General

Dec. 13, 2025 (EIRNS)—The International Peace Coalition (IPC) met online on Friday Dec. 12 for its 132nd consecutive weekly meeting, featuring a dramatic discussion on the turning point in history caused by the release of the National Security Strategy (NSS) by the Trump Administration, dated November 2025, which, as Dennis Small put it, has “kicked over the chessboard.” The opening speakers were Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Schiller Institute leader and initiator of the IPC; Alastair Crooke, diplomat and nearly 30 years in MI6; Graham Fuller, 20 years in the CIA and former vice-chairman of the CIA’s National Intelligence Council; former President of Guyana Donald Ramotar; and Dennis Small, Ibero-American Intelligence Director of Executive Intelligence Review. Crooke and Fuller had been collaborators through their work in the Arab world.

Zepp-LaRouche discussed the “hysteria,” provoked by the NSS, which though it has problematic points, it breaks with the presumptions of what the U.S. will support in Europe, NATO, and elsewhere. She encouraged people to read and circulate her Dec. 8 article “Withdraw from NATO! New National Security Strategy Requires New Security Architecture.”

Alastair Crooke noted that the NSS marks a U.S. turn, away from the focus on China and the war in Ukraine, and openly attacks policies of the European leaders and NATO. He said what was needed was for the United States to acknowledge that its sanctions policies had utterly failed in their intent to drive China and Russia out of their leadership role in world affairs.

U.S. Tariffs Are a ‘Shakedown’

In regard to Trump’s use of tariffs, he said that this was claiming to be based on Alexander Hamilton’s promotion of tariffs for the new United States, but that Trump was using them as a “shakedown,” intended to coerce nations to invest in the United States or buy the U.S. debt. This will not work, he said, because of the massive growth of the debt bubble in the U.S.

On the Ukraine war, Crooke is concerned that Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner do not represent the Congress nor any other institutions, but that one is a real estate fiend, and the other is a personal family member of Trump. This is part of the fact that Trump is looking at the relations with Russia and Ukraine in terms of money, over “who gets the money, be it BlackRock or the EU,” as demonstrated by the insane European seizure of the Russian reserves. The Europeans have become “psychotic,” he said, in their wildly false contention that they could “defeat Russia.”

On Venezuela, Crooke noted that President Nicolás Maduro had offered to allow the U.S. oil and mining companies to essentially take over the natural wealth of the country, but Trump said “No.” Why would he turn this down, Crooke asked? It must be seen in the context of China’s counteroffer during the Shanghai Expo in November, to implement a zero-tariff trade policy and invest in the Venezuela oil and mining sector itself, without the conditionalities demanded by the U.S., insisting on being an “ally” and maintaining dollar hegemony. The U.S. now wants to establish something like a blockade, keeping China (and others) out. Crooke doubts that China will simply accept this.

Graham Fuller said that he was “shocked” by the NSS as the biggest shift in world affairs since the fall of the U.S.S.R., and yet, he said, there had been no warning that this was in the works, not from the press nor from the pundits. He also was amazed that Europe appears to have lost its sense of history and is ignoring the dramatic shift in Asia. He asked for Crooke’s view.

‘Davos Values’ Took Over NATO

Crooke responded that it began with the NATO bombing of Belgrade in 1999, without any approval from the United Nations. That led to the transformation of NATO as a force for military defense into an offensive force based on political criteria, which Crooke called “liberal values, the Davos values.” That became universal, with the leaders of NATO and Western nations all coming from the same clique. This was reinforced when U.S. President Joe Biden gave his “Manichean” speech in the UN, followed by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen giving an almost verbatim speech. Thus, the mention of “good vs evil,” “light vs. darkness,” “autocracy vs. freedom” became the standard replacement for serious intelligence and diplomacy, a “lever” for a conflict with Russia—“irrational, and dangerous.” The irony is that Europe now has no democracy at all. Even the EU European Commission leadership is unelected.

Crooke reported that he had been in both Russia and China over the past weeks, and they know this about the West. The Russians, in particular, know that Europe has no money, no weapons nor manpower to fight a war with Russia, yet they promote war all the time. Crooke says he believes they can’t fight such a war, “but they can provoke a war,” and even small countries like Estonia can do so. The intention is similar to Winston Churchill’s use of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor to bring the U.S. into a war against Germany. The population in Europe is not ready for war—“they are more interested in holidays and designer shoes.” The preconditions for a solution have been taken down. They are the autocracy they complain about.

Zepp-LaRouche expressed agreement with both Crooke and Fuller. Europe suffers from the neoliberal system, which is getting worse. There are attacks on the Classics, against truth and beauty, and instead, attention is paid to minor things that are “interesting.” The West has become “more and more insane, pornographic.” She referenced Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s comment that the West has turned against the morals of their grandparents, adopting a “post-Christian ideology.” The great poets and scientists are gone. Our friends in the Global South “can’t understand why the West is destroying itself.” We must be more like Asia, which is reaching back to its best (Confucian) traditions for a new cultural era: “We must look back to the Italian Renaissance, the German high culture, to rediscover our earlier contributions to the human species.”

Danger of the U.S. in the Caribbean

Former Guyana President Donald Ramotar then spoke, posing the great danger inherent in the NSS concept of America throwing out international law and threatening to take over South America and the Caribbean. He said that the leaders in the region are terrified, afraid to speak out for fear of American economic or military attacks. “The silence is deafening,” he said. The effort is to push China out, even though it is China that is “building the infrastructure which we have been denied for so long.” It appears that the oil and mining companies are running policy in Washington. Trump’s approach to Russia is admirable, but he doubts that any future President will sustain it. He appreciates the migration problem, “but they must understand that they created this themselves.”

EIR’s Dennis Small pointed out that the virtue of the NSS is that it is “kicking over the chessboard,” putting a hold on the rush to nuclear war. But it lacks any idea of “how to put it together again.” He pointed to Crooke’s emphasis on the debt crisis. He reviewed his work on the massive debt of the U.S. and worldwide, in addition to the $2 quadrillion in derivative debt, demonstrating that the Western financial system is bankrupt. Either this is put through bankruptcy reorganization or there will be collapse and war. That is the story behind the attack on Venezuela: The real target in South America is Brazil and the BRICS.

Crooke noted that China and others are trying to find a way to work with the West to deal with this debt crisis, but they can’t find the means for discussion. If the U.S. bubble bursts, it will cause political and economic crises around the world. Russia and China, in the meantime, must consider means of defending themselves from this threat. “I saw in China that they could easily expand their successful development system to the rest of Eurasia, to everyone’s benefit, while the West simply replies that should they move to do that,”they are attacking the dollar.” Given that Trump changes his mind every day makes it difficult to work with him.

In the Q&A session, Zepp-LaRouche answered questions on Nicholas of Cusa, and another on the Tenth Principle of her Ten Principles.

She stressed in conclusion that the Peace of Westphalia followed 150 years of war and general chaos, until the belligerents recognized it must stop or there would be no one left. That is more real today, in the nuclear age. “Putin’s patience will eventually come to an end.” If the West would get together with Russia and China “all the problems of the world could be solved.” She proposed a global Glass-Steagall based on FDR’s policies.

Michael Billington

Report on IPC #128

Helga Zepp-LaRouche, founder of the Schiller Institute and the initiator of the International Peace Coalition (IPC), opened the IPC’s 128th meeting by juxtaposing NATO and Ukraine’s increasingly reckless desperation—seen in a just-neutralized mad attempt to hijack a Russian MiG 31 fighter jet, and use it to bomb a NATO facility in Romania—with an exciting new potential, to secure a new security and development architecture that came together at the Schiller Institute’s Nov. 8-9 conference in Paris.

The situation, Zepp-LaRouche pointed out, is fraught with danger. Instead of minimizing tensions in the world, new hot spots are being created, such as in the Caribbean, in large part by new “options” and orders issued from the office of the American Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. An example of this was Hegseth’s announcement of “Operation Southern Spear” just before the IPC meeting commenced, claiming: “this mission defends our Homeland, removes narco-terrorists from our Hemisphere, and secures our Homeland from the drugs that are killing our people. The Western Hemisphere is America’s neighborhood—and we will protect it.” Zepp-LaRouche said that other speakers would address this crisis in more detail.

Zepp-LaRouche outlined the recent report issued by the Russian Security Service, which asserted that Ukraine and the U.K. attempted to hijack a fully-armed Russian jet fighter for a false-flag bombing operation intended to bring NATO directly into war against Russia. Ukraine’s defeat on the battlefield has led to this and other desperate efforts to keep the war going. Though there is war hysteria being fomented by governments across Europe, with military build-ups, and even a new military draft in Germany, the population is not in favor. Higher salaries and increased benefits are being offered to entice German youth to join the military, but this only enrages career officers and soldiers who are excluded from such offers.

The Coalition of the Willing is even considering the use of nuclear weapons, a position that has recently been supported by the Protestant Synod. Catholic Bishops and others, in contrast, are condemning the threat of the use of nuclear weapons; Pope Leo XIV is against even the possession of nuclear weapons. “Nuclear arms offend our shared humanity and also betray the dignity of creation, whose harmony we are called to safeguard,” he said in a statement issued Aug. 5 of this year. Catholic bishops in the Caribbean have also spoken out for dialogue, not violent confrontation; the bishops of the Antilles Episcopal Conference, representing 13 nations and several former British, French, and Dutch territories, voiced their concern about “the recent buildup of naval and other military assets in the Southern Caribbean.”

Zepp-LaRouche quickly reviewed several other global hot spots. Despite the ceasefire, the wanton killing in Gaza continues, and the shipments of food, medicine, and other basic goods are only 30% of the levels promised. Meanwhile, squatter-settler violence in the West Bank has only escalated. In Asia, tensions are growing between China and Japan after the recent comments by Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi about Taiwan, threatening to spiral out of control. And in the U.S., President Trump is surrounded by think tanks and advisors pushing for war, while at the same time he is confronted by crises in the economy and the financial bubble.

Zepp-LaRouche also reminded IPC participants about the 1983 Able Archer NATO exercises, which rehearsed a nuclear first-strike on the Soviet Union, bringing the world to the brink of an actual nuclear war. A recently-released 15 page appendix in a book truthfully documented this, and within a short period the appendix was redacted. The IPC must be solution-driven, as with the Ten Principles for a New Security and Development Architecture, and the Oasis Plan for Gaza and Southwest Asia. Zepp-LaRouche called on the IPC to use the call by fellow member Father Harry Bury, who has appealed to Pope Leo XIV to support the Oasis Plan. She also called on participants to explore and support Bury’s call for the canonization of the 15th-Century Cardinal, Nicholas of Cusa, and the exoneration of economist and statesman, Lyndon LaRouche.

Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst and founder of the Veterans Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, began by remarking about the clarity, conciseness, and comprehensiveness of Zepp-LaRouche’s briefing. McGovern then encouraged everyone to buy a subscription to the Executive Intelligence Review (EIR), saying that “If you don’t get it, you don’t get it.” He brought up the recent interview given by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to the Italian newspaper, Corriere Della Sera. The publication decided not to publish the interview, blocking a very important discussion from the American and European public.

Lavrov had supplied an analysis of the breakdown of the process initially begun at the Alaska meeting between Trump and Putin, where both had called for cooperation. McGovern said that it was not clear why this cooperation had been sabotaged, but that Britain and the Financial Times were involved. Lavrov has said that Russia could work with the real Trump, but something is going on to prevent this, and in the meantime, communications have come to a halt. The Russians were expecting a meeting in Budapest, but everything was cancelled. Despite all of this, Russia is open to another meeting and is willing to deal with Trump. At the end of the Alaska meeting, Putin suggested another meeting in Moscow, but Trump never gave a direct answer, except to say that it would cause some “heat” for him.

McGovern also returned to the topic of the 1983 Able Archer crisis, with an “inside story.” Because others in the CIA refused to inform the White House of the seriousness of the situation, McGovern stated, then-CIA head William Casey had to go to the White House himself to brief the President that Able Archer was risking war and needed to be stopped. McGovern made clear that it was a human intervention that stopped that war danger, not a machine.

Former President of Guyana, Donald Ramotar, spoke next regarding the Venezuela crisis. While the conflict in the Caribbean is said to be based on drug trafficking, he began, we all know that this is not true. (President Ramotar was one of eleven former heads of state in the region who signed the recent “Statement for the Peace and Stability of Our Continent,” declaring that the region should be a zone of peace.) Trump is under massive pressure with respect to the Jeffrey Epstein documents, he said, and is surrounded by war hawks. Other factors affect the U.S. domestic front as well, such as the recent New York City elections.

President Ramotar also remarked on Gaza, saying that the United Nations must call for an election in Gaza, but that it cannot be like the 2006 election that was voided when Hamas won. McGovern thanked Ramotar for his point, explaining that it had been Sec. of State Condoleezza Rice who insisted on having the election in Gaza. Then, when Hamas won, she helped to cancel the results.

Co-moderator Dennis Small also commented on the post on X by Sec. of War Hegseth about the creation of Operation Southern Spear, justifying it as “our neighborhood.” The plan is to extend the anti-narcotics campaign to the entire hemisphere, Small said, but to leave Wall Street untouched. Mexico and other countries have already been threatened in this way. The real target, however, is not oil, but Brazil. The plan is to prevent Brazil from working with the BRICS, especially China. If this policy succeeds, it will create a massive refugee crisis, which Guyana, Colombia, and Brazil are already anticipating. McGovern said that this was an accurate assessment of the crisis.

Ramotar then added that in 1980, the Caricom [Caribbean Community] countries had signed an agreement with the U.S. to allow American military ships to stop and board suspected drug-trafficking boats for inspections; so, there is no need to attack ships at sea today. None of the boats which have been targeted by the U.S. could have survived the voyage all the way to U.S. shores, and none of the Trump Administration’s attempted justifications stand up to scrutiny.

The final main speaker was Dr. Gershon Baskin, an Israeli peace activist who played a lead role in the hostage negotiations. Speaking via pre-recorded video, Baskin said that ending the war in Gaza must come first. He gave Trump full credit for forcing Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to agree to the ceasefire. After Israel failed to assassinate Hamas leaders in the Doha attack, Arab friends told Trump that the attack proved that Netanyahu is “unhinged.” Baskin is hopeful that the situation can lead to success, as the U.S. is now building a military base near Gaza and has taken over the aid delivery. For the first time, U.S. diplomats met with Hamas negotiators. Baskin emphasized that the task now is to build a Palestinian leadership and Palestinian security forces.

Importantly, Dr. Baskin has called for regional economic development for Southwest Asia, and would like to see both the U.S. and China working together on this. He suggested that Qatar could be a facilitator between China and the U.S., but that barriers to this cooperation will have to be removed. The “coincidence of opposites,” looking for a higher truth, Baskin said, is the only way that two opposing forces could agree to work together at a higher level. He referenced the U.S. motto, “E pluribus unum” (from many, one) as an example of the principle.

Zepp-LaRouche, who had just spent an entire weekend in Paris discussing the “coincidence of opposites” as not only the proper method of thinking but also the method for diplomacy, pointed to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and China’s most recent Five-Year Plan. While the plan uses China’s phrases and terminology, the ideas in it, she said, cohere with the outlook formulated by her late husband Lyndon LaRouche, with an emphasis on scientific innovations, education, culture, and an understanding of their true history. China, in effect, is saying it wants to use the American System of economy! She contrasted this to the ongoing economic collapse of Germany, where one-third of Germany’s world famous machine-tool industry, the very heart of the German economy, is bankrupt.

Zepp-LaRouche also spoke about Cusa’s idea that the only legitimate government is one based on the principle of the consent of the governed. Leaders in the West no longer have the consent of the governed. The U.K.’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer has single-digit support percentages, and his counterparts in France and Germany have similarly low ratings. Therefore, the people themselves must take responsibility for self-government, and that is why what is happening among youth around the world, especially in the continent of Africa and among the BRICS nations, is so important.

The final speakers included youth activists from Europe, Mexico, and the U.S., who reported on the Schiller Institute’s Nov. 8-9 Paris conference and follow-up activities. (A full report on this will become available later.) They spoke of the upcoming Dec. 14 online youth conference (details to be released soon), and the Schiller Institute NYC Chorus musical event shortly thereafter. [eir]