The New Middle East after Assads fall

by Mohammad Javad Mousavizadeh

 Published: Dec 12, 2024 – 12:05 am GMT+3

Assad’s fall weakens Iran’s influence, shifting the balance of power in the Middle East

The fall of Syrian regime leader Bashar Assad, once seen as an unshakable fixture in the Middle East, has sent ripples across the region, setting the stage for a dramatically altered geopolitical landscape. Assad’s authoritarian rule, inherited from his father in 2000, crumbled after a surprise offensive by opposition forces in northwestern Syria. This marks the end of a 53-year dynasty that wielded control with an iron fist and its collapse ushers in a complex era of uncertainty and potential transformation.

Syria, long a lynchpin in the geopolitical axis of Iran and Russia, now faces a precarious future. The anti-regime forces, spearheaded by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), have sought to rebrand themselves as a nationalist force, pledging a diplomatic and cooperative future.

Despite these efforts, international skepticism persists. Concerns over governance, unity among opposition factions and the prospect of prolonged instability loom large. The lessons of post-Gadhafi Libya underscore the challenges ahead; regime change without a robust framework for stability often leads to protracted chaos and suffering.

The reshuffling of power in Syria has intensified broader consequences in the Middle East, with implications for neighboring states and global powers:

Assad’s downfall represents a significant blow to Iran, which relied on Syria as a strategic ally and a conduit to its regional proxies. Simultaneously, Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Yemen face mounting pressures, with Iraq distancing itself from Tehran’s regional ambitions.

The new opposition-dominated Syria presents a mixed bag for Israel. While the collapse of an Iranian ally is welcome, the emergence of potentially hostile elements close to its borders raises new security concerns. Israel has already taken preventative action, targeting weapon depots in Syria to prevent strategic arms from falling into the wrong hands.

The broader Middle East is undergoing a seismic shift. The Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel and the subsequent conflict significantly weakened both Hamas and Hezbollah, key players in Iran’s network of influence. Meanwhile, the Houthis in Yemen have remained resilient, posing challenges to global commerce and security.

The region’s trajectory is far from certain. Assad’s fall offers a moment of possibility for a more stable and cooperative Middle East, but the risks of fragmentation, prolonged conflict and external manipulation remain high. International actors, particularly the U.S., must balance short-term strategic interests with long-term stability goals, avoiding the pitfalls of fostering divisions that may backfire.

The new Middle East, defined by shifting alliances, weakened hegemonies and emerging opportunities, holds promise and peril. Whether it evolves into a region of coexistence and growth or succumbs to renewed cycles of violence will depend on the vision and cooperation of its key stakeholders.

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The Middle East must be at Peace before the Return of Christ and this new development helps to remove a great obstacle to that as it pushes Iran back from its influence and ties to the current axis of Evil with the Shiite Terror groups it sponsors in the Middle East.

Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia will form a prosporus King of the South with Israel’s economy benefitting all.   This is not surprising to Bible Students as we fully expect to see this development based on Bible Prophecy that has foretold the alignment of Nations in the “latter days”.  The Bible describes a King of the North and a King of the South Geo-political Alignment of Nations in the last days prior to the last battle of mankind and the intervention of Christ to established God’s Kingdom on Earth Forever.  We read of this in Daniel Chapter 11:

“And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many. And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.”

You can read more about this in this article: Alignment of Nations in the Latter Days

Israeli tanks cross into Lebanon

IDF Armored Corps soldiers drill near Moshav Aniam on the Golan Heights, (Michael Giladi/Flash90)

Areas in northern Israel, including Metula, Misgav Am, and Kfar Gilad, were declared a closed military zone, and entry was prohibited.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

As of Monday night, Al-Arabiya reports that Israeli tanks crossed the border into southern Lebanon.

The Lebanese army withdrew from areas in southern Lebanon, and IDF began to open fire.

Areas in northern Israel, including Metula, Misgav Am, and Kfar Gilad, were declared a closed military zone, and entry was prohibited.

Earlier on Monday, Israel intercepted missiles coming from Lebanon targeting Central Galilee and Haifa Bay.

This occurred after the IAF destroyed a storage area for missile launchers close to the Beirut airport.

In addition, Israel destroyed dozens of terror targets in Lebanon, including command centers, weapons storage facilities, terrorist cells, launchers, and additional terror infrastructure sites.

The Wall Street Journal reported early on Monday that Elite units have been making short intelligence raids for weeks and even months in anticipation of acting on the necessity of permanently removing the Hezbollah terrorist organization from the border via a ground invasion.

Their probes have included terror tunnels built by Hezbollah right up to Israel’s northern border, dug to enable its specialized Radwan force to invade the Galilee much as Hamas did on October 7, which sparked the ongoing war in Gaza.

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With a new war now looking to take place in the North of Israel in Lebanon, we continue to witness Bible Prophecy being Fulfilled.  

The war with Hamas and now in Tyre and Sidon in Lebanon has been foretold in the Bible and its result has also been foretold and it is leading to the time of the end when Christ will return.

It’s interesting that the very word ‘Hamas’ is a Hebrew Biblical word found in…

Psalm 83

¹  Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God. ² For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult (Heb ESL 1993): and they that hate thee have lifted up the head. ³ They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. ⁴ They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. ⁵ For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:

“tumult”  is the Hebrew word 1993 הָמָה [hamah /haw·maw/] or hamas v. A primitive root [compare 1949]; TWOT 505; GK 2159; 34 occurrences; AV translates as “roar” eight times, “noise” six times, “disquieted” four times… Signifies: 1a (Qal). 1a1 to growl. 1a2 to murmur (fig. of a soul in prayer). 1a3 to roar. 1a4 to be in a stir, be in a commotion. 1a5 to be boisterous, be turbulent.

So very much like the modern day ‘Hamas’ terror group attacking Israel now.

Psalm 83 is a prophetic psalm that speaks of Israel’s enemies right up until Christ and the God’s Kingdom is established as it concludes with these words:

¹⁷ Let them be confounded and troubled forever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish: ¹⁸ That men may know that thou, whose name alone is YAHWEH, art the most high over all the earth.

This time can only refer to when God’s Kingdom and Glory is established on the Earth.

Joel Chapter 3

Interestingly Joel 3 which is about the lead up to Armageddon says that Saudi Arabia shall be on control of the Gaza and Southern Lebanon areas where these terrorists are.

⁴ “Now what have you against me, Tyre and Sidon (southern Lebanon = Hezbollah) and all you regions of Philistia? (Gaza = Hamas) Are you repaying me for something I have done? If you are paying me back, I will swiftly and speedily return on your own heads what you have done. ⁵ For you took my silver and my gold and carried off my finest treasures to your temples. ^{m 6} You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, that you might send them far from their homeland.

⁷ “See, I am going to rouse them out of the places to which you sold them, and I will return on your own heads what you have done. ⁸ I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, (Saudi Arabia, see below) a nation far away.” The Lord has spoken.

⁹ Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare for war! Rouse the warriors! Let all the fighting men draw near and attack.

¹⁰ Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weakling say, “I am strong!”

¹¹ Come quickly, all you nations from every side, and assemble there. Bring down your warriors, Lord!

¹² “Let the nations be roused; let them advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the nations on every side.

¹³ Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, trample the grapes, for the winepress is full and the vats overflow— so great is their wickedness!”

¹⁴ Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.

¹⁵ The sun and moon will be darkened, and the stars no longer shine.

¹⁶ The Lord will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the earth and the heavens will tremble. But the Lord will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.

” Sabeans” שְׁבָא (compare Æth. ሰብእ፡ man), [Sheba],—(1) Sabœans, Sabœa, a nation and region of Arabia Felix, rich in frankincense, spices, gold and gems, 1 Ki. 10:1, seq.; Isai. 60:6; Jer. 6:20; Ezek. 27:22; Ps. 72:15; carrying on a celebrated traffic, Eze. loc. cit.; Ps. 72:10; Joel 4:8; Job 6:19; but Job 1:15, carrying on depredations in the neighbourhood of Ausitis. The genealogies in Genesis mention three men of this name—(a) the grandson of Cush, and son of Raamah, Gen. 10:7;—(b) a son of Joktan, Genesis 10:28 (which accords with the Arabic traditions);—(c) a grandson of Ketura, Gen. 25:3; and in two of the places (a, c), Shebah is coupled with Dedan his brother; this I would thus account for, by supposing that there were two Arabian tribes of this name, the one descended from Joktan in southern Arabia (letter b), the other dwelling by the northern desert of Arabia, near the Persian gulf and the mouth of the Euphrates (letters a, c, and Job loc. cit. [But a and c were of different ancestry]).

= Modern day Saudi Arabia

So we are living at the time of the END and Christ will Return SOON!

CHRIST IS COMING SOON! ARE YOU READY

JUDGEMENT DAY IS COMING!

Brexit Britain creeps back into Brussels orbit under Labour

A bill which paves the way for closer regulatory alignment with the European Union almost slipped under the radar.

The new package of laws opens the door to British alignment with EU standards. | Pool Photo by Henry Nicholls via Getty 

August 12, 2024 4:15 am CET

By Sophie Inge, Jon Stone and Vincent Manancourt

LONDON — If there was an Olympic competition for the most boring-sounding legislation, the U.K.’s Product Safety and Metrology Bill would surely win gold.

But get past the yawn-inducing name and the proposed law — slipped into Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s legislative program without fanfare — starts to look like a major post-Brexit moment.

The new package of laws opens the door to British alignment with EU standards, a sharp break with the Conservative approach of putting as much water between London and Brussels as possible since Britain quit the bloc.

It gives the U.K. government the power to recognize EU product safety rules updated by the bloc since Britain’s departure.

That potentially makes life easier for businesses that want to trade in both markets and use EU parts in their supply chains. But it’s already got Brexiteers who prize British sovereignty spooked.

“This bill marks a step-change in EU policy,” Joël Reland from the UK in a Changing Europe think tank said. “For the first time since Brexit, a U.K. government is explicitly saying that it would actively like to maintain alignment with new EU regulations, to make life easier for businesses.”

The Brexiteer backlash

Unsurprisingly, Euroskeptics are not best pleased with the Labour government’s new approach.

The Daily Express newspaper has already branded the move a “Brexit betrayal” on its front page.

“The dishonesty and betrayal of Labour over this legislation is sadly what we must come to expect,” a spokesperson for Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party said.

“If a company wants to align with EU regulations, it can. It does not need U.K. legislation to do so. The very idea of the legislation is to compel British businesses to comply with foreign legislation which we have no control over.”

The long-term effects of the plan could be far-reaching, with sectors ranging from tech to manufacturing sitting up to take notice.

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BREXIT was the greatest change to UK politics ever, and Britain has left the EU as determined by Bible Prophecy over 2,500 years ago.  

Despite what the Labour Government might have in their plans, Bible Prophecy does not have Britain aligned with the EU at the time of Christ’s Return.

What’s more, Bible Students fully expect to see the UK and the USA come close together with the UK leading the Commonwealth Nations as the KING OF THE SOUTH against the EU and RUSSIA. We will see this develop following BREXIT. Bible Prophecy is very clear on the fact that Britain will be a major global politically leader at the time with Russia and the EU invade the Middle East.  Britain will assume this role following BREXIT along with the Commonwealth Countries (and America who is also of British origin) make up the King of the South (along with Israel, Eqypt and the Gulf Arab Nations) at the time of the end that will move to stop Russia and Europe from invading the Middle East.

God has declared the End from the Beginning and the Bible (God’s Word) revealed that Britain would not be part of the EU when Christ Returns to Earth, and World Events have conspired to ensure that has now happened. But we need to keep watching this development as there is much to see yet as Britain takes her place once more on the World Political Stage.

See this Article to learn more about Britian and the Commonwealth Block in Bible Prophecy.

See this article below to learn more about this:

Britain a Trading Nation Again

Putin’s next conquests are already in his sights

Putin said that Russia has no plans to attack any Nato country and, as such, too many Western leaders rest easy in the belief that Russia’s war is strictly confined to Ukraine because Nato’s Article 5 is “watertight”. But if Moscow is allowed to prevail in Ukraine, other countries –  including Nato members – will be at far greater risk. Conversely, Western support for Ukraine demonstrates to Putin that he will pay an “even greater” price for an attack against Nato, and is preparing accordingly.

This fact is not lost on the countries closest to Russia. The Baltic nations, first of all, have warned that Russia could “pivot quickly” from Ukraine to invade their territory. Moldova, too, which hopes to break free of Russia’s influence and join the West, fears it would be next if Putin emerges victorious in Ukraine. 

Crucially, Russia does not need to send tanks and jets to such places. A victorious, emboldened Russia, engorged on Ukraine and with spare capacity, could rely on hybrid warfare tools, utilising “little green men” both on the ground and in the information space to convince the West that a conflict in there is internal and, therefore, in the case of the Baltics, does not trigger Article 5. This is what German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius meant when warning that Russia could attack a Nato member state within “five to eight years”. It need not be as obvious as tanks rolling across a Nato border. 

  CREDIT: Andrey Rudakov

In fact, Russia is already working to destabilise Europe. In May, Nato warned that Russia is waging an “intensifying campaign” of cyberattacks and other “hybrid” operations against its members. British intelligence has cautioned that Moscow is even planning “physical attacks” on the West. 

We know Russia is recruiting far-Right extremists to carry out attacks on individuals, and European intelligence agencies say that Moscow, seeking to weaken us, has staged violent acts of sabotage across Europe and is planning more. The Russians are already attempting to interfere in this month’s European Parliament elections, and the U.S. elections in November are no doubt on Putin’s menu, too.

Meanwhile, Russia is using its hybrid warfare machine to foment chaos in Nato’s soft underbelly: the Western Balkans. Using information operations and corrupt influence, Moscow aims to stoke ethnic tensions between Serbia and Kosovo and within Bosnia and Herzegovina. As Georgia faces massive protests triggered by a proposed law that targets civil society and its aspirations to join the EU, Russia is calculating security assistance. With the elections in Moldova and its vote on EU membership this year, Russia will likely not miss an opportunity to sow further discord in the country.

A Russian victory over Kyiv would also carry serious implications in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. If Moscow is able to outlast the West in Ukraine, Beijing may conclude it would face feeble resistance to Chinese military aggression against Taiwan.

Furthermore, Moscow’s aims to strengthen its military footprint in Africa, which it has already worked to do with the assistance of the remnants of its Wagner mercenary group. Fundamentally, Russia and China believe the decline of US global power is essential and have been advocating for a multipolar international system not led by Washington.

CREDIT: Andrey Rudakov

The West can only win this war if leaders understand Putin’s game. Since Putin first came to power, he has conducted an offensive aimed at gaining “reflexive control” of the West. “Reflexive control” is an old Soviet concept, foreign to most Western nations. It encompasses interfering in another country’s decision-making until the government is compelled to take actions in the Kremlin’s interest. In the words of Russia’s Ministry of Defense, Russia’s war game works through “massive psychological manipulation of the population to destabilise the state and society”.

This is what Moscow did with some success in Ukraine before its Maidan Revolution in 2014 when the people fought back.

President Zelensky said “we can and should think only about how to win”. Alas, this sentiment is not shared by many in the West, leaving ambiguous what victory means and promising to stand with Ukraine “for as long as it takes.” This is a dream come true for Putin giving him the ability for a protracted war.

Make no mistake: the West has the power to ensure Russia’s defeat. Collectively, Western countries dwarf Russia economically and outclass it militarily. But they must translate that potential into reality. This requires patience and determination to stand by Ukraine and provide it with the weapons and training its forces need to win on the battlefield. Otherwise, Ukraine will just be the first domino to fall.

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A somewhat startling headline, it will be interesting to see this thought continue to develop within the EU as the EU is challenged to deal with its future security post the Ukraine war and a second term for TRUMP.  President Emmanual Macron wants to bring Russia back to the negotiating table and begin dialogue on some form of a Security Pact with Russia, NATO’s existence in its current form will be an issue even more so now.

The Bible has long revealed that Russia and an EU Army will enter into a final conflict with Israel and the Middle East.  Germany is the key country in what Bible Prophecy refers to as the land of “Magog”. They are spoken of militarily as the “King of the North”.  Together the Bible says that Russia and the EU will invade the Middle East in the Last Days.  So Bible Students expect to see Germany and France taking a greater role in leading Europe.  It is also interesting to see Germany taking greater control of a continent they tried to take by war and failed.

Yet again we see in Todays News Headlines words that show how the Nations are fulfilling the latter day alignment of Nations as Prophesied by the Bible. 

See this article to learn more about this and the latter day prophecies of the Bible.

See this article for more on this subject: WHAT IS NEXT FOR EUROPE

How ancient hatreds are reshaping the Middle East and forging unlikely alliances.

The rise of Iran – and its chilling proximity to a nuclear weapon – has driven old foes closer, explains STEPHEN POLLARD

By STEPHEN POLLARD

PUBLISHED: 10:51 AEST, 17 April 2024 | UPDATED: 21:47 AEST, 17 April 2024

The competition is strong, but for my money the most important geopolitical statement so far this year came on Monday from an obscure Israeli news site.

A member of the Saudi Arabian royal family had reportedly told the broadcaster Kan that, in his view, Iran had started the Gaza war by instructing its proxy group Hamas to massacre Israelis on October 7.

Tehran’s intention, according to this nameless royal, was to thwart the imminent normalisation of diplomatic relations between Israel and the Saudis.

Why is that so important? Because it symbolises the extraordinary transformation under way in the politics of the Middle East. For a Saudi royal to express such a view – that a Muslim country instigated the conflict for the purpose of spreading discord – would have been unimaginable only a few years ago. But that’s not the only way in which the winds of change are resettling alliances in this volatile region.

Iranians gather in Tehran to demonstrate in support of their government’s attack on Israel

On Saturday night, the ayatollahs of Iran inflicted their first direct attack on Israel since they came to power in the 1979 revolution.

For 45 years, the Islamic Republic has plotted the destruction of what its Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei calls ‘the evil Zionist regime’. But it has left the actual attacks to its proxies, such as Hamas and Hezbollah.

This fresh assault did almost no damage, thanks to the defensive coalition that shot down almost all the weapons directed against Israel.

Allies such as the US and UK played a role in this. But they were joined by two other countries for whom defending the Jewish state would have been fanciful until recently: Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

For most of the time Israel has existed, Saudi, as one of the world’s leading Muslim nations and home to the holy city of Mecca, has been its implacable foe. But now it is on the verge not just of tolerating Israel but becoming an ally.

Ayatollah Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini served as Iran’s supreme leader from 1979, following the Islamic Revolution, until he died ten years later

Supporters of Khomeini march in Tehran in 1979, when the mullahs had seized power

Similarly, back in 1967, Jordan actually invaded Israel – a disastrous move which lost it the territories of East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Yet now Jordan, too, has stood alongside Israel to protect it from Iranian bombs. This newfound co-operative spirit continues: just yesterday it emerged that both the Saudis and the United Arab Emirates had passed helpful intelligence to America to use in Israel’s defence, with Jordan further agreeing to let the US and ‘other countries’ warplanes’ use its airspace, as well as sending up its own jets.

One thing is clear. The rise of Iran – and its chilling proximity to a nuclear weapon – has driven old foes closer.

Iran now dominates a vast region from its borders with Iraq, through Syria and Lebanon, to the Mediterranean. Through its Yemeni proxies, the Houthis, and its own navy, it is causing chaos in the Red Sea, one of the world’s key maritime trade routes.

And it has turned the Palestinian cause into a strategic vehicle for its own ambitions through two other proxies, Hamas (Gaza) and Hezbollah (Lebanon). This chaotic and meddlesome statecraft has appalled other Muslim countries.

The story of the Middle East used to be ‘Israel versus everyone else’. As a result of Iran’s behaviour, however, that is no longer true. And this means the long-term prospects for peace are, though you may be surprised to hear it, bright.

To understand how all this has come about, you need to go back to the very roots of Islam – and the schism within it. In 610AD, Mohammed unveiled a new faith. By the time he died in 632AD, he and Islam were all-powerful in Arabia, and within a century it had subjugated an empire stretching from Central Asia to Spain.

For most of the time Israel has existed, Saudi, as one of the world’s leading Muslim nations and home to the holy city of Mecca, has been its implacable foe, writes Stephen Pollard

But Islam was split over who should succeed the Prophet.

One faction argued the leadership should be passed through his bloodline. They became known as Shias, from shi’atu Ali, Arabic for ‘partisans of Ali’, who was Mohammed’s cousin and son-in-law.

The others, the Sunnis (followers of the ‘sunna’, or ‘way’ in Arabic) said leadership should be determined on merit.

Ali was elected as ‘caliph’ (spiritual leader) in 656AD but within five years was assassinated, enshrining an enduring split. Fast forward to 2024, and about 85 per cent of the world’s 1.6billion Muslims are Sunni, while 15 per cent are Shia.

Two countries now compete for the leadership of Islam: Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran. Since the mullahs seized power in Tehran 45 years ago, the sects’ mutual hatred has only grown.

As a minority within Islam, the Shiites have historically been treated as subordinate in Sunni-dominated countries. But there has been a significant growth of the Shiite population in Gulf nations, to the extent that in some they are almost a majority. This has increased anxiety among Sunni rulers over the growing power of Shia Iran. In Gulf states such as the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain and especially Saudi Arabia, the Shia threat – in other words the threat from Iran – is seen as existential.

Egypt, too, which has had a peace treaty with Israel since 1979, is also an enemy of the mullahs. In Israel’s 2006 Lebanon war with Hezbollah, Sunni countries were, behind the scenes, willing Israel to triumph, just as it is said now that Jordan, Egypt and especially Saudi Arabia want Israel to destroy Hamas in Gaza.

The growing rapprochement of some Sunni countries was embodied in the 2020 Abraham Accords which normalised relations between the UAE, Bahrain and Israel, and later Morocco and Sudan.

There is a logic, then, to the gradually deepening alliances between Sunni states and Israel. The Arab nations understand that while Israel has no ambitions to dominate its neighbours, Iran seeks to control all of the Middle East.

It needs to be stressed that the vast majority of Sunnis and Shias would rather just get on with their lives than embroil themselves in these disputes. But it’s also true that if you don’t understand this split, you can’t understand the Middle East at all.

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This has been an ongoing development since the efforts of former President Donald Trump to bring about Peace in the Middle East.  This is not surprising to Bible Students as we fully expect to see this development based on Bible Prophecy that has foretold the alignment of Nations in the “latter days”.  The Bible describes a King of the North and a King of the South Geo-political Alignment of Nations in the last days prior to the last battle of mankind and the intervention of Christ to established God’s Kingdom on Earth Forever.  We read of this in Daniel Chapter 11:

“And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many. And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.”

You can read more about this in this article: Alignment of Nations in the Latter Days

The Pro Putin Far Right is on the March across Europe

It could spell tragedy for Ukraine

Armida van Rij    Published: Thu 11 Apr 2024 15.15 BST

With Slovakia the latest member to elect a Russia-leaning leader, the EU is increasingly open to hostile interference from Russia that could see it move closer.

The victory for Peter Pellegrini in Slovakia’s presidential election is just the latest triumph for the far right in Europe. Even though the role of president is largely symbolic, his win over his pro-European rival, Ivan Korčok, by a comfortable six-point margin, consolidates the power of the prime minister, Robert Fico. The result is one of a growing number of victories for politicians supportive of Vladimir Putin in Europe.

Public support for the far right is sweeping across the continent. In the Netherlands and Portugal, far-right parties have also increased their vote share in recent national elections. Meanwhile, polling ahead of German local elections, and Austrian and Belgian parliamentary elections this year, suggests they are likely to make gains in these countries too.

There is a real possibility that Austria’s elections might see a return to power for the far right, Putin-supporting Freedom party, if another party can be convinced to join it in a coalition. There is a sense across Europe that the far right is gathering momentum and expanding beyond its usual core vote.

Thousands across Austria take part in protests against far right

This trend is mirrored in the European parliament, where polls suggest the two far-right groupings are likely to increase their vote share in elections in June. Russia is the issue where the difference between the two groupings is at its most stark. The far-right European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group, home to Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni’s party, is broadly supportive of sanctions against Russia and aid to Ukraine. While the far-right Identity and Democracy (ID) group, which includes Germany’s Alternative für Deutschland and Austria’s Freedom party, is pro-Russian and has systematically voted against support for Ukraine.

Both are forecast to increase their seats, the latter grouping by more than a third, potentially placing it behind only the conservative Europe People’s party (EPP) and the leftwing Socialists and Democrats. This means not just an increase in vote share for the far right, but for a pro-Putin far right.

Alongside the usual electoral campaigning, there have also been some attempts at horse-trading in the hope of re-orienting the coalitions. The current European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen – affiliated with the EPP – has been courting Meloni, amid speculation her Brothers of Italy party is considering leaving the ECR and joining the EPP to bolster its overall vote share. Meanwhile, Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz doesn’t currently have a home in the European parliament after leaving the EPP before it could be ousted in 2021, but has stated his intention for the party to join the ECR.

Why is this important? With key challenges such as military support for Ukraine, EU enlargement and the green transition on the agenda in the next parliament, a growing far-right bloc sympathetic to Putin will be sure to have its say. Ukraine is an especially pertinent issue: there will inevitably be crunch discussions about further financial, military and humanitarian aid, and the extent to which EU countries will be willing to support Ukraine by reducing trade barriers on the import of goods. While von der Leyen has made it clear that defence and security are her top priorities if re-elected for a second term, increased pro-Putin leanings in both the European parliament and in the European council could make this more difficult.

Hungary – who will also hold the six-month rotating seat of the council presidency from 1 July 2024 – has already demonstrated it can hold up aid for Ukraine and block new sanction packages proposed by the commission. Orbán, Putin’s puppet in Europe, has also tried to advance Serbia’s accession to the EU – a state with an equally pro-Russian government – at a faster pace than other Western Balkan states that are technically speaking more ready for accession.

The far right across Europe – whether pro- or anti-Putin – agrees on one thing, and that is the need to consolidate its position to hollow out the EU from within. Yet seeking closer relations with Russia, as some parties are keen to do, brings with it all kinds of security risks. The recent allegations against Austrian intelligence officials expose the extensive spy network the Russian state has built up in Europe to further its own imperialist agenda. Consider a scenario in which Russia does challenge the territorial integrity of an EU – or Nato – state. What might a European response, where pro-Putin parties have influence, look like?

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A somewhat startling headline, it will be interesting to see this develop within the EU as the EU is challenged to deal with its future security post the Ukraine war and a second term for TRUMP.  President Emmanual Macron wants to bring Russia back to the negotiating table and begin dialogue on some form of a Security Pact with Russia, NATO’s existence in its current form will be an issue even more so now.

The Bible has long revealed that Russia and an EU Army will enter into a final conflict with Israel and the Middle East.  Germany is the key country in what Bible Prophecy refers to as the land of “Magog”. They are spoken of militarily as the “King of the North”.  Together the Bible says that Russia and the EU will invade the Middle East in the Last Days.  So Bible Students expect to see Germany and France taking a greater role in leading Europe.  It is also interesting to see Germany taking greater control of a continent they tried to take by war and failed.

Yet again we see in Todays News Headlines words that show how the Nations are fulfilling the latter day alignment of Nations as Prophesied by the Bible. 

See this article to learn more about this and the latter day prophecies of the Bible.

See this article for more on this subject: WHAT IS NEXT FOR EUROPE

Europe caught between Putin and Trump

Even if Biden is re-elected, Europeans are aware that the era of strong transatlantic presidents may be coming to an end.

Europe needs to figure out a way to take care of itself. But can it? | Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

FROM ACROSS THE POND  Published: FEBRUARY 20, 2024 4:00 AM CET

BY IVO DAALDER

Ivo Daalder, former U.S. ambassador to NATO, is CEO of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and host of the weekly podcast “World Review with Ivo Daalder.”

Two big news stories set the stage for this year’s Munich Security Conference, the annual convention of security policy wonks in the picturesque Bavarian town, held in the shadow of the Alps.

As the meeting got underway, news broke that Ukrainian forces were withdrawing from Avdiivka — the strategically important town in eastern Donbas, which Russia had never conquered in 10 years of war. The fight for this small city was brutal, and Ukraine held out for months against terrible odds. But in the end, Russia proved too strong for a Ukrainian army running out of people and ammunition.

Then came the shocking news of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s death in a remote Siberian prison. No one at Munich bought Moscow’s story that Russia’s most prominent dissident and thorn in President Vladimir Putin’s side had died of natural causes. Already poisoned once, Navalny’s sudden exile to a remote Arctic outpost had already suggested he might not come back alive.

“If your beliefs are worth something, you must be willing to stand up for them,” Navalny had written on Facebook on the third anniversary of his captivity. “And if necessary, make some sacrifices.” That he did.

Playing out in quick succession, both these events made for a sobering mood at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof. And sitting in meetings, talking over meals and in corridors over the past two days, my overriding sense was of a Europe confronting its greatest fears — a growing worry that Russia is winning in Ukraine and could turn to the rest of Europe next, and the increasing realization that the U.S. may well elect a leader who doesn’t believe in NATO and treats allies more like foes.

“Europe finds itself between Putin and Trump,” former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt told me. And the Continent now needs to figure out a way to take care of itself. But can it? Will it? These were the questions dominating the weekend.

Europe is right to be worried: The war in Ukraine isn’t going well, and frontline troops are running out of ammunition and men. Explaining the decision to withdraw from Adviivka, General Oleksandr Tarnavsky said: “In the situation where the enemy is advancing on the corpses of his own soldiers with a 10-to-1 shell advantage, under constant bombardment, this is the only correct solution.” And without more military aid, Ukraine will face more such difficult decisions and costly retreats.

In this regard, Europe has done its part, sending whatever equipment its limited stockpiles contain and spending more on military support than the U.S. But this weekend, neither U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris nor a large congressional delegation could reassure Ukraine or its European supporters that the long-stalled U.S. aid package would pass soon.

No one was buying their excuses either. In reference to the decision for the U.S. House of Representatives to go on a two-week recess, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pointedly noted: “Please, everyone, remember that dictators don’t go on vacation.”

And Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas had choice words for Senator Pete Ricketts, who justified his vote against the aid package by stating that dealing with the large number of people arriving at the southern U.S. border was his priority. “Estonia also has large numbers of Ukrainian refugees on its territory. They represent 6 percent of our population. That would be equivalent to 20 million refugees coming at once into the United States,” she said.

By the way, at over 4 percent, Estonia’s aid to Ukraine represents by far the largest percentage of GDP of any country— and tenfold the U.S. commitment.

As worrying as Russia’s success on the ground is, NATO allies are growing increasingly concerned that Moscow has larger ambitions | Toms Kalnins/EFE via EPA

However, as worrying as Russia’s success on the ground is, NATO allies are also growing increasingly concerned that Moscow has larger ambitions — such as ultimately challenging NATO directly. And though not immediate, the threat of Russia’s potential  ability to pull this off in the next half dozen years is taken very seriously.

One person sounding the alarm is Estonia’s Foreign Intelligence Service Director-General Kaupo Rosin, who warned that Russia is anticipating a conflict with NATO in the next decade — and that it’s preparing accordingly. “There are things we can do to counter this,” he told me. “But we better take this seriously and start reacting now.”

I heard a similar message from Poland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Radosław Sikorski: “We told you 15 years ago that Putin was coming. You didn’t believe us. We told you again 10 years ago. And five. You still didn’t believe us. Believe us now,” he said.

But the biggest uncertainty for most Europeans isn’t about Putin — it’s about America.

The U.S. Congress’ failure to support Ukraine has left many speechless. And Trump’s warning that he would “encourage” Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to an ally who hadn’t “paid up,” still rings loud.

While one defense minister asked me, “Doesn’t he understand the value of allies?” (“Afraid not,” I answered), many others are finally beginning to come to terms with the possibility that come next January, they may well be on their own.

Eastern European allies are already boosting their defense spending to 3 percent of GDP and beyond, and NATO Europe as a whole will spend $380 billion — or 2 percent of their overall GDP — on defense this year.

However, while this far outstrips what Russia spends on defense — even as its economy has turned on a war footing and the country now devotes close to 10 percent of GDP to its war machine —it will take time for Europe’s spending to turn into real capabilities. For example, Poland will spend more on defense as a portion of GDP than any other NATO country, including the U.S. But the Patriots, F35 jets, Apache helicopters and other advanced equipment won’t be in place until the end of the decade.

Then, there are the production issues. Currently, multiple countries produce multiple types of 155-millimeter artillery shells for multiple types of launchers, many of which are incompatible with each other to discourage foreign competition. That must now change.

In line with this, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen did promise a set of policy ideas to ensure Europeans spend more — and spend more productively. She also vowed to encourage better cooperation by appointing a commissioner for defense if she’s re-elected this year.

 “Trump-proofing” NATO and European defense — as the phrase now goes — won’t be easy. But many now recognize it has to be done. Even if Biden is re-elected, Europeans are increasingly aware that the era of strong transatlantic presidents may be coming to an end.

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A somewhat startling headline, it will be interesting to see this thought continue to develop within the EU as the EU is challenged to deal with its future security post the Ukraine war and a second term for TRUMP.  President Emmanual Macron wants to bring Russia back to the negotiating table and begin dialogue on some form of a Security Pact with Russia, NATO’s existence in its current form will be an issue even more so now.

The Bible has long revealed that Russia and an EU Army will enter into a final conflict with Israel and the Middle East.  Germany is the key country in what Bible Prophecy refers to as the land of “Magog”. They are spoken of militarily as the “King of the North”.  Together the Bible says that Russia and the EU will invade the Middle East in the Last Days.  So Bible Students expect to see Germany and France taking a greater role in leading Europe.  It is also interesting to see Germany taking greater control of a continent they tried to take by war and failed.

Yet again we see in Todays News Headlines words that show how the Nations are fulfilling the latter day alignment of Nations as Prophesied by the Bible. 

See this article to learn more about this and the latter day prophecies of the Bible.

See this article for more on this subject: WHAT IS NEXT FOR EUROPE