It seems to me (having reda through this thread) that one
could (as is often the case with prophesy) shoe-horn pretty
much anything to fit by assuming certain areas are metaphors
etc. etc. etc.
Rome seems a good bet -- and didn't the 'world' end close
on a couple thousand years ago and plunge humanity into the
void that is the dark ages?
Apart from anything else it seems to me that the things mentioned
pretty well fit the McDonald's corporation ...