More than 70 years ago, Herbert W. Armstrong gave a series of very clear and dramatic forecasts of where world events are leading. Since his death, Gerald Flurry has continued issuing the same warnings.

More than ever before, those warnings are becoming reality. Germany dominates Europe, and the Continent is on its way to becoming a superpower, just as Mr. Armstrong forecast 70 years ago.

Other forecasts are also being fulfilled. The growing Russian-Chinese friendship is all over the news. America’s decline is clearly visible. But it was Europe that was always central to Mr. Armstrong’s warnings.

Last month, the European Council of Foreign Relations(ecfr) published a paper titled “The Road Back to European Power.” In it, the unofficial, though influential, think tank aimed to “help kick-start the strategic phase of this discussion” of the “comprehensive stocktaking of Europe’s external relations.”

In just about every area of world news, the ecfr’s analysis bears a striking resemblance to that forecast by Herbert W. Armstrong.

America Divorced From Reality

Perhaps the most striking part of the document is what it says about the United States. “[T]he current picture is one of continental drift, as Americans and Europeans become decreasingly capable of or interested in working together effectively in an ever more contested world,” it says.

The authors of this paper see a shocking breakdown in U.S.-European relations. “Congress,” they write, is “so tethered to a small clique of donors that it has become more divorced than ever from global realities.”

They explain that Europe “depends” on America for “hard security.” Under this bargain, “the U.S. retains ultimate responsibility for peace and security in Europe, while Europeans contribute what they can and generally support the U.S. politically on major international security issues.”

“The old bargain is quite simply no longer on offer,” according to the ecfr report.

It is a two-pronged push. Europe believes America is an unreliable ally, on which it can no longer depend for its security. At the same time, America is actively and deliberately encouraging Europe to develop a strong military power independent of the U.S.A.

“[T]oo often in recent decades, Europeans have been content to tag along behind the U.S. in international affairs,” concludes the paper. “A new, more realistic, transatlantic bargain will require a stronger European sense of Europe’s own interests and identity.”

This new bargain will mean “a new division of labor.” It means a new military relationship, with both the U.S. and nato—one where “Europe’s larger states—notably Germany—can leverage their geo-economic power to take on greater responsibility within the alliance.”

This is exactly the kind of break Herbert W. Armstrong forecast for years.

America has a “chronic weakness,” he wrote in the Plain Truth in May of 1971. America’s leaders fail “to recognize who are our real friends, and who are our enemies.” The nation relies on its allies as “lovers.”

America wants to delegate more power and responsibility to Europe, at the same time as Europeans are making a radical departure from their American-reliant past.

Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote about this trend in the wake of the nsa spying scandal that outraged Europe last year. “Germany was prophesied to break away from America, and it is happening before our eyes,” he wrote. “But the animosity we see today is only the smallest beginning!”

Last year we saw an emotional response. Today, ecfr is using much more calculated reasoning to reach the same conclusion.

Europe’s ‘It’s Complicated’ Relationship With Russia

“Europe’s first priority must be to limit the damage caused by the crises on its eastern and southern borders,” wrote the ecfr. To deal with Russia, they called for a policy of “tough love”—a “dual strategy of sanctions and outreach.”

“[W]e should articulate that at the end of the day we want to have a functioning relationship with Russia—if not based on shared values then at least organized in ways that allow Europe not to undermine its own values,” they write.

The approach they encourage is similar to the one Germany is already taking—“cooperative confrontation”—as we outlined last month in our article “Germany and Russia Back to Business as Usual.”

It is also the approach forecast by the two trends we’re watching in European-Russian relations. On the one hand, fear of Russia is pushing nations like Poland and others in central and Eastern Europe closer to Germany. Drawing too close to Russia would jeopardize Germany’s relations with these countries. But on the other, Germany and Russia have a lot of shared interests, which is why we’ve warned our readers to watch out for another Molotov-Ribbentrop pact.

Hunting for Allies in the Middle East

Europe’s migrant crisis is getting worse by the week. Local authorities in Italy and Greece are being overwhelmed by refugees fleeing the Middle East and North Africa. But this is only the most visible of a series of threats these regions pose for Europe. It relies heavily on these areas for many of its resources. The Mediterranean and Red Sea are crucial for Europe’s trade. There is also the ever present danger of terrorism.

“Europeans will have to fortify their own national resilience against the likelihood of further extremism-motivated atrocities in European cities and against EU citizens in the region,” they write. They are right—it’s easy to see that more attacks are coming.

They continue by saying that Europe’s “ill-conceived responses to past provocations have advanced the extremists’ agenda through European over-reaction and Islamophobic policies at home ….” This one is harder to agree with. Recommending that Europe simply accepts future terrorist attacks with little response borders on the delusional. The policies they see as “Islamophobic” will continue.

The report’s authors suggest Europe counters threats to the region through allies. “We will deal with Cairo, Riyadh and Tehran, even if they do not share our values,” they write.

As you get more specific, however, the think tank notes the direction Europe has traveled—and disagrees with it.

They recommend not taking a side in the growing Iranian-Saudi divide. However, they note that the Saudi-aligned Gulf Cooperation Council “direct and funded arms purchases from France, for instance, add up to around €14 billion (us$15.5 billion) so far in 2015, as the Gulf has become one of the world’s largest buyer of arms.”

This current reality, rather than ecfr’s preferred direction, is the future for Europe. Back in 1996, Mr. Flurry gave a list of nations he forecast would eventually ally with Europe. Today, we see almost all of those nations in the Saudi-led group that is already close to many nations in Europe. Watch for that relationship to draw closer. For more on what to expect, read our article “Next in Line, Please.”

Invading Africa

“How can the EU do more to tackle conflict, instability, the rise of terrorist networks, and the effects of climate change, and create better economic prospects in the broader southern Mediterranean, Sahel and sub-Saharan African regions?” asks the ecfr.

One of the major solutions the authors recommend is greater and better coordinated military power.

Aid, they write, “is a declining source of influence.” Meanwhile, “[t]he migrant crisis and instability in Mali and the Sahel also point to the limits of European powers’ efforts to build security in Africa by funding UN and African-led peacekeeping operations.”

Their solution:

While many European governments are instinctively wary of sending their own troops to Africa, the convergence of humanitarian crises and terrorist threats on the continent is changing their calculations. After France led the way in intervening in Mali and the Sahel, the Netherlands, Estonia, Scandinavian countries, and even Germany have sent smaller numbers of troops to Africa in the last two years.

They write that nations like Nigeria and Senegal want greater EU military cooperation, and note that “Europeans still have greater security assets in Africa than China.”

This use of military force in the wider North African region to combat Islamic terrorism is something Gerald Flurry drew attention to back in 2013. Iran and its terrorist proxies have “designs on being the strongest power throughout the region, and is extending its reach throughout North Africa,” he wrote. “But Iran isn’t the only one interested in Africa. Germany is making strong inroads as well. Both of these powers are racing to get as much control of North Africa as they can. They will inevitably clash with each other.”

The Rise of China

The ecfr notes the dramatic rise of China in recent years, though it doesn’t say much on what Europe should do about it. The main recommendation is for Europe to “set a shorter list of priorities” when it comes to international laws and human rights. In doing so, it would be in a better position to compete with China, which takes little notice of human rights in its international relations.

However, they did note how far many European countries have gone to forge a good relationship with China. “Nothing symbolized the shift in international order better than China’s successful Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank proposal, which won the support of 56 nations—among them 14 European member states,” they write.

These growing economic ties between Europe and China is also a trend the Trumpet has forecast. For more on this trend, read, “The Great Mart.”

“A Realistic Starting Point”

Joseph de Courcy drew our attention to this ecfr paper in one of his intelligence briefs. “Back in May 2013, we gave a lot of attention to a report from the European Institute for Security Studies (euiss) on Enabling the Future—European Military Capabilities 2013-2025,” he wrote.

The recommendations of that paper “seemed to be too ambitious a project to be taken up seriously by the member states; but there is nevertheless a feeling that something needs doing.”

According to Courcy, the new paper by the ecfr is “a more realistic starting point” for doing something than the earlier one.”

This starting point matches exactly what the Trumpet and Plain Truth have been saying for decades.

How? The Trumpet relies on Bible prophecy to forecast world events. It’s a starting point many are reluctant to accept, but it is proving more and more accurate as time goes on.

As more and more current events align with what we’ve been teaching for years, you need to acquaint yourself with what the Bible forecasts for the near future. For a good outline of what is prophesied to happen around the world, read our free booklet He Was Right.