A peace agreement in the Balkans? The assessment given by TIME magazine (Dec 4, 1995) under the heading "A Perilous Peace" was that: "It is such a delicate structure of competing and balancing political forces that no one can say whether it will struggle along or collapse once more into war."

What has happened however, is that the "agreement" has brought outside forces directly into this highly inflammable area – mainly from the U.S., Britain, France, and interestingly Germany and Russia. Once these troops are in, the question will be how – and in what circumstance – they leave. Will they all leave in fact? Will they all leave at the same time? Could troops of one contingent be reinforced if those of another left? There are a lot of questions left unanswered.

One potential difficulty that is worth our notice arises from the risk that countries who have committed troops to the area may not always agree on either policy or action. This risk may be even greater when Russia closes her election season in the summer. What would be the result if a major disagreement appeared amongst the policemen themselves?

Looking on the brighter side, this international peace-keeping, or police force, has a unique character about it. It is a combined East-West military structure; and the first manifestation of such an alliance since the days of the old Latino-Greek Roman Empire. In the terms of Bible prophecy, here is the shadowy form, in miniature, of Nebuchadnezzar’s image on its two legs (East and West). It will be very interesting to watch its development and shape over the next year. It has been said that the U.S. intends to withdraw troops after one year – and casualties would almost guarantee it. This would leave behind a Russo-European military "guard" over the area – that would be interesting in the light of Ezekiel 38! We keenly watch this developing picture.

The background to this situation has been presented recently in our booklet "Holy War in the Balkans". On the front cover of this booklet is a picture of a Roman Catholic priest hearing the confession of a Croatian soldier prior to battle. Incidentally, please note a couple of typographical errors in this booklet. On the chart (page 25) and in the text, the date of 1940, should read 1941 for Germany’s invasion of Russia. Also the quotation on pages 26 and 27 marked "An extract from the Daily Telegraph," should read "Sunday Telegraph".