Current Events & Trends: European far right reemerges
During the last few years, threats to the survival of the euro have proved a principal factor in stirring up right-wing movements in opposition to European Union policies.
Fairly recently Marine Le Pen's Front National Party made substantial gains in a local election in the South of France. Also a Flemish far-right party has recently emerged in Belgium with an anti-immigrant program opposed to EU freedom-of-movement laws. Its leader seeks independence for Flanders with its six million Dutch speakers.
Geert Wilders of the Netherlands Freedom Party seeks to form an anti-European (more correctly anti-Brussels) alliance with Le Pen's French right. Nigel Farage, the leader of the UK Independence Party is now a credible force in London's politics, hoping his party will win big in the European Parliament elections in 2014.
The right is also stirring in Germany. Greek right-wing hostility to Brussels has markedly increased in the wake of Athens' economic meltdown during the last few years.
The title of a Financial Times article by Gideon Rachman urges readers to "Watch Out for the Rise of a European Tea Party" (Oct. 21, 2013). In contrast, a Reuters article by Paul Taylor carried this title in The International New York Times: "Center-Left Is Now Adrift in Europe" (Oct. 15, 2013).
Whether all this right-wing political activity will lead to extremism remains to be seen. Clearly the European right definitely bears watching! (Sources: The Observer [London], Financial Times, The International New York Times.)
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Jerold Aust
Jerold Aust has served in the ministry for 52 years, as a public speaker for 58 years, a published writer for 38 years, and is employed by UCG’s Media and Communications Services. He is a Senior Writer, interviewer, and editor for Beyond Today Magazine and has taught Speech Communication for UCG’s ministerial online program and the Book of Revelation for ABC.
Jerold holds a BA in theology from Ambassador College, Pasadena (1968), an MA in Communication from California State University, Fullerton (1995), a distance-learning Ph.D (2006), and a Famous Writers School diploma in non-fiction writing (1973). Additionally, he studied post-grad communication at University of Southern California (1995), radio, TV, voice-overs, and Public Relations at Fullerton College (1995-1996), and graduate communication at Wichita State University (1978). Jerold has taught communication at the University of South Alabama (7 years) and ABC (17 years). His published works include, Ronald Reagan’s Rhetoric: Metaphor as Persuasion and EZSpeakers: Public Speaking Made Easy in 7 Steps. Jerold's overarching goal is to share with humankind its incredible destiny!
John Ross Schroeder
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
