The True Specter Haunting the World Right Now …
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by Larry Edelson,
A specter is haunting the world … and it’s NOT the specter of communism. Or the collapse of capitalism.
It’s the specter of the ramping up of the war cycles I’ve told you about — bloody regional and civil wars like we haven’t seen since the 1930s … wars that may soon wreak havoc with your finances … further erode your civil liberties … and maybe even endanger your personal safety.
From Istanbul to Rio de Janeiro, Syria to India, Thailand to Ukraine — the world’s Internet-connected masses are rising up against incompetent, corrupt, increasingly authoritarian governments … and the results will NOT be pretty.
For most of this century, I’ve been reporting on the global financial markets while based in Bangkok, Thailand. Reporting from the world’s hot spots.
I can tell you firsthand that the most significant economic events of your lifetime are about to unfold.
I’m talking about a series of cascading regional wars that are about to break out overseas. About hundreds of millions of people — in the Middle East, Europe, Asia and South America — who are going to revolt against the economic misery imposed by their authoritarian governments.
These regional conflicts and civil wars are going to do two things:
First, they are going to unleash the full fury of heavily armed, increasingly authoritarian governments — new Big Brother states all over the world — that now track nearly everything we write, say, buy or even think.
Second — and most surprising of all — this new cycle of warfare will also coincide with some of the greatest market booms of our lifetimes — booms that too many ordinary investors will miss out on due to bad advice and even blind panic.
I know this will strike many people as counter-intuitive …
Here’s what I see happening …
CONFLICT #1: A MAJOR war in the Middle East, possibly among Israel, Syria, Lebanon, the United States and Iran, that could make the Iraq War look like a minor skirmish.
The Syrian civil war, which has already claimed 100,000 lives, is increasingly drawing in nations across the Middle East, creating a regional conflict that threatens to pit world powers against each other.
And don’t kid yourself: Iran’s recent friendly gestures are pure deception. When you add in the additional wild card of Iran — struggling for years to build a nuclear weapon to use against Israel — the possibility of a catastrophic Middle East war increases exponentially.
CONFLICT #2: A war between China and Japan over the South China Sea, dragging in Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and possibly even the United States.
Most Americans know almost nothing about what is happening right now in Southeast Asia, but the situation is growing increasingly unstable. “The risk of conflict in the South China Sea is significant,” reports the U.S. based Council of Foreign Relations.
And as scary as this scenario might be, it’s not the only war that could erupt in Asia:
CONFLICT #3: The North Korea wild card that could trigger World War III.
In response to threats from North Korea on Seoul and Washington, the U.S. and South Korean governments have recently signed a new joint security agreement, laying out contingency plans and responses against North Korea should war break out.
According to The New York Times, the joint agreement insists on the right of both countries to “immediately and decisively respond to any North Korean provocation.”
Military conflict is not limited to Asia, however.
CONFLICT #4: Europe is about to break in two — split between rich countries at the core and bankrupt countries on the periphery.
This is one area of the world where most Americans DON’T expect any military conflict … yet there are numerous signs that civil wars could soon break out again in Europe … similar to the bloody genocide that occurred in the Balkans in the 1990s.
Or that Russia could soon invade Ukraine … Latvia … Estonia … Georgia and other former Soviet Union satellites.
“The world is at a crossroads in history,” writes Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper. “Vast, untamable economic forces are remaking the landscape of international affairs.”
Riots have broken out in bloody protests in Athens, Rome, Madrid, Paris and, most recently, Istanbul.
And just as the Great Depression led to fierce nationalism and eventually to outright war in Europe in the 1930s, so, too, the recent economic tensions worry experts in Europe.
CONFLICT #5. Egypt is once again on the verge of civil war. Worse, some of the richest oil countries in the world are now at each other’s throats because they each support opposing sides in Egypt.
CONFLICT #6. Nuclear-armed Pakistan is descending into chaos, with the Taliban gaining strength in the Northwest and ethnic warfare spreading in the South.
CONFLICT #7. Ethnic warfare is spreading in two other oil producing countries — Iraq and Nigeria.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Other deadly conflicts are popping up all over the world.
Buddhists are attacking Muslims in Myanmar. Muslims are battling Hindus in India.
Muslims are rebelling against Han Chinese in Western China.
And all over the Middle East, Shia Muslims are at war with Sunni Muslims.
As a result of all this rising global chaos — and despite the meagerly growing U.S. economy — tens of billions … and then HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS of dollars will pour into the safety of U.S. markets from overseas, sending the U.S. stock market soaring.
And into other key assets, namely, gold, silver, and other precious metals and commodities.
We are not yet at that point in time where these markets will explode.
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