The Middle East is again squarely in the forefront of world attention. In the words of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, "the situation in the Middle East is a tragedy turning into a catastrophe." Yet another Mideast war could break out at any time. Recent events in Israel and the West Bank have even overshadowed a possible U.S.-led attack on Iraq to overthrow the Saddam Hussein regime. In the words of a British journalist, Iraq is "the poisonous centre of a spider's web" of nations that support terrorism and are actively pursuing weapons of mass destruction—nuclear, chemical and/or biological.

But the Middle East is far from the only pressure point in the world. According to CIA director George Tenet, war between India and Pakistan, perhaps primarily over Kashmir, is a real possibility. He warned that the continuing conflict could erupt into a catastrophic war between the two nuclear-armed adversaries.

A long mop-up operation drags on in Afghanistan. Parts of Africa, and to a lesser extent Asia, spin in a continual merry-goround of wars and lesser conflicts. As British author William Rees-Mogg wrote in his weekly column for The Times: "War is always unpredictable. It can spring up again at a distance from the original source. No one foresaw . . . that a strike against New York would lead to a war crisis over Kashmir."

If you would like to understand where this war-weary world is headed, you need to write for our free booklets - Are We Living in the Time of the End?, You Can Understand Bible Prophecy and The Book of Revelation Unveiled. (Sources: The Financial Times, The Times, Daily Mail [all London], USA Today, Agence France-Presse.)