tobi |

U.S. War Machine Is Overextended, but the Empire Wonʼt Go Quietly

August 17, 2026by tobi in International Peace Coalition

Report on International Peace Coalition, Week 167

by EIR Staff

Aug. 14—The 167th consecutive weekly meeting of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) began with remarks by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Schiller Institute founder and IPC initiator. She warned that the idea is unrealistic that the Anglophile Empire, and with it the United States, will peacefully go out of business, as the Soviet Union did. The Iran war “is lost for the United States”; it did not achieve its goal of regime change, and it has depleted its stockpile of weapons. U.S. President Donald Trump does not seem to have found a face-saving way out. The new “Mecca Alliance” of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Türkiye is significant, because the constituent nations are all formerly close partners of the United States. The regional situation remains very complex, and “still has the potential of expanding into a global nuclear war.”

The Ukraine war continues to be “a situation of utmost tension,” where the barbarism becomes worse by the day. In Panama, the United States proclaimed its dominance of the Western Hemisphere, in a clear violation of the intent of the Monroe Doctrine. Zepp-LaRouche expressed her hope that China’s Global Governance Initiative will be discussed next month in the United Nations General Assembly.

Richard Anderson Falk is professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University, Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor’s chairman of the board of trustees, and former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories (2008 to 2014). He said he wished to emphasize a point raised by Zepp-LaRouche, the difference between the way the USSR went peacefully out of business, and the bellicose thrashing of the Anglo-Americans. He pointed out that the genocide in Gaza has been very profitable for the U.S. arms industry, and the private sector is putting pressure on the U.S. government with “exaggerated security threats and security interests.”

He also called attention to the “era of finance capital,” in which profits take precedence over production and the national interest, and asserted that this is fueling the bellicose foreign policy of the United States. “The Western efforts to wage colonial wars … have not produced a political victory; the weaker side, militarily, has been prevailing.” “The encouraging obsolescence of military power” is being challenged by the private sector which makes money regardless of whether wars are won, or lost.

The Iranians have learned that “trust doesn’t work with the West,” after the United States launched a war of choice, twice, in the midst of diplomatic negotiations. The inability of the U.S. to stop this madness is only partially explicable by the “personality and style of Trump”; we must also look at the deeper, structural issues. Referring to the Mecca Alliance, he said that if it goes forward, and engages more countries, we will soon be talking of “West Asia” rather than the “Middle East,” explaining that the latter is a European-oriented term, whereas the former is how the Global South and Asian countries think of the region.

Neo-Feudalism: The New Stage of Imperialism

In response, Zepp-LaRouche said that the concept of “capitalism or imperialism” has reached a new stage. “The concept of the sovereign state is practically annulled”; the billionaire class is now calling the shots, and we now have “neo-feudalism.” Nations which have attempted to negotiate in good faith with the United States are now concluding that the U.S. cannot be trusted.

Co-moderator Dennis Speed asked Falk to comment on the “privatization of war,” and the claims of one British academic that we have returned to the “Palmerston era,” referring to mid-19th-Century British Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston. In response, Falk observed that today’s situation is different, due to technological changes. Also, with the founding of the UN, there was an effort to move away from the Hobbesian anarchy of “might makes right” and toward a Westphalian world order, but the effort was flawed and allowed the dominant players to put their thumbs on the scales. Consequently, the UN Security Council today has enabled the crimes of the neocons against Gaza and Iran.

Zepp-LaRouche said that efforts to remedy this situation are hindered by mainstream media, which present “a narrative which is completely counter to reality.”

Ulf Sandmark, president of the Schiller Institute in Sweden, reported on weekly demonstrations there with which they have “attempted to break the spell” of making a taboo of advocacy of diplomatic solutions instead of war. In Sweden, the political parties are squeezing out antiwar politicians, who are also excluded from media coverage. The Schiller Institute is including these politicians in its demonstrations and giving them a voice.

Larry Johnson, former CIA intelligence official and a member of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), noted that Russia has moved from conducting its Special Military Operation in Ukraine, to all-out war. One manifestation of this has been the total shutdown of maritime activity in the Black Sea, which will be devastating for Ukraine. He listed numerous other developments in Russia’s conduct of the war, and compared it to the war in Iran, stating that both wars highlight the “delusional nature” of U.S. policy. Trump proclaims that the Strait of Hormuz is open and “under our control.” If that is the case, why are we running a blockade? The painful economic consequences of the war are completely divorced from the fantasy world of Wall Street, which can make money regardless.

The U.S. military is in trouble, on two fronts: It does not have access to the rare earths and other raw materials required to replenish depleted stocks of armaments; China has almost monopolistic control over those rare earths. Secondly, “the military across the board is in a mental health crisis.” There has been a wave of suicides and other deaths related to deteriorating morale and psychological stress among military personnel. The reports of deaths aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln have significantly underestimated the number of casualties. There will be a political response from the angry parents of the affected servicemen.

A ‘Crony Capitalist Monster’

Johnson said that the U.S. military is not the greatest or most powerful military in the world, but it is the most expensive. He cited the astronomical costs of U.S. aircraft and drones, many of which have been destroyed in the war with Iran. He commented on the “profit collaboration” between the military and the private sector. Although “fascism” is a term perhaps too “emotionally charged” to describe it, he characterized this collaboration as a “crony capitalist monster.” Russia and China, operating on military budgets which are tiny in comparison, have achieved greater technical results.

Zepp-LaRouche returned to what Pope Leo XIV calls a “new Tower of Babel.” Peter Thiel, founder of the Silicon Valley tech firm Palantir Technologies, said that members of the billionaire class should not be shy about flaunting their wealth and power. The privation endured by U.S. military personnel stands out by comparison.

Co-moderator Dennis Small reminded the participants that the “military-industrial complex” should be called the “military-industrial-financial complex,” because, as EIR has shown, the largest arms manufacturers in the United States are owned by the leading financial speculators. This, he said, is the Achilles’ heel of the war machine.

Numerous speakers referred to the recent manic activity by so-called “U.S. Deputy Secretary of War” Elbridge Andrew Colby, who has been making the rounds and issuing public comments about U.S. dominance in Asia and the Western Hemisphere, in addition to promoting the use of nuclear weapons.

Daisuke Kotegawa, former official in the Japanese Ministry of Finance, former Japanese executive director at the IMF, and research director at the Canon Institute in Tokyo, submitted a video on the topic of immigration, which he said became a problem for Europe only after the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as the sabotage of development plans for Africa. He also noted that the population of Ukraine has declined from 40 to 30 million due to the war there.

Discussion

In response to a question from an African participant, Zepp-LaRouche asserted that colonialism still exists, although typically Europeans are in denial. She said that the IMF exemplifies the new structures of colonialism.

Another participant posed a question about the Oasis Plan, which has been discussed on a regular basis at IPC meetings. Zepp-LaRouche replied that the only thing required would be a commitment by a number of Southwest Asian nations. She speculated that the new Mecca Alliance might be a prospect for this. A “devil’s advocate” asked her whether it was time to reevaluate the tenth of her Ten Principles, the assertion that humans are fundamentally good. Her response was an emphatic no; the current degraded culture cannot be seen as the last word on human nature. We have a long history to consider, and the net improvements in the human condition teach us that humans are essentially good. A dark age can always be overcome by a new renaissance.

Live Dialogue with Helga Zepp-LaRouche: Tectonic Shifts and the Science of a New Paradigm

August 11, 2026by tobi in Helga Webcast

Join Helga Zepp-LaRouche in her live dialogue and discuss the issues and solutions that move the world and its people. Send your questions & comments to questions@schillerinstitute.org.

Please share the YouTube link with your friends, acquaintances, and colleagues to increase the reach of the solutions presented by the LaRouche movement.

Wednesday, Aug, 12, 2026, 11am ET/ 5pm CET

Helga Zepp-LaRouche’s closing remarks to IPC #166:

Well, I think the crucial question was posed by you, Jack, earlier in your remarks, when you said we have to look for moral leaders. Because answering the question of the nun from Spain, I think the letter you have composed, Jack, with the letter to the Pope going through Archbishop Wester, but then basically making that a rallying point for everybody. I think that that points to the right way to go for the highest possible solution, which would be moral leadership from the Pope and to get together the three leaders of the most powerful nations in the world. That is China, the United States, and Russia. And that way, you have something to rally everybody around.

Because the problem is, and I agree with what Scott Ritter had to say about that you cannot be happy that the Anglo-American empire is clearly in a decline, because I have said many times, and I believe that deeply, that while the Soviet Union disintegrated peacefully in 1991, I do not think that the Anglo-American empire will dismantle itself as peacefully. I think that when they have the feeling that they are at the point of demise, exactly what Scott was pointing to, the danger of the use of nuclear weapons becomes the most acute.

So therefore, the question is, what can we do under the circumstances? The main problem we have is that the masses of people in the collective West, which is not so collective anymore, are either complacent, indifferent, just not informed, or too fearful to act. So, we have to do something which catalyzes emotion in those people. And I think the idea that if everybody contributes, no matter where they come from, let them come from a Catholic background, and there we have a lot to do, because the Catholic churches are not everywhere against the war. …

But in any case, it has to come from the religions, not only the Christian religions, but we should branch out to essentially all religions of goodwill, all people of goodwill. And then at the same time, basically say an ecumenical approach, which stretches the word ecumenical beyond religion, to include people who are concerned with the well-being of humanity. And that happens to include China, for example, because if you look at the record of China in the last 40, 50 years, having transformed 850 million people of their own country from total poverty to now basically being the most wealthy, prosperous country in the world. … Then you have many others. We should think about what method to use. It cannot be violence. It cannot, in any case, add to the already escalated level of violence in the world on all levels, from school shootings to the level of aggressive wars.

So, we need to go back to the theories of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, except that we do not need armed resistance for the reason of nonviolence, which I just mentioned.

But it needs to also appeal to that, and that is what this beautiful nun from Spain said, this internal better quality of man where man is the living image of God, imago viva Dei. Because if we do not evoke that absolute precious element within each human being, which does separate us from all other creatures. People can love their pets, and there’s something very beautiful in pets, but it is only the human being being in the image of God, the Creator, which makes us creative. And that is what is so precious and what is in danger of being trampled upon and eradicated with all this violence, pornography, perversion, and all of these things which are satanic in our present environment.

So, it comes to the question of elevating people, ennobling people, appealing to that which makes them participate in the eternal chain of human generations, where each of us has the absolute obligation to contribute something to make the next generations live more rich and better in wisdom, in creativity, in having access to the beauty of this universe, than the previous generations.

We have to appeal to that love for mankind. I believe that without evoking love for mankind, we will not succeed. So, I can only ask all of the participants and listeners of this discussion, take this letter to Archbishop Wester, get it around, get the program, this time we will have the entire program of the IPC as a video, get it around so that people can listen to the arguments, what we are fighting against, the danger of extinction, the memory of Hiroshima, the parallels in the present, the dangerous situation we are in, the demands of this changing world situation which does require that each of us act and not sit on the fence of history.

So, if everybody would start to become an organizer appealing to the Pope, the Pope would be surrounded by an ever more powerful chorus of voices from Africa, from Latin America, from Europe, from Asia, all demanding that he takes this role. And I’m sure that Putin would react exactly like Khrushchev did. And I think that Xi Jinping would also listen. And I think then we could convince President Trump, who set out in his second term, to bring better relations with Russia and China, that he still could do that. And hopefully, we will move the world into a secure domain.

Watch full IPC here

Hiroshima Day –This Does Not Have to Happen Again

August 11, 2026by tobi in General, International Peace Coalition

Report on IPC #166

The 166th consecutive weekly meeting of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) took place on August 7, 2026—81 years after the August 6th and 9th, days in 1945 when the world’s first use of nuclear weapons laid waste to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, killing at least 110,000 civilians, with many more dying later from the impact of the radiation. With the U.S. President Donald Trump Administration now openly “revising” its nuclear doctrine, making the use of nuclear weapons more likely in the proposed wars with Russia and China, the appropriate title of the event was “The Art of Reversing Our Criminal Course.”

Helga Zepp-LaRouche, the initiator of the IPC and the founder of the Schiller Institute, opened the event, noting that we are closer to a nuclear war than at any time in history, including the time of the October 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. She noted that there are no international arms control treaties left in existence; the international trust among nations and parties, even among so-called allies, has completely broken down and the old order no longer exists. In that context, for there to be a discussion by the so-called “U.S. Deputy Secretary of War” Elbridge Colby, as reported by NBC News, that the Pentagon is considering revising its nuclear doctrine to move away from deterrence towards nuclear war fighting—at a time when there are already two regional conflicts, in Ukraine and Southwest Asia, with the potential for the use of nuclear weapons and there is the rising danger that other nations may decide they need to acquire nuclear weapons—is incomprehensible! She noted that Iran has not only survived but defeated the most powerful military power in the world, the United States, which is backed by a strong military power, Israel. Despite Trump’s protests, the West is running out of munitions to fight forever wars. The signing of a military agreement between Saudi Arabia, Turkey (a member of NATO), and Pakistan (a nuclear power state) demonstrates the dramatic shifts taking place across the region. A new global architecture assuring both security and development for all nations is required, with justice for all, if these wars are to be stopped and no new wars are to be launched, she said.

Behind this crisis is the now over two quadrillion dollars in debt imposed on the trans-Atlantic economies, which is being addressed not by constructing a new system, but by returning to the methods of Hjalmar Schacht, Adolf Hitlerʼs president of the German Reichsbank and Minister of Economics from 1933 to 1937—diverting all available credit away from the real economy into military production and war-fighting. Underlying all of this is the Malthusian mentality of depopulation, as demonstrated by the recent call by the Sustainable Development Magazine calling for reducing the world’s population by half—to less than four billion by 2200.

The first speaker was Dr. Akiko Mikamo, the author of the book “8:15 A True Story of Survival and Forgiveness from Hiroshima,” now reprinted under the title “The Hiroshima Boy,” and producer of the documentary “8:15 Hiroshima, From Father to Daughter,” which describes in vivid detail the impact and the suffering of her father and mother, who were both in the death zone of the Hiroshima atomic bombing, but survived. She said that the annual event in Hiroshima commemorating the Aug 6, 1945 event this year saw 127 countries send representatives, while events were held around the world. She described the events, with pictures of the destruction of buildings and people. She said her father, Shinji Mikamo, refused to simply blame the United States, but blamed war. She closed by noting that people often respond to being harmed or being fearful, by striking out—which is also used to justify war. This is an endless cycle, she said, “which must be broken.”

Dr. Theodore Postol, professor emeritus of Science, Technology, and International Security at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a world expert on the impact of nuclear weapons, began by comparing Acting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Adolf Hitler near the end of World War II. He said, if Hitler had admitted defeat after Operation Bagration (June 1944)—when the Russian troops had destroyed within 3 weeks 28 of 32 German army divisions in Byelorussia and were at the Polish border, and it was clear that the war was over for Germany—the lives of 2-3 million Germans could have been spared. So, also with Zelenskyy today, who refuses to admit defeat.

On the proposed new U.S. nuclear doctrine, Dr. Postol said neither side could win a nuclear war, but could only unleash global destruction. He noted that he had warned that President Joe Biden’s administration had approved a few years ago the development of “super-fuses” for its “prompt strike” nuclear weapons, which by dramatically improving the targeting accuracy of the warheads, doubles the killing power per warhead against very hard targets—which, he said, would allow the use of lower yield nuclear warheads to destroy Russian nuclear missiles in their silos. The war hawks today may imagine the same now, but there is no such thing as a “tactical” nuclear weapon. He warns that many otherwise intelligent scientists don’t understand, and argue they can go ahead to “win” a nuclear war.

Dr. Postol added that proliferation is also a serious danger. Iran, he said, is being told by the United States openly that they are threatening to destroy Iran’s society and culture. In that light, Iran may believe that only building a nuclear weapon can prevent it. Iran is not likely to try, but they could build one if pressed to do so by upgrading their 60% enriched uranium. However, Iran could, with only its current armaments, virtually destroy the small state of Israel, and such an operation would leave Israel also in an existential crisis, which could lead to their own use of nuclear weapons.

Even the Saudis are worried about an Iranian bomb, while they also believe they can no longer rely on the United States to defend them, and are therefore reconsidering their own nuclear weapon plans. Acquisition of nuclear weapons may also be being considered by the Japanese, the South Koreans and Taiwan, Dr. Postol worried, due to their consideration of China’s nuclear weapons.

Helga responded that China is the only nation with a plan similar to her own Ten Principles of a New International Security and Development Architecture, referring to Chinaʼs Four Global Initiatives for development, security, civilization and governance.

Dr. Postol agreed. He also noted that the United States has had two presidents: Biden had essentially forced Russia to do what they did not want to do, in their attack on Ukraine, and Trump who started (together with Israel) an unprovoked war of aggression against Iran. We should be thankful, he said, that, like Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin is rational, which is our best hope that neither would use nuclear weapons.

Moderator Dennis Speed asked Dr. Postol about the 1946 U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey, which concluded that Japan would have surrendered even if the U.S. had not dropped the bomb, even if Russia had not threated to enter the war against Japan, and even if the U.S. had not threatened to invade.

Dr. Postol said that he believed the United States was planning to invade, estimating that millions of Americans and many millions of Japanese would die, and thus they decided to drop the bomb, believing that would save more lives that they would through an invasion. He added that whether it was right or wrong, it was done, and the horror of the result must serve to help prevent it even happening again.

This provoked a discussion amongst the participants, in particular from Zepp-LaRouche on the absolute lack of needed use of nuclear weapons, as Japan was prepared to surrender. Further discussion will be had.

John Steinbach, of the Washington based Hiroshima and Nagasaki Committee described the makeup of the 1946 U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey as essentially being the view of the Joint Chiefs of Staff—which included many members who were against the use of the bomb. But, Hap Arnold, who Steinbach said was an asset of President Truman, and was the only one in favor of using the bomb, won the argument. He also described the process by which scientists Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard approached Franklin Roosevelt explaining to him that a nuclear weapon was possible with the newly discovered principles of nuclear technology, and that Germany was trying to build such a device, and that the Manhattan Project to build the atomic bomb was necessary. However, when it was discovered that the Germans were not able to do this, rather than dropping the project, the target was switched to Japan.

Jack Gilroy described the open letter he and the IPC and the Schiller Institute had prepared to send to Archbishop John Wester, of Santa Fe, New Mexico, To Urge Pope Leo XIV to Call for a Peace Conference, as Pope John XXIII had done in 1962 at the urging of President John Kennedy and his associates to stop the Cuban Missile Crisis. Gilroy called on the moderator Anastasia Battle to read the letter, which she did.

The discussion period was based on a letter sent in by Sister Paz (“peace” in Spanish), a nun in Spain, about how to deal with the darkness coming from the financial and military oligarchy, suggesting that only the Infinite can answer that question. John Steinbach and Dr. Postol basically said “Amen.” Helga Zepp LaRouche called for the letter drafted by Jack Gilroy to the Pope to serve as a rallying point for people worldwide to focus attention on both the danger and the solution, to follow the lead of Mahatma Ghandi, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Nelson Mandela, and act Imago viva Dei.

[mob]

On the Escalation Ladder to Nuclear War: Where Are the Responsible Figures?

July 28, 2026by tobi in General, Helga statement, article, transcript

by Helga Zepp-LaRouche

July 26—The strategic situation threatens to spiral completely out of control in the short term due to two escalating regional wars—in Ukraine and the Middle East—potentially resulting in a global economic depression within weeks or, at most, months, or perhaps even leading in the short term to a nuclear Third World War. This existential concern is shared by a large portion of the population in the so-called “collective West,” yet the political establishment of the West—with few exceptions—makes not the slightest attempt to bring the war in Ukraine to an end through diplomacy and negotiation. While such efforts do exist regarding the war against Iran, they currently lack the necessary programmatic approach, and consequently, the requisite impact.

In the so-called Middle East—or more accurately, Southwest Asia—the United States is sinking into a strategic quagmire through its repeated bombing campaigns. These campaigns offer no prospect of a winner but will bring unspeakable suffering to millions of civilians across many countries, further impoverish the world’s poorest, trigger new refugee crises, and—in the worst-case scenario—escalate into a global war. This two-times unprovoked war of aggression against Iran has already fundamentally altered the balance of power in the region: the world’s strongest military power—the United States—and Israel, also an extremely powerful military force, have failed to defeat Iran, a nation of medium strength whose resilience was clearly vastly underestimated. The U.S.’s unilateral withdrawal from the Memorandum of Understanding signed on June 17 was likewise unprovoked, given that Article 5 of the MoU had officially granted Iran control over the Strait of Hormuz. Thus, whether they admit it or not, the U.S. has now lost the war with Iran—adding it to the list that includes Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria, alongside various other retreats.

The Gulf Cooperation Council states will have to draw the inevitable conclusion that the presence of U.S. military bases on their soil did not guarantee the promised security, but instead turned them into targets for Iranian retaliatory strikes. Recent mutual attacks on civilian infrastructure—and desalination plants in particular—threaten to potentially depopulate these desert nations. Kuwait relies on desalinated water for approximately 42% of its needs, the UAE for 52%, Bahrain for 68%, and Qatar for 77%. Without these desalination plants, these states are essentially deserts where no one can live.

After 13 nights of merciless American attacks on military and civilian installations in Iran, there is now a pause, likely due less to the allegations of war crimes than to a shortage of the U.S.’s ammunition—something one cannot say without risking imprisonment, according to U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz—and probably also protests from Gulf States fearing for their survival. Furthermore, the renewed fighting between Yemen and Saudi Arabia has demonstrated the consequences for the global economy should the Bab el-Mandeb Strait be blocked; such a scenario would force an additional 12-15% of global trade and roughly 30% of container shipping to take the significantly longer detour around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope.

The Sword of Damocles Looms

Despite the daily fluctuations by U.S. President Donald Trump, regarding the likelihood that this arbitrarily instigated war could still be ended by a “deal,” the Sword of Damocles continues to hang over everyone’s heads. Namely, the risk that the advice of certain warmongers to invade Iran with U.S. ground troops might be heeded—leading to massive shipments of “body bags” of dead soldiers back home, and, as a last resort, the use of tactical nuclear weapons to eliminate the Iranian nuclear facilities.

If this inhumane and desperate act of madness were to occur, it would immediately escalate beyond the region. Even though Iran has no formal military assistance pact with any other country, it is hardly conceivable that Russia and China would stand idly by while nuclear weapons are used against Iran. Annie Jacobsen, American author of the 2024 bestselling book Nuclear War: A Scenario, emphasized in an interview this week that anyone at the Pentagon who has considered this scenario knows that a nuclear war, however it begins, can only end in one way: with total, apocalyptic annihilation.

It is an almost macabre speculation about which war is more dangerous: the one against Iran or the one in Ukraine, which is in reality a complete proxy war by NATO against Russia.

General (ret.) Harald Kujat, former Inspector General of the German Armed Forces and Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, recently warned in the Swiss newspaper Zeitgeschehen im Fokus (Current Events in Focus), quoting the actuality of quotes of former Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, that the situation was worsening day by day, just as it had been in August 1914. He accused Western political leaders of never having attempted to prevent the war through diplomacy, but on the contrary, of having done everything in their power to prolong it and of providing financial, political, and material support.

Kujat ruthlessly criticizes the Western governments, and especially the German government: He criticizes the multiple transgressions of Russia’s absolute red lines, such as Ukraine’s attacks with NATO and/or U.S. support against strategic targets of Russia’s nuclear triad; the German government’s attempts to promote Ukraine’s NATO accession, another absolute red line for Russia; and, more generally, NATO’s de facto participation in Ukraine’s war against Russia, a war that would have ended long ago without massive arms deliveries, financial aid, training, satellite reconnaissance, and real-time target data, etc., and which Russia views as precisely that. Kujat rejects the claim that the coming war with Russia is inevitable, a claim the population is being prepared for daily through propaganda, as he does in many other articles, by pointing to the lack of cui bono and Russia’s insufficient capacity to invade a European country. Conversely, the conventional war for which Europe appears to be preparing, coupled with a delayed and questionable U.S. involvement, threatens to create a situation in which neither side can achieve a swift victory, thus creating the risk of the first use of nuclear weapons by one side or the other to force a resolution. According to Kujat, a nuclear winter would last approximately fifty years.

Even though both wars had ostensibly different triggers, the underlying dynamic in both stems from the same cause: the West as a whole could not resist the temptation, after the end of the Cold War, to succumb to an arrogant triumphalism. And while it was initially the Anglo-American neoconservatives who attempted to establish a unipolar world order, it was later the Europeans who adapted to this attempt, even sabotaging Trump’s initially perhaps earnest peace policy through a “coalition of the willing.” The unspeakable demonization of Russia only flared up again when Russian President Vladimir Putin set about asserting Russia’s role as a world power and sought to halt its containment. And China has done nothing wrong except violate the Wolfowitz Doctrine, which states that no nation or group of nations can ever be allowed to surpass the United States in political, economic, or military strength.

As a result of the boundless overconfidence of leading circles in the West, who accepted Western dominance in the world as their inherent birthright, and a long series of errors and mismanagement, as well as the complete lack of a positive vision for the future, which is now being replaced by aggressive militarism, the world order lies in ruins. We have—hopefully—only a very small window of opportunity left to end these wars through genuine diplomacy and to rebuild the shattered trust.

A New Framework for International Relations

There is only one promising way to save world peace: We must immediately place the establishment of a new global security and development architecture on the international agenda and seriously create a new framework for international relations. This must be based on the UN Charter, the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, and the lessons of the Peace of Westphalia, which emphasize that a peaceful order can only succeed if it takes into account the interests of “the other.”

In other words, the principle of indivisible security must be reinstated. Besides the Schiller Institute’s proposal for such a new architecture, formulated in the Ten Principles, China, with its four global initiatives, and especially its Global Governance Initiative, has so far made the most comprehensive proposal in this regard.

The month of August must be used intensively to prepare the formalization of the discussion on a new architecture, to initiate initial diplomatic preparations, and to take corresponding steps in parliaments and other relevant institutions. This year’s UN General Assembly—if we make it to September—may be humanity’s last chance to escape annihilation.

Kujat writes in the cited article: “To prevent the worst from happening, Europeans are now more than ever required to correct miscalculations and to act with realism, a sense of responsibility, and reason. In the current situation, negotiations to end the war must be seen not only as preventing a major European war, but also as an opportunity to avert Ukraine’s military defeat and to secure its continued existence as a sovereign, independent, and viable state. Now, individuals with strategic judgment and security policy foresight are needed, individuals who are guided by German interests and the constitutional mandate for peace, in order to find ways out of the danger of a major European war.”

These individuals, who exist in every country, must now step forward and demonstrate their responsibility. At stake is the mandate for peace enshrined in the German Basic Law and the question of whether we, as a human species, are morally capable of survival.

Please contact: helga-zepp@proton.me

Live Dialogue with Helga Zepp-LaRouche: On the Escalation Ladder to Nuclear War: Where Are the Responsible Figures?

July 28, 2026by tobi in General, Helga Webcast

Join Helga Zepp-LaRouche in her live dialogue and discuss the issues and solutions that move the world and its people. Send your questions & comments to questions@schillerinstitute.org.

Please share the YouTube link with your friends, acquaintances, and colleagues to increase the reach of the solutions presented by the LaRouche movement.

Wednesday, July 29, 2026, 11am ET/ 5pm CET

In her new article “On the Escalation Ladder to Nuclear War: Where Are the Responsible Figures?”, soon to be published in the EIR Magazine, Helga Zepp-LaRouche addresses the current danger of nuclear war resulting from an escalation in two volatile flashpoints—Ukraine and the Middle East.

Zepp-LaRouche writes:

The strategic situation threatens to spiral completely out of control in the short term due to two escalating regional wars—in Ukraine and the Middle East—potentially resulting in a global economic depression within weeks or, at most, months, or perhaps even leading in the short term to a nuclear Third World War. This existential concern is shared by a large portion of the population in the so-called “collective West,” yet the political establishment of the West—with few exceptions—makes not the slightest attempt to bring the war in Ukraine to an end through diplomacy and negotiation. While such efforts do exist regarding the war against Iran, they currently lack the necessary programmatic approach, and consequently, the requisite impact.

Join Helga Zepp-LaRouche for her weekly Live Dialogue and discuss her analysis and the implications for the current strategic situation.

The Road to War Is a Road of No Return

July 28, 2026by tobi in International Peace Coalition

Report on the 163rd meeting of the International Peace Coalition (IPC)

July 26, 2026 (EIRNS)—The 164th consecutive weekly meeting of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) commenced with remarks by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Schiller Institute founder and IPC initiator, who called attention to very important recent statements by retired German Air Force four-star general Harald Kujat.

She noted that it is incomprehensible to him how world leaders can be so oblivious to the lessons of history that they could seriously contemplate a third world war. She referred specifically to the threat of a U.S. attack on Iranian facilities that are located deep in Pickaxe Mountain, “out of reach of bunker buster bombs…. What hangs there in the air is the potential that a nuclear weapon could be used.” Due to the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the entrance to the Red Sea, both of which are vital to shipments of many products including crude oil and oil products, liquified natural gas, and various types of fertilizer, “A hunger crisis in the world is already pre-programmed.” She commented further on the “strange agreement” of U.S. President Donald Trump with the Saudis which purportedly provides assistance for nuclear energy development, but also requires Saudi Arabia to sign the Abraham Accords, which the Saudis will absolutely not do. Unfortunately, she said, after 164 weeks of IPC meetings, “we are closer to nuclear war than when we started.”

Jack Gilroy is a regular IPC participant who represents Veterans for Peace, Pax Christi–New York State, and Pax Christi International. He opened by saying, “People cannot continue to live in denial” about the war danger. He reminded the participants of how, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, President John F. Kennedy used trusted friends like Norman Cousins as backchannel intermediaries to Pope John XXIII. He then gave an update on his organization’s Letter to Archbishop Wester, which was scheduled to be sent in hard copy on the same day the IPC meeting took place.

In the Shadow of Jonathan Pollard

Jose Vega, independent candidate for New York’s 15th Congressional District in the Bronx, briefed the participants on Section 219 of the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). This section is titled “American-Israeli Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative,” but it were better called the “Jonathan Pollard Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative,” because it would share with the Israeli military the same sort of intelligence products which Pollard stole for them, and for which he was convicted of espionage. The NDAA, with this benighted section intact, has unfortunately now passed the House. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu personally takes credit for this section, which he says moves Israel’s status from aid recipient to formal partner. This has become controversial nationwide, due to the efforts of the IPC and former Congressman Dennis Kucinich to expose it. Vega listed journalists and podcasters on both the left and right who have covered this. Even U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), the Democratic Congresswoman for New York’s 14th C.D. (which includes the eastern part of the Bronx and parts of north-central Queens in New York City) has commented on it.

Prof. Clifford Kiracofe of the Washington Institute for Peace and Development explained the importance of calls and emails to elected officials. Hand-written postcards are perhaps the most effective means of communication, as they are instantly accessible and personal. He explained how the offending Section 219 could be deleted in the House-Senate reconciliation process.

Referring to the need for a new international security and development architecture as proposed by Zepp-LaRouche, he emphasized, “It’s extremely important that we have that vision in front of us.” He recalled that the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche was an important force behind the rise of militarism in the 19th Century, but there were also many conferences that focused on diplomacy, which is what we need today.

Moderator Anastasia Battle made a point of announcing the phone number for the U.S. Capitol Switchboard, 202-224-2131, for people to call their Congressman and Senators.

Larry Johnson, former CIA intelligence official and a member of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), predicted a major assault by the United States against Iran on the day of the IPC meeting, “after the stock market closes.” He also forecast a response by Iran that would be directed at Israel, including its refineries that produce diesel and aviation fuel. He said it is obvious that Russia and China are aiding Iran; both countries are interested in testing U.S. response to their weapons technology, and they are also glad to see the United States expending its arsenal.

Zepp-LaRouche responded, saying, “I think that if this happens, we are in a new geometry of destruction.”

Kiracofe asked Johnson to comment on Pakistan. Johnson said that the United States presently has a major influence in Pakistan, in part because Pakistan is presently requesting a $10 billion financial support facility from the U.S. Many feel that imprisoned Pakistani leader Imran Khan was undemocratically ousted from his elected role as President. He went on to say that reports of disunity in Iran are exaggerated and propagandistic.

Kiracofe referenced his own, 2024 book, Dark Crusade: The Israel Lobby and Christian Zionism. He briefly discussed the history of Christian Zionism, and how it views Russia, China and Iran as the bad guys who must be vanquished in order to arrange a successful Apocalypse. The British have used it for geopolitical purposes, “in the Palmerston mode.” “Frankly, it’s a counterintelligence issue,” he said, and warned that self-described “U.S. Secretary of War” Pete Hegseth and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee are Christian Zionists. All the conventional churches consider it a heresy, but it plays a key role in U.S. politics, which is why we have Section 219 of the NDAA.

Zepp-LaRouche responded, “The fact that the United States now is acting on a Palmerston profile is no coincidence,” referring to mid-19th-Century British Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston. When the British realized they could not conquer the U.S. militarily, they shifted gears to a strategy of persuading the United States to adopt a British imperial world outlook. This is an irony of history, and there are others: “In Germany, they have no problem with joining the fight against the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court.”

Johnson said in conclusion, “The one country in the world that has consistently violated every international agreement is the United States…. It’s not China which has 700 military bases scattered all around the world.” Yet the United States has the illusion that “we’re the good guys.”

Discussion

Zepp-LaRouche said that the United Nations General Assembly is the immediate focal point for international collaboration for peace. She noted that the ASEAN nations had issued a statement in opposition to the U.S. war against Iran. The BRICS nations, who have also played an important role, have all been targeted by the neocons with various kinds of internal destabilization.

A British woman who is a regular IPC participant praised the work of Francesca Albanese, an Italian legal scholar and, since May 2022, UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, and announced the publication of Albanese’s new book, When the World Sleeps: Stories, Words, and Wounds of Palestine.

A farm activist from Missouri reported on how his organization uses EIR and IPC materials in their activism, and endorsed the practice of calling the U.S. Congress.

Zepp-LaRouche said in her concluding remarks, “There is an unbelievable dismantling of civil rights in Europe and also the United States.” We need treaties to control the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for military purposes. She urged the participants to take Jack Gilroy’s letter to any religious institution with which they may be affiliated, warning, “Many of them speak a language which is not the language of peace.” The Pope has said “the road to war is a road of no return,” and that should be taken very seriously. She urged people to circulate computer translations of the article by Kujat.

eir

Letter To Archbishop John Wester, To Urge Pope Leo XIV to Call for a Peace Conference

July 27, 2026by tobi in General

The following Letter to US Archbishop John Wester to Appeal to Pope Leo XIV to Call for a Peace Conference was sent on July 24, 2026. The Letter was initiated by Jack Gilroy in the International Peace Coalition meeting # 162, July 10, and has been endorsed by many individuals and organizations, expressing great urgent concern about the growing danger of nuclear war. Circulation of the Letter will continue over the coming days to galvanize increasing support for this Appeal.

July 24, 2026

Most Reverend John C. Wester, D.D.

Archdiocese of Santa Fe

Dear Archbishop Wester:

Congratulations on being named Pax Christi USA’s Teacher of Peace for 2026! It is such a well-deserved honor. Ever since your first trip to Japan and your pastoral letter, “Living in the Light of Christ’s Peace: A Conversation toward Nuclear Disarmament,” you have become a leading voice for the abolition of nuclear weapons in the Catholic Church and throughout the U.S. Establishing the “Partnership for a World without Nuclear Weapons” has extended that reach even farther. We are so pleased that you will be receiving this award in the coming months.

As you know, the threat of nuclear war seems to be increasing daily despite the 100 nations that have signed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), 75 of whom have also ratified it. This year’s Non Proliferation Treaty Review Conference was a disappointment once again. New START was allowed to expire. Russia, the U.S., and Israel, all nuclear states, are at war. Finland’s president recently signed legislation to allow the import and transit of nuclear weapons. And Lithuanian leaders are said to have agreed to amend the constitution to allow Lithuania to host nuclear weapons in the future.

In short, we are getting as close to nuclear war as we were during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. That crisis ended with diplomacy that saved the planet, and Pope John XXIII was a key figure in making that happen. His influential role is not well known, but it was he who spoke out to set the needed moral tone that helped each side to act for peace.

This is how it developed: In fall 1962, Journalist Norman Cousins convened in Andover, Massachusetts, an informal discussion group of Soviet and American academicians. Providentially, they met on October 22, the evening Kennedy addressed the nation on the Soviet nuclear missile threat in Cuba and ordered the Navy to intercept any additional shipments.

Included among those invited by Cousins was a Vatican adviser to Pope John XXIII, Rev. Felix Morlion. He asked if a papal intervention might help defuse the situation. Cousins phoned the White House; a Soviet member of the informal group phoned Moscow. Both got a nihil obstat. Fr. Morlion notified the Vatican.

On October 25, Vatican Radio broadcast a strong appeal by Pope John for peace to world leaders, in particular Kennedy and Khrushchev. It stated in part: “With your hand on your conscience may each one hear the anguished cry which is raised to the skies from all parts of the earth: Peace, peace! We renew this solemn plea today.”

Pravda immediately printed the Pope’s message with a banner headline. And on October 28, when Khrushchev announced the pull-out of the missiles from Cuba, Pravda reprinted the Pope’s message, praising the Pope’s “realism on the question of peace.” In turn, the United States withdrew missiles from Turkey. Hundreds of millions gave a sigh of relief, and negotiations between the U.S. and the USSR led to the first nuclear test ban in 1963.

Weeks later, Khrushchev told Cousins how much he admired Pope John, saying: “During that week of the Cuban missile crisis the Pope’s appeal was a real ray of light. I was grateful for it.”

Several years after that, Khrushchev’s son Sergey said that the words of Pope John XXIII were strongly persuasive on the consciences of people, especially those of his father and Kennedy.

With this in mind, we were thinking it might be time for something similar to happen today. Might Pope Leo XIV call for a Peace Conference to withdraw nuclear weapons from the Russian border and call for the abolition of nuclear weapons worldwide? He already suggested something along these lines at the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki when he prayed that those bombings would “serve as a call to the international community to renew its commitment to pursuing lasting peace for our whole human family — ‘a peace that is unarmed and disarming’” Perhaps the Vatican or another neutral location such as Vienna or Geneva could be the venue.

Would you be able to help bring this recommendation to Pope Leo? We believe you, as a strong and highly-respected advocate for the abolition of nuclear weapons, would be the ideal diplomat to encourage Pope Leo to bring Heads of State Putin, Trump, and Xi Jinping together to plan an end to nuclear weapons and to pave a new road of economic conversion from a war economy to economic development for all people everywhere. Your intercession and the strong leadership of Pope Leo could move us away from the sheer madness we are now experiencing.

Sincerely,

Jack Gilroy, Pax Christi New York State Council; Veterans For Peace;
Ban Killer Drones; International Peace Coalition of the Schiller Institute

Rosemarie Pace, Ed.D., PCNYS Coordinator; USA Palestine Solidarity Working Group; Pax Christi International Sudan Working Group

In collaboration with The Pax Christi New York State Council

Pax Christi USA (PCUSA) Teacher of Peace Honorees who have endorsed this letter: (See more on these in the complete listing of endorsements below.)

James V. Albertini (2010)
Roy Bourgeois (1997)
Marie Dennis (2022)
James W. Douglass (1994)
Kathy Kelly (1998)
William P. Quigley (2003)
Martin Sheen (1999)

Endorsements as of August 9, 2026:

Maurizio Abbate, Chairman of ENAC – National Institute for Cultural Activities, Italy
Akbar Ahmed, Distinguished Professor, American University, Washington D.C., Former Pakistani Diplomat
Muhammad Salim Akhtar, National Director American Muslim Task Force on Civil Rights and Elections
Jim Albertini, PCUSA Teacher of Peace, 2010
Dr. Abdullah al-Ahsan, Professor of Comparative Civilization; former Vice President of JUST International, Movement for a Just World
All Saints Parish, Syracuse, New York
–> Fr. Fred Daley, Pastor
–> Meg Ksander, Pastoral Associate
Missy Androu, St Anthony Church Solidarity Community
Syed Azhar, National Director, Pakistani American Democratic Forum
Dr. Abdoulaye Balde, United States, Founding member Futa Islamic Center, New York
Karen Ball, Board Member, Pax Christi Texas, San Antonio Chapter
Roger C. Barnes, Professor Emeritus, University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, TX
Franco Battaglia, President of Chemical Physics, University of Moderna, founder, Italy
Anastasia Battle, Schiller Institute, International Peace Coalition Co-Initiator
William O. Beeman, Professor Emeritus and Former Chair of Anthropology, University of Minnesota
Carolyn Bentley, Pax Christi Dallas, TX & Dallas, TX Peace and Justice Center
Guus Berkhout, Emeritus Professor of Geophysics, Delft University of Technology; Member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts & Science; ECD Ambassador, CLINTEL founder
Ronald Bettag, Schiller Institute, International Peace Coalition, Texas USA
Fr. Roy Bourgeois, PCUSA Teacher of Peace 1997
Kathy Boylan, Catholic Worker, Washington D.C.
Fr. Harry Bury, Twin Cities Nonviolent, Author. Member of U.S. Catholic Priests Association
Ken Butigan, Co-Director, The Catholic Institute for Nonviolence (DePaul University, Chicago)
Right Reverend John Bryson Chane D.D., 8th Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Washington D.C.
Fr. Daniel Clayton, Priest of the Diocese of Dallas, TX
Catherine Clubb Foley, Pax Christi Houston, TX Member
James C. Cobey, Founder, Health Volunteers Overseas; Steering Committee, Voices From the Holy Land; Shared 1997 Nobel Peace Prize as part of work with Physicians for Humanity
Jay Coghlan, Executive Director, Nuclear Watch, New Mexico
Marjorie Cohn, Professor Emerita, Thomas Jefferson School of Law; Dean, People’s Academy of International Law
Gerry Condon, Facilitator, Nuclear Abolition Working Group of Veterans for Peace
M. Phyllis Cunningham, Pax Christi, Metro New York
Bob Cushing, A Founding Father of the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests
Dr. Thomas Clough Daffern, Director, International Institute of Peace Studies and Global Philosophy
Arthur Dawes, Pax Christi Texas Board President & the full Texas Pax Christi Chapter
Fr. John Dear, “Beatitude Center for the Nonviolent Jesus” & “The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast”
Pat Delgado, Pax Christi El Paso Coordinator & Pax Christi Texas Board Member
Sylvia Demarest, Retired Lawyer and Substack writer
Marie Dennis, Pax Christi USA (PCUSA) Teacher of Peace 2022, Ambassador of Peace, & Senior Program Director of Pax Christi International’s Catholic Nonviolence Initiative
Joan Dolan, Pax Christi Texas
Jim Douglass, PCUSA Teacher of Peace 1994, author
Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi, U.S., Islamic House of Wisdom, Dearborn Heights, MI
Joseph Essertier, Associate Professor, Nagoya Institute of Technology
Joseph Fahey, Co-founder & Former General Secretary of PCUSA
Professor Richard Falk, Professor Emeritus of International Law at Princeton University; Former U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories; Vice President, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
Mike Ferner, Former national president, Veterans For Peace
Norma Field, Professor Emerita, University of Chicago (Home of the Fermi Experiment)
Jill Frasier, Pax Christi Metro New York Board Member
Chrisopher Fogarty, President of Friends of Irish Freedom Chicago
Hiroshi Fujimoto, Research Fellow, International Peace Research Institute, Meiji Gakuin University (Japan)
Rev. David Gerlich, Honolulu, Hawaii, author of Jesus Christ He Still Matters
Paul Gessler, Veterans for Peace, Ft. Collins, Colorado
Sr. Carol Gilbert, Dominican Sister and Plow Shares activist
Liliani Gorini, Chairwoman of Movisol, Italy
Clare Grady, Plowshares Activist
Elliot Greenspan, Schiller Institute, International Peace Coalition, New Jersey USA
Claudio Guidici, Chairman of Uritaxi – Taxi drivers trade union
Joyce Hall, Pax Christi Dallas, TX Coordinator & Member of the Pax Christi TX Board
Rick Halperin, Director, Southern Methodist University Human Rights program
Jaap Hanekamp, Associate Professor of Chemistry, Utrecht University of the Netherlands
Jovita Harrah, Pax Christi Northern California
Leslie Harris, CODEPINK; Veterans For Peace; Dallas Peace and Justice Center
Fr John Heagle, Director of Priests Against Genocide
Johannes Heibel, Peace Activist, Germany
Ira Helfand, Former President of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War; Co-founder Back from the Brink
Bernie Holland, United for Peace, UK
Saskia Hostetler, Anti-war activist, technology harm advocate – Portland, Oregon, USA
Ivana Nikolic Hughes, President, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of Chemistry at Columbia University
Vic Hummert, Former Maryknoll Priest and Author
Wally Ingle, Pax Christi Hawaii
Hadi Jawad, Human Rights Dallas, TX
Frank Kartheiser, Catholic Workers Movement, MA, USA
Professor Yoshiyuki Kato, Rikkyu University, Japan
Tarak Kauff, New York Member of Veterans For Peace; Editor: Peace & Planet New
Kathy Kelly, PCUSA Teacher of Peace 1998
Sr. Martha Ann Kirk, Th.D., University of the Incarnate Word
Dennis Kucinich, Former Mayor of Cleveland and Former U.S. Representative from Ohio
Jonathan Kuttab, Executive Director, Friends of Sabeel North America
Peter Kuznick, Professor of History and Director of Nuclear Studies Institute at American University, Washington, D.C.
Yuba Nath Lamsal, Former Nepal Ambassador to Denmark; with concurrent accreditation to Norway, Sweden, Finland and Lithuania, May 2017 to June 2021; a 30-plus years career in journalism, as editor of The Rising Nepal daily. An ardent opponent of nuclear weapons
Helga Zepp LaRouche, Founder, Schiller Institute, and Initiator of the International Peace Coalition
Kees le Pair, Assistant Professor American University Beirut, Lebanon; National Science Foundation, Wash. D.C.; research with Philips, Siemens; science advisor – Netherlands
Nydia Leaf, Pax Christi, Metro New York Member
Dr. Richard G. Linowes, President, Clarewood University, Reston, VA
Jeff Mason, Pax Christi Quad Cities, USA
Gavan McCormack, Emeritus Professor, Australian National University
Raymond McGovern, Former CIA Analyst, Current Peace Activist
Evalee Mickey, Peace activist, North Liberty, Louisiana, USA
Josef Miklosko, former Deputy Prime Minister of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic; former Ambassador of the Slovak Republic in Italy, San Marino, and Malta; former secretary of the commission of the Conference of Bishops of Slovakia: Justice and Peace
Carlo Levi Minzi, Pianist, Italy
Claudia Morgan, Pax Christi Texas Board
Nick Mottern, Coordinator-Ban Killer Drones and the Weaponized Drone Ban Treaty Campaign
Muslim Democratic Caucus c/o President Amir Rahmam
Satoko Oka Norimatsu, Director, Peace Philosophy Centre; Editor, The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
Nancy Oetter, Regional Coordinator, Pax Christi Illinois
Melissa Parke, Executive Director International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN)
Johanna Parkinson, Dallas Area Interfaith
Margaret M. Power, President, Historians for Peace and Democracy (USA)
Pax Christi Little Rock, Arkansas

Pax Christi Metro New York Board
Pax Christi New York State Council: John Amidon, Ben Salmon Chapter Pax Christi Upstate New York; Veteran For Peace; Co-Founder Kateri Peace Conference; Tom Casey, Pax Christi Western New York; Pierre Fidelia, Pax Christi Metro New York Board President; Bob Keeler, Pax Christi Long Island; Ed Kubik, Pax Christi Long Island; Mary Beth Moore, SC, Pax Christi Long Island; Mark Scibilia-Carver, Ben Salmon Chapter Pax Christi Upstate New York
Lorin Peters, Pax Christi Moderator of the Northern California Chapter, Pax Christi U.S. Disarmament Working Group
Bill Quigley, Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace 200; Emeritus Professor of Law, Loyola University New Orleans, Louisiana
Steve Rabson, Professor Emeritus, Brown University, Veteran, U.S. Army
Judith Robinson, Retired Russia Desk Officer for USAID, Dept. of Commerce BISNIS Unit, & State Department Education & Transportation USA
Paz Rosales, RSCJ, Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Spain
Jean Ross, Vote Climate Board Chair
Alessia Ruggeri, Trade unionist, Italy
Susan Schnall, President Veterans for Peace USA
Meinrad Schneckenleithner, former Vice-President Pax Christi Austria
E. Martin Schotz, MD, author and active advocate for peace and nuclear disarmament
Martin Sheen, Actor & Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace 1999
Aftab Siddiqui, President, Dallas, TX Peace and Justice Center
Martin Sieff, Former Chief Political Correspondent, United Press International, Three time Pulitzer Prize Nominee
Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus — Province of Venezuela Provincial,
Sister Fernanda Vacas Navarro, RSCJ
Sister Emilia M. Martinez Rivas, RSCJ
Alice Slater, World Beyond War
Rev Robert Smith, Pastor, New Bethel Baptist Church, Detroit, MI; and Founder Haiti Mission Alliance
Fr. Martin Solma, SM – Kalaepohaku Marianist Coummunity, Honolulu, Hi
St Lucy’s Catholic Church, Syracuse NY, Fr Jim Mathews, Pastor; Margot Goldsmith, Pastoral Assistant; Corinne Driscoll, Chair of Justice & Peace Committee
John Steinbach, Coordinator, Hiroshima Nagasaki Peace Committee-North Capitol Area, Washington, D.C.
Elaine Sullivan, M.Ed., LPC; LMFT, Counselor; former Benedictine Nun, Dallas, TX
Fr. Bernard Survil, U.S. Catholic Priests Association
Alice Sutter, Raging Grannies NYC
David Swanson, Executive Director of World Beyond War
Diane Swords, Syracuse Peace Council
Br. Terence J Taffe, Cap., MA, LMSW. Province of St Mary, Capuchin Order
Takao Takahara, Professor, and former Director of International Peace Research Institute, Meiji Gakuin University, Tokyo, Japan
Fr. Tim Taugher, Pastor, St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Binghamton, NY
Kateri Tekakwitha Interfaith Peace Conference
Ellen Thomas, Proposition One Campaign for a Nuclear-Free Future
Chris Todhunter, Teacher, The School of Philosophy and Economics Science in London, author
Dr. Mohammad A. Toor, Chairman of Board of Trustees Pakistani American Congress; President, American Pakistani Physicians for Justice & Democracy; Chairman of American Muslim Alliance
Regis Tremblay, Crimea, Director “Thirty Seconds to Midnight”
Patricia Tweedy, Pax Christi Metro New York Board
Veterans for Peace Chapter 10, Albany NY
Lawrence B. Wilkerson, Colonel, U.S. Army (Retired), Former Chief of Staff to the U.S. Secretary of State
Jim Wohlgemuth, Veterans For Peace Coordinator of the Hector Black Chapter – Nashville, TN
Ann Wright, Retired Colonel, US Army, and Diplomat; author, Dissent: Voices of Conscience; Whistleblower; Board of Directors, CODEPINK
Zool Zulkowitz, New York Directors Guild of America; Artistic Director, The Rising Together Theater Company; Jewish Voice for Peace; Veterans For Peace

EIR Roundtable: Solve the Immigration Crisis with Development; What You Need to Know About the Strategic Significance of Pope Leo’s Encyclical

July 27, 2026by tobi in General

EIR has issued the following invitation to its July 31 Emergency Roundtable Dialogue.

As the Iran and Ukraine wars fester and threaten to escalate into nuclear World War III, it has become clear that, if humanity is to survive, we will have to discover and implement a way to achieve a durable peace for all, based on development for all, security for all, and above all human dignity for all. In the last two months, a new strategic factor has come into play which brings that opportunity a lot closer.

Pope Leo XIV’s recent week-long trip to Spain, combined with his May 15 first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, has issued a call for humanity to act as one in its common purpose of seeking peace and development for all nations by ending colonialism in all its forms once and for all; he has grounded that call to action in a concept of Man’s essential dignity (“The desire for goodness, beauty and truth is rooted in the very DNA of humanity”); and he has specifically applied this approach to the horrendous problem of global forced migration that affects hundreds of millions of desperate migrants—and the countries that receive them: “We are speaking, above all, of people created in the image and likeness of God, rather than of legal categories or problems to be managed.”

In so doing, the Pope has followed through on his earlier commitment to the Coincidence of Opposites method of the XV century Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa, and he has also spoken not only for Catholics, but for many billions more of other faiths who share this outlook. He has introduced a principle which, if spread and applied globally, can play a major role in the construction of a new international security and development architecture.

As EIR Editor-in-Chief Helga Zepp-LaRouche wrote in a June 17 statement about the Pope’s encyclical:

“Of all the important and urgent speeches delivered recently by politicians and experts from many countries with the aim of preventing the strategic situation from escalating into a catastrophe that would wipe out the human race, Pope Leo XIV’s intervention—with his encyclical Magnifica Humanitas and the addresses he delivered during his recent trip to Spain—is, in my best judgment, by far the most important. When historians later examine the question of what—hopefully—proved to be the decisive factor in bringing Western civilization, in the midst of a deep spiritual and cultural crisis, to change course, they will come upon the role played by the Pope, and the willingness of a sufficiently large number of believers and people of good will to take his words to heart and bring about a change in policy…

“At the same time, he indicates the way out of the crisis, which is within reach, namely, that people summon up the highest ideal of the Christian view of humanity, and put it into practice…

“Among the various aspects of these [failed Western] policies, all of which are building blocks of the new Tower of Babel, are the idolatry of profit at the expense of the poorest, the financial interests that fuel tensions and conflicts to keep the war industry up and running, and support for modern forms of slavery.”

Zepp-LaRouche then quoted the Pope’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas:

“81. A litmus test for social justice today is the treatment of migrants, refugees and those forced to move due to poverty, violence, climate change and environmental disasters… It means promoting the right to remain in one’s homeland in peace and security by addressing the root causes that force people to migrate, including those linked to economic injustices and the climate crisis. When these rights are respected, migration can become an opportunity for encounter and mutual enrichment among peoples.”

Zepp-LaRouche insisted:

“Instead of clinging to an inhuman neo-colonialist mindset, the governments of Europe and the U.S. are called upon to immediately commit to international cooperation aimed at completely eradicating poverty and underdevelopment in all nations on this planet.”

These tasks are both immediate and achievable. Zepp-LaRouche stated in a June 17 webcast:

“The continent of Africa will have 2.5 billion people by the year 2050. And that means that if you want to deal with the migration crisis in a human way, we have to create 1 billion new productive jobs in the next 25 years. And that would be a totally welcomed reversal of the present policy. It would at the same time also help the European governments and countries to get out of the economic crisis by having a tripartite cooperation with the BRICS countries.

“And for the United States, the same thing is valid. If you look at the migration crisis at the U.S.-Mexican border, it’s definitely the same approach which the United States should take in respect to the so-called Western Hemisphere. By joining hands with China, rather than trying to drive China out of Latin America, they should join and build things like the Chancay port, which is already built in Peru, but connect it to a bi-oceanic railway from the Atlantic to the Pacific. And in that way connect that with other great infrastructure projects. That would eliminate the root causes for the migrant problem in Latin America as well.”

The combination of the extremely dangerous global situation and this new hopeful strategic flank, require full deliberation by leading international thinkers. That is the purpose of the upcoming July 31 EIR Roundtable Dialogue, which will consist of two panels: A) Pope Leo and the Dialogue of Civilizations; B) Development Drive Means Billions of New Jobs, No Refugees, No War.

📅Online roundtable forum: 11 a.m. ET on Friday July 31 2026
Livestream in English on YouTube, and in Spanish, German and French simultaneous interpretation on Zoom.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83910952588?pwd=oriOURhs2ZOjZzAtzGzhv5MZAhsiDu.1
Passcode: 850621

Panel 1 (11:00—1:00)

A Dialogue of Civilizations: Development or World War III

Moderator: Dennis Speed

Helga Zepp-LaRouche (Germany): Editor-in-Chief, EIR
Liu Chang (China): spokesman for the Embassy of China in the U.S
Rostam Adabinia (Iran): Minister Counselor, embassy of Iran in Mexico
Richard Falk (U.S.): professor emeritus of international law, Princeton University
Remi Lebrun (France): Schiller Institute
Fr. Harry Bury (US), Twin Cities Nonviolent, Author. Member of U.S. Catholic Priests Association
Jack Gilroy (U.S.): member Veterans for Peace, Pax Christi
Daisuke Kotegawa (Japan): former Executive Director for Japan, IMF

Q&A

Panel 2 (1:30—3:30)

Solving the Migrant Crisis: Does Mankind Have the Moral Fitness to Survive?

Moderator: Anastasia Battle

Dennis Small (U.S.): EIR Ibero-America director
Mário Maurici (Brazil): Member and First Secretary of the São Paulo State Legislature
Donald Ramotar (Guyana): former President of Guyana
María de los Ángeles Huerta (Mexico): former congresswoman
Diane Sare (U.S.): independent candidate for President of the United States
SEM Ambassador Youssouf Abassalah, Ambassador of the Republic of Chad to Germany
Timothy Ninsiima (Uganda): youth leader
Claudio Celani (Italy): co-editor, EIR Strategic Alert Service
Adama Coulibaly (Burkina Faso): former Chief of Staff to the Min. of Communication

Q&A

Brazil Presidential Advisor Celso Amorim: The Money for Wars Is Taken Away From Development

July 25, 2026by tobi in General

July 25, 2026 (EIRNS)–Celso Amorim, Special Advisor to Brazilian President Lula da Silva, stated that peace and development are indivisible; each requires the other to be achieved, he emphasized in an exclusive July 24 interview with EIR’s Dennis Small. He spoke of how the wars ongoing around the world harm the global economy, taking government monies out of the health care, infrastructure and other investments needed, especially in the developing countries, while increasing the costs of such basic inputs as fuels and fertilizers. As for the growing danger of nuclear war, Amorim reiterated Brazil’s long-standing advocacy of nuclear disarmament by all nations, without distinction.

Brazil seeks respectful relations with all nations, China, the United States, India, et.al., with pragmatic cooperation on economic projects despite their differences. That is why Brazil seeks a multipolar world, as seen in its participation in groups such as the BRICS. That is why Brazil also seeks to foster South American integration. With such neighbors as Peru, South America can accomplish in the 21st century what the United States did in the 19th century, establishing a usable link between the Atlantic and the Pacific.

Is such a world possible? Amorim insisted: “If you do not believe in the future, what is the point of life? For our children and our grandchildren, and the children of other people…”

Brazil, a founding member of the BRICS, is the largest country in South America, both in population and territory. Amorim, today Special Advisor to the President, served as Foreign Minister in President Lula’s first two terms in office (2003-2010), and Defense Minister under President Dilma Rousseff from 2011-2013.

Live Dialogue with Helga Zepp-LaRouche: We Are Approaching a Nuclear War which Will Destroy Civilization

July 21, 2026by tobi in General, Helga Webcast

Join Helga Zepp-LaRouche in her live dialogue and discuss the issues and solutions that move the world and its people. Send your questions & comments to questions@schillerinstitute.org.

Please share the YouTube link with your friends, acquaintances, and colleagues to increase the reach of the solutions presented by the LaRouche movement.

Wednesday, July 22, 2026, 11am ET/ 5pm CET

In an interview on YouTube, Harald Kujat of Germany warned against the military buildup against Russia in the following words. Gen. Kujat is a retired German Four-Star Air Force General; former Chief of Staff of the German Armed Forces; and was Chairman of the NATO Military Committee from 2002-2005.

“We are dealing with a nuclear power—namely, the largest nuclear power on this Earth. Through the use of nuclear weapons, we are capable of bringing about the end of the world. And if that is not an incentive to prevent an escalation into a war with the largest nuclear power, then I do not know what else it would take. At the very least, it would mean that here in Europe, the use of nuclear weapons would trigger at least a 50-year Nuclear Winter.

“How is this European continent supposed to survive if there is a war here? We have witnessed the destruction of the Second World War. A future war would surpass that by many times over. Where has this historical knowledge actually gone among our politicians? Where is the understanding of the dangers we are exposed to today?”

————

We in the Schiller Institute, which founded and convenes the International Peace Coalition weekly, fully agree with this assertion of General Kujat that the world–not only Europe–is sliding towards a pit of war which looks, with every passing day, more likely to be a nuclear war, from which no nation would recover; and at this point, no one can say how long it will be before we cannot reverse that slide.

Helga Zepp-LaRouche, founder of the Schiller Institute, remarked today that General Kujat’s statement expresses the view of humanity’s future, which she has held for some time. “We have never been at this level of danger before,” she said, not in the Cuban Missile Crisis, not in World War II.

The march to world war must be stopped before the arrogant and ignorant confidence of so many political “leaders” of the West makes it unstoppable.

Therefore we are organizing our political activities and economic collaborations, and the independent campaigns of Diane Sare for President, Jose Vega in the Bronx C.D. 15, and those independent candidates around the country who will accept this responsibility, to stop this march to world war, and to open regional paths to economic development and peace.

This is epitomized by the proposed “Extended Oasis Plan for Southwest Asia” which must be implemented, now after 50 years since it was first proposed by the American economist and statesman Lyndon LaRouche, in order to restore peace in that region.

Page 1 of 3412 3 »...Last

tobi

Recent posts