In late May a series of upbeat economic reports showed that the European economy is gaining strength, and helped lift the euro to a 14-month high against the dollar. On May 29 the euro stood at 93.5 cents compared to the dollar, a significant rise. Many investors are showing confidence in the euro during this sustained period of success against the dollar. Meanwhile Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair continues to edge Britain toward a fateful union with the Continent by pushing his desire to adopt the euro as the coin of the realm. While polls are showing Britons remain skeptical (a recent poll showed 53 percent were against adoption of the euro), it is clear some leaders see Britain's future to be with Europe rather than America. In a new book that has drawn widespread attention in England, Will Hutton, former editor of The Observer, argues that Britain shares the liberal social values of Continental Europe and should join its currency to form a bulwark against a hegemonic United States whose driving political force is the religious conservatism of the South. "The rise of American conservatism has disconnected U.S. civilization from the European mainstream," Hutton argues. "Europe is our continent. We share the same history and the same core values. We should, of course, join the euro." On the other side, some hard-line Conservatives—among them the former prime minister, Margaret Thatcher—disdain the Continent's comparatively sluggish economies and rigid labor markets with a collective "no, thank you." Instead, they argue that Britain should renegotiate its membership in the European Union, cast its lot with the United States and join the North American Free Trade Agreement (International Herald Tribune, May 27, 2002). A major shift in relations between America and Britain would be historic. Will Hutton is wrong. Britain has far more in common with America than Europe. Britain shares with America a common language, democratic values and history that goes deeper than most understand. It shares a spiritual legacy from the biblical patriarch Jacob and the blessing conferred on the sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh. The story is told in our booklet, The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy. Write for your free copy today.