As the United States shifts its foreign policy focus from the Middle East to Asia, Russia and China are strengthening their relationship to defend against the perceived U.S. military threat. The U.S. and Australia signed a pact stationing 2,500 U.S. Marines in Australia to boost their Pacific strength against a more aggressive China (New York Times, April 4, 2012).

From our youth onward, we develop values that guide us through life’s challenges. Our values—whether we live up to them or not—shape our actions, and those actions shape our character. But are we basing our values on truth, or on convenient fictions?

This week, Prime Minister David Cameron “promised Britons a vote on quitting the European Union, rattling London’s biggest allies and some investors by raising the prospect of uncertainty and upheaval” (Reuters, January 23, 2013). Mr. Cameron promised a vote by the end of 2017, pending his reelection, stating “It is time for the British people to have their say. It is time for us to settle this question about Britain and Europe” (ibid.).

In the twentieth century, the philosophy of moral relativism entered the educational mainstream and became prominent in the cultures of modern Western nations. The moral absolutes that were generally upheld and taught for centuries by the nominally Christian Western world were eroded by this new philosophy. Do you believe in moral relativism…or in moral absolutes?

Starting a new diet in a new year is an annual ritual for some and the beginning of something wonderful for others. The thought of a new year, a new body and new look is appealing and motivating. We may just want to look healthier, be healthier and live longer—and this is the year, 2013, when it all begins.