Generally speaking, Australia in recent times has been a bright spot among the English-speaking nations descended from the biblical patriarch Joseph (see our free booklet The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy). As the undisputed superpower in the South Pacific, Australia has had to take a policeman's role in taming unrest in the sometimes strife-ridden nations of that region.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has also sounded a regional warning of the spread of nuclear weapons technology and his fear of it falling into the hands of terrorists. He also warned: "We are looking at a time in the Asia-Pacific region and world history where, for the first time in several hundred years, we are going to have powers other than Anglo-Saxon powers who will be dominant players in the world" (Agence France-Presse, Sept. 10, 2008).