Everyone Wants to Rule the World

The US, like every other empire, kingdom, and nation that has ever come and gone, does not live on an island unto itself. We (like those before us) are subject to the schemes and maneuvers of all the other rising and variant forces that perpetually seek to challenge hegemony anywhere and everywhere at all times. The Babylonians had the Persians. The Persians had the Greeks. The Greeks the Romans. The Romans the barbarians. The Holy Roman Empire the Muslims. The West versus the East. The Old versus the New. And now, the New versus the Old.

The question we should be asking is whether or not this present conflict is bait for a wider, more strategic one?

When I was in the Army, the Warrant Officer Corps (who were a sort of hybrid officers between the Commissioned and Non-Commissioned Ranks) had a particular saying that had been around forever, and of which, I am still fond of to this day.

This simple and somewhat humorously antagonistic saying is an old technique of sorts that has been around for millennia. It’s called, defense in depth. It can be applied in many different fields, such as the military, legal, and cyber world, but in a purely military application, it’s an intentional strategy. Defense in depth has two main applications, the first is the castle approach, which is to say, a layered defense (moat, drawbridge, ramparts, castle walls, etc.). The second is of a stalling operation disguised as a tactical retreat, designed to cause the enemy to spread out and lose momentum. Here is a semi-official definition of it.

Defence in depth (also known as deep defence or elastic defence) is a military strategy that seeks to delay rather than prevent the advance of an attacker, buying time and causing additional casualties by yielding space. Rather than defeating an attacker with a single, strong defensive line, defence in depth relies on the tendency of an attack to lose momentum over time or as it covers a larger area. A defender can thus yield lightly defended territory in an effort to stress an attacker’s logistics or spread out a numerically superior attacking force. Once an attacker has lost momentum or is forced to spread out to pacify a large area, defensive counter-attacks can be mounted on the attacker’s weak points, with the goal being to cause attrition or drive the attacker back to its original starting position. (Wikipedia)

Thus, in a purely military application, defense in depth is a form of defensive illusion that allows the invader/aggressor to believe they are actually winning when in reality, are making themselves more vulnerable and prone to defeat. Both Napoleon’s Grand Armée and the German Wehrmacht learned this most painful and humiliating lesson when fighting the Russians many years ago.

However, we should not give too much praise to the military genius of either the Tsarist Russians or their modern Bolshevik descendants, since this Russian strategy predates even the Romans. The Roman philosopher Cicero called Herodotus the father of history, and as such, Herodotus of Halicarnassus (circa 484 BC) is most famously known for his ethnographical/historical book titled "The Histories."

When describing the nomadic warriors who lived to the far north of both Greece and Israel, Herodotus makes much importance of this ancient strategy when he wrote about the ancient Scythian routing of the Persians. The Scythians are the ancient ancestors of the modern-day Russian peoples who dwelt in what was then known as the land of Magog. I've included more resources below for those who are interested in the history of the Russians in the land of Magog. Nevertheless, here is a quote from the late Dr. Chuck Missler's book, Prophecy 20/20, and he writes:

Herodotus describes them living in Scythia (i.e., the territory north of the Black Sea). He describes Scythia as a square, twenty-day journey (360 miles) on a side. It encompassed the lower reaches of the Dniester, Bug, Dnieper, and Don rivers, where they flow into the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. The Scythian language belonged to the Iranian family of the Indo-European languages. The Ossetian dialect of central Caucasus appears to be a survivor. The original area in which Iranian was spoken extended from the mid-Volga and the Don regions to the northern Urals and beyond. From here, Iranian-speaking tribes colonized Media, Parthia, Persia, Central Asia, and as far as the Chinese border. The ancient writers refer to the Great Wall of China as Sud Yagog et Magog, the “Ramparts of Gog and Magog.” Prophecy 20/20, Chapter 20, 160-1

One reason Herodotus gave so much detailed information about the Scythians was that he wanted to describe the people who had succeeded in defeating the Persian king, Darius. This was a most important element in the history of the Scythians, and the memory of it remained with them for many years. In resisting the Persians, a provocative strategic tradition was born: defense in depth.

This unique strategy would also characterize these descendants of Magog in more recent times against Napoleon and Hitler. When Napoleon entered Russia in 1812, Field Marshall Kutuzov’s similar strategy, including the sacrifice of Moscow itself, resulted in reducing Napoleon’s Grande Armée from 453,000 to 10,000. Hitler, suffering defeat from the same Scythian strategy: pressing a quick advance deep into the Russian interior only to have his Wehrmacht swallowed up in the harsh winter. (Ibid. Chapter 20, 162-3)

However, keeping the defense-in-depth definitions in mind, we need to take this into consideration as we press forward in discussing current geopolitical, military, and economic events happening all around the world. This may also play largely into what we see happening with regards to the larger picture of why Russia is invading Ukraine.

“I used to attack because it was the only thing I knew. Now I attack because I know it works best.” – Garry Kasparov

“Chess is rarely a game of ideal moves. Almost always, a player faces a series of difficult consequences whichever move he makes.” – David Shenk

“Tactics is knowing what to do when there is something to do; strategy is knowing what to do when there is nothing to do.” – Savielly Tartakower

Whether Vladimir Putin is a grandmaster chess player or just a casual one, one thing is certain, Joe Biden is not. Aside from his mythical bouts with "Cornpop" more than half a century ago, Joe Biden (nor his handlers as far as we know) are also not black belts in Judo either. Here is how one writer put it back in 2014:

Russian President Vladimir Putin is often cast as a shadowy chess master making crafty moves on the global stage, a former KGB spy who treats Asia, Europe, the Middle East and former Soviet republics as pawns on a geopolitical chessboard. But another emerging metaphor for Putin's political style comes from a different contest that happens to be his favorite sport: judo.

A black belt in judo whose sparring partners from his working-class childhood in Leningrad now hold high-level government posts, Putin has never made secret the significance to him of the martial art. "Judo teaches self-control, the ability to feel the moment, to see the opponent's strengths and weaknesses, to strive for the best results," he says on his personal website. "I am sure you will agree that these are essential abilities and skills for any politician."

"Putin is a judo master by training, not a chess master, and that's how he looks at gaining advantage for Russia," Kimberly Marten, a Russia expert and professor of political science at Barnard College and Columbia University, tells Newsweek. "He sizes up an opponent's weakness, throws him off balance and then makes his opponent fall from his own weight."

Chess is played on quiet, peaceful, orderly terms, with one player making a move and the opponent following. By contrast, judo consists of explosive, sudden strikes in which a judoka, or judo master, aims to turn an opponent's size and weight against him. (Newsweek, June 5, 2014)

While I had mentioned the Beijing Olympic agreement in a previous Russia-Ukraine update, I had neglected to expand upon its deeper, and frankly, prophetic implications. I know there are a lot of folks out there wondering if what we are seeing now is the dreaded Gog-Magog coalition on the move, however, I don't believe this Ukraine invasion is Gog and Magog just quite yet. However, it is coming together.

What we are witnessing now (in my opinion) is akin to Satan's own version of the "Valley of Dry Bones." It is like some mythical, multi-national Golem, being willed into existence by those nations who are equally opposed and appalled at the seemingly inevitable rise and nature of the West's dreadful new world order also rising up. And in this epic clash of civilizations, the battleground today is in Ukraine. Some day in the not too distant future, it will be Israel.

But this war isn't checkers where the goal is to crown as many of your own players as kings to dominate the playing board. That is what the West is playing, and ultimately, she will get her ten kings to help run the coming Beast system later on inside the 70th Week of Daniel. Right now, what we are witnessing (at least from the Russians) is this mix between Judo and chess, and it will always be played ten steps ahead of any actual geopolitical moves. This is why Putin began "recession-proofing" his government and economy years ago, long in advance of this day. Not only that, but he was shoring up his own alliances with China, India, Pakistan, and others within the Shanghai Cooperation and the Middle East, who also don't want to see this New World Order (the West's Great Reset) come to fruition. Speaking to this China-Russian preparation:

In their matching mauve ties, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping last week declared a “new era” in the global order and, at least in the short term, endorsed their respective territorial ambitions in Ukraine and Taiwan. The world’s two most powerful autocrats unveiled a sweeping long-term agreement that also challenges the United States as a global power, nato as a cornerstone of international security, and liberal democracy as a model for the world. “Friendship between the two States has no limits,” they vowed in the communiqué, released after the two leaders met on the eve of the Beijing Winter Olympics. “There are no ‘forbidden’ areas of cooperation...”

U.S. experts described the lengthy statement, which was riddled with false and accusatory language, as startling. “I’ve never seen a joint statement from both leaders using this kind of language. They’ve joined forces,” Angela Stent, a Russia expert who served at the National Intelligence Council and wrote “Putin’s World: Russia Against the West and with the Rest,” told me. She described the communiqué as “quite Orwellian” and called it an “inflection point” in which Russia and China are challenging the balance of power that has defined the global order since the Cold War ended, three decades ago. “We could be at the beginning of a new era as the Russian relationship with the West deteriorates and China’s does as well.” The agreement puts Washington and its key allies “in a terrible bind,” she added. “The fact is, whatever we do to counter what Russia is doing only reinforces its reliance on China.” (New Yorker Feb 7, 2022)

I titled this "Everyone Wants to Rule the World," not because I love the 80's pop hit (although I like the song), but because we are seeing the clash between two civilizations coming to a head. Should the west get drawn into a wider war that foregoes the use of nuclear weapons for more traditional ones, it would be wise for us to remember Russia's penchant for defense in depth. Appear weak, and in retreat, only to give chase and get sucked into a trap for the enemy to strike suddenly when we are off-balance. So just remember, when it appears they are losing, they might just be in a tactical retreat baiting us into the kill zone.

There is a strong possibility that what we are seeing now is the beginning of why the West and certain Arab states are in no position to stop the Gog-Magog horde that sweeps down from the north to retake Israel and reclaim all her newfound wealth before the Tribulation begins.

(There is nothing new under the sun for countries who reject Him and rebel against Him.)

The LORD warned Israel to be obediant to His commands or face the consequences. Why would anyone want to ignore His warnings? And this was directed at Israel. How much worse for any nation turning away from him, America included.

Deuteronomy 28:15-68

Curses on Disobedience

15 “But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

16 “Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country.

17 “Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.

18 “Cursed shall be the fruit of your body and the produce of your land, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.

19 “Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.

20 “The Lord will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke in all that you set your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the wickedness of your doings in which you have forsaken Me. 21 The Lord will make the plague cling to you until He has consumed you from the land which you are going to possess. 22 The Lord will strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with severe burning fever, with the sword, with scorching, and with mildew; they shall pursue you until you perish. 23 And your heavens which are over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you shall be iron. 24 The Lord will change the rain of your land to powder and dust; from the heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed.

25 “The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them; and you shall become [h]troublesome to all the kingdoms of the earth. 26 Your carcasses shall be food for all the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and no one shall frighten them away. 27 The Lord will strike you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors, with the scab, and with the itch, from which you cannot be healed. 28 The Lord will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of heart. 29 And you shall grope at noonday, as a blind man gropes in darkness; you shall not prosper in your ways; you shall be only oppressed and plundered continually, and no one shall save you.

30 “You shall betroth a wife, but another man shall lie with her; you shall build a house, but you shall not dwell in it; you shall plant a vineyard, but shall not gather its grapes. 31 Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, but you shall not eat of it; your donkey shall be violently taken away from before you, and shall not be restored to you; your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and you shall have no one to rescue them. 32 Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, and your eyes shall look and fail with longing for them all day long; and there shall be no strength in your hand. 33 A nation whom you have not known shall eat the fruit of your land and the produce of your labor, and you shall be only oppressed and crushed continually. 34 So you shall be driven mad because of the sight which your eyes see. 35 The Lord will strike you in the knees and on the legs with severe boils which cannot be healed, and from the sole of your foot to the top of your head.

36 “The Lord will bring you and the king whom you set over you to a nation which neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods—wood and stone. 37 And you shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all nations where the Lord will drive you.

38 “You shall carry much seed out to the field but gather little in, for the locust shall consume it. 39 You shall plant vineyards and tend them, but you shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them. 40 You shall have olive trees throughout all your territory, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil; for your olives shall drop off. 41 You shall beget sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours; for they shall go into captivity. 42 Locusts shall consume all your trees and the produce of your land.

43 “The alien who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower. 44 He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail.

45 “Moreover all these curses shall come upon you and pursue and overtake you, until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you. 46 And they shall be upon you for a sign and a wonder, and on your descendants forever.

47 “Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything, 48 therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in need of everything; and He will put a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed you. 49 The Lord will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand, 50 a nation of fierce countenance, which does not respect the elderly nor show favor to the young. 51 And they shall eat the increase of your livestock and the produce of your land, until you are destroyed; they shall not leave you grain or new wine or oil, or the increase of your cattle or the offspring of your flocks, until they have destroyed you.

52 “They shall besiege you at all your gates until your high and fortified walls, in which you trust, come down throughout all your land; and they shall besiege you at all your gates throughout all your land which the Lord your God has given you. 53 You shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and your daughters whom the Lord your God has given you, in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you. 54 The sensitive and very refined man among you will[p] be hostile toward his brother, toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the rest of his children whom he leaves behind, 55 so that he will not give any of them the flesh of his children whom he will eat, because he has nothing left in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you at all your gates. 56 The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because of her delicateness and sensitivity, will refuse to the husband of her bosom, and to her son and her daughter, 57 her placenta which comes out from between her feet and her children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack of everything in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you at all your gates.

58 “If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, THE LORD YOUR GOD, 59 then the Lord will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary plagues—great and prolonged plagues—and serious and prolonged sicknesses. 60 Moreover He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you. 61 Also every sickness and every plague, which is not written in this Book of the Law, will the Lord bring upon you until you are destroyed. 62 You shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of heaven in multitude, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God. 63 And it shall be, that just as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good and multiply you, so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing; and you shall be plucked from off the land which you go to possess.

64 “Then the Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other gods, which neither you nor your fathers have known—wood and stone. 65 And among those nations you shall find no rest, nor shall the sole of your foot have a resting place; but there the Lord will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and anguish of soul. 66 Your life shall hang in doubt before you; you shall fear day and night, and have no assurance of life. 67 In the morning you shall say, ‘Oh, that it were evening!’ And at evening you shall say, ‘Oh, that it were morning!’ because of the fear which terrifies your heart, and because of the sight which your eyes see.

68 “And the Lord will take you back to Egypt in ships, by the way of which I said to you, ‘You shall never see it again.’ And there you shall be offered for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.”

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