The United States of Europe is the title of a new book by T.R. Reid, a Washington Post writer who lives in Colorado. Mr. Reid was interviewed about his book on NPR's Diane Rehm Show early in January.

After being interviewed by Ms. Rehm, listeners were able to call in and ask questions. When asked if he thought there was a connection between the new United Europe and the prophesied "Beast power" of Revelation, Mr. Reid said that he had not thought of that. He was not a Bible student and this was not a subject with which he is familiar. Mr. Reid, then, is writing purely as a journalist and an observer of the European scene that he has been reporting about for many years.

His basic message on the program was that Americans are largely unaware of what he described as the greatest threat to American interests on the planet, the European Union.

When asked to compare the EU to the United States, Mr. Reid pointed out that Europe leads America in every way, except militarily. The population of the EU is greater and growing faster as more countries apply to join. Its trading power around the world is infinitely greater. Its currency is stronger than the American currency. Its gross national product is higher and, although its military is weaker, its diplomatic strength is greater.

The EU seems to have crept up on most Americans who remain largely unfamiliar with this behemoth across the Atlantic. Now comprising 25 countries and likely to increase to about 35 in the next 10 years, the EU is the world's biggest trading power, which gives it economic and political clout around the world.

This does not mean that everything is going well for Europe. Some of the members of the EU suffer from high rates of unemployment, around 10 percent. They have aging populations with the result that they are sitting on a demographic time bomb. How will they finance the generous benefits for the elderly a few years from now when their workforce dwindles?

But the fact remains that Europe is an idea whose time has come! Just as Queen Victoria presided over the rise of the greatest empire in history and the 20th century saw America's rise to greatness, so Europe, in turn, is on the rise to becoming the world's greatest power—for one of the lessons of history is that the world's greatest economic power eventually becomes the dominant political and military power.

Europe and America today are in a similar situation to America and Britain in the 1920s. After World War I, the United States could have been the world's dominant military power if it had wanted to be, having become the greatest economic power. But the United States was content to let the British Empire continue to dominate the world.

The EU today has the economic power to be the world's greatest military power but remains content to leave that role to the United States.

One reason for this is memories of the two world wars that decimated Europe in the last century—Europeans prefer quiet diplomacy to military expeditions. Europe has been described as Venus, while America is Mars. The continuing problems that beset the United States, Britain and Australia in Iraq have only served to confirm this priority in the minds of continental Europeans.

Europe and America—the great divide

The widening gap between Europe and America is highlighted in the January-February issue of The Atlantic Monthly in an article by British historian and American resident, Niall Ferguson. Mr. Ferguson is a professor of history at Harvard University and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. Mr. Ferguson's article shows that a Bush defeat in the recent U.S. election would not have made any difference in transatlantic relations. "It is Europe, not America, that is drifting away," writes Mr. Ferguson.

Mr. Ferguson shows that this has been the case for the last 15 years. The end of the Cold War meant that Europeans no longer needed Americans to defend them. Russia is no longer seen as a threat. So perceptions have changed. Attitudes toward the United States are now very different from what they were 20 years ago.

A second reason Europe and the United States are going their different ways, according to Mr. Ferguson, is Islamic extremism. "To Americans, Islamism has effectively replaced Soviet communism as a mortal danger. To Europeans, the threat of Islamic terrorists today is simply not comparable to that posed by the Red Army twenty years ago—not great enough, in other words, to require transatlantic solidarity under U.S. leadership."

Mr. Ferguson adds the ominous words: "Indeed, ever since the Spanish elections early last year, many Europeans have behaved as if the optimal response to the growing threat of Islamist terrorism is to distance Europe from the United States."

There is also a religious dimension to the growing split, as Mr. Ferguson's third reason for the increasing distance is "the precipitous decline of European Christianity over the past three decades." He added that "American religious observance is significantly higher than European; so is American religious faith."

The Bible shows us that before the second coming of Jesus Christ and the establishment of the Kingdom of God, there will be a final revival of the Roman Empire. The present European Union certainly has the potential to realize the fulfillment of the prophesied Beast power. However, there are presently 25 nations in the EU and the book of Revelation clearly states, "ten kings... will give their power and authority to the beast" (Revelation 17:12-13).

To many this would indicate that the EU is not the embryonic Beast power. Alternatively, some think the EU must first collapse and then be replaced by the apocalyptic Beast power. However, there is a third possibility, as seen in the Jan. 17 U.S. edition of the London-based Financial Times.

Two Europes on the horizon?

Wolfgang Munchau's article "Europe Must Find a Way to Deal with 'No' Votes" was all about the new European constitution. Earlier in the month, the 25 governments of the EU signed up for the new federal constitution that will create the United States of Europe that Mr. Reid has written about—though its name will remain the European Union.

But there's a problem. Some of the 25 countries have promised the electorate a say in this monumental development. The unanswered question is, What will happen to those countries that vote "no"? Mr. Munchau suggests that Europe already has the answer.

"An intriguing possibility would be to split the EU in two—an outer part, and the eurozone." At the present time, excluding the 10 new members that only joined last May, 12 of the earlier 15 EU members use the euro. Sharing a common currency has certainly bound these nations together in an increasingly common destiny. The 10 new members and future new members will all be required to embrace the euro as soon as they meet the strict fiscal conditions required for entry.

Of course, this would leave Britain out, just as it has found itself on the outs during the Iraqi war.

Such a division would create a two- tier Europe, a possibility that has been discussed before. There would be an inner core of fully committed European nations and an outer group that would be a part of the trading system but would stay out of future political developments. This would certainly suit most British voters at the present time. This might also be preferable to many of the continental Europeans.

Rather than weakening Europe, it would ensure that those who wanted to could fully unite to create a superpower to rival the United States of America, while the others would effectively be captive nations without a voice yet within the great European trading system. Such a move would even solve the perennial problem of Turkey, which could join the lower tier of Europe, thereby not threatening the interests of the fully committed.

Mr. Munchau writes: "The politically strengthened eurozone would act as a hub for future economic and political integration. It would be the logical choice of a hard core because it would constitute the greatest degree of integration the EU has achieved so far." He suggests: "All EU countries should in principle have the right, but not the obligation, to join it. But membership would come with the implicit obligation to pursue further political integration."

Mr. Munchau's suggestion would certainly fulfill the outline of future events shown in Revelation chapter 17. In this passage the 10 kings voluntarily give their power to the Beast, the supreme federal leader. Revelation 17:13 says, "These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast."

This final union of European nations will be unlike any other before it—in all previous attempts to reunite Europe and resurrect the Roman Empire, it has always been by the conquest of one man trying to restore the glory of ancient Rome. Other conquered nations were therefore intrinsically opposed to the new empire.

This time it will be the voluntary coming together of 10 nations (kings or leaders) who will then give their power and authority to the Beast, the federal leader who will become the most powerful political figure on earth. WNP