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2020 Is Off to an Alarming, Chaotic Start

Rob Garver

   WASHINGTON - A violent mob assault on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. The
   targeted killing of an Iranian general ordered by President Donald
   Trump. An accidental missile strike of a Ukrainian commercial airliner.
   A tightening of U.S. economic sanctions on Iran. The detention of the
   British ambassador in Tehran.

   We are barely beyond the first week of a new year and a new decade, but
   already the alarming and chaotic news coming out of the Middle East
   makes it difficult not to feel a sense of foreboding for what's to
   come. Historical forces seem to be moving on paths impossible to
   identify precisely, but lead in the general direction of danger,
   political analysts and historians say.

   And all this takes place at a time when the world already had plenty to
   worry about.

   Trump has been impeached and awaits a trial seeking his removal from
   office that could begin in the Senate later this week. North Korean
   dictator Kim Jong Un continues to threaten the U.S. and has declared
   that he will no longer observe a ban on nuclear tests. Overseas,
   Australia is on fire. Britain is edging ever closer to Brexit.

   A Middle East on the edge

   With the crisis in the Middle East one miscalculation away from
   spiraling out of control, and a suite of other international fires to
   put out, many key posts in the Trump administration's national security
   apparatus are filled by unconfirmed officials or sit empty altogether.

   It's little wonder that newspapers across the country are running
   stories on the rise in the number of people seeking mental health care
   for anxiety.

   At times like these, a little historical perspective can be helpful.

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