The world is again reaching a fear factor that mimics the height of the Cold War where the fear of global nuclear war is being discussed in the headlines.

There have been nuclear missile treaties between Russia and the USA since 1972. The SALT I treaty (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks) was signed during the Cold War by President Nixon of the USA and General Secretary Brezhnev of the Soviet Union in May 1972. The SALT II treaty was signed by Jimmy Carter and Soviet Secretary Leonid Brezhnev in June 1979.  The second treaty was not ratified, but it was respected by both superpowers, and expired in 1985. 

The START I treaty (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) was the work of Ronald Regan and Mikhail Gorbachev at the end of the Cold War. It was signed by Regan’s successor, President George Bush (Senior) in July 1991. It came into effect in December 1994. It was replaced by the NEW START treaty signed by US President Obama and Russian President Medvedev in April 2010. It came into effect in February 2011.

Russia “suspended” the treaty in February 21, 2023 after three years of the Ukraine War started, however it did not withdraw from the treaty, and clarified that it would abide by the numerical limits. 

However, on February 5, 2026, the New START treaty official expired.

For the first time in 35 years, there is no nuclear treaty between the United States and Russia, and for the first time in almost 54 years, no de facto nuclear treaty. 

Leading up to the expiry of SALT II in 1985, the West was flooded with movies about the end of the world by nuclear holocaust. Many of us grew up under the shadow of this threat. 

Today, news media all over the planet are posting headlines wringing their hands over this dangerous precedent. The 2026 Doomsday Clock was set to 85 seconds to midnight based on this, stating:

A year ago, we warned that the world was perilously close to global disaster and that any delay in reversing course increased the probability of catastrophe. Rather than heed this warning, Russia, China, the United States, and other major countries have instead become increasingly aggressive, adversarial, and nationalistic. Hard-won global understandings are collapsing, accelerating a winner-takes-all great power competition and undermining the international cooperation critical to reducing the risks of nuclear war, climate change, the misuse of biotechnology, the potential threat of artificial intelligence, and other apocalyptic dangers. Far too many leaders have grown complacent and indifferent, in many cases adopting rhetoric and policies that accelerate rather than mitigate these existential risks. Because of this failure of leadership, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Science and Security Board today sets the Doomsday Clock at 85 seconds to midnight, the closest it has ever been to catastrophe.

 As Bible students, we know for certain the world is not going to be obliterated by a global nuclear war. God’s promise to Abraham prevents this:

“And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.” (Genesis 13:14–17)

The Lord Jesus Christ reiterated this in his teaching to the disciples:

“Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5)

He taught them to pray for the coming kingdom to be on earth:

“Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10)

And promised his disciples a place in the administration of it:

“And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” (Matthew 19:28)

While the evangelical world, drunken with Rome’s wine of futurism, take the words of Peter literally:

“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,” (2 Peter 3:10–11)

We know that this is symbolic language talking about the political heavens and earth that are going to be removed, as the “heavens and earth” of Noah’s day were in vers 5-6, and the Jewish heavens and earth of Peter’s day would also be overthrown in AD 70 as he describes in verse 7.

Political turmoil in the heavens is what we are seeing today, and the current “world order” is about to be rolled up. The issue of Greenland has highlighted this.

Before President Trump took office for the second time, he published a post on Truth Social which stated:

For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity.

Many people accept social media narratives regarding Trump’s acquisition of Greenland. What they forget is the history of the West. In the 1960’s, the Cuban Missile Crisis saw nuclear-capable missiles being brought within striking distance of the United States by Russia. This was the closest the world came to nuclear war. As tensions rose, the U.S. nuclear forces went to DEFCON 2, which is one step below full nuclear war. The only other time things came close to this was the Yom Kippur War, when the US raised its global forces to DEFCON 3, fearing a Soviet military intervention in the Middle East.

Greenland is the shortest missile route between Russia and the United States. The concern regarding Greenland is that it lacks the capacity to defend itself and could be easily controlled by Russia or China, thereby enabling such a nightmarish scenario. On a recent plane trip, Trump addressed the press corps where he stated,

Right now, Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place. We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not gonna be able to do it. I can tell you.

The administration is concerned that Greenland could be used to host missiles, which, with new technology, could be within striking distance of the USA and undermine the proposed “Golden Dome.” The US wants to gain full control of Greenland to ensure its Pituffik base there is fortified and remains part of the “eyes” it has against Russia and China.

Trump recently addressed this during a press conference at the White House:

“Well, we're gonna see what happens with Greenland. We need Greenland for national security, so we're gonna see what happens. You know, we're doing the Golden Dome. We're doing a lot of things, and we really need it. If we don't go in, Russia's gonna go in, and China's gonna go in. And there's not a thing that Denmark can do about it, but we can do everything about it. But we need it.

You know, I'm not the first one. This was talked about in by President Truman, and forty years before President Truman, they were talking about it. They've been talking about this for a hundred years. This is not anything so new. A lot of people don't realize that, but this was a hot subject, probably not as hot as it is now, but it was a hot subject for a long time.

We need it for national security, and that includes for Europe.

Russia’s interest in the Arctic has been evident by increased activity and in its fleet of 50 icebreakers, seven of which are “heavy” nuclear-powered. The US has only two heavy polar icebreakers, both 50 and 48 years old, and neither is nuclear. One of these is deployed to Antarctica. Canada boasts 18 icebreakers, four of which are used for rivers, five of which are “medium”, and only two are considered heavy, but all of these are diesel, and of its two “heavy” icebreakers, one was built in 1969 and is older than I am at 57 years old, the other is 43 years old.  Russia’s oldest “heavy” nuclear icebreaker is only 33 years old, with the newest four being built and commissioned over the past six years.

The increased activity of Russia has been noted by the US president, and in a press conference three weeks ago, he was very clear:

But right now, we are going to do something on Greenland whether they like it or not, because if we don't do it, Russia or China will take over Greenland, and we're not gonna have Russia or China as a neighbor...

I would like to make a deal of, you know, the easy way. But if we don't do it the easy way, we're gonna do it the hard way...

And by the way, I'm a fan of Denmark too. I have to tell you. And I'm and, you know, they've been very nice to me. I'm a big fan, but, you know, the fact that they had a boat land there five hundred years ago doesn't mean that they own the land. Sure, we had lots of boats go there also. But we need that because if you take a look outside of Greenland right now, there are Russian destroyers, there are Chinese destroyers and bigger. There are Russian submarines all over the place. We're not gonna have Russia or China occupy Greenland, and that's what they're gonna do if we don't. So we're gonna be doing something with Greenland either the nice way or the more difficult way…

When we own it, we defend it. You don't defend leases the same way. You have to own it. And, you know, with a nation, look at what happened with Obama with that horrible deal they made with Iran. It was a short-term deal. It was like a nine-year deal. Countries can't make nine-year deals or even a hundred-year deals. Countries have to have ownership. And, you defend ownership, you don't defend leases. And we'll have to defend Greenland. If we don't do it, China or Russia will. It's not gonna happen. We are not gonna have and I like China. I like Russia. I love the people of China. I love the people of Russia. I get along very well with President Putin, but I'm very disappointed in him. I get along very well with President Xi. I'm gonna go over to China in April, but I don't want them as a neighbor in Greenland. Not gonna happen.

And by the way and NATO's gotta understand that, I'm all for NATO. I saved NATO. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have a NATO right now. But we're not gonna allow Russia or China to occupy Greenland, and that's what's going to happen if we don't.

There are other strategic reasons why Greenland is desired by the US, such as the opening of the Northwest Passage, which allows shipping to go through the waters of the United States, Canada and Greenland when free of ice.

The distance from Tokyo to London via the Panama Canal is 24,000km, via the Suez Canal is 21,000km, and via the Northwest Passage is only 15,000km.  The distance from Los Angeles to Londa via the Panama Canal is 20,700 km, while the distance using the Northwest Passage is only 17,600km. With projected global climate change, the Northwest Passage is becoming increasingly popular because it is the shortest and because it doesn’t incur the Panama Canal fees.

How all the bellicose thunderings about Greenland play out remains be seen, but we do know the end of the story. According to the Scripture, America is to divorce from Europe, and Europe is eventually to fall under Russian control.

One potentially dire outcome of a hostile takeover by the United States could be the end of NATO.  In January, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in an interview with broadcaster TV2.  

“But I will also make it clear that if the U.S. chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything stops, including NATO and thus the security that has been established since the end of the Second World War,” Frederiksen added. 

Katie Miller, the wife of Stephen Miller, the White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and U.S. Homeland Security Advisor, posted a photo of Greenland covered with an American flag.  The rhetoric is intensifying on multiple fronts, creating a rift between Europe and the USA.

Finland’s Alexander Stubb spoke of the end of the current world order at the Davos World Economic Forum:

In summary, you could say that the big argument is that for us, this is the 1918, 1945, or 1989 moment of our generation. It's a moment when the world order balance and dynamics, are changing. Sometimes they happen after wars, like after World War one, World War two, or someone sometimes after, periods such as the Cold War, and we're sort of somewhere in between. And we know that orders usually last or at least have in the past century, twenty years as they did after World War one, forty years they did after World War two, or thirty years as it did after the Cold War.

And what initiated the change in the current liberal world order, I would argue, was Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine. So, we're talking February 2022. And, of course, it has now been accelerated, this change and transformation with the new US administration...

In the Greenland issue, but the key for me was to look at three possible outcomes or scenarios. One was good, one was bad, and one was ugly.

The good one was that we would get an off ramp and then a process which would strengthen Arctic security. A bad one would be an escalation in tariff wars, and an ugly one would be a declaration of military intervention in Greenland.

And I think in the past three to four days where we pretty much worked around the clock with Mark Rutte and Jonas Stor and, American senators and others, we were able to escalate, to deescalate, and end up in zone number one. So good outcome.  

There is there's a lot of movement in the transatlantic partnership right now.

Though there seems to be a resolution to the Greenland issue, it has highlighted the deep fault lines in the current world order.

In fact, the “world order” we have known for the past seventy years has come to an end. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney stated the following at the Davos summit:

It seems that every day we're reminded that we live in an era of great power rivalry, that the rules based order is fading, that the strong can do what they can, and the weak must suffer what they must…

For decades, countries like Canada prospered under what we called the rules-based international order. We joined its institutions, we praised its principles, we benefited from its predictability. And because of that, we could pursue values-based foreign policies under its protection.

We knew the story of the international rules-based order was partially false, that the strongest would exempt themselves when convenient, that trade rules were enforced asymmetrically. And we knew that international law applied with varying rigour depending on the identity of the accused or the victim.

This fiction was useful, and American hegemony, in particular, helped provide public goods, open sea lanes, a stable financial system, collective security and support for frameworks for resolving disputes…..

We participated in the rituals, and we largely avoided calling out the gaps between rhetoric and reality….

This bargain no longer works. Let me be direct. We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition….

The Canadian Prime Minister views the current global situation as a complete rupture, a tearing up of the current mode of operation. This is shocking to many, as complacency has become the order of the day. A mindset has gripped the world that all things would continue, reminiscent of Peter’s comment:

“Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.” (2 Peter 3:3–4)

Things are not going to continue ‘as they were’ — the Bible is very clear about this. Although we might not agree with Carney’s policies, his speech pulled back the curtain to what is going on in the world. Carney went on to point out the shift that has taken place in the recent past:

…great powers have begun using economic integration as weapons, tariffs as leverage, financial infrastructure as coercion, supply chains as vulnerabilities to be exploited.

You cannot live within the lie of mutual benefit through integration, when integration becomes the source of your subordination….

Now Canada was amongst the first to hear the wake-up call, leading us to fundamentally shift our strategic posture.

Canadians know that our old comfortable assumptions that our geography and alliance memberships automatically conferred prosperity and security – that assumption is no longer valid…

Carney was clear in his assessment:

We understand that this rupture calls for more than adaptation. It calls for honesty about the world as it is…

We know the old order is not coming back. We shouldn't mourn it. Nostalgia is not a strategy, but we believe that from the fracture, we can build something bigger, better, stronger, more just. This is the task of the middle powers, the countries that have the most to lose from a world of fortresses and most to gain from genuine cooperation.

Carney’s starry-eyed view of building a better world is completely at variance with scripture. We know peace and prosperity will come to the Middle East, as Ezekiel describes this peace and prosperity as the “hook” that draws Russia and Europe into the Middle East:

“Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought: And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.” (Ezekiel 38:10–12)

A spoil and a prey must be found in Israel, amidst a state of peace and prosperity. This must extend into Egypt too, as Daniel reports the King of the North’s exploits there:

“He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps (or marching with him).” (Daniel 11:42–43)

In the West, we have lived under relative calm since the end of the Second World War, with most conflicts being fought “over there” — in the distant recesses of the planet, where the “great powers” fought for hegemony over vassal states. Now the disruption is being felt on every level of Western society. The framework of Western hegemony is pulling apart, and NATO, at 77 years old, is ready to collapse.

Europe must be divorced from America and Britain in order to be part of the Gogian alliance described in Ezekiel 38:

“Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal” (Ezekiel 38:2)

Gog is the prince of Rosh or Russia, and takes into his territory Meshech or the Muscovite area, and Tubal or Tobolski. He is sovereign over the area of Magog, which spreads from the River Don in Eastern Ukraine to the Danube, which originates in Romania and crosses Europe until it reaches southern Germany.

“Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet: Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.” (Ezekiel 38:5–6)

Persia is Iran. Ethiopia is modern-day Sudan. Ancient Libya began at the Nile valley, and included parts of Egypt, modern-day Libya, Tunisia, and Algeria. Gomer originated in Turkey, with his “bands” reaching into Western Europe and settling in France and Germany, where they gave their names to the Gallic peoples.  Togarmah is the region of the Caucasus between the Black and Caspian Seas.

This is the situation depicted in the Bible. As the Middle East has been shaping up to bring about prosperity, so must Europe be pulled away from American hegemony, its influence and protection.

So we watch with great interest, as the angels are at work, setting the final stage for the Lord’s return. For those of us who believe in the Lord’s return, the trumpet alarm is sounding, and it is clear, “all things will not continue” the same way that they were. Great political earthquakes are under foot, and we need to ensure our lamps are filled with oil, and we are ready to meet our Lord:

“Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.” (Luke 12:35–37)

For the Bible in the News, this has been Jonathan Bowen joining you.