The website German Foreign Policy reported that the recent Berlin Security Conference had some informative moments. “Germany’s Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen used the platform to launch a debate on steps toward limiting parliamentary reservations concerning an ‘army of the Europeans’” (November 29, 2018). German defense spending in five years is forecast to surpass the current level of Russian military spending.

As Venezuela’s financial crisis continues, its starving refugees continue to migrate to surrounding nations. In five years, more than two million Venezuelans have left their homes in search of food, hope, and jobs (The Guardian, December 24, 2018).

In Britain, many teachers are leaving the profession due to  increasingly “unruly” students, according to the UK’s Telegraph (December 17, 2018).

Social media was designed to “connect” people through the Internet. However, we are witnessing the rise of a new phenomenon: social media-inspired violence (Deutsche Welle, November 11, 2018). Social media platforms are now being used by individuals and governments to spread false or intentionally misleading content in order to promote violence and unrest.

A newly released report by the bipartisan National Defense Strategy Commission noted that America’s military is in dire condition (Defense News, November 14, 2018). The Commission warned “The U.S. military could suffer unacceptably high casualties and loss of major capital assets in its next conflict…. It might struggle to win, or perhaps lose, a war against China or Russia.