Think dark

I think what we may be witnessing is the setting of the stage for a grand scale "clash of civilizations," (to borrow Samuel Huntington's phrase), in which the rising Islamic world will be pitted against the West. Consider the following:

1. Turkey is Islamifying under Erdogan. No longer an ally, even though still nominally a NATO member, Turkey's culture is going away from Ataturk and toward Islamification.
2. Iran crushed the opposition moved that briefly flowered in 2009 in protest against the rigged election of Ahmadinejad.
   
3. Afghanistan does not appear to be moving toward Western values, and we are in negotiations for a withdrawal which allows us to leave and the Taliban to have some role in a post-American state.
4. Iraq is fragile, and will probably experience revolution after we leave in December of this year.
   
5. Saudi Arabia invaded Bahrain to crush opposition forces there and may not ever leave. After all, what can tiny Bahrain do if the Saudis stay?
6. Libya is aflame, but the rebels are most likely affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, so what replaces Qaddafi will probably be more Islamist, not less.
   
7. Egypt will rid itself of Mubarak, but will probably find a replacement not among the country's tiny population of secular democrats, but from the Brotherhood. Ditto Tunisia.

What does all this mean? It means that, the revolutions now sweeping the Islamic Middle East will likely produce Islamization, not secular democracies. It means that the direction of that part of the world is toward radicalism and away from peace. It means that American blood and treasure have been and are being sacrificed in a way that enables this process to proceed faster. And it means, finally, that within a few years, we will see the re-emergence of a de facto Islamic Caliphate, stretching from the border of China all the way across North Africa and dedicated to the destruction or submission of the West.

And while that idea is perhaps too scary or too politically incorrect to contemplate, it will nevertheless be the reality facing us in the not-too-distant future. Meanwhile Japan is weak, we are broke, and Europe itself is being overtaken by Muslim immigrants. The Chinese are rising in the East and their military might is paid for by the interest on American borrowing. India is strengthening and democratic, and most importantly populous, but still relatively weaker than China.

The world is about to become a darker, more frightening place.

If ever you were inclined to pray and seek the Lord's favor, now is a good time.