Report on IPC #155
May 22, 2026 (EIRNS)—The 155th consecutive weekly meeting of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) began with comments by coalition initiator and Schiller Institute founder Helga Zepp-LaRouche. She announced that the immediate target of the IPC’s mobilization will be the special open debate of the UN Security Council which will be held on May 26, with the theme of “Upholding the Purposes and Principles of the UN Charter and Strengthening the UN-centered International System,” to be chaired personally by Foreign Minister Wang Yi of China, this month’s UNSC rotating chair.
She reviewed the proposals which came out of last week’s EIR roundtable discussion, and added that it was heartening that more proposals, such as the Africa 2063 plan, are emerging that complement her proposals and those which have been presented at IPC meetings.
Zepp-LaRouche has composed a special letter addressed to the UNSC session “What we are interested in is to be putting on the table an entirely different approach,” she said, not the usual geopolitics, but “long term survivability of the region and all the countries involved.” The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned this week that, due to resource shortages which are a consequence of the Iran war, on top of the ongoing economic financial breakdown, we are already in the initial stages of a “food price shock,” potentially leading to famines. She warned that those who planned the war anticipated such an outcome; “There are all these crazy Malthusian ideas in the background,” including the policy of so-called “controlled disintegration.”
Science and Religion
Dr. Abdullah Ahsan of Pakistan, Professor of Comparative Civilization at Istanbul Şehir University in Türkiye, identified three stages of a solution to the present crisis. In the short term, there would be former Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu’s proposal for a neutral third party—he proposed Pakistan, Indonesia, Türkiye and Malaysia—to manage the Strait of Hormuz, because the United States and Iran have reached a total deadlock and the entire world has become “victim of this Hormuz situation.” In the middle term, we must revive the concept of a Dialogue of Civilizations, which has been advocated in various forms by various parties, including the Schiller Institute and the government of Iran. In the long term, we must address the view that there is a conflict between science and religion. Modern secularism, Dr. Ahsan asserted, stems from the ideas of German philosopher Immanuel Kant. Ahsan’s studies, however, “suggest that all civilizations in history are rooted in divine guidance.” He cited the subject of evolution, where science and faith appear to diverge.
Later in the discussion, co-moderator Dennis Small posed a solution to the apparent conflict. Man has the capability to creatively modify the physical universe, which is a demonstration of free will and thereby moral capability, and represents a so-called “metaphysical” dimension in what most consider physics, the existence of which refutes the theories of Kant. He cited LaRouche’s Oasis Plan as an example of a creative idea impacting the physical universe.
Still later, Helga Zepp-LaRouche weighed in on this topic. She contrasted the dogmatic vs. the philosophical view in religion. Saint Augustine pointed out that Plato had earlier arrived at similar conclusions to those of Jesus Christ, demonstrating that there is no contradiction between faith and knowledge. Fifteenth-Century Catholic Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa said that evolution takes place through the “lifting” of the lower domain by the more developed organizing principle of the higher domain, and Zepp-LaRouche went on to describe how the Russian/Ukrainian scientist Vladimir Vernadsky arrived at the same conclusion with his conception of the Noösphere. This idea is also reflected in the book of Genesis, where Man is said to be imago viva Dei, in the living image of God, because of his capacity for creativity.
The Worsening Crisis in Agriculture
Jesus Holguin Cazares, President of the Kansas Cattlemen’s Association, reported that the costs of chemicals necessary for agriculture have gone up dramatically due to the Iran war. This places an extraordinary and unsustainable burden on smaller, independent producers. In addition, the cartelization of agriculture poses a threat to smaller producers who cannot compete with enormous agribusinesses, and this translates to higher prices for consumers. Corporations are buying up distressed farms, leading to further cartelization.
Jon Baker, Vice President of the Iowa Stockgrowers Association also reported on the crisis in farming and ranching, which he said was getting much worse as a result of the Iran War, for example, with its effect on pushing up prices for diesel, essential for agriculture. He also took aim at the predations of speculators and agribusiness. Baker gave the example of his own operation, which lost $80,000 in value over the past two days, just due to so-called “market factors.” The mega agro-cartels are increasing their concentration, while independent farm operations decrease.
Dennis Small followed Holguin with a report from the National Front to Save the Mexican Countryside, which just held a 3,500-person demonstration in Mexico City and met with the country’s Agriculture Minister to discuss policy solutions to the crisis. The Front calls for an agriculture policy in Mexico which prioritizes feeding the population rather than coddling the speculators of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and the destructive neo-liberal economic policies such as those associated with Ludwig von Mises of the Austrian School. They are calling for Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to change policy, but they are not joining the efforts of U.S. speculators and the U.S. President Donald Trump administration to undermine and destabilize her government.
Independent U.S. congressional candidate in New York’s 15th congressional district (The Bronx) Jose Vega offered a report on the progress of his campaign, and commented on how essential it is for American citizens to take up the profound ideas discussed at the IPC meetings. He led a rally at the United Nations yesterday to shape the discussion at the May 26 UN Security Council special session.
Discussion: Fighting the Oligarchy
Zepp-LaRouche elaborated on the various facets of the drive for war being promoted by the leading “Western” faction, emphasizing that “unilateral sanctions are a form of war,” and expressed the hope that these conflicts can be resolved with a new international security and development architecture. In response to a question, she called for global support for Cuba, a major victim of U.S. sanctions, particularly in light of Cuba’s benevolent role in assisting other nations with medical support. Zepp-LaRouche observed that the “Davos men,” AKA the Epstein Class or “the super class of the dead souls,” are interested in perpetuating the crises for the purposes of advancing their geopolitical agendas.
Dr. Ahsan raised the question of how to end oligarchic control over politics, and offered the example of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, which exerts economic pressure on the Israeli regime, as a small step in the right direction.
In conclusion, Zepp-LaRouche reiterated her warnings that both the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and the wars initiated by Israel in Southwest Asia, are potential flashpoints for nuclear war. Co-moderator Dennis Speed noted that next week’s meeting will mark the 156th-consecutive weekly meeting of the IPC, the three-year anniversary of its founding. The sort of persistence demonstrated by the IPC in carrying on these meetings will be important in building the grass-roots machine required to change the policies of the United States and Europe. [eir]
