Report on Meeting of the International Peace Coalition, Week 160
by EIR staff
June 26—The 160th consecutive weekly session of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) focused on the war danger, which remains grave, but also on economic issues which are closely related. Schiller Institute founder and IPC initiator Helga Zepp-LaRouche began by saying, “The world is sitting on the absolute edge of the abyss.” An important obstacle to peace is that “You cannot trust one word which is being uttered by the so-called leaders of the collective West.” She commented on a “not-so-subtle shift” in what is coming from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who has stated recently that the Anglosphere is going for complete dominance and wants no obstacles to their continued extraction of resources from the rest of the world. The United States, and President Donald Trump in particular, he said, has stopped trying to be an honest broker in the relationship between Russia and Ukraine, as had been discussed in his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaksa in Aug. 2025. If that is true, Lavrov said, the suspicion would be that Anchorage was just a ploy to buy time for Ukraine, and “…keep Ukraine as a launching pad for the fighting against Russia.”
The West is going for an unparalleled military build-up as their economies are collapsing. The Prime Ministers of Canada, Mark Carney, and Luxembourg, Luc Frieden, with their call for the creation of the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB) are openly calling for a return to the policies of Hitlerʼs Finance Minister Hjalmar Schacht in order to finance the build-up. To end this insanity, the nations of the West must declare their willingness to cooperate with the global majority, and “they would be received with open arms” by the new institutions which have emerged.
A video interview with Mossi Raz, former Israeli Member of Knesset and former Director General of Peace Now, conducted by EIR’s Gerald Belsky. Raz commented on the recent letter by former Israeli officials, demanding the eradication of “Jewish terrorism” in the occupied West Bank. He agreed that the inaction of Israeli security forces is dangerous. Raz supports a two-state solution for Israel-Palestine; neither side is going to leave, so there must be some form of economic cooperation. Most Israelis are unaware that this potential exists. Youth are unaware of even the initiative that has been put forward by the Arab League. Most think that Arabs only want to kill them.
Dr. Taylor Haynes, National President of the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) and former Republican candidate for Governor of Wyoming, said that he is fighting on two fronts: as a rancher, he opposes the big 4 meatpackers who control 85% of the meatpacking in the U.S. and are consolidating control over distribution of food. And he is informing people in his region about the detrimental effects of wind farms and other measures being imposed in the name of fighting climate change.
He said that “the geopolitical thing is above my pay grade” because his information comes from agenda-driven media.
In response, Zepp-LaRouche mentioned a new German book called “Truth Complex” (Der Wahrheitskomplex) which describes how narrative control has been imposed throughout the West, using artificial intelligence (AI) to suppress any dissenting viewpoints.
Co-moderator Dennis Small responded that in Mexico, the National Front for the Protection of the Countryside opposes Mexicoʼs basic grains being controlled by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the largest derivatives trading organization in the world, whose speculation threatens the continued existence of Mexican farmers and their ability to feed the population.
Haynes asked in reply, why would anyone allow their food source to be managed by an exchange in another country which has nothing to do with production?
Moderator Anastasia Battle had just returned from the 2026 World Youth Development Forum in Wuhan, China, which discussed concrete solutions to poverty and food scarcity, where US Schiller Institute president, Megan Dobrodt and herself spoke. It issued a declaration of support for peace through economic development. There was a thoughtful discussion of AI, with some speakers saying that “AI has speed, you have soul—co-create with it.” Human creativity involves a “leap of faith” of which AI is incapable of doing.
Battle reported the focus on “People-centered sustainable development” as the key to lifting hundreds of millions of Chinese out of poverty. Some of the conference participants had the opportunity to visit the Three Gorges Dam, where they learned of China’s successful stewardship of the Yangtze River. This dam provides electricity for 300 million people! It calmed the river which quite often would flood and destroy lives in the region. The Chinese have been actively working on preserving and reviving the plant, animal and cultural life along the river. Even celebrating a beloved poet Qu Yuan for the dragon boat festival. At one point there were only 10 Chinese sturgeons left, but now their number has grown to 300,000. Contrary to the claims of Western environmentalists, development does not equal destruction.
Larry Johnson, former CIA intelligence official and a member of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), warned that the Russia-Ukraine conflict is more dangerous than the one in Iran and the Persian Gulf, in terms of possible escalation to nuclear war. The Russians have reached the end of their patience. Whatever agreements were reached in Anchorage are dead. Russia is making rapid advances in the war. Unlike Operation Barbarossa (Nazi Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union, launched on June 22, 1941) which caught Russia by surprise, this time Russia is prepared.
Johnson noted that countries around the world are drawing down their strategic reserves of petroleum. Diesel and aviation fuel are approaching critical shortages. The Strait of Hormuz is not open—claims that it is open are a lie.
Zepp-LaRouche replied that the worst-case scenario would be one where a military escalation coincides with a blow-out of the financial system. The elites are unwilling to change any failed policies, preferring to control the narrative and exclude any discussion of an alternative policy.
Johnson observed that Russia and China are both calling for a new security architecture in the Persian Gulf, and Pakistan has assumed a leading role, assisting China in diplomacy. BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization are supplanting U.S. influence in the region. Commenting on the result of Tuesday’s U.S. primary elections, he said, “The toxicity of the language of these Zionists is a reflection of how much trouble they’re in…we’re witnessing the decline of the influence of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.”
Co-moderator Dennis Small appealed for financial support so that the IPC can have another 160 meetings. As an example of the IPC’s effectiveness, he cited the case of a Spanish Bishop who received one of the letters sent by an activist who reported on this in last week’s IPC meeting. The Bishop sent a reply, in which he agreed emphatically with what we are doing, and said that it is consonant with what the Pope is striving for.
Discussion
Zepp-LaRouche warned that you cannot underestimate the amount of intelligence warfare being deployed, combined with narrative control and the perennial “divide and conquer” tactic. This is the reason that the peace movement is not united. This is something we must outwit and outflank.
In response to a participant who asked why only China and Russia have embraced the concept of a credit system as expressed in the U.S. Constitution, co-moderator Dennis Small replied that any nation that attempts to adopt such a system is picking a fight with the most powerful and dangerous forces in the world. For a credit system to work, it must be insulated from the forces of financial speculation which will seek to divert the credit issued away from physical production and into feeding their bubbles.
In concluding remarks, Dr. Haynes vowed that he will continue his activities on social media, despite the shadow-bans and other obstacles, and by intervening in public events whenever the opportunity presents itself, presenting the facts calmly.
Helga Zepp-LaRouche warned that we are “in for a very stormy next several months.” We must be realists with respect to the danger, but also eternal optimists. The global majority represents 80% of humanity, and they are headed in a useful direction. Humans, as she emphasizes in the 10th of her “Ten Principles of a New International Security and Development Architecture”, are essentially good; evil is caused by a lack of development, and can be overcome through development. Commenting on the role of American Pope Leo XIV, she said, “This Pope is a gift from Heaven,” she said, and we should use his encyclical “Magnifica Humanitas” as “a tremendous weapon.”
