Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron advocated military intervention from the air, but he then suffering the acute embarrassment of a decisive rejection by the House of Commons.

U.S. President Barack Obama likewise stated a determination to intervene with air strikes. Yet his appeal to the U.S. Congress for support was cleverly interrupted by Russian President Vladimir Putin's surprising proposal to get Syria's Bashar al-Assad to destroy his chemical weapons.

On the surface Putin's counter-intervention got America, Britain and the West off the hook in Syria. But what about consequences—simple cause and effect?

The Economist's lead editorial put forward an excellent analysis in late September, stating: "But this week, a decade after the invasion of Iraq, it suddenly became clear just how far the influence of the West has ebbed. The pity is how few Americans and Europeans seem to care about that" ("America, Russia and Syria: The Weakened West," Sept. 21, 2013).

As Edward Luce expressed it in the Financial Times in another context: "Credibility matters. It may be hard to pin down, but you know when it is leaking" ("Washington's Rolling Seizures Short-Circuit US Soft Power," Oct. 6). This remains a critical long-term trend that we cannot afford to ignore.

The Economist'sinsightful analysis continues: "Yet the deal looks good only because the mess Mr Obama had got himself into was so bad. Step back, and the outcome looks rotten. For a start, the deal itself is flimsy because it will be so hard to enforce ... It is hard to impose disarmament during a civil war. As time drags on, Mr Assad is likely to frustrate the process—both to keep some chemical weapons and to be seen to defy America. America's credibility as an ally has been undermined."

Notice this newsweekly's overall assessment of the dark consequences: "Now every tyrant knows that a red line set by the leader of the free world is really just a threat to ask legislators how they feel about enforcing it. Dictators will be freer to maim and murder their own people, proliferators like North Korea less scared to proceed with spreading WMD, China and Russia ever more content to test their muscles in a vacuum left by the West."

How do these trends fulfill Bible prophecy? They simply underscore the obvious moral decline already severely afflicting America and Britain—foretold in the pages of the Bible.

No other Bible study aid booklet that we publish expresses these tragic consequences better than The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy. Thankfully this Bible study aid also shows that everything will come right when Jesus Christ returns to rule the world, bringing us God's way of life. (Source: The Economist.)