by Helga Zepp-LaRouche

June 18—The following statement was released today by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, founder and leader of the Schiller Institute.

The signing of a memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran is definitely an historic breakthrough, ending hostilities between them, reopening the Strait of Hormuz, and hopefully preventing in this way the further collapse of the world economy into a depression. The outcome of this war, which lasted more than three-and-a-half grueling months, is a significantly changed strategic situation, where it is not yet decided whether the truce can be transformed into a lasting peace, or will only have been a pause until the next, and possibly worse, round of fighting erupts.

What is clear, however, is the fact that the largest military power on Earth, the United States, was unable to defeat a medium-sized power, Iran. Neither regime change, nor the neutralization of its ballistic missile system, nor the elimination of Iran’s nuclear program was accomplished, due to the unexpected resilience of the Iranian population which, irrespective of the government’s current policies, united around its identity as the ancient civilizational state of thousands of years—Persia! Iran, while suffering significant losses, nevertheless is the clear winner of this war, not least since it has discovered the significant reach it has with control over the Strait of Hormuz. This control over one of the choke-points of the world economy has now become a factor in the strategic situation, which nobody can afford to ignore. Moreover, the fact that Iran was able to demonstrate the inability of the United States to defend those Gulf states hosting U.S. bases, will have permanent consequences for the security architecture of Southwest Asia.

High praise definitely goes primarily to Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who was crucial in the mediation between the United States and Iran, and in defending diplomacy over war as a method of conflict resolution, as well as to many other forces of the region attempting to avoid escalation into a global catastrophe.

Obviously, the big Damocles sword hanging over the situation is the reaction by Israel, the other big loser in the situation. Even with a second war within a year and backed by the strongest military power, Israel was unable to accomplish any of its war aims. Acting President Netanyahu is currently under severe attack by opposition leaders, and even members of his own Cabinet, for his failure, while the big sticking point is that part of the new agreement provides for a ceasefire in Lebanon, which Israel totally rejects. But Israel will have to realize the changed international climate, in which the vast majority of world opinion has shifted, and even a growing majority of the American population thinks that the Israeli government has gone entirely too far in respect to the Palestinians and Iran.

President Trump is currently balancing his interests between his financial supporters, who favor an even harder line against Iran, the hawks in the Republican Party who want the whole deal to be decided in Congress so as to be able to block it, and Trump’s old MAGA base, whose support for him is dwindling, because they feel he has betrayed his election promises. With the midterm elections a few months away, Trump has to weigh his gains and losses.

So, what should be done to ensure that the agreement holds and lasting peace can be secured? The answer is, that a real vision of economic development for the entire region of Southwest Asia has to be seriously put on the agenda: the Extended Oasis Plan, proposed by the Schiller Institute. Only if all the populations of the countries of the region, especially the youth, have a perspective of ending the war forever, and building a bright and prosperous future, will there be an incentive for a lasting peace.1

The deeper answer to that question requires one to consider the larger strategic context of the promises to end all wars. Trump faces the deadline of the midterm elections. While the crisis in Southwest Asia has a history dating back thousands of years, and is multi-faceted and very complex, it must be seen, just as the Ukraine war and almost any other current conflict must be, as part of the overall geopolitical situation. That situation is characterized by the failed attempt of the Collective West dominated by the Anglosphere to establish a unipolar world dominance after the end of the Cold War. That attempt turned out to be very short-lived, since the combination of six NATO expansions to the East, breaking all promises not to do so, as well as the policies of regime change, color revolutions, unilateral sanctions, and interventionists wars produced an enormous blowback, especially among the countries of the Global South. They have not accepted the NATO narrative on all these events, but instead have recognized the obvious effort to revive an imperial and neocolonial order. Since the historically unprecedented rise of China enables the countries of the Global South, for the first time, to overcome 500 years of colonialism, they seek to establish a new economic order that will establish a more just and equal system for all.

Part of any conflict, therefore, is the dynamic in the background, whereby the West aims to maintain its dominance in the strategic situation and, as some politicians put it, to “ruin Russia” and to, at a minimum “contain China.” That, however, is only in the interest of the very few in the establishments of some Western countries, and not in the self-interest of the peoples of Europe and the United States.

As the recent war in Southwest Asia has demonstrated with undeniable clarity: The old world order, as it was established after the Second World War, and then again after the end of the Cold War, is disintegrating. It is therefore of the highest strategic importance to put a new international security and development architecture on the table, which must take into account the interest of every single country on the planet. The situation is comparable to the circumstances of the Peace of Westphalia, which ended 150 years of religious warfare in Europe, after the warring parties realized that, if the war were to continue, no one would be left alive to enjoy a victory. So they arrived at the realization that in order to have peace, one has to respect the interest of the other, and specifically, of All others!

There are several initiatives on the table already, which reflect an understanding that the international order urgently needs to be reorganized, such as the new White Paper of the Chinese State Council, “More Just and Equitable Global Governance: China’s Principles, Proposals and Actions,” which proposes an improvement of the international order based on the idea of a community of a shared future of mankind.
Coming from a very different background but arriving at essentially the same idea of the necessity of an urgent reform, is Pope Leo XIV. His just-issued new Encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, not only criticizes the present tendencies to create a new “Tower of Babel,” but also provides a very substantive proposal on what principles a new system worthy of the magnificent human species must be established.2 This author has proposed ten principles, to be taken into consideration, on how such a new security and development architecture could be conceptualized.3

Therefore, one should not just comment on the agreement reached between the United States and Iran, speculating on whether the situation in Lebanon, and Israel’s refusal to accept its inclusion in the deal, will turn out to be the main factor leading to the failure of the agreement. If the Extended Oasis Plan is put on the agenda by several countries of the region, it can become the first step to bringing the whole world into a new paradigm, in which war is made obsolete as a means of conflict resolution—an existential matter in the era of thermonuclear weapons—and an equitable order is realized, which allows the well-being of all nations.

1. Schiller Institute Oasis Plan webpage, https://schillerinstitute.com/the-oasis-plan-the-larouche-solution-for-southwest-asia/
2. https://schillerinstitute.com/blog/2026/06/18/urgent-appeal-from-pope-leo-xiv-stop-repent-before-its-too-late-the-new-name-for-peace-is-development/
3. https://schillerinstitute.com/blog/2022/11/30/ten-principles-of-a-new-international-security-and-development-architecture/