Report on International Peace Coalition #131
Dec. 5, 2025 (EIRNS)—Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Schiller Institute founder and International Peace Coalition initiator, opened the 131st consecutive meeting of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) with news of encouraging developments, beginning with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s state visit to India. She said that the soul of Yevgeny Primakov must be happy right now, because the China-India-Russia relationship is flourishing, despite “the efforts of the imperial forces of the world” to divide them. She described this as a setback for “global NATO.”
On the other hand, the “most outrageous and infamous development” of the past days was the efforts of the Financial Times to sabotage the negotiations for ending the Ukraine War, by running the interview with Italian Vice Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone musing about a preemptive strike against Russia.
There are other crisis spots. In Venezuela, Russia may provide military support if it is requested, while Marco Rubio is ranting about Venezuela having a relationship to Hezbollah. The conflict between China and Japan is heating up, and the Israeli assault on Gaza is clearly not over. All these conflicts are extremely worrisome, and highlight the importance of “getting rid of geopolitics for good” with the ideas found in her Ten Principles of a New International Security and Development Architecture.
Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst and co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), opened with a joke, aimed at Vice Admiral Dragone: Italy now has a new tank with five gears: four reverse gears, and one forward gear in case of an attack from the rear. He added that the Ukraine war is essentially over; the Ukrainians may persist and lose an additional 50,000 troops, but the result will be the same as if it were ended now. McGovern hopes that U.S. President Donald Trump has come to realize this. He commented on the narcissism evident in Trump’s repeated demand that he be given a Nobel Peace Prize.
He described it as “a big deal” that Putin gave an interview in India, in which he said that his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi lasted five hours and was “a meaningful, substantive, and highly productive conversation.”
An AI video shared by Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, which moderator Anastasia Battle described as “super fun,” was presented. It portrayed an imagined dialogue between Dmitri Mendeleev and Thomas Edison on the theme of the “Putin-Trump tunnel” under the Bering Strait and its potential global effects.
Another video was featured, a video interview conducted by the Schiller Institute’s Harley Schlanger with Avi Shlaim, professor at Oxford University, historian, and author of The Iron Wall and his autobiography, Three Worlds: Memoirs of an Arab Jew. Shlaim said that he had been reluctant to use the word “genocide” to describe what Israel is doing to Gaza, but the turning point for him was when Israel suspended all humanitarian aid to Gazans. He said that “the Trump peace plan is not a peace plan,” although it is a positive initiative, but it is essentially “a colonial plan for control of the Gaza Strip,” where decisions would be made by foreigners, aided by “Quislings” within the Palestinian community. There are no provisions for any elections or democracy. Looking back on the past decades, he said that “with the assassination of Rabin, hope was lost, and there was nothing to replace it.”
In response, Zepp-LaRouche expressed the hope that Trump’s visit with President Xi Jinping could produce an agreement on building the Oasis Plan, in which case “Trump would deserve not one Nobel Peace Prize, but two!” She renewed her plea for the U.S. to choose cooperation with China, rather than confrontation.
McGovern described the involvement of Jared Kushner in the Ukraine negotiations as a “salutary development,” because it may indicate a realization on Trump’s part of the economic benefits of a negotiated peace. He described Russia and China as being “united as never before.” Since Trump cannot realistically contemplate a military conquest of China, an attack on Venezuela could be a face-saving demonstration of U.S. military might, similar to Reagan’s invasion of the island of Grenada.
A participant sent in a question: would the IPC consider expanding the Bering Strait tunnel into a regional development zone, a “transcontinental world trade village”? Co-moderator Dennis Small recapitulated the Schiller Institute’s history of proposals for the “World Land-Bridge Network,” which would produce such development zones in conjunction with rail development all over the world. We can “leverage” the conflict hot spots around the world to make this happen, he said, since economic development is a necessary prerequisite to real peace. Helga Zepp-LaRouche developed her late husband’s concept of the “development corridor.” Time is increasingly a factor in economic activity, and transportation infrastructure tremendously accelerates commerce.
Organizing Reports
Alan Rivera presented images of the field deployments of the Mexican organization, with displays of a world map that is Pacific-centered rather than the typical Atlantic-centered maps. The display advocates for the BRICS and shows the opportunity for major development projects.
Purnima Anand, who is President of the BRICS International Forum in New Delhi, India, reported on the visit of Putin to her country and his successful meeting with President Modi. She described that nearly 10,000 youth participated in the youth forum and pledged the cooperation of her organization with the Schiller Institute and IPC. Zepp-LaRouche responded by saying that if the young people from around the world can come together, “there is no mountain that cannot be moved.” She invited Anand and all others to take part in the upcoming youth conference of the Schiller Institute.
Christoph Mohs described the mobilization of young people in Germany against the proposed military draft there, showing images of the protests with thousands of students. There were protests in 90 cities across Germany. What was lacking, he said, was a positive vision for the future.
Discussion
Frequent participant John Steinbach lamented the financialization of the economy which ensued after the repeal of Glass-Steagall under Bill Clinton. He remarked that we need to go back to an emphasis on “making things, rather than making money.” Zepp-LaRouche, in response, agreed that the collapse of the financial system is a question of “when,” not “if.” She said that solution requires the Four Laws of Lyndon LaRouche, including the restoration of Glass-Steagall.
A former AfD parliamentarian from Germany decried the war propaganda in his country, reminding his countrymen of the sacrifices Russia made during WWII, and described how he had made public comments to that effect and became a center of controversy. Zepp-LaRouche congratulated him for speaking out, noting that the failure of citizens to speak out is what enabled the Nazis to come to power in Germany.
A Libertarian Party activist in Oregon described an antiwar coalition he is building in that state, and how they successfully defeated a pro-war Republican, making them a one term congressman.
In response to another question, Zepp-LaRouche noted the upcoming 250th anniversary of American independence and called for a second American Revolution, for the U.S. to “find its way back to its own ideas.”
In conclusion, Zepp-LaRouche warned that despite the good news of Putin’s meeting with Modi, Europe is still in the pit of a drive for more war, and there will be no solution until we eliminate “the root cause, which is geopolitics.”
