to the point where an Arab oil
embargo would ignite a cataclysmic chain of events.,
nothing short of abysmal. 2) Give in
to Soviet pressure and become a
vassal of the Soviet Union. Or, 3) as
Gen. Charles de Gaulle always main–
tained, develop its own independent
military and nuclear forces.
Lookfor Europeans to choose the
/ast option!
As Europeans realize more and
more that they will be either subordi–
nated to or invaded by the Soviet
Union, Bible prophecy reveals that
Western Europe, as heir of the
ancient Roman Empire, will estab–
lish its own defense force and t ake an
independent stance in the world. Lis–
ten to the
Daily Telegraph's
Euro–
pean spokesman Peregrine Wors–
thorne on this issue: "So perhaps the
prewar generation was
correct after
al/ not ro re/y on the United States.
"When even pro-American Euro–
peans are compelled to reach this
conclusion, then surely the time has
come for something to be done about
it. In fact, the obvious reaction,
which may be long overdue, is for
Western Europe to look more and
more to its own defenses and its own
interests,
if
need be in defiance ofthe
U.S.
Such a world could well be
intensely dangerous."
lndeed, Bible prophecy proclaims
that Europe and the Soviet Union
will
eventually find themselves
at
war
at the close of this world's civíli–
zation and the time of God's inter–
vention to bring world peace through
sending Jesus Christ again.
The enti re ninth chapter of Reve–
lation describes in symbol a final war
between a unified Europe anda great
Eurasian power. And Daniel 11:44
describes how "tidings out of the east
and out ofthe north" [which could be
none other, given the geography of
Palestine, than the land of Russia]
shall "trouble" the leader of a united
Europe, who "shall go forth with
great fury to destroy."
The Other Whlrlwlnd
The 1970s set in motion another
chain of events which is leading to
conflagration in the 1980s: world
dependence on Middle Eastern oil.
24
Thus when Irving Kristol peers
into his crystal ball for the 1980s, he
acknowledges what
The P/ain Truth
has proclaimed for decades:
"The
Middle East is the most obvious
source of trouble.
...
Oil at $50 to
$7
5
a barre! is not too far down the
road, and chaos in that regían might
well result in no oil being available at
any price."
The 1970s have indeed Jaid the
foundation for absolute "chaos in
that region"!
Europe and Japan have always
been dependent on Middle Eastern
oil, and were able to reduce their
dependence upon it only marginally
in the 1970s (Britain and Norway–
who found their own oil-excepted).
The United States, on the other
hand, instituted policies that had the
perverse effect of increasing its
dependency on Mideast oil!
In 1971 price controls were put on
the entire American economy. By
1974, they had been removed, except
for the price of
domestically
pro–
duced crude. While the world price
went through the roof, American
domestic crude prices were held
down. That gave oil companies an
incredible incentive to go out and buy
Middle Eastern oil while holding
back on production of relatively Jess
profitable domestic oil. American
dependence on oil imports was less
than a quarter of its daily consump–
tion at the beginning of the decade.
But imports shot up toa full
one half
of daily consumption by 1979. As the
1980s begin, American dependence
on imported oil has reached the point
where the economy simply cannot
tolerate an Arab oil embargo as it
had in 1973.
Going into the 1980s, t he Western
world has cometo the point wbere an
Arab oil embargo would ignite a
cataclysmic chain of events. Experts
are absolutely apocalyptic in their
description of the situation: Accord–
ing to Wa lter Levy, an international
oil consultant, if
any
Mideast coun–
try halts its oil production, the
United States and the Western world
"have had it."
James E. Lee, president of Gulf
Oil, declares that "if OPEC cuts
back production substantially or if
prices rise too drastically, it could
plunge both the developed and un–
derdeveloped world into depression!"
And Sheik Ahmed Zaki Yamani,
Saudi Arabia 's modera te oil minis–
ter, has warned of an
economic col–
lapse worse than the Great Depres–
sion
that will strike the West if the
ftow of oil from the Middle East is
ever halted.
Another possibility leading to the
same result is that the Soviet Union
might gain such influence in the
Mideast that it, or its proxies, could
shut off the oil. "Soviet control of the
oil tap in the Middle East would
mean
the end ofthe world as we have
known it since 1945,"
declares James
R. Schlesinger, former head of the
U.S. Department of Energy.
Vulnerable Europe and Japan
Significantly, it is Western Europe
and Japan that face the most upheav–
al should the ftow of oil ever be shut
off.
Mr. Schlesinger is quite blunt: [l f
the control of the Persian Gulf fell
into hostile hands] "Given their
dependency on that par t of the world
Japan and Western Europe
would
have to change their orientation."
A few years ago,
Business Week
magazine forecast the same geopoli–
tical developments. Should the oil–
producing countries of the Middle
East fall under the sway of other
Islamic militants or the Soviets, "the
strain on U.S. military alliances with
Europe and Japan, in turn, would
weaken the political framework of
the Western economic system."
Again, Bible prophecy is right on
target. It foretells that in the time
just before the retum of Christ, a
united Europe and Japan would have
a different political orientation than
the United States.
The lgnored lssue
The threat of another Arab oil
embargo remains because of continu-
(Concinued on page 30)
The
PLAIN TRUTH