Geopolitical Year in Review: 2009

Living through 2009 has been like surviving an earthquake. Almost every nation on Earth was shaken with major crises. Some were at war. Some fought famine. Many suffered comatose economies. Some experienced all of these and more. As we approached the end of the 00s, we felt the world’s landscape rumble as the deepest foundations of its economies cracked and the structural integrity of its governments crumbled. Our nations—built with frameworks of competition, hatred, violence, corruption, greed, dishonesty—shook and swayed. We saw that the glittering systems and cultures mankind has built are intrinsically flawed.

Today, theTrumpet.com brings you what mattered most in 2009—and shows you where there is peace.

Hamas Wins a Strategic Victory

In late 2008, Palestinian Hamas terrorists hurled hundreds of rockets and mortar shells at Israeli civilians. On Dec. 27, 2008, Israel launched Operation Cast Lead, bombing Hamas positions inside the Gaza Strip and moving ground troops in on January 3. On January 18, Israeli military officials declared a unilateral ceasefire, trying to characterize the conflict as a victory, but admitting that Cast Lead had not delivered a knockout punch and left much of Hamas’s weapons stockpile and almost all of its 15,000-man army intact. Its popularity on the Arab street for surviving Israel’s counterattack fared even better. Since January, Hamas has rebuilt and bided its time, even planning attacks on leaders of its rival party, Fatah, and scheming to take over the West Bank. Hamas has also increased the range of its missiles to reach Tel Aviv. Meanwhile, Israel became increasingly isolated, facing accusations from the United Nations General Assembly that it attacked Gazan civilians and committed “actions amounting to war crimes, and possibly crimes against humanity.” Meanwhile, the new United States administration dialed down its support of the Jews. In 2010, watch for another possible clash between Israel and radical Islam, led by Iran.

Ayatollah Khamenei Cracks Down on Iranian Dissidents

In Iran, June 12 elections produced a landslide victory for hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Skeptical and angry university students took to the streets in protest, which many Western media sources interpreted as the beginnings of a long-awaited Islamic counter-revolution. However, the struggle on the streets of Iran was actually a side effect of a bigger power struggle occurring in Tehran’s halls of power—not between reformer and conservative factions, but between rival conservatives. The primary struggle was between the hard right, under Ahmadinejad, and the pragmatic conservatives, led by former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, over who should be leading the clerical establishment. Neither side opposed the regime, and both sides want Iran to become a nuclear powerhouse capable of dominating the Middle East. The street riots were soon crushed by the radical Iranian Revolutionary Guard, though anti-regime protests escalated again in the latter part of the year. Watch for the Iranians to continue their pushy foreign policy—until they succeed in igniting a nuclear World War iii.

Ahmadinejad Seeks the Return of the Twelfth Imam

In a September 17 interview, Ahmadinejad spoke about his spiritual beliefs, which include the anticipated arrival of the “hidden imam, the Muslim messiah.” Ahmadinejad, who has stated that the main mission of the Islamic revolution “is to pave the way for the reappearance of the twelfth imam, the Mahdi,” acknowledged his beliefs as a devoted Ithna Ashari (“Twelver”) Shiite. The Mahdi is expected to return when the world has fallen into chaos and civil strife—an environment Ahmadinejad has not shied away from hastening with his drive for nuclear weapons and his mass-murder-laced comments about destroying the Jews. Pragmatic he is not: Ahmadinejad bases his political decisions not on advantages for his nation, but on his radical religious beliefs. After his June election victory and subsequent crackdown, the bold Iranian president consolidated more power this past year.

India Ditches the Dollar

On November 3, the International Monetary Fund announced that it had sold 200 metric tons of gold to the Central Bank of India. The transaction amounted to the most solid evidence to date that Asian countries are abandoning the dollar. In swapping his country’s dollars for hard assets, India sent a clear message: The economies of the U.S. and Europe are unstable, and India is preparing for a coming meltdown. Currency and commodity traders reacted, deducing that central banks in China, Europe and elsewhere could easily follow India’s lead. Gold jumped past $1,100 an ounce. China and Russia have indicated they desire to increase their gold holdings and decrease their dollars, even calling for a new world reserve currency. In December, Latin American and Caribbean member nations of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americans gave up the dollar as the currency of trade between them. Typically developing nations put up their gold as collateral for loans from the First World, but in 2009 developing nations made a grab for gold and tossed out the dollar. India’s mountain of gold is a symbol that the power of the “almighty dollar” is almost broken.

Japan Turns Eastward

In September, Japan emerged from elections with new leadership hungry for change. Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama threatened to split with the United States, blaming America for the global economic crisis and holding the U.S. responsible for “the destruction of human dignity.” Hatoyama campaigned on protecting traditional Japanese economic activities and reducing U.S.-led globalization. His administration said it doubted the future of the dollar and would refuse to purchase any more U.S. treasuries unless denominated in Japanese yen. Prime Minister Hatoyama questioned the U.S. military presence on Japanese soil; he reexamined the agreement that permits U.S. warships to dock at Japanese ports and authorizes billions in expenditures to house and transfer U.S. troops between the Japanese islands. He also moved to quickly end Japan’s fueling support for the U.S. naval anti-terrorism efforts in Afghanistan and Pakistan and entered negotiations to remove all U.S. fighter aircraft from Japan, all against the backdrop of taboo nuclear ambitions. Rather than being a political maverick, Hatoyama is really a more accurate reflection of how much the Japanese want America thrust out. In 2009, Japan moved to kick out one World War ii foe and embrace another: China, with whom it announced plans to hold its first joint military exercises. The Plain Truth foretold the alliance between these longtime rivals in February 1963, stating, “There is an utter inevitability of the ultimate tie-up between Japan and Red China! The big question is how long China will remain ‘Red’ and survive without a tie-up with Japanese capitalism.” China today is not as “Red” as it once was, and its relationship with Japan and other Asian powers is rapidly warming. Facts and Bible prophecy forecast that this warming trend in East Asia will lead to more of the same in 2010 and ultimately a major military alliance between Russia, China and Japan.

North Korea Gets Hot

On May 25, Kim Jong Il’s North Korea conducted a nuclear weapons test. Shortly afterward, Pyongyang made South Korea nervous by threatening a “strong military strike,” and saying its 56-year cease-fire with Seoul no longer applies. Concerns over North Korea’s nuclear belligerence reverberated throughout Asia—except in China. Chinese leaders support Kim Jong Il’s regime because a rogue North Korea serves Beijing’s ambitions as a distraction to competitors in the region and as a pry bar against Western-aligned governments and U.S. interests in Asia. Like previous administrations, the White House dealt with the crisis by appealing to China to control Pyongyang. In April, Charles Krauthammer wrote, “The administration is pretending … that China is on our side on this. It’s not. It has no interest in weakening its ally and puppet in Pyongyang. It’s working against us.” Watch for China to continue to groom North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.

President Obama Softens the War on Terror

Following the epic pomp of President Barack Obama’s inauguration in January, analysts looked to see what the candidate who promised everything could deliver. One of the president’s first actions was to order the terrorist prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, closed. President Obama also moved quickly to nominate Leon Panetta to the post of Central Intelligence Agency chief. Panetta had zero intelligence experience. Analysts realized the appointment was a political move intended to shake up and manage the cia. Panetta won the post after another choice, who actually had intelligence experience, was deemed not liberal enough because of statements that seemed to support some of the actions of the President Bush-era cia. Panetta questioned some of the agency’s aggressive techniques and said that some of them amounted to turning America into a nation of “armchair torturers.” America then saw the “war” on terror dial down to something less aggressive. President Obama made the shift clear in June in Cairo, Egypt, with a landmark speech about America’s relationship to Islam. The president invited members of the terrorist-affiliated Muslim Brotherhood, quoted the Koran and said, “No single nation should pick and choose which nations hold nuclear weapons.” He notably didn’t say the word “terrorism” at all, nor did he denounce Iran. Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry noted that Obama’s speech and stance on terror would “shake the nations.”

America Ditches Friends and Courts Enemies

As the United States courted Iran and “the Muslim world” (an Islamist notion and term), it also cozied up to other enemies, including China, and found common ground with Venezuelan Communistic President Hugo Chávez and Honduran would-be tyrant President Manuel Zelaya. The American president made headlines for bowing deeply to Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah and Japanese Emperor Akihito. The Obamas used the power of symbols and personal gestures in other ways too, with the first lady treating the Queen of England casually by draping her arm across her back and the president giving her and the prime minister of America’s historic ally some diplomatically questionable gifts. The president gave the Queen an iPod containing his speeches. Prime Minister Gordon Brown obtained what felt like a begrudging visit to the White House in the spring. He brought with him three precious gifts to match the president’s desk, one of which was the framed commission of the hms Resolute—the timbers from which the president’s desk in the Oval Office is made. Another was a pencil-holder carved from the timbers of its antislavery sister-ship: hms Gannet, once christened hms President. The Obamas gave the Browns 25 dvds of American films, including Psycho, which did not work in European dvd players, and two inexpensive Marine One toy helicopters from the White House gift shop. Obama went on to deny Brown some traditional courtesies including a state dinner or a press conference. He later denied a British offer to extend a loan of a bust of Winston Churchill that had been displayed in the Oval Office. Afterward, a State Department official who planned the Brown visit made it clear how many in the Obama administration feel about America’s mother country: “There’s nothing special about Britain. You’re just the same as the other 190 countries in the world. You shouldn’t expect special treatment.”

In July, leaders of Eastern and Central Europe wrote an open letter to the Obama administration, appealing to the United States to remember Poland and the Czech Republic and other countries that allied with America in the face of the Russian menace, requesting that the U.S. “reconnect” with Central and Eastern European countries to protect them from Russia “pursuing a 19th-century agenda with 21st-century tactics and methods.” President Obama responded by choosing the 70th anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Poland to announce that he was scrapping the ballistic missile defense shield promised to Poland and the Czech Republic.

The new administration also spent 2009 making it clear to Israel that it would receive no favors either. The president repeatedly pressured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to make large concessions to Palestinians and made it clear he was interested in reaching out to Muslims.

United States Unemployment Spirals Upward

In October, the official unemployment rate in America hit 10.2 percent. The more inclusive measure of unemployment measured much higher. The Department of Labor’s U-6 alternative measure, the labor underutilization index, put unemployment at over 17 percent. This index includes those who are available for work, and those whom within the past year have stopped because they have given up or for other reasons. It also includes those who are looking for a full-time job but are working part-time because of a shortage of jobs. But even this measure does not include those who have given up looking for work, gone back to school, or accepted short-term contracts for little money. The Center for Labor Market Studies in Boston reported in June that American unemployment was 18.2 percent, if it is calculated using the same formula that was used during the Great Depression. Many economists estimated joblessness will increase in 2010. Watch for economic disaster to turn into civil unrest as Americans grow more desperate. Historically, mass unemployment has led to mass unrest—and political and social upheaval.

Catholicism Swallows Anglicanism

Pope Benedict xvi announced this year he would offer a free ticket to Rome, so to speak, for all Anglicans angered by the policies of Anglicanism’s increasingly liberalized theology, which include ordaining female clergy and homosexual priests and bishops. The Vatican offered membership to the Church of Rome to Anglicans who chose to convert, with historic concessions made to allow them to keep their Anglican practices, and for married clergy to be accepted as priests in a newly established Catholic/Anglican community. The move was a bold, swift and sudden frontal attack against Anglo-Saxon Protestantism’s leading light, striking a weakened and divided Anglican community. “Rome has parked its tanks on the archbishop of Canterbury’s lawn,” proclaimed Britain’s Times newspaper (October 21). This brilliant attack—orchestrated by the pope himself—will leave the Church of England mortally wounded and the Catholic Church in the position to now divide and conquer.

Anti-Semitism Reloads

Israel’s counterstrike in Gaza provoked tens of thousands to gather in European cities like London, Paris and Amsterdam to chant such chilling slogans as: “Kill the Jews,” “Jews to the gas,” and “Jews to the ovens.” The Brussels Journal reported January 17, “Far from simply being a spate of isolated incidents, as many Europeans claim, anti-Semitic violence is becoming more commonplace in every country in Europe. At the same time, anti-Israel demonstrations, which have strong anti-Semitic overtones, are being held with alarming frequency in cities across Europe.” The notional bastion of modern multiculturalism and tolerance, Europe, is trying to put Jews out of business, exactly the measures it was taking prior to the Holocaust, this time cloaked in anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian rhetoric and gestures. Many European leaders are sanctioning and even promoting persecution of Jews. When this river of anti-Semitism becomes a torrent and reaches its high-water mark, it will finally overflow its banks, engulfing not only the Jewish state and the Jews, but spilling over to swamp entire nations and regions.

Germany Exploits the Economic Crisis

In both 2008 and 2009, Greece ended the year as Europe’s economic wimp. Both then and now, however, Europe had one strong man to look to: Germany. Europeans looked to Berlin in 2009 as the only country capable of saving the Continent from the economic disaster. Germany and the Vatican used the economic crisis to grow in power. As a direct consequence of the global crash, all G-20 nations have signed up to a plan to permit the Financial Stability Board to regulate their economies. “Everyone is turning to Germany as the ultimate savior of the European economy,” Reuters wrote February 25. Germany is very skilled at taking advantage of crisis. Watch for the economic crisis to get worse in the next year. It may seem as if it is dragging Europe down, but is merely a prelude to a German “solution” and an even more powerful and unified Europe.

The Lisbon Treaty Becomes the European Constitution

On December 1, Europe was altered forever. The Lisbon Treaty officially came into force. European leaders have wanted a constitution for a long time now, even though voters in France and the Netherlands rejected it in 2005 and much of the British public hates it. Eurocrats bypassed democracy, simply changed the constitution’s name to “the Lisbon Treaty” and avoided referenda wherever they could. The Irish got their vote—and opposed it, but in 2009, Eurocrats carefully cajoled the Irish to vote yes in a second referendum. The European constitution comes complete with the first EU president and Europe’s own diplomatic corps. During a closed-door meeting November 19, Germany and France forced the appointment of two unknowns to the two most senior positions in the European Union: Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy was appointed as the first permanent European Council president, and EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton was named foreign policy chief. These individuals will no doubt be replaced at some point. Bible prophecy reveals that Europe will gain a dominant and powerful leader.

Guttenberg Rises to Stardom

Federal elections in Germany on September 27 revealed a rising star against the otherwise-plain backdrop of German politics: Baron Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg. Guttenburg, who was appointed economics and trade minister earlier in the year, helped lead his party to victory in September on his way to becoming the most popular politician in Germany, ahead of Chancellor Angela Merkel. As a result, Guttenberg felt—rightly—that he could pick his post: defense minister. Hailing from entrenched Bavarian-Frankish, Catholic aristocracy, Guttenberg was a bright young leader during the long reign of Edmund Stoiber as Bavaria’s prime minister. His official title, granted to his forebears during the 18th century, is Reichsfreiherr, the English translation being, “Baron of the Holy Roman Empire.” Shortly after becoming defense minister, he became the first German politician to refer to the Afghanistan campaign as a war, an acknowledgment that German troops are in action for the first time since the Nazi offensives of World War ii. In the wake of the Lisbon Treaty’s ratification, German elites are already gearing up to force the consolidation of Europe’s armies into a single military force. Baron Guttenberg is well-placed—given his strong connections with Europe’s captains of industry—to propel this program forward. Watch for his continuing trajectory toward high office in Germany and perhaps the European Union.

Armstrong Auditorium Is Built Up

As nations shook, alliances crumbled and mountainous dangers rumbled closer, an overlooked symbol of hope rose from plains. In central Oklahoma, a special building dedicated to the solution to these world problems took shape: Armstrong Auditorium. The same organization that blasts a trumpet warning for 2009 and now 2010 also heralds a note of hope in the form of that building. Armstrong Auditorium is built on hope, because it is a place to showcase the best of the human spirit, the way of peace and harmony where mankind lives together in a happy, generous, abundant life. It is a framework for hope because it is dedicated to the great God. That God is not only aware of the catastrophes that even casual world observers can see, but He is also allowing those crises and is using them. For what purpose? To bring an unrepentant mankind to see the failure of our ways and to turn us to Him as the answer to our failures. Watch Iran. Watch Germany. Watch the nations of biblical Israel. But don’t forget to watch Armstrong Auditorium. Watch for hope.