It was a sweltering summer day in Nicosia, Cyprus. As the unrelenting sun beat down on the city, Master Cpl. David E. Blondeau and a small contingent of soldiers patrolled the “Green Line,” the demilitarized zone weaving through Cyprus’s capital. Since the 1974 ceasefire between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, the United Nations has controlled the zone, a maze of vacated buildings only a few meters wide in some places.

The peace was always tenuous. Machine gun emplacements lined the Turkish side of the Green Line while Greeks staged protests on their side, often placing children between them and the Turkish machine guns.

On this hot day in 1986, the air was heavy with tension. Greek protesters marched along the edge of the Green Line while the patrol moved parallel on a street inside the zone. The protest approached a prominent Turkish position, whose machine guns were nervously trained on the mob.

The only thing preventing a bloodbath was the small peacekeeping patrol. Blondeau told his men to drop their kit and put down their weapons. Weapons were just for show. They had so little ammunition, and they had to ask permission to use lethal force. By the time confirmation was received, everyone would be dead. Blondeau placed his unarmed men between the two groups as a barrier. He planned to rush in and detain the main Greek agitator to dissipate the protest if necessary.

The agitator wouldn’t have known what hit him if the 230-pound moustached Métis ex-football player came at full sprint. Blondeau didn’t have orders to do this: In fact, he would have been severely disciplined for taking that action. He had seconds to make a decision between life and death, and he believed this was his only chance of preventing bloodshed. He had a newborn baby at home in Canada, but he was willing to risk it all for people he didn’t know and a conflict he wasn’t a part of, to try and keep the peace.

Miraculously, at the last moment, the protesters changed direction to avoid confrontation with the Turks, and Blondeau didn’t need to execute his plan. But would the same thing happen tomorrow? Next week? Next month?

This is the life of a UN peacekeeper. These are the impossible situations politicians and bureaucrats in air-conditioned rooms thousands of miles away volunteer these men for. Soldiers are trained to be decisive, take initiative, and use lethal force. Peacekeeping may be one of the most difficult tasks: It is counterintuitive to their training.

My dad toured for six months with the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus. Eight years earlier, in 1978, he did a six-month tour in the Golan Heights, Israel, with the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (undof), which patrolled the Syrian border after the Yom Kippur War. His tour in the Golan occurred just before the Iranian Revolution. undof had an Iranian contingent; when the revolution happened in 1979, Israel surrounded the UN compound and forced them to leave. In 2013, I visited the Golan Heights and walked the same ground my dad did 35 years earlier.

Photos of Pvt. David E. Blondeau (author’s father) while peacekeeping in the Golan Heights, Israel, in 1978

I remember many family meals where he would tell stories and discuss their lessons. One of the lessons was the futility of peacekeeping. He knew those missions weren’t solving the real problems facing those war-torn regions. Others may have different experiences or opinions. But one fact cannot be disputed: The world has only grown worse since we have been peacekeeping.

Following World War ii, the nations of the world set about solving the unsolvable riddle: How do we have world peace? The UN was born in San Francisco on October 24, 1945. The late Herbert W. Armstrong, who was present at its opening, wrote this prescient analysis:

Already I see the clouds of World War iii gathering at this conference. … I do not see peace being germinated here, but the seeds of the next war! … The United Nations conference is producing nothing but strife and bickering and is destined, from its inception, to end in total failure. Yet world leaders are pronouncing it the world’s last hope—with the only alternative annihilation of humanity!

The most visible proof of this failure is in the legacy of peacekeeping.

Peacekeeping has become the UN’s go-to reaction to international conflicts. What is its track record? Our booklet He Was Right states:

From its inception in 1945 until 2016 there have been no less than 300 wars and well over 3,000 other military conflicts—with just about as many people killed as died in World War II itself! The UN has been involved in 71 peacekeeping missions during that time. In 2015 alone, it maintained 16 missions, and the number of conflicts worldwide was 54—resulting in over 12.4 million refugees! Is the UN succeeding in “keeping peace”?

Peacekeeping has been an abject failure. My dad’s experience confirms the statistics.

Instead of confronting important geopolitical situations, we have diminished our influence in key areas. Instead of solving the cause of war, we have projected weakness and ineptitude. This failure has been exploited by our rivals, who have used the auspices of the UN to advance their plans for conquest. History attests to this, and so does Bible prophecy. Notice this keynote prophecy in Daniel 8:23, 25:

And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. …

And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many ….

In our day today, when sins against God have saturated our nations, one nation will become a military juggernaut and “by peace shall destroy many.” Which nation is this? Which nation uses peacekeeping as a pretext for conquest?

We write in our booklet:

Germany’s first deployment since World War ii was part of a UN-mandated mission to Somalia in 1993. …

The German Army, in particular, has benefited from wearing this precious UN cloak. Thanks largely to its participation in peacekeeping missions, the Bundeswehr today is among the most technologically advanced, best-equipped militaries on the planet. Its troops are now dotted throughout Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia on UN and nato missions.

The Bible reveals Germany will lead a resurrected Holy Roman Empire and seek to build a Middle Eastern empire, echoing the bloody legacy of the Crusades. As Daniel reveals, it will execute this strategy by masquerading as peacekeepers.

Germany has used this strategy in two locations in particular, which happen to be the same two areas my dad was a peacekeeper: Cyprus and Israel.

Cyprus has always been a strategic key to the Mediterranean because of its geography, military bases, long-distance radar and intelligence-gathering infrastructure. Controlling Cyprus is crucial to controlling the Middle East.

Germany exploited the UN’s weakness to conquer Cyprus. During the 2013 financial crisis, the Greek government in Cyprus needed a bailout. Germany stepped in and strong-armed Cyprus into economic servitude.

Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote in “Why Germany Conquered Cyprus”:

Thus, the [European Union] became the de facto ruler of Cyprus. … It dictated how to run their tax-collecting systems and demanded changes to Cypriot law. And since Germany is Europe’s largest economy and put up the largest share of the money, Germany became the real power in Cyprus.

Mr. Flurry explained the island’s importance in his 2013 Key of David program “Cyprus in Bible Prophecy.”

A prophecy in Psalm 83 indicates Turkey will briefly align with Europe, bringing “peace” to the island. Why does Germany want control of Cyprus? To conquer Jerusalem.

For generations, Israel has tried to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the Oslo Accords, Camp David Accords and UN peacekeeping efforts. The Bible calls this “peace process” a deadly wound, a nagging injury that will eventually turn fatal (Hosea 5:13). Eventually, Judah (modern-day Israel) will turn to Germany for help. As the war between Israel and Hamas rages, Germany has been very involved diplomatically, even stationing troops in Cyprus to support Israel if necessary. Israel will invite Germany in to be peacekeepers, most likely around Jerusalem. Yet Germany will betray the Jews and conquer Jerusalem (read “Should Israel Trust Germany?”).

After decades of weakness, ineptitude and failure in peacekeeping, Germany is prophesied to use this as a cloak for the last crusade. That is the tragic destiny of peacekeeping. The risks and sacrifices of brave men like my dad who served as peacekeepers have paved the way for the next world war.

There is a massive lesson here: No man-made solution can bring world peace (Proverbs 14:12). There is no hope in man.

However, we do not need to be hopeless. The Bible reveals the solution to war and the path to peace. Jesus Christ will soon return, establish peace forever through God’s government. That is the hope we need.

To learn more about these vital prophecies, read He Was Right.