We are told by Shoghi Effendi that two great processes are at work in the world: the great Plan of God, tumultuous in its progress, working through mankind as a whole, tearing down barriers to world unity and forging humankind into a unified body in the fires of suffering and experience. This process will produce, in God's due time, the Lesser Peace, the political unification of the world.
Letter from the Universal House of Justice dated Dec. 8, 1967; "Wellspring of Guidance," p. 133
`Abdu'l-Baha anticipated that the Lesser Peace could be established before the end of the twentieth century. However, Baha'is should not be diverted from the work of the Cause by the fear of catastrophes but should try to understand why they occur. The beloved Guardian, in innumerable places, has explained the reasons for these occurrences, and since they happen from time to time as explained above we should not be concerned as to when they occur.
From a letter on behalf of the Universal House of Justice dated April 15, 1976; "Lights of Guidance, 2nd Edition, p. 128