World News and Trends: Don't overlook the importance of events in Europe

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.)