WorldWatch
Europe
Across Europe, governments are failing.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost the support of the Free Democrats in November, then lost a vote of confidence in the Bundestag on Dec. 16, 2024, ending his coalition government after three years in power. New elections are scheduled for February 23.
France’s government collapsed December 4 after its legislature passed a censure motion against Prime Minister Michel Barnier only three months into his term, making him the shortest-serving prime minister in France’s Fifth Republic. The legislature had not brought down a government like this since 1962. The new prime minister, François Bayrou, faces the same legislature, split almost evenly between the far right, center and far left, and the same political paralysis. Moody’s credit ratings agency rendered its assessment of the financial and economic ramifications by downgrading French debt from Aa2 to Aa3.
In Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who leads a minority coalition government, is facing fierce political battles, a corruption investigation into his wife, and demands by legislators for a motion of confidence.
Meanwhile, Belgium has been without a federal government for more than six months, Austria has taken more than three months to form a governing coalition, and the coalition in the Netherlands is shaky.
It is not unusual for some of Europe’s 27 nations to be dealing with coalition chaos. But so many countries struggling simultaneously is unusual, especially since Germany, one of Europe’s most stable nations since World War II, is facing a chaotic political situation.
There are few in Europe who can step up and exert strong leadership. “In a crisis, Germany’s elites may decide there is no time to appoint someone democratically—they could step in and select a leader quickly,” Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote in our January issue. “But this man will hijack the whole alliance ….” Europe’s paralysis is a crisis for Europeans—but for a strongman, it is a perfect opportunity.
A European strongman would take full advantage of Europe’s undemocratic tendencies, which were most recently exposed in Romania. Călin Georgescu, who has no party and campaigned mostly on social media, shocked Europe by winning the first round of Romania’s presidential election. However, TikTok was caught cheating in his favor, and a coordinated group of influencers that boosted his campaign was likely funded by Russia. This is concerning, but Romania’s constitutional court took a far more concerning step: canceling the election entirely. Fresh elections will be held, and Georgescu will likely be barred from running.
The constitutional court’s decision has vast implications. As one observer put it, “With such reasoning, every democratic election in the digital era could be canceled (if authorities don’t like the outcome).” Elena Lasconi, who was to be Georgescu’s opponent in the second round of the election, saw it as “the moment when the Romanian state trampled over democracy.”
Europe’s authoritarian tendencies are growing. You are about to see the loose confederation of independent European nations transform into an undemocratic, extremely powerful empire. Read more in A Strong German Leader Is Imminent.
On Dec. 6, 2024, after 25 years of negotiations, the European Union and the Latin American trade bloc mercosur signed a massive free-trade agreement. The EU already conducts more trade with mercosur than the United States, second only to China. The new deal involves nearly 800 million people, extends European bureaucracy into Latin America through climate requirements and other regulations, and gives the German industrial machine access to cheap raw materials.
Mr. Flurry wrote in 2019: “This trade agreement will impact the whole world! It is going to affect your life dramatically.”
The agreement still faces a number of high hurdles before it can go into effect: It must be ratified by EU member states.
“Before Europe can be closely tied to Latin America, something will have to change,” Mr. Flurry wrote. “The current politically and religiously disunified EU will have to become a politically, militarily and religiously unified Holy Roman Empire. Latin America is already quite united in its religion; the Holy Roman Empire will have to become united in its religion as well. And the only way to remove the division is by reducing that union to 10 nations” (ibid).
Plain Truth founder Herbert W. Armstrong forecast that Latin America would work with this new Holy Roman Empire. The October 1957 Plain Truth stated, “Latin American nations will join in with the European revival of the old Roman Empire.”
Asia
Russian agents are stealing children from Ukraine and putting them up for adoption in Russia. The Yale School of Public Health Humanitarian Research Lab reaffirmed this in a report published Dec. 3, 2024. The report provided further evidence of the already thoroughly documented systematic deportation and relocation of Ukrainian children by Russian forces. Since the conflict expanded into a full-scale war in February 2022, more than 700,000 children have been sent to various locations in Russia, according to its own Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Russians claim they are taking the children in a spirit of humanitarianism, to protect them from the violence in Ukraine—unleashed by Russia. But according to the textbook definitions by the Geneva Conventions and the International Criminal Court, kidnapping children is a genocidal war crime.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law on Dec. 3, 2024, the first time in almost 50 years that this state of emergency has been invoked. The nation is a constitutional republic, and Yoon claimed he was thwarting some members of the opposition who had aligned with Communist North Korea. However, the move was likely designed to help him evade the looming prospect of impeachment. The law would have banned all political activity, restricted the media, and allowed arrests without warrants; but thousands of protesters and politicians massed outside the National Assembly building, clashing with police and the military. After fighting their way into the building, members of Parliament voted 190-0 to demand the order be reversed, which Yoon accepted. On December 14, Yoon was impeached, denounced even by some members of his own political party. Korea’s political upheaval is part of the worldwide trend of failing human government. We are in an era of eroding freedom and increased corruption and instability.
As democracy in South Korea teetered, the Communist regime in China doubled down on its efforts to dominate the South China Sea. On Dec. 2, 2024, a Chinese helicopter provoked Philippine fishermen in the West Philippine Sea’s Rozul Reef, the latest in a long series of Chinese agitations against the Philippines. In September, a record number of Chinese warships entered Philippine waters. In October, Chinese ships harassed Philippine vessels with water cannons, and the Chinese Navy conducted its first dual aircraft carrier exercise in the South China Sea. China’s continuing belligerence in the region portends worse to come. The Bible prophesies that China will help to push the world into war. Learn more in “China Is Steering the World Toward War.”
Middle East
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant of Israel on Nov. 21, 2024. The court’s press release stated the warrants are “for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed from at least Oct. 8, 2023, until at least May 20, 2024, the day the prosecution filed the applications for warrants of arrest.” The court alleges the two men had committed “starvation,” a war crime that has never before been prosecuted. Russia has admitted to using starvation as a weapon against Ukraine, yet the court has not issued arrest warrants for Russian leaders. The court also implies that Israel controls all of Gaza’s borders when Egypt also shut its border with Gaza. Most of Israeli society, including Netanyahu’s political enemies, decried the court’s decision as biased and nonbinding.
The warrants impose real obstacles for Netanyahu. Most nations legally recognize the legitimacy of the court, so they are now obliged to arrest Netanyahu if he enters their territory This complicates his ability to travel abroad and conduct diplomacy.
Israel and Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon implemented a ceasefire on Nov. 27, 2024. The agreement mandates that Israel and Hezbollah slowly disengage from southern Lebanon while the Lebanese Armed Forces ensure that Hezbollah does not rearm. It also allows Israel to reenter Lebanon to enforce the ceasefire if the Lebanese government does not fulfill its part. Despite subsequent skirmishes, the general premise of the deal has held up.
Israel had decimated Hezbollah’s leadership and numerous weapons, assets and fighters in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah’s sponsor, Iran, has been weakened not only in Lebanon but also in Syria. This makes it harder for Iran to supply Hezbollah, much less rebuild it after such disastrous defeats. Rather than attacking Hezbollah in Lebanon with more incursions and strikes, Netanyahu agreed to the ceasefire and has called on the Lebanese people to rise up and push Hezbollah out of their country.
Psalm 83 prophesies that Lebanon (Gebal/Tyre) and Syria (the Hagarenes) will ally with Germany (Assur). For this to happen, Iran had to be pushed out of both countries. Now watch for Germany and Europe to move in.
Anglo-America
The wars in Ukraine and Israel, the United States-Mexico border crisis, the political division surrounding the 2024 U.S. presidential election and many other calamities have people worried. So while the book industry is stagnating, Bible sales are red-hot. According to Circana BookScan, Bible sales in America were up 22 percent through the end of October, meaning that the total for 2024 likely surpassed 16 million. One Bible publisher told the Wall Street Journal that the surge is due to interest from Generation Z.
Not all Christian denominations are benefiting equally from America’s renewed interest in the Holy Bible. A survey of Orthodox churches published last summer found that parishes across America saw a 78 percent increase in converts in 2022 compared to before government coronavirus lockdowns. The vast majority of these new converts are men, so some are predicting a sex divide in American religion in which women remain in Protestant denominations but men gravitate toward Orthodox churches.
“The feminization of non-Orthodox forms of Christianity in America has been in high gear for decades,” Orthodox priest Josiah Trenham of Saint Andrew’s Orthodox Church in Riverside, California told msn. “Men are much less comfortable, and they have voted with their feet, which is why they’re minorities in these forms of worship. Our worship forms are very traditional and very masculine.”
This shift toward “masculine Christianity” may end up helping both Donald Trump and the U.S. Republican Party. As radical leftists, including many who view themselves as religious, have promoted same-sex “marriages” and transgender bathrooms, Generation Z men hunger for instruction about biblical manhood. For guidance from the Creator of masculinity, as revealed in His instruction book, the Holy Bible, request your free copy of Biblical Manhood.
Meanwhile, America’s presidency plunged to a new low when Joe Biden unconditionally pardoned his son Hunter of any and all crimes from Jan. 1, 2014, to Dec. 1, 2024. The research group Marco Polo compiled a 630-page analysis of one of Hunter’s laptops, documenting 459 violations of state and federal laws, including 191 sex offenses, 128 drug offenses and 140 business crimes. These crimes also implicate Joe Biden and seven other members of the Biden family. Biden is trying to prevent the entire Biden family from being exposed as criminals.
On Dec. 9, 2024, the United Nations Statistics Division published data showing that America’s manufacturing industry is now only half the size of China’s. On December 11, the Asia Times reported that the U.S. Navy’s amphibious fleet faces significant maintenance challenges that threaten its combat readiness. Unless the U.S. changes direction quickly, it will collapse into domestic chaos as foreign enemies besiege it (Deuteronomy 28:52).
