This article was originally published by Michael Snyder at The Economic Collapse Blog. 

Chaos is starting to erupt all over the planet.  Martial law was just declared in South Korea, civil unrest is raging in the streets of Georgia, and civil war threatens to topple the Assad regime in Syria.  It is almost as if someone decided to flip a switch and now vast hordes of people are going completely nuts.  Unfortunately, I think that this is just the beginning because I am convinced that civil unrest will be a major theme in 2025.

On Tuesday, the entire world was shocked by footage of crazed protesters clashing with riot police just outside of the National Assembly in South Korea…

Shocking images showing dozens of riot cops and armed police officers pushing back enraged rioters outside the National Assembly shortly after Yoon’s address was broadcast to the nation.

Meanwhile, news cameras captured the moment helicopters descended from the evening skies and landed on top of the parliament building before troops disembarked and began locking down the location.

Other footage and pictures later showed heavily armed soldiers in tactical equipment stalking through the hallways of the National Assembly. Parliamentary aides were seen trying to push the soldiers back by spraying fire extinguishers.

The president of South Korea imposed martial law in a desperate attempt to quell the unrest, but he was forced to end it after just six hours…

Martial law was enacted in South Korea for just six hours, prompting widespread outrage after the President cited ‘threats’ from North Korea.

President Yoon Suk Yeol issued the order in a television address, vowing eliminate ‘anti-state’ forces as he suspended parliament, banned political gatherings and ordered the end of a long-running doctors’ strike.

Just hours after doing so, the National Assembly unanimously voted to lift martial law. President Yeol has since announced the martial law is over, with his cabinet officially ending it.

We have never seen anything quite like this in South Korea.

Normally, South Koreans are so calm.

Are North Korean operatives responsible for stirring up trouble?

Could it be possible that the Chinese are behind the unrest?

Hopefully, some answers will emerge in the days ahead.

Meanwhile, violent protests continue to rage in the streets of Georgia, and as a result, dozens of people have been hospitalized…

More than 40 people in the former Soviet nation of Georgia have been hospitalized following a brutal police crackdown on protesters in a move that was backed by pro-Russia Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze.

Tens of thousands of protesters hit the streets in the capital city of Tbilisi for a fourth night on Sunday after Kobakhidze’s ruling party, known as the Dream Party, suspended the country’s 15-year push to join the European Union (EU) last week.

“Any violation of the law will be met with the full rigor of the law,” Kobakhidze said during a weekend briefing. “Neither will those politicians who hide in their offices and sacrifice members of their violent groups to severe punishment escape responsibility.”

Just like we have seen in so many other Eastern European nations, it appears that someone may be trying to instigate a “color revolution” in order to overthrow the Georgian government.

In the Middle East, a resurgent civil war in Syria has taken center stage.

After capturing Aleppo, Sunni radicals are now advancing on the city of Hama…

Rebel and government forces are battling for control of Syria, with the fiercest fighting on Tuesday taking place around the central city of Hama, after years of little movement in the conflict.

Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham on Tuesday announced the “liberation” of three towns north of the city and said their “forces continue to advance.” Government forces, the group claimed, had suffered “major and successive collapses.” The Syrian state news agency countered that the army was reinforcing defenses north of Hama “in preparation for the start of the counterattack.” Russian forces also announced airstrikes against rebels in Hama and Idlib provinces, killing dozens.

Without Russian air support, the Syrian military would have likely already collapsed.

Most Americans don’t realize this, but the U.S. is still very active inside Syria as well.  In fact, there are reports that Iranian-backed Shiite forces coming across the border from Iraq were just attacked by A-10 Warthog aircraft…

However, according to claims on social media, these Iran-backed troops have already been struck by the United States. On December 1 and 2, multiple Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) accounts and military bloggers claimed that the USAF had deployed its A-10 Warthog ground-attack aircraft to attack the militias that entered Syria.

One such claim made by Visegard said: “50+ Iranian-backed Shiite soldiers from the PMU killed in strafing rounds by U.S. Air Force A-10 Warthogs in Syria.” PMU is the abbreviation for Popular Mobilisation Forces, a military formation of the Iraqi Armed Forces composed of several Shia factions.

Hopefully, U.S. aircraft and Russian aircraft will not come into direct conflict with one another.

The Russians would like to offer the Assad regime more support, but they certainly have their hands full in Ukraine right now.

Unfortunately for the Ukrainians, their ill-fated Kursk offensive has made them vulnerable on the eastern front, and the Russians are taking full advantage of that opportunity…

Russian troops in eastern Ukraine have seized at least 10 villages and settlements in roughly as many days, according to a group with ties to the Ukrainian Army that maps the battlefield, as Moscow presses on with slow but steady advances that have heightened pressure on Ukraine’s authorities to start cease-fire talks.

The situation looks particularly precarious for Ukrainian forces in Donetsk, in Ukraine’s east, where Russian forces are closing in on their last two strongholds in the southern part of the region, according to the analysis by the group, DeepState. The fall of the strongholds, Kurakhove and Velyka Novosilka, could pave the way for a Russian takeover of the area, experts say.

Russia, which annexed Donetsk in 2022 and controls about two-thirds of the region, is seeking to consolidate power over the whole territory.

For now, North America is much quieter than the rest of the world.

But it is just a matter of time before tremendous chaos erupts in our streets as well.

The left is targeting Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20th as a time for massive protests.

And as economic conditions in Europe continue to deteriorate, I expect a lot of unrest in the streets of major European cities in the days ahead.

2024 was certainly a very “interesting” year, but I believe that we are going to go to a whole new level in 2025.

 

 

Michael’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com. He has also written eight other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream, and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.