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In a world currently focused on Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and Israel-not to mention a biting recession-it's easy to overlook important European events. Yet the European Union (EU) stands once again perched on the brink of approving the Lisbon Treaty (really the renamed EU Constitution) designed to drastically increase the structure, power and influence of this transnational governmental body.
Many in Britain view the possibility of a federal Europe with a jaundiced eye. Notice the reaction of Conservative Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague, who is very concerned about "the creation of a new EU president, an EU foreign minister ... [and] a legally binding charter of Fundamental Rights, the significant expansion of EU powers over areas such as criminal justice and more [which] has led the President of the European Commission to proclaim that the Treaty gave the EU 'the dimension of empire'" ("Labour Has Left Britain on the Fringes of Europe," The Spectator, May 30, 2009, emphasis added throughout).
Yet as things stand now, the British people will have virtually no say on the contents of this treaty, having been denied a previously promised referendum. The Lisbon Treaty will be imposed on the citizens of the United Kingdom without their democratic consent. Hague went on to write, "The Treaty is almost identical to its predecessor, the EU Constitution [previously rejected by both France and the Netherlands], to whose text the [British] government sought 275 amendments, of which only 27 were accepted."
The implications of Britain saddled to a more powerful and influential European Union frighten those who truly understand European history. Yet a Daily Mail feature article tells us: "Britain is willing to provide all our armed forces to fight under the EU flag in future wars, a minister has revealed. Europe Minister Caroline Flint said that every operational unit of the British Army, the Royal Navy and RAF will be on offer as part of an EU 'force catalogue.' This would help form a 60,000-strong joint EU military reaction force to police the world's trouble-spots" (Matthew Hickley and James Slack, "Now All Our Forces Are Put at Europe's Disposal," April 4, 2009).
The basic EU currency, the euro, bears watching as well. "Officially launched as a theoretical accounting unit for 11 EU nations in 1999, the euro has become, by default, the second most important international reserve currency after the U.S. dollar" (Joseph Harriss, "Funny Money," The American Spectator, May 2009).
A report by the private intelligence agency Stratfor warns of a potential long-term threat for America: "While the European Union is nowhere near becoming a federated state, it has the potential to become a major power one day that could become hostile to U.S. interests. Obviously this is not a near-term threat, but we need not look back even a century to see how rapidly and thoroughly allies can become enemies" ("Geopolitical Diary: Courting Turkey," April 7, 2009).
Think about how almost overnight the Berlin Wall fell, followed by the shattering of the Soviet Union and the return of capitalism to Eastern Europe. Nations can also form military alliances sooner than expected. To understand the implications of a powerful United States of Europe, read our free booklets The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy and Are We Living in the Time of the End? (Sources: The Spectator, Daily Mail [both London], The American Spectator, Stratfor.)
Ethan Bronner, reporting in Jerusalem for the International Herald Tribune, raises an important question in regard to U.S.-Israeli relations: "Iran seems to be hurtling toward nuclear weapons capacity, Hezbollah could win Sunday's election in Lebanon [thankfully, it did not] and Hamas is smuggling long-range rockets into Gaza again. So why is President Barack Obama focusing such attention on the building of homes by Israeli Jews in the West Bank?" ("Obama Puts Israelis to Test," June 6-7, 2009, emphasis added throughout).
This latest move on the diplomatic chessboard has put enormous pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "[It] underscores one of the biggest shifts in American policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in three decades. While every administration has objected to Israeli settlement building in occupied lands, the Obama administration has selected it as the opening issue that could begin to untie the conflict" (ibid.).
The American administration hopes that halting and then removing these Israeli settlements will encourage Saudi Arabia and other Arab states to offer Israel concessions in trade, tourism and direct diplomatic ties. However, this controversy over settlement policy isn't the only Israeli concern with shifts in American policy.
According to Leonard Doyle, writing in Washington, D.C., for The Sunday Telegraph, "Israel is also rattled by Mr. Obama's willingness to attempt dialogue with Iran, seen by Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. [Avigdor] Lieberman [Israel's foreign minister and deputy prime minister] as the biggest threat to the Jewish state" ("Obama Will Lay Down the Law to Israel," May 17, 2009).
The International Herald Tribune article went on to say that "Israelis have turned rightward and most analyses suggest that the reason is a growing fear of regional threats, notably Iranian-backed parties like Hezbollah and Hamas, on Israel's borders." Earlier in April Netanyahu stated: "We will not allow the Holocaust deniers to carry out another Holocaust against the Jewish people. This is the supreme duty of the state of Israel" ("Ahmadinejad Calls Israel 'Racist,'" The Wall Street Journal, April 21, 2009).
Yet as Doyle reports in his Telegraph article, "the Obama administration has also broken a long-standing taboo against discussing Israel's nuclear weapons, by calling for Israel to declare and give up its weapons arsenal, said to number around 50 warheads. A senior State Department official said that the US wanted Israel to sign the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty and commit to disarmament."
But will Iran convincingly commit to not constructing nuclear weapons? On a recent trip to Israel, CIA Director Leon Panetta's "message to the Israeli prime minister was that Iran will not be a serious threat even if it develops a nuclear weapon" (ibid.).
So the noose continues to tighten around the state of Israel. This important question emerges: Will American foreign policy put Israel in an untenable position with its enemies-greatly increasing its security concerns and placing its population potentially in mortal danger?
For help in discerning the direction these disturbing trends are headed, read our free booklets The Middle East in Bible Prophecy and You Can Understand Bible Prophecy. (Sources: The Daily Telegraph [London], International Herald Tribune, The Wall Street Journal.)
A report by the United Nations Nuclear Agency says that Iran has increased its number of centrifuges enriching uranium [to almost 5,000] and that inspectors have discovered traces of manmade uranium at a second site in Syria, heightening concern about possible undeclared atomic activity there" ("Atomic Agency Singles Out Iran and Syria," International Herald Tribune, June 6-7, 2009). Yet a headline feature article in the June 7, 2009, Sunday Times was "Obama Woos Syria in Push for Peace."
According to the Reuters communiqué, this increase in Iran's centrifuges "has made it more difficult for U.N. inspectors to keep track of the disputed nuclear program." Neither Iran nor Syria are friends of Israel or the West.
The June 1, 2009, Newsweek cover article about Iran was titled "They May Not Want the Bomb." It postulated that "Iranians aren't suicidal ... Iran isn't a dictatorship ... Iran might be ready to deal ... They are not fanatics." The article intended its readers to take a "reality check." The text begins with "Everything you know about Iran is wrong, or at least more complicated than you think."
No doubt the state of Israel will still remain somewhat skeptical about the basic character of the Iranian leadership and its intentions. (Sources: International Herald Tribune, Newsweek, The Times [London].)
Governments get into deep trouble when many things go wrong at once. Britain stands in the midst of one of the nation's worst political crises in its long history, prompted largely by revelations of abuse of public funds. Editor and journalist Max Hastings commented: "All governments end in failure. But never in modern British political history has there been a collapse as startling and dramatic as that which is taking place at Westminster this week" ("Indignity and Chaos Rule: Who Will Put This Exhausted, Discredited Regime Out of Its Misery?" Daily Mail, June 4, 2009).
The New Statesman magazine observed: "The country is in the midst of the worst parliamentary crisis in living memory as well as the worst recession; and the Parliamentary Labour Party is in disarray" ("Comrade Turns on Comrade in the Dying Days of New Labour," June 8, 2009). Earlier, Daily Telegraph columnist Christopher Booker had stated that "the standing of Parliament last week fell to its lowest level in its 800-year history" ("They Fiddle While Brussels Rules," The Sunday Telegraph, May 17, 2009).
A recent editorial in The Spectator reveals how citizens are reacting. "British democracy is at a low ebb. Polling data shows that more than 80% of voters think that MPs [members of Parliament] put their own and their parties' interest ahead of those of the country; that three quarters do not trust MPs to tell the truth" ("Enough, Already," June 6, 2009). (The popular standing of the American Congress is not much better.)
The media prognosis, however, may be a bit premature. Sometimes governments hang on and live to try to govern another day. Said the Financial Times weekend editorial: "At the end of the worst week of his political life, [Prime Minister] Gordon Brown is still standing-just. The question is whether he can still govern. That must be answered because, with the challenges it is facing, Britain desperately needs a government" ("Time Runs Out for Gordon Brown," June 6, 2009, emphasis added throughout).
Daily Mail columnist Stephen Glover summed up this sad state of affairs from an overall perspective: "We will continue to be poorly governed no matter which party is in power. The root problem underlying all other problems is the low quality of our political class. Most MPs have little or no useful experience outside politics. Some of them are too young. Not many of them are intellectually distinguished ... Nonetheless these people rule us. They attempt to govern us. They spend, or misspend, billions of pounds of our money. They take us to war. They make huge decisions about our lives. And they often make a muck of things" ("The Sad Truth Is Our MPs Are Second Rate," June 4, 2009).
What Glover just described applies, in varying degrees, to all human governments throughout history. Humanity's desperate need is for the government of God to rule all nations. Its coming remains the heart of the message this magazine proclaims. Jesus taught us to pray, "Thy kingdom come." And we look ahead to the day of this awesome declaration: "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!" (Revelation 11:15). Then-and only then-will human beings be fairly and justly governed (read our free booklet The Gospel of the Kingdom). (Sources: Daily Mail, The Daily Telegraph, Financial Times [all London].)
LGBT is an acronym that stands for "lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender." You'll probably be seeing it more often in the coming months, especially after U.S. President Barack Obama declared June 2009 "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month" for the United States.
"LGBT Americans have made, and continue to make, great and lasting contributions that continue to strengthen the fabric of American society," his proclamation stated. "I am proud to be the first President to appoint openly LGBT candidates to Senate-confirmed positions in the first 100 days of an Administration. These individuals embody the best qualities we seek in public servants . . . The LGBT rights movement has achieved great progress, but there is more work to be done."
The president went on to explain his intent to promote such causes, declaring, "My Administration has partnered with the LGBT community to advance a wide range of initiatives." He listed international efforts to decriminalize homosexuality and domestic efforts to strengthen hate crimes laws, support for homosexual civil unions and adoption rights, outlawing workplace discrimination and ending the U.S. military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.
"During LGBT Pride Month, I call upon the LGBT community, the Congress, and the American people to work together to promote equal rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity," his proclamation continued.
Not surprisingly, we find no mention in the proclamation of a biblical perspective, though it isn't hard to find in the Bible. God's view is easily discerned in Leviticus 18:22; 20:13; Romans 1:24-28; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 and Deuteronomy 22:5.
An ongoing lament throughout the Bible is God's sorrow over leaders who reject Him, leading their people astray. Particularly poignant in this instance is Isaiah 3:9-12: "They declare their sin as Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to their soul! For they have brought evil upon themselves ... O My people! Those who lead you cause you to err, and destroy the way of your paths" (emphasis added).
The people of America (and the same goes for any other nation) will surely rue the day they "call evil good, and good evil" (Isaiah 5:20). (Source: White House presidential proclamation, June 1, 2009.)
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Origin of article "World News & Trends: July/August 2009"
Keywords: European Union and Britain Iran Syria nuclear weapons Israel and nuclear weapons homosexuality British troubles European unity Treaty of Lisbon
Syria: