The Biggest Threat to the West

A sobering essay was published in the Telegraph on December 18, titled “The single biggest threat to our national security is not Russia, China or Iran.” In the article, former British politician Liam Fox observed how nations of the West are spending more each year on the interest on their national debts than they are spending on defense—in a world full of growing threats and a continually aggressive antagonist on Europe’s border. As Mr. Fox observed, “The toxic combination of short-term political obsession, failure of vision and lack of courage among Western political leaders is currently leaving us dangerously exposed to increasingly emboldened enemies.”

According to the article, the United Kingdom spent 60 percent more on paying its debt than it spent on defense in 2024. The United States has the world’s largest defense budget at almost $900 billion and spends roughly the same amount on its debt interest. And G7 nations—with the exception of Germany—“have government debt to GDP ratios approaching or greater than 100 per cent.” Mr. Fox concluded, “Balancing budgets to keep us safe must become the clear battlefield in our politics if we are to remain secure and free peoples.”

God inspired Moses to prophesy about the many nations descended from ancient Israel at the end of the age, including many Western nations. In this warning, God observed that as these Israelite-descended nations increasingly reject Him, they will become debtor nations that will lose control to others (Deuteronomy 28:43–44). Ultimately, this debt will contribute to their destruction (v. 45). God also warned that covetousness and greed—uncontrolled desire for excess—leads to conflict (James 4:1–3). The modern nations that descended from Israel have been richly blessed in recent centuries, but sadly these blessings are rapidly coming to an end. You can learn more by reading or listening to The United States and Great Britain in Prophecy.