DJS
This isn't the Watchtower interpretation. The JW prophecies are rooted in dogma. People who are dead now figured they knew what Daniel and Revelation means.
Economics is not just about money. In this case you have the USA trying to dominate the world and you have players that are going to stop that.
Look at revelation a little more.
Babylon the Great is described as being the key consumer of the worlds merchandise.
Babylon is NOT the churches as the Watchtower claims. Religion makes up only 3% of the ECONOMIC activity in any country. JW's don't understand that the Wealth of any religion is relatively small. They spin this idea that Governments are going to turn on religion to plunder its "hidden wealth". Governments don't need more real estate or objects of art. Some of the poorest countries in the world have plenty of land. Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Germany, Switzerland don't need land. They need people who know how to produce and sell their goods, handle the money.
Revelation says Babylon the Great's "traveling merchants were the top ranking men in the earth"
You know what's interesting about that statment?
You can actually count the "top ranking men in the earth". Well, Forbes magazine does it for us.
There are 72 people listed on forbes list of the people who rule the world. "Rule the World" good phrase for "top ranking men in the earth"
29 of the top ranking men listed are Americans.
Russia has 4 so it comes in 2nd
China,India,Mexico,Switzerland and the UK come in next with 3 each
France, Germany, Japan, Saudia Arabia, South Korea come in next with 2 each
The rest on the list have one person each in which case they are a politcal leader and usually wealthy.
So if Babylon the Great is false religion wouldn't you expect to see them dominate the list?
Do you know how many religious leaders make the list?
Only 2. Pope Francis and Ali Hoseini-Khamenei (Iran)
I can understand why you may not want to hear these things. Of course you think any discussion of prophecy is absurd.
But some things need to be explained and not simply ignored. The entity called Babylon the Great whose traveling merchants were the top ranking men in the earth is destroyed by a union of a country that appeared slaughtered to death and a union of10 other countries that never were in the empire game. Putin is trying to build that Union. And he will succeed.