A distressing pall of uncertainty hovers over Britain and the United States. Read the papers, switch on the news, listen to the analysts. The uncertainty is palpable, like the smell of rain before a thunderstorm. It permeates our nations at almost every level. We have become disenchanted and disillusioned. Our future, on both an individual and collective level, is hazy, uncertain and unpredictable.

Consider the economies of these nations, the current state of their stock markets and financial institutions. Consider their governance, their national politics and leadership, and the nature of their foreign policies and international relations. Consider the judicial and legislative transformation taking root in these societies; a distinct cultural and moral uncertainty has set in.

Here are a few news snippets from this past week. Each in its own right is noteworthy and worrying, and carries some gloomy consequences. But consider them collectively. As I did, one word reverberated through my mind: uncertainty.

Pakistan

Last weekend, with his leadership in jeopardy and his nation spiraling out of control, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf dissolved the government and consolidated his control over the nation by effectively declaring martial law. The situation immediately became more serious: The Supreme Court was dismissed and the Constitution suspended; this week more than 1,500 politicians, lawyers and human rights activists have been arrested; all TV stations not controlled by the government have been shut down.

Worse still, wrote Arnaud de Borchgrave in his column in the Washington Times, “Pakistan is now a failing state out of control where Taliban, al Qaeda and their supporters have secured their privileged sanctuaries in the tribal areas on the Afghan border; reoccupied the Red Mosque in the center of Islamabad; [and] launched suicide bombers in widely scattered parts of this Muslim country of 160 million” (November 6). For now, Pakistan is being held together by its army, which is under the control of General Musharraf. But if radical Islam’s presence and influence in Pakistan continues to intensify, and if the army begins to fracture, political turmoil and civil war will turn this nation into a bloodbath.

Events in Pakistan have put the U.S., and even Britain, in a bind. “The United States needs Pakistan if it is to have any hope of continuing to contain remnants of al Qaeda and keeping it from re-forming,” wrote Stratfor (November 6). This situation puts a giant question mark over America’s foreign policy and strategy with regard to not only Pakistan, but also Afghanistan and its broader war on terror.

Pakistan also has nuclear weapons and a lot of nuclear know-how. What will happen in the midst of all this governmental instability if Islamic terrorists get hold of some nukes?

“That is my fundamental worry,” said David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security. “If there is [further] instability, Musharraf is going to have less ability to exercise tight control. Pakistan tends to leak. It has leaked vital nuclear weapons information. It’s the nature of the system.”

Since 9/11, Washington has funneled $11 billion into Musharraf’s government and military, all in an effort to secure his assistance in curbing the rise of the Taliban and al Qaeda, and their supporters. Now that source of assistance is up in the air—and who knows what the outcome will be.

“The United States is in a classic bind,” Stratfor wrote. “Ideologically, it claims to be both in Iraq and Afghanistan to create a democratic regime. An indispensable ally—Pakistan—has now chosen to suspend democracy, at the very least. The United States must pirouette around the issue, condemning Pakistan while continuing to work with it, and thereby opening itself to even more criticism than it already has taken” (op. cit., emphasis mine throughout).

But Pakistan is not the only theater of U.S. foreign policy being besieged by uncertainty. America is also walking a tightrope in its relations with Turkey and the Kurds in northern Iraq in recent weeks. The Turks want to invade and destroy Kurdish rebels who are mounting attacks from the rugged hills of northern Iraq. The conundrum for America is that it relies heavily on both groups. The Kurdish government plays a key role in the fragile Iraqi government and has helped secure stability in northern Iraq. Meanwhile, Turkey has provided critical assistance to America’s war in Iraq; more than 70 percent of America’s military hardware is transferred into Iraq via Turkey.

Now the interests of Pakistan and Turkey run counter to the interests of the United States. “The United States cannot do without them, and they know it …. Each is moving ahead with policies the United States does not want to see, and leaving Washington to sort it all out. A tough situation for the United States keeps getting tougher” (ibid.).

Pakistan and Turkey are critical components of American foreign policy and play key roles in Washington’s relationships with other powers, including Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and Russia. The prevailing uncertainty in Ankara and Islamabad only complicates America’s broader foreign policy.

Economy

To say that Britain’s and America’s economies are volatile is to put it mildly. Wall Street is an economic roller coaster: One day investors are smiling and throwing their hands in the air with excitement, the next they are screaming critics, complaining about the sick feeling in their stomachs. On Wednesday, for the third time in a month, the Dow Jones industrial average dropped more than 350 points. Associated Press called the plunge “the latest sign of how jittery many investors remain.”

Bank stocks were gutted this week, and investors went on the warpath looking for retribution. Charles Prince, ceo of Citigroup, America’s largest bank, was fired. (Before you feel too sorry for him, consider that he will walk away with “total pay, perks and share payout worth just under $100 million,” according to Times Online.)

Meanwhile, gold spent the week bouncing around $850, a hair’s width from its all-time high. And the dollar continued its free fall, breaking new ground against the euro at $1.47. This week the English pound became worth us$2.10 and the Canadian loonie continued to taunt the dollar, trading around $1.08. The loonie has risen 28 percent against the dollar this year alone.

Oil is breaking mainstream forecasts and is fast closing in on $100 per barrel. The average price of gas in America is above $3 per gallon; some places are asking $5 a gallon. And if Americans think that’s high, they should try filling up their Hummers in Britain, where the average price is over $9 a gallon.

How high will oil and gold go? How low will the dollar plummet? It’s uncertain. No one can answer these questions for sure.

Certainly not the American government.

On Thursday, Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, told Congress in vague terms that the U.S. economy was about to “slow noticeably” and that while he knows it will get worse before it gets better, he was unable to forecast just how much worse it would become.

The uncertainty was compounded by an announcement from the Treasury Department this week that the national debt had breached $9 trillion. This is unprecedented. It took from the administration of America’s first president, George Washington, up to that of Ronald Reagan for America to reach $1 trillion in debt. Now we are more than $9 trillion in debt.

It’s been a rough week in Britain too. “Like a man in intensive care, Northern Rock [one of Britain’s larger banks] is hooked up to a life-supporting transfusion of taxpayers’ cash,” wrote the Economist. “The government is thought to have put in up to £23 billion (us$48 billion), and the sum is growing by £2 billion to £3 billion a week as depositors continue to flee.” The run on the bank has been so intense that it’s now estimated that at least £10 billion of its £24 billion in retail savings has been withdrawn.

When Chancellor Alistair Darling commented on the bank run and Britain’s economic health on bbc Radio 4 this week, he said the nation was experiencing an “unparalleled period of financial uncertainty.”

Politics and National Leadership

Uncertainty looms over the national politics of both Britain and America. Debate remains intense in Britain about its role within and relationship with the European Union. Early in the new year, the EU Reform Treaty Bill will enter the British Parliament as Prime Minister Gordon Brown attempts to persuade Parliament to pass it into law. But he will face intense opposition. As the Telegraph noted this week, the bill will likely set up a “potential ping-pong battle between the two houses.”

American politics are similarly uncertain and disenchanting. A recent USA Today/Gallup poll found that 72 percent of Americans are dissatisfied with the country’s course and two thirds believe economic conditions are getting worse. “Not since April have even one third of Americans been happy with the country’s course, the longest national funk in 15 years,” USA Today reported (October 31).

This isn’t just a Republican problem. “Nearly a year after Democrats took control of Congress, three of four Americans say it isn’t achieving much, either” (ibid.). No matter who ends up running the nation, Americans are pessimistic.

And the race for president isn’t yielding any solutions. None of the candidates in either party is emerging with absolute policies designed to diffuse the cloud of pessimism hanging over America and put the nation on a path to stability. Instead, their individual and collective antics are only augmenting the pall of uncertainty hanging over national leadership. Accusations, personal insults and smear campaigns are flying back and forth. Tens of millions of dollars are being spent on staining the reputation and character of opponents. And each candidate is doing his or her best to lay out policies, objectives and goals in terms foggy and vague enough to avoid being viciously attacked by opponents and to avoid offending a particular segment of the voting public. Candidates are focused purely on winning the nomination rather than solving the nation’s massive problems.

The result: national uncertainty.

Cultural Uncertainty

This same uncertainty is seeping into Britain’s and America’s sense of morality. Our new age of tolerance is destroying the certainties of tradition and biology. The judicial systems in these nations, and even the education systems, are making new laws and incorporating new rules that are fogging the differences between male and female, marriage and partnerships, family life and single life and children and adults.

If you haven’t done so, read “The Alarming Push for Transgender Rights” by Joel Hilliker.

These new laws, born out of the widespread spirit of tolerance, non-judgmentalism and multiculturalism, are creating a current of moral uncertainty among these peoples, especially the young. Deciding what’s right and what’s wrong has become a confusing and complicated task.

The Results

It’s been said that the only certainty in this world is uncertainty. National politics, foreign policy, international relations, economics—there is always a measure of uncertainty in these things.

But in the pall of uncertainty covering Britain and America today there is one big difference to times past. That difference is one of leadership.

When Adolf Hitler began to roll across Europe, the future of the Continent and Britain became uncertain. Who could forecast the outcome? Well, Winston Churchill did. He not only declared that Britain and the Allies must prevail, he knew how to lead them to this victory. Churchill possessed the ability to create a spirit of certainty in the midst of uncertain and dangerous times. He built a sure path for Western civilization, a path that, if followed, and with some divine intervention along the way, would rescue Western civilization from tyranny.

Britain and America lack this leadership today. Is Ben Bernanke showing America the path to economic solvency, a path that might mean more saving, less private and government spending on luxuries, and more fiscal responsibility? Is the president, or are any of the presidential candidates, laying out a clear path by which America can create a strong, focused approach to the situations in Pakistan and Turkey? Even if someone did exert this kind of leadership, would other leaders and politicians get behind him?

Sadly, this pall of uncertainty covering America and Britain will only intensify in the future. Soon chaos, the cousin of uncertainty, will begin to manifest itself. The more uncertain things become, the more the confidence of these peoples will suffer, and the more unstable and chaotic these nations will become politically, economically and socially.

Stay tuned to theTrumpet.com. Using biblical prophecy as our guide, we will direct you through this period of uncertainty, and show you the wonderful, absolutely certain future ahead for mankind.