WorldWatch
Europe
A trio of political crises reveal a fault line running across Europe: One side is pro-European Union, generally liberal, concerned about climate change and “woke.” The other side is the upstarts, sometimes rightly and sometimes wrongly described as “far right.” It generally opposes abortion, migration, “green” government initiatives and sexual deviancy.
Former boxer, historian and independent Karol Nawrocki won Poland’s presidential election for the latter on June 2, by less than 2 percent of the vote, the narrowest margin in Polish history. The same week, the government of the Netherlands collapsed. The leader of the fringe right, Geert Wilders, resigned after his demands for a greater crackdown on asylum seekers were not met and the two main parties let their divisions bring down their coalition government. A new election is expected in October, but it will probably put the nation back in this same position, unable to form a functioning government.
Portugal is in the same rut: On May 18, it held its third election in as many years.
Meanwhile, the parliament of France has become completely nonfunctional as the nation drifts toward a pension crisis, almost evenly divided between the far left, the center and far right.
Which way will Europe go? At the moment, nowhere. The different camps are too evenly divided. In Poland, one party dominates parliament and determines the prime minister; the other controls the presidency and vetoes anything significant from the other side.
With European democracy grinding itself into a halt, the path is cleared for a strongman to seize power. Adolf Hitler took over Germany only after the economy had crashed and voters could not agree on a clear majority. Napoleon took over after bitter divisions between factions plunged the nation into crisis. Editor in chief Gerald Flurry has warned of this outcome since the first year of the Trumpet, and every year since. In the December 1991 issue, he wrote, “If a real crisis develops, will the Germans call for a new führer? Your Bible says that is going to happen!” (“Biggest World News Happening in Germany!”).
According to data released by the Japanese government on May 27, Germany overtook Japan to become the world’s largest creditor nation. Japan had surpassed Germany in 1991, but the Germans now hold $4 trillion in net external assets. Being the world’s largest kredit-weltmeiser means German businesses and individuals own shares in foreign companies, invest in factories and other projects abroad, and loan money to foreign governments and businesses more than anyone.
Few realize it, but this business dominance is no accident. In our November-December 2006 issue, the Trumpet warned in “Germany’s Corporate Blitzkrieg” that: “Peaceably, through corporate mergers and acquisitions, German corporations are reaching out beyond the borders of Germany to gain control of strategic industry. Even Germany’s most notorious World War II companies, which were severely disassembled and banned from future arms production by the Allies, have emerged as European and global leaders.
“[T]his time Germany will not have to first fight to control Europe. Europe will find itself under Germany’s economic control ….”
Proverbs 22:7 establishes that “the borrower is servant to the lender.” By this method of calculation, the greatest lender on Earth is Germany.
Middle East
In May, United States President Donald Trump met with new Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa. Trump announced that he wanted to remove all sanctions on Syria. One of the previous conditions for normalization was for Sharaa to expel the foreign fighters he had recruited to topple Bashar Assad last year. But on June 2, the U.S. dropped this condition. U.S. Special Envoy to Syria Thomas Barrack told Reuters that “there is an understanding” that the U.S. would allow these groups into Syria’s government as long as there is “transparency” with the process.
Syrian officials told Reuters that 3,500 foreign fighters would compose the new 84th Division of the Syrian army, mainly Syrians and Uyghurs from China and neighboring countries.
Sharaa leads Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an offshoot of the al Qaeda terrorist group that fought Assad with the aim of turning Syria into an Islamist theocracy. The reason Sharaa’s government has so many non-Syrians under its command is that they came to Syria to implement this radical religious vision. Sharaa may have switched titles from “emir” to “president” and changed his clothing from military fatigues to a suit and tie, but the U.S. tolerating a branch of the same organization that committed the 9/11 terrorist attacks is naive at best.
The Trumpet expects a coalition of Middle Eastern peoples to form for the purpose “that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance” (Psalm 83:4). Verse 6 mentions the Hagarenes, an ancient name for the inhabitants of Syria, so the U.S. rapprochement with Syria will end badly. For more, request your updated copy of The King of the South.
On June 10, Israeli President Isaac Herzog publicly called for a day of fasting and prayer to ask God for help in retrieving Israel’s hostages still held by Hamas. Speaking to newly confirmed rabbinical judges, Herzog said: “I propose that you do everything in your power, first and foremost, to declare a general day of fasting and prayer for our brothers and sisters held by murderers.”
The Bible records many examples of God miraculously giving help to those that beseech Him in fasting and prayer. But requests like these must also include faith and obedience (e.g. James 1:6-7; 1 John 3:22). Israel’s head of state calling for a day of humility before God is a step in the right direction. But it is the Israeli people’s actions that will determine what happens next.
Asia
China is supplying vital military materials and equipment to at least 20 of Russia’s military production sites, Kyiv Insider reported on June 2, based on information disclosed by Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service. The report sheds further light on China’s vital support of Russia in its war against Ukraine. More than aiding Russia through trade and evasion of Western sanctions, China is directly supplying the Russian war machine with crucial military materials that Russia could not source elsewhere. The Bible prophesies of an alliance between Russia and China, and shows that they and their partners will form an army of 200 million men and bring stunning destruction upon the world. Because of these prophecies, when China first began supporting Russia’s war on Ukraine, Gerald Flurry wrote in the Trumpet’s May-June 2022 issue: “When nuclear-armed powers show such solidarity in wartime, what does this mean for the world? I tell you, it is woe to the world!” (“Asia Still Stands With Putin”).
Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung pledged during a June 9 call to lay aside decades of animosity between their nations and build a close relationship. Both nations are treaty allies of the United States and have relied on American security for decades. But as America declines, North Korea grows more belligerent and closer to Russia, and China’s aggression intensifies, the two see an urgent need for deeper ties. “The importance of Korea-Japan relations is increasing in today’s strategic environment,” Lee said. Japan and South Korea currently aim to ally so they can better stand up to Asia’s revisionist powers—namely China, Russia and North Korea. But Bible prophecy shows that as America declines and as those revisionist powers band together, efforts by other Asian countries to counter the Asian axis will not last long. Expect Japan and South Korea to eventually be absorbed into the Russia-China axis.
The people of Taiwan no longer count on America to help defend them from an attack by China, the Economist wrote on June 11. Taiwan’s leaders have long calculated that if they can survive a Chinese invasion for a month, then U.S. forces would have time to arrive and oust China. But after seeing U.S. President Donald Trump refuse to fulfill America’s legal obligation to defend Ukraine and his criticism of Ukraine as a nation naively trying to resist conquest by a larger neighbor, the Taiwanese fear that the same thinking applies to them. As a result, the Taiwanese are now preparing for a lonelier and much longer war. The public efforts include stockpiling food, medicine and fuel, and carrying out regular warfare workshops and drills to help train the population. Gerald Flurry has long warned that “our freedom-loving friends” in Taiwan will be conquered by China—because of American weakness. He bases his forecast on Leviticus 26, in which God warns the Americans, the British and the other modern descendants of Israel that if they refuse to turn to Him, then He will “break the pride of your power” (verse 19). For more information, request Russia and China in Prophecy.
Anglo-America
Prime Minister Mark Carney is changing the special relationship between the United States and Canada. Carney invited King Charles III, the Sovereign of the United Kingdom, Canada, and 13 other kingdoms, to visit Canada and give the speech from the throne that will outline his government’s agenda for the new session of Canada’s parliament. The speech Carney’s government wrote and the King read on May 26 focused on legitimizing Carney’s radical economic policies.
“Canada is facing challenges that are unprecedented in our lifetimes,” King Charles said. “Fundamental change is always unsettling. Yet this moment is also an incredible opportunity. An opportunity for renewal. … [B]y staying true to Canadian values, Canada can build new alliances and a new economy that serves all Canadians.”
Carney announced his intent to reduce Canada’s reliance on the U.S. military and to invite in European forces. On May 27, Carney said that by July 1, Canada Day, he hoped Canada will sign on to ReArm Europe, a European Commission plan to increase defense spending in the face of Russian aggression. Carney is eager to make the European Union one of the “new alliances”—to the detriment of the traditional U.S. alliance.
Isaiah 9:21 says, “Manasseh shall devour Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh; Together they shall be against Judah” (New King James Version). Since the U.S. and the British Commonwealth descend from Manasseh and Ephraim, respectively, this is about a time when the brother nations of the U.S., Canada and Israel oppose each other.
On May 21, the ongoing racial murders of white farmers became a focus of world attention when U.S. President Donald Trump played a video at the White House in front of South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa showing South African politician Julius Malema calling for a violent revolution and singing, “Kill the Boer, the farmer.” Ramaphosa said that Malema was not espousing official government policy, but the fact remains that at least 2,295 farmers have been murdered since 1990, the great majority of whom were white. The same spirit that motivates Malema’s songs is motivating brutal, torturous, racially motivated violence. In the U.S., it is motivating hypocrisy in many who advocate and even riot in favor of immigration and asylum—but not for white South Africans.
A prophecy in Ezekiel 7:23-24 describes imminent racially motivated violence on a large scale: “Make a chain: for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence. Wherefore I will bring the worst of the heathen, and they shall possess their houses ….” The “worst of the heathen” refers to the type of non-Israelites who murder men, women and children. This prophecy says that so many bloody crimes will occur that they will be like links in a chain.
