Helga Zepp-LaRouche |

Let a Garden Amidst a Million Gardens Bloom!

July 11, 2023by Mary Jane Freeman in Activity of the Schiller Institute, General updates, Helga statement, article, transcript, Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Our conferences

By Helga Zepp-LaRouche

This is Helga Zepp-LaRouche’s prepared text for her presentation to Panel I, “Peace in the World Through a New Security and Development Architecture for Each and Every Country: The Indispensable Strategic Autonomy of European Countries,” of the Schiller Institute’s July 8–9 conference, “On the Verge of a New World War—European Nations Must Cooperate with the Global South!” It was translated from the German and edited for EIR magazine. (Subheads have been added.)

Mrs. Zepp-LaRouche is the founder and leader of the Schiller Institute.

Excellencies, distinguished guests, dear friends of the Schiller Institute!

What a joy to welcome people from so many nations here in Strasbourg in person, after circumstances forced us to hold our Schiller Conferences only virtually for over three years! But we used this time well to bring together so many new forces worldwide, with which we can intervene together at this crucial moment in world history to create a new paradigm for the future of humanity!

Let me say it straight away: Even if our continent is in an existential crisis, we will not allow its demise. Rather, we will revive the best of what European culture has produced, and what is now buried under the speech balloons of a decadent counterculture and the barbarism of the diehards of the past, and we will bring that into the shaping of the New Paradigm!

Unquestionably, we are now in the most dangerous moment the human species has ever faced, as we are extremely close to extinction as a species on this planet, because that would be the consequence of a global nuclear war. And contrary to what the propaganda of the trans-Atlantic mainstream media claims, the danger is not due to “Russia’s unprovoked war of aggression” nor to “China’s increasingly aggressive imperial power grab,” but to the trans-Atlantic forces who are unscrupulously playing with nuclear fire, while attempting by all means to exert unipolar dominance over the world when it has long since been moving in a multipolar direction.

While the mainstream media in unison slander as a “Putin sympathizer” anyone who dares to think that history did not begin on Feb. 24, 2022, and while NATO and the U.S. government fund organizations that put people on lists that put their lives in danger, the nations of the Global South have very much gained an independent view of things.

The sixfold expansion of NATO to the East, coming a thousand kilometers closer to the borders of Russia, despite promises to the contrary, can be as little covered up as the efforts of the Northern “ATLANTIC” defense alliance to expand in the Indo-Pacific region as Global NATO. Above all, with the increasingly blatant and arrogant appeals with which representatives of the “rules-based order” demand that the whole world submit to their intrigues and their “indulgences” in modern garb (such as a carbon tax or CO₂ emissions trading), they have crossed the Rubicon. But by such means they hope to prolong the existence of the hopelessly bankrupt neoliberal financial system at least a bit longer.

We are currently experiencing a change of epoch, albeit not of the kind that Chancellor Scholz referred to on Feb. 24, 2022, which amounts to the militarization of Europe as a protectorate of the United States. Rather, we are seeing the end of some 500 years of colonialism, which the countries of the Global South are determined to finally shake off with the help of China and the BRI. For example, at the recent Global Financing Summit in Paris, President Ramaphosa demanded that the international community provide investments for the Grand Inga Dam project:

“Let’s get that done and then we will be convinced that you are serious with the promises that you make…. “

It is estimated that the cost today would be perhaps $120 billion, and that it would generate at least 44 gigawatts of electricity, which would have an absolutely revolutionary impact on the entire continent’s energy supply and economy.

More than 30 nations have applied for membership in the BRICS, which would then include the world’s most populous countries. The attempt, coming mainly from the U.S. and the UK, to “decouple” from China or to “de-risk,” as this foolish phrase has come to be called—when all these countries are closely linked with China—can only lead to economic suicide, or to an equally suicidal formation of geopolitical blocs, which would carry the seeds of a world war.

In the face of this tectonic shift of power, which occurs at most once or twice in a millennium, the European nations—but also America—must decide whether they want to cooperate productively with this emerging world order, or whether they (with NATO, the U.S., and the UK) will opt for total confrontation and the attempt to oppress the absolute majority of the human species. The decision between these two options will test, at the same time, our moral fitness to survive: Are we, as rational beings, able to give ourselves, together with the Global South, an order that guarantees the coexistence of us all and, as Leibniz would put it, allows the happiness of future generations? Or are we soulless human machine guns, hatefully directed only toward the destruction of the supposed enemy?

Nuclear War ‘Options’

This is not an academic question, as will become obvious in four days at the annual NATO summit in Vilnius, at which the Hungarian government—thankfully— announced that Ukraine’s admission to NATO will remain out of the question for as long as the war continues, which should actually be self-evident. Now, however, there are recent statements by Berlin’s two leading think-tanks—Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik (DGAP), both are close to the government—about possible security guarantees for Ukraine outside of formal NATO membership. Even if these are only ideas from think-tanks, and not necessarily the policies of the Berlin government, these papers deserve the closest attention, because their authors are typical of the so-called “experts” who speak non-stop on the talk shows, and in this way influence the views of the population.

It is not only in France that there has been a great deal of concern recently about Germany’s seemingly complete loss of all sovereignty (which was never very good), as could be seen in the German government’s lack of response to the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines.

Now, it must be taken into consideration that the SWP, which advises the government, the Bundestag, the EU, NATO and the UN among others, was created on the initiative of the BND [Bundesnachrichtendienst, Germany’s foreign intelligence service], which, when it was founded under the aegis of the American occupying power in 1962, incorporated personnel from the military intelligence service Fremde Heere Ost and the Gehlen Organization. The SWP was initially based in Ebenhausen, a small town near Pullach, where the headquarters of the BND was located. The much larger DGAP (the German Council on Foreign Relations), 2800 members, was founded as early as 1955 in cooperation with, and modeled on, the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations and the British Royal Institute for International Affairs, known as “Chatham House.”

In an SWP paper of June 29, 2023, entitled, “From ad hoc support to long-term security guarantees as a NATO member,” it is stated that there are two options, apart from full NATO membership, that would really guarantee Kiev’s security. The first is “demilitarization” of Russia by reducing its armed forces and arms industry to a level that rules out “offensive operations.” This would only be possible through “external shocks,” a clear defeat of the army, a renunciation by the leadership of its “neo-imperial understanding of its role,” which would require a change of regime, and the simultaneous denuclearization of Russia’s military potential. That, however, they say, is “currently unrealistic.” The second option would be for Ukraine to build up its own nuclear arsenal.

Just in case, the DGAP provided yet another option, circulating under the keyword “hedgehog,” as an animal symbolizing such a massive rearmament of Ukraine—into a super armory so to speak—that it would deter all future attacks. This includes the variant proposed by the chairman of the British defense committee, Tobias Ellwood, which envisages support from a coalition of the willing and a powerful task force, a Joint European Defense Initiative (JEDI). Germany’s Rheinmetall Group has already announced plans to build a modern tank factory and other weapons factories in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, U.S. defense contractors Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin sponsored champagne receptions at the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington, not least to celebrate the MoU [memorandum of understanding—ed.] that the world’s largest financial services firm, BlackRock, which manages $10 trillion in assets, landed with the Ukrainian government. JEDI is only intended to help bridge the gap; in the long term, NATO membership is indispensable. The goal is to anchor Ukraine irrevocably in the Euro-Atlantic structures. The priority, therefore, is to proactively communicate to their own populations the “meaning, purpose and goals” of NATO membership for Ukraine and to take action against institutions that claim to be part of civil society but are in fact controlled by the Russian state. For the record, we are not controlled!

What a nightmare! The largely destroyed Ukraine is to be transformed into a mega-armed country, a “hedgehog,” or rather into a permanent cash cow for the military-industrial complex on both sides of the Atlantic; it will become a “frozen” conflict that can be activated at any time, as a permanent crossing of the red lines defined by Russia which, in the meantime, is supposed to be “ruined” according to [German Foreign Affairs Minister Annalena] Baerbock, or permanently weakened (according to [U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd] Austin, RUSI [the British Royal United Services Institute], [NATO Secretary General Jens] Stoltenberg, etc.).

There’s not a single thought about ending the war through diplomacy, no peace negotiations, no positive vision for the Ukrainian people, and certainly not a peace order for the world as a whole! What an ugly, destructive spirit rears its head here, no human emotion influences the thinking, it’s cold as a robot which is steered by a worm-eaten algorithm!

A New Economic Order

But the arrogance that leads some to claim that they belong to the camp of the “good people,” and can therefore suggest the most horrendous things with impunity, also blinds them. The reality is by no means that the Russian economy is collapsing, quite the contrary. Economic growth in May was [when annualized] 5.4%, while Germany is officially in recession, and Russia was forced by the sanctions to build up many branches of production for its own benefit and redirect trade patterns from the West to Asia, where the momentum of the world economy is anyway.

The trans-Atlantic financial sector, on the other hand, is sitting on a bubble of 2 quadrillion dollars of outstanding derivative contracts—that’s a 2 with 15 zeros—which ultimately means hopeless systemic debt. Central banks are switching back and forth between QE and QT [quantitative easing and tightening—ed.] in apparent disorientation. But Josep Borrell, EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, takes the cake. He recently stated with utmost arrogance at the European Diplomatic Academy in Bruges, that Europe is a garden, while most of the rest of the world is a jungle that could intrude into it.

Such a point of view will find no sympathy among the 5,000-year-old cultures of the peoples of Asia, who together with the other countries of the Global South have long been putting into place a New World Economic Order—and where Mr. Borrell is now regarded as a comedian but not one to invite for a visit—or among the nearly 50 percent of German companies that are fleeing the country, due to the mismanagement of the German government and the unaffordable energy prices.

Hearing Borrell’s misplaced comparison to a garden, one is reminded of Scene X in Act II of Schiller’s play Don Carlos, when the Marquis of Posa, who sees himself as a citizen of the world and carries the liberation of Flanders from the Spanish yoke in his heart, confronts King Philip II, the absolute ruler of Spain, the empire on which it was said at the time that “the Sun never sets.”

Phillip says something very similar:

“Behold my Spain, see here the burgher’s good blooms in eternal and unclouded peace. A peace like this will I bestow on Flanders.”

And the Marquis answers:

“The churchyard’s peace!… And do you hope to end …

The universal spring, that shall renew

The earth’s fair form? Would you alone, in Europe,

Fling yourself down before the rapid wheel

Of destiny … Vain thought!”

The absolute majority in Germany, for example, has lost confidence in the government, and according to recent surveys, 79% are not satisfied with the government’s policies. Here in France, we have just seen what state the social fabric in this garden is in. No wall can be built high enough to protect the garden, Borrell says? Well, we see at the external borders of the EU, what these walls look like. Pope Francis described the reception camps for refugees in the border countries of Europe as concentration camps, which are surrounded by high walls topped with NATO barbed wire, and are repulsive enough to deter people from venturing in small boats over the Mediterranean Sea, which itself has long since been turned into a horrendous mass grave.

No, Mr. Borrell, this Europe is not a garden, it is a continent that competent politicians, such as Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer, wanted to bring out of the rubble of the Second World War into a better future, and which a thoroughly decadent political caste, having thrown out the window its duty of peace, is now leading into a renewed catastrophe that threatens to far surpass the horrors of the Second World War.

And if large parts of the world outside Europe resemble a jungle, it’s because Europe has not developed Africa in the past centuries, but well-known families in the trans-Atlantic world have built their fortunes on the slave trade, drew profits from the opium trade, or are profiting from the modern successor of colonialism—the casino economy—in which the wealthy determine the rules of our oh-so-fantastically-organized rules-based order.

Or maybe other regions are a jungle because the trans-Atlantic interventionist armies took up residence there, as NATO did for 20 years in Afghanistan, during which time nothing was built, and then left the country in ruins. Or as in Iraq, where a country rising to modernity was bombed back into the Stone Age, and concerning which Madeleine Albright said the death of 500,000 Iraqi children was a fair price to pay for the right to continue ruining the country. And the list of why some countries of this world are not gardens could go on: Syria, Yemen, Libya, Haiti, etc.

But there is a way out. The nations of the Global South, whose existence was just recently discovered by the G7, and which represent the overwhelming majority of humanity, have long been shaking off the shackles of modern colonialism and creating a new international currency, new development banks, a new credit system. Over 30 countries have applied for membership in BRICS-Plus; the SCO, AU, ASEAN, EAEU, Mercosur and other organizations have moved to carry out their trade in national currencies. One hundred and fifty-one countries cooperate with China’s BRI [Belt and Road Initiative], which this year celebrates its tenth anniversary, and managed during that decade to make sure the term “developing countries” really does apply to the countries of the Global South.

Europe and the ‘Global South’

We in Europe, and even in America, have to give up the already doomed attempt to contain the rise of these countries by decoupling or “de-risking.” We have to replace confrontation, which in any case only benefits the military-industrial complex, with cooperation. Germany, France, Italy, and all other European nations must become part of the new paradigm in international relations; our middle class, now bankrupt under the old paradigm, can not only help build the Inga Dam, but realize the Transaqua project that will provide electricity to twelve more nations in Africa. We can cooperate with China to provide the entire Global South with a high-speed rail system, we can build ports and waterways, green deserts through large-scale desalination of seawater, and build new cities.

Yes, and while we’re at it, we can also modernize our own ailing infrastructure. Instead of enriching the defense industry and impoverishing the population, we can repair our schools, make the health care system functional again, intensify international cooperation on the ITER fusion project as a crash program in order to achieve commercial use of fusion energy faster, and we can spare ourselves all the pollution and the destruction of our landscapes with those unspeakable wind turbines. We can also rebuild Ukraine as a bridge between Central Europe and Russia as part of the new Silk Road.

To bring Europe, and America, onto this path, is our commitment. And let us remember what Posa said to King Phillip, and what we, together with Schiller, say to the many Borrells of today:

“Geben Sie die unnatürliche Vergöttrung auf,

die uns vernichtet!…

Sie wollen pflanzen für die Ewigkeit,

Und säen Tod? Ein so erzwungnes Werk

Wird seines Schöpfers Geist nicht überdauern…

“Geben Sie, was Sie uns nahmen wieder!

Lassen Sie, Grossmüthig, wie der Starke,

Menschenglück aus Ihrem Füllhorn strömen—

Geister reifen in Ihrem Weltgebäude,

Geben Sie, was Sie uns nahmen, wieder.

Werden Sie, von Millionen Königen, ein König!”

~ ~ ~

“Give up the unnatural deification that destroys us!…

You would plant for all eternity, and yet the seeds

You sow around you are the seeds of death!

This hopeless task, with nature’s laws at strife,

Will ne’er survive the spirit of its founder….

“Restore us all you have deprived us of,

And, generous as strong, let happiness

Flow from your horn of plenty—let man’s mind

Ripen in your vast empire—give us back

All you have taken from us—and become,

Amidst a thousand kings, a king indeed!”

Today, we no longer need a king, but as a variation on Posa’s words today,

let us say:

Let a garden amidst a million gardens bloom!

SCHILLER INSTITUTE ANNOUNCES: RELEASE OF 186 PROMINENT SIGNERS OF “URGENT APPEAL”

July 9, 2023by Mary Jane Freeman in Activity of the Schiller Institute, General, Global Diplomacy, Helga Zepp-LaRouche, International Peace Coalition, Our initiatives (petitions, etc), World war danger updates tagged IPC

TO RESTORE PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY’s PEACE MISSION, SPUR EXPANSION OF INTERNATIONAL PEACE COALITION

July 5, 2023 – In light of rapidly rising threat of nuclear war, the Schiller Institute releases the initial list of 186 prominent signers, from 55 countries on six continents, of Schiller Institute founder Helga Zepp-LaRouche’s Urgent Appeal by Citizens and Institutions from All Over the World to the (Next) President of the United States!.

The appeal, issued May 17, calls for the Presidency of the United States to return to the peace policy of John F. Kennedy enunciated in his historic address at American University June 10, 1963. On June 10, 2023, the Schiller Institute (SI) accelerated worldwide diffusion of that speech on its 60^th anniversary with this international online conference: The World Needs JFK’s Vision of Peace!

The SI urges everyone possible to add their name to the appeal, and to bring it to the attention of every organization concerned with the welfare of mankind that they can. Total current signers are 1300, with translations into 7 languages. The aim is to reach 5,000 before the worldwide peace actions on August 6, the anniversary of the U.S. nuclear bombing of Hiroshima, from 100 plus countries. The Institute particularly encourages maximum viewings of the Kennedy speech itself, by individuals, schools, and all categories of other groups, in a spreading world awakening. Here is the full 27-minute Kennedy Peace Address; here, a 4-minute set of video highlights, with subtitles.

The circulation of the Urgent Appeal and Kennedy speech has spurred the formation of a rapidly growing International Peace Coalition, initiated by the Schiller Institute on June 2. The summary press release of its most recent deliberation, International Peace Coalition Charts a Path to the New Paradigm, begins: “On Friday June 30, the International Peace Coalition (IPC) held its fourth meetings with approximately 60 organizers from Argentina, Germany, Guinea, Nicaragua, Span, Sweden Switzerland, the UK, the United States, and other nations participating in the proceedings. The meeting could be best characterized as a strategy session on how to expand the IPC through various means of direct action such as street organizing, social media, political interventions, and classes, with the goal of not only preventing the immediate threat of global thermonuclear war, but laying the foundation for a durable peace – a New Paradigm.”

Please add your efforts to the urgent expansion of the Coalition’s work. Contact the Coalition at questions@schillerinstitute.org.

The conclusion of the Appeal, and initial list of prominent signers:

We the undersigned want America to be again the America expressed in that beautiful speech of JFK. We want the United States to be again a beacon of hope and a temple of liberty. We believe that this is the basis for “peace for all time,” as JFK said.

Initiating signer

Helga Zepp-LaRouche (Germany), founder Schiller Institute

Additional prominent signers

Daud Azimi	Afghanistan/Germany	Dipl. Ing. (Engineer); Board Member, Peace National Front of Afghanistan
Tse Anye Kevin	Africa	Vice President, State 55, Afrika
Enrique Juan Box	Argentina	Social communicator
Roberto Fritzsche	Argentina	Professor, Dep’t of Economic Science, University of Belgrano
Carlos Perez Galindo	Argentina	Lawyer
Rubén Darío Guzzetti	Argentina	Argentine Institute of Geopolitical Science
Gustavo Russo	Argentina	Lawyer; Professor of Juridical Sciences
Trudy Campbell	Australia	Northern Territory secretary, Australian Citizens Party
Christian Dierick	Belgium	Manager, Big Science Technology Club & Lead Energy Expert
William Lindo	Belize	Executive member, Peoples United Party
Edwin Alfonso De La Fuente Jeria	Bolivia	Former Commander in Chief of the Bolivian Armed Forces
Osman Vladimir Escobar Torrez	Bolivia	Human Rights Secretary, Bolivian Labor Confederation (COB)
Max Yecid Ibañez	Bolivia	Former Secretary of Grievance Resolution, National Federation of Electrical and Telephone Workers of Bolivia
Jairo Dias Carvalho	Brazil	Professor, Philosophy of Technology, Federal University of Uberlândia
Lilian Simone Godoy Fonseca	Brazil	Professor of Philosophy, UFVJM, Diamantina campus
Gabriel Tincani Ramos	Brazil	President, Union of Socialist Youth — Campinas
Renata Welinski Da Silva Seabra	Brazil	ESG Consultant; Former UNDP Executive Director for UN Global Compact Brazil; author, “A Regulamentação International Ambiental e a Responsabilidade Corporativa”
Julian Fell	Canada	Former Director, Regional District of Nanaimo
Dimitri Lascaris	Canada	Lawyer; Peace activist
Mario Guillermo Acosta Alarcón	Colombia	Scientist and writer; General Director, CIFRA (Space Lab City)
Fernando Duque Jaramillo	Colombia	Lawyer; Master’s degree in Political Science
Pedro Rubio	Colombia	Union leader; public policy analyst
Enrique García Dubon	Costa Rica	Economist
Enrique Ramírez Guier	Costa Rica	Biologistç consultant
Tom Gillesberg	Denmark	President, Schiller Institute Denmark
Pernille Grumme	Denmark	Actress; peace activist; former Chair, Artists for Peace, Denmark
Alcibiades Jose Abreu	Dominican Republic	University professor of mathematics, English and French
Alexis Joaquin Castillo	Dominican Republic	Presidential candidate of Alianza Nueva República. Lawyer; former Prosecutor of the National District
Ramón Emilio Concepción	Dominican Republic	Attorney at Law, Presidential Pre-candidate for the PRM party (2020)
Ramon Cruz Placensia	Dominican Republic	Former Dean of the Faculty of Engineering of the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo (UASD)
Luis De León Ferreira	Dominican Republic	President of Fuerza Boschista. Educator, university professor at Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo (UASD). Politician
Marino J. Elsevyf Pineda	Dominican Republic	Attorney at Law; notary
Enrique Garcia Frometa	Dominican Republic	Industrial engineer, master’s degree in public administration, appraiser and planner
Ramón Gross	Dominican Republic	Post-graduate Professor, Catholic University of Santo Domingo
Dantes Ortiz Nuñez	Dominican Republic	Historian; Professor of History, Autonomous University of Santo Domingo
Oscar Daniel Pérez Quiroz	Dominican Republic	Theologian and Psychologist
Domingo Reyes	Dominican Republic	Former professor of economics, Ph.D. in Higher Education
Rafael Reyes Jerez	Dominican Republic	Journalist; TV producer, “cara a cara”
Enrique Antonio Sánchez Liranzo	Dominican Republic	Lawyer, author, poet
Caonabo Suarez	Dominican Republic	Poet; Member of the Coordinating Committee of the Institute for Analysis and Conclusions (INAC), Dominican Republic
Patricia Merizalde	Ecuador	Founder and President, International Feminist Poetry Movement, “Women’s Flight”
Ernesto Pazmiño Granizo	Ecuador	Human Rights lawyer; university professor; former General Public Defender of Ecuador; former Vice-President, Justice Center of the Americas
Alexis Ponce	Ecuador	Rights advocate, National Association of Patients and Vulnerable Families of Ecuador
Napoleon Saltos Galarza	Ecuador	University professor; Member of Parliament (1996-1998), Quito
Jacques Cheminade	France	President, Solidarité et Progrès; former presidential candidate
Dr. jur. Wolfgang Bittner	Germany	Author
Joachim Bonatz	Germany	Vice President, East German Board of Trustees of Associations (Ostdeutschen Kuratoriums e.V.)
Dr. Ole Doering	Germany/China	Professor, Hunan Normal University, China
Johannes Posth	Germany	General Director, Deutsche Telekom in Ukraine, starting 1996; head, Ukrainian-European Policy and Legal Advice Center, 2002-2005
Dr. Rainer Sandau	Germany	Technical Director, Satellites and Space Applications, International Academy of Aeronautics (IAA)
Takis Ioannides	Greece	Ambassador of Peace, Hon. Dr Literature, historian, researcher, poet.
Dr. Maria Arvanti Sotiropoulou	Greece	Representative, Greek Medical Assoc. for the Protection of the Environment and Against Nuclear and Biochemical Threat (GMA), Greek affiliate of Internat’l Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW)
Raul Anibal Marroquin Casasola	Guatemala	Coordinator of the Citizen Observatory for Peace “La pupila del cielo”, San Cristobal, Verapaz, Guatemala.
Otto Rene Quiñones Carias	Guatemala	Former Legislator (1991-1993); President, Board of Directors of Alternate Deputies
Beatriz Solórzano León	Guatemala	Licentiateç Parliamentary Technician, Congress of Guatemala
Ahmadou Diallo	Guinea/United States	Senior Member, Guinean American League of Friends for Freedom In.
Mamadu Djalo	Guinea/United States	Secretary, Guinean American League of Friends for Freedom Inc.
Khemraj Ramjattan	Guyana	Leader, AFC (Alliance for Change)
Donald Ramotar	Guyana	Former President of Guyana
Oscar Abraham Lanza Rosales	Honduras	Industrial engineer, retired; columnist for La Tribuna, Honduras
Andrea Szegó	Hungary	Professor (ret.), economics
Dr. Balkrishna Kurvey	India	President, India Institute for Peace, Disarmament, and Environmental Protection
Maurizio Abbate	Italy	Chairman of ENAC, National Institute for Cultural Activities, Italy,
Angelo Aiello	Italy	Former sport director of AC Milan
Prof. Bruno Brandimarte	Italy	Professor (ret.), Applied Biophysics, Univ. of Rome, Tor Vergata
Renato Corsetti	Italy	Prof. emeritus; Chair, Progressive Esperanto Speakers
Jorge Flores	Italy	Poet
Liliana Gorini	Italy	Chairwoman of Movisol
Antonio Ingroia	Italy	Former candidate for Italian Prime Minister
Nicola Lista	Italy	Chairman, youth organization of MDC, (Movement in Defense of the Citizen)
Enzo Pennetta	Italy	Organizer, referendum to end Italian military aid to Ukraine
Vincenzo Romanello	Italy	Senior Nuclear Researcher and Project Manager, National Radiation Protection Institute (SURO)
Alessia Ruggeri	Italy	Trade unionist
Daisuke Kotegawa	Japan	Former Executive Director for Japan, IMF; former Japan Ministry of Finance official
Pastor James Adundo	Kenya	Christian Outreach Ministry
Pastor Amos Nyambok	Kenya	Christian Outreach Ministry
Pigbin Odimwengu	Kenya	Youth political party leader
Pastor George Outa	Kenya	Christian Outreach Ministry
Mohd Peter Davis	Malaysia	Biotechnologist; biochemist; architect; consultant, deep tropical agriculture; Visiting Scientist, University Pertanian (retired)
Chandra Muzaffar	Malaysia	Founder and Director, International Movement for a Just World (JUST); Co-founder, Saving Humanity and Planet Earrth (SHAPE)
Adam Ouologuem	Mali	Journalist, Mali/Washington D.C.
Angel Coronel Beltrán	Mexico	Former Research Profesor, Physics REsearch Department, University of Sonora (UNISON)
Maria de los Ángeles Huerta	Mexico	Former Congresswoman
Dr. Enrique López Ochoa	Mexico	Angiologic Surgeon; Professor of Angiology, University of Sonora (UNISON) School of Medicine
Tenit Alfonso Padilla Ayala	Mexico	Professor of Effective Communication, Technological Institute of Sonora
Jaime Varela Salazar	Mexico	Former Director, School of Chemical Sciences, University of Sonora (UNISON)
Alex Krainer	Monaco/Croatia	Author, “Grand Deception: The Truth about Bill Browder, the Magnitsky Act, and Anti-Russian Sanctions”
May-May Meijer	Netherlands	Chair and Founder, Peace SOS
C. (Kees) le Pair	Netherlands	Physicist (ret.), University of Leiden; Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
Djamila le Pair	Netherlands	Freelance journalist; Free Assange activist
Mykeljon Winckel	New Zealand	Founder, Voice Media
Bolívar Téllez	Nicaragua	Lawyer and university professor, Nicaragua
David Ajetunmobi	Nigeria	Trade union leader, auto sector
Adeshola Kukoyi	Nigeria	Founder, Equilibrium Perspectives in Learning and Development/University of Lagos
Manuel Hidalgo	Peru	PhD in Accounting and Business Sciences; Professor at Universidad Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Perú
Herman Tiu (Mentong) Laurel	Philippines	Founder, Philippine BRICS Strategic Studies think tank; TV and radio commentator; organizer, movement vs. new U.S. military bases in the Philippines
Leo Semashko	Russian Federation	Gandhian Global Harmony Association
Earl M. Bousquet	St. Lucia	Veteran Pan-Caribbean journalist/columnist; Editor, Voice of St. Lucia newspaper; President, St. Lucia-China Friendship Assoc.; Chair, St. Lucia Nat’l Reparations Cttee
Natasa Milojevic	Serbia	Political scientist; former Member of Parliament
Meshack Moxongo	South Africa	Leader, LaRouche South Africa
Princy Mthombeni	South Africa	Spokesperson, Africa4Nuclear
Ishmail Phali	South Africa	Member, LaRouche South Africa; member, Democratic Alliance – South Africa
Motutla Juda Phali	South Africa	Member, LaRouche South Africa
Hyung-Joon Won	South Korea	Violinist; Founder and Director, Lindenbaum Festival Orchestra; organizer, North and South Korean peace concerts
Juan Carrero Saralegui	Spain	President, Fundació S’Olivar; peace activist
Juan Jose Torres Nunez	Spain	Poet, published author, freelance journalist
Dr. George Mutalemwa	Tanzania	Global Peace Studies for Sustainable Development; Africa Peace and Development Network (Mtandao wa Amani na Maendeleo Afrika (MAMA)
Bishop Lubega Geoffrey Bob	Uganda	Minister
Ruslan Kotsaba	Ukraine	President, Ukrainian Movement of Pacifists
David Dabydeen	United Kingdom/Guyana	Professor; former Guyanese Ambassador to UNESCO and China
Bernie Holland	United Kingdom	Soka Gakkai International
P. D. Lawton	United Kingdom	Editor, African Agenda.net
Dr. Athar Abbasi	United States	Mayor (ret.), U.S. Army
Muhammad Salim Akhtar	United States	National Director, American Muslim Alliance (AMA)
Bernard Allen-Bay	United States	CEO, Project Funding Consultants; Vice President, Oklahoma NAACP
David Andersson	United States	Co-Director Pressenza IPA
Deborah Armstrong	United States	Journalist
Dr. Elena Bajenova	United States	Creator and Organizer, Anti-War Coalition Group, Arlington, TX; President, Russian International Culture Center
Col. Richard Black (ret.)	United States	Former Virginia State Senator and Delegate; former head, U.S. Army’s Criminal Law Division at the Pentagon
Kathleen Boylan	United States	Catholic Worker Movement, Washington DC
Lt. (ret.) Robert Branca	United States	Lt. (ret.) U.S. Naval Reserve
Ellen Brown	United States	Author, attorney
Malcolm Burn	United States	Host, “The Long Way Around”, WKNY Radio, Kinsgston, NY
Harry J. Bury	United States	Twin Cities Nonviolent; Association of U.S. Catholic Priests
Bob Cushing	United States	Chairman, Non-Violence Committee, Working Group for the Association of United States Catholic Priests (AUSCP)
T. Herbert Dimmock	United States	Founder and Music Director, Bach in Baltimore
Daniel Donnelly	United States	Libertarian Party, New York
Brian Earley	United States	Captain (ret.), U.S. Army
Trevor Fitzgibbon	United States	President, Silent Partner Inc.
Christopher Fogarty	United States	Friends of Irish Freedom
Graham Fuller	United States/Canada	Former Vice Chair, National Intelligence Council for Long-term Forecasting, CIA; writer; political commentator
David George	United States	Professor of Economics (Emeritus), LaSalle University
Jack Gilroy	United States	Pax Christi, Upstate New York
Bennett Greenspan	United States	Physician; expert in nuclear medicine; Past President, Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI)
Ephraim Haile	United States/Eritrea	Eritrean Cultural & Development Center (ECDC) , Eritrean Diaspora Boston
Joyce Hall	United States	Coordinator, Dallas Pax Christi, TX
Cathy Helgason	United States	MD ;Professor of Neurology. (Retired)
Rev. Dr. Geoffrey Dana Hicks	United States	composer, musician, minister
Liz Hill	United States	Liz Hill Public Relations, LLC
Diana Hope	United States	D & D Radio Show,”Delivering the Truth”, NYS, and Beyond
Ivan Jones	United States	Shop Steward, Local 783, AFSCME (retired)
John Jones	United States	Boston Ward 14 Democratic Committee
Frank Kartheiser	United States	Mustard Seed Catholic Worker, Worcester, MA
Bishop Reginald L. Kennedy	United States	President, Ministers Conference of Baltimore and Vicinty, MD
Dr. George Koo	United States	Chairman, Burlingame Foundation; retired business consultant, U.S.-China relations
Janice Kortkamp	United States	Citizen journalist, “American Housewife in Syria” podcasts
Igor Lopatonok	United States/Russian Federation	Documentary film director and producer, “Ukriane on Fire”
Jeff Mahn	United States	Nuclear Engineer (ret.), Sandia Labs, science educator at the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History.
Joseph Marcinkowski	United States	Pax Christi. Veterans for Peace; Houston Peace and Justice Coalition
Imam Radwan Mardini	United States	Interfaith leader, American Muslim Center
George McGowan	United States	Former Town Councilman, Lake George, NY; former Republican County Committee, Warren County, NY
David Meiswinkle	United States	Attorney-at-law; Past President and Executive Director, Lawyers Committee for 9/11 Inquiry
Suzzanne Monk	United States	Chair, Patriot Action PAC
James Moore	United States	Executive Committee- ATA, NSRAA, AKI (fisheries and aquaculture)
Darrell Nichols	United States	Bishop; Former President, NE Ohio NAACP; Former Vice-President, SCLC, Toledo, OH; Captain (ret.), U.S. Army
Nestor Oginar	United States/Macedonia	Retired Professor of English language and literature, New York; Representative, World Macedonian Congress at the UN; Leade, Macedonian Diaspora in North America ; Member, Macedonian Orthodox Church – Ohrid Archepiscopy
John OLoughlin	United States	Author, “McDuff Lives! The life and untimely death of Thomas F. O’Loughlin, Jr.”
Jeff Philbin	United States	Nuclear Engineer, Technical Consultant, Independent Contractor
Cynthia Pooler	United States	Broadcast journalist, peace activist, NY
Earl D. Rasmussen, P.E.	United States	Lt. Col. (Ret.), U.S. Army; International consultant
Coleen Rowley	United States	FBI Intelligence (ret.); FBI special agent and intelligence expert; whistleblower and author
Stephen Salchow	United States	Violinist, violist; member, Solchow Bow Maker and Repair family
Diane Sare	United States	LaRouche candidate for U.S. Senate – NY
Martin Schotz	United States	Coordinator of JFK Peace Speech Committee, Massachusetts Peace Action, Traprock Center for Peace and Justice
John Shanahan	United States	Dr. Ing. civil engineer; founder of website AllAboutEnergy.net
Paul Shannon	United States	MA Peace Action
John C.Smith	United States	Professional Engineer; Senior Project Engineer; PhD candidate, Colorado School of Mines
Steven Starr	United States	Professor, University of Missouri
Jack Stockwell	United States	Morning Radio Talk Show Host (1995–present), Salt Lake City, UT
Barbara Suhrstedt	United States	Concert pianist; President, Board of Directors, Framingham Lomonosov Association for Mutual Exchange (F.L.A.M.E.)
Dr. Mohammad A. Toor	United States/Pakistan	Chairman of the Board, P:akistani American Congress
Bob Van Hee	United States	Redwood County Commissioner, Minnesota
Zaher Wahab	United States/Afghanistan	Professor Emeritus of Education, Former Advisor to the Afghanistan Ministry of Higher Education
Frederick Weiss	United States	Musician
Javier Araujo	Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of	Bolivariano; former Councilman; current Alternate Councilman
Luisa Báez Catari	Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of	President, Diocesan Union of Confraternities, Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar of Guarenas, Miranda state
José Bustamante	Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of	Sociologist
Reinaldo Cróes Arias	Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of	Economist and public accounting professional
Andrés Ramón Giussepe Avala	Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of	Former member, Latin American Parliament
Marco Antonio Hernández	Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of	Social media organizer; Bachelor’s degree in education; professor
Alberto Mendoza Uribe	Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of	Fundamaraisa Foundation
Emil Guevara Muñoz	Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of	Former member, Latin American Parliament (2006-2011)
Thaidy Terán	Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of	Coordinator, Music Ministry, Our Lady of Copacabana Cathedral Church, Guarenas
Kelvin Chifulumo	Zambia	Founder, Educating Girls and Young Women for Development (EGYD)
Munashe Chiwanza	Zimbwabwe	Civil Engineer

Helga Zepp-LaRouche: The Freedom of the Press and Freedom of Julian Assange Are Identical!

May 3, 2023by Mary Jane Freeman in General updates, Global Diplomacy, Helga statement, article, transcript, Helga Zepp-LaRouche

April 3, 2023–The “narrative” of the MSM is that there are countries, where freedom of the press thrives, such as Norway, which appears again at the top of the relevant index; and that there are countries, where it is suppressed. In reality, in the MSM honest journalism has almost entirely disappeared. The very notion of a historical or objective “truth,” which can be unearthed by investigative journalism, has been buried by a barrage of projectiles which pierce through that very concept. What has come in its place is an arbitrary variety of descriptions of that “truth,” which are either named as “fake,” or must be “debunked,” or even crushed before conception by being “pre-bunked.”

In reality there is a brutal fight for control of the “narrative” of the “rules- based-order,” where journalism has been degraded to serve as the executioner on behalf of the ruling elites. If this were an exaggeration, Seymour Hersh would have received a newly created Nobel Prize for excellence in Journalism in Norway, and all the Norwegian media would have excelled in reporting about the role of Norway in the sabotage of the Nord Stream Pipelines.

The heads of state who assemble this weekend for the coronation of King Charles can prove their commitment to freedom and democracy by congratulating the newly crowned King for making his first act the freedom of Julian Assange!

World War III or Peace? ~ Support China’s Peace Plan!

March 6, 2023by Mary Jane Freeman in Color Revolutions, General updates, Geopolitics updates, Global Diplomacy, Helga statement, article, transcript, Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Sanctions, World war danger updates

by Helga Zepp-LaRouche

No, not sleepwalking, but rather with eyes wide open, and without reason, backbone or conscience, the trans-Atlantic Establishment is pushing us to the edge of the cliff, beyond which a thermonuclear Hell is lurking, that threatens to annihilate all life on this planet. The 12-point program for a diplomatic solution to the strategic crisis between NATO and Russia, released by China on February 24, represents a possible last-minute lifeline to save us from jumping off. Although it was rejected out-of-hand by President Biden and the EU Commission, it has been increasingly supported for good reason by nations of the Global South, and consequently by most of humanity. It definitely needs to become an integral focus of all those forces worldwide that, in this time of existential threat for humanity, are committed to a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine conflict. It also represents a concrete option around which to orient the offer of Pope Francis to use the Vatican as a venue for peace negotiations.

The reason why China’s peace plan was immediately rejected by the United States and NATO is that their goal is the restoration of a unipolar world in which China would never be allowed to play the role of a broker for peace. As NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg made clear Feb. 28, in his joint press conference with Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin in Helsinki, he sees Ukraine’s future as a part of the EU and as a member of NATO (in the long run). Thus, for NATO, the option of a neutral Ukraine is off the table, although the NATO leadership knows perfectly well that Russia considers that a blatant disregard of its demand for security guarantees. In other words, the U.S., the UK, NATO and the Atlanticists defend the line: “Ukraine has to win on the battlefield,” and “Russia must be ruined.” Conversely, Russia naturally sees this as an existential threat, and will attempt to bring about a decision on the battlefield.

The Russian government would be in a parallel universe if it did not take seriously the proposals discussed at a joint event of the Jamestown Foundation and the Hudson Institute in December 2022, concerning options for a complete breakup of the Russian Federation. Their “minimalist” goal is for Russia to be turned into “a looser, confederation-type administrative political structure”—de facto disempowering the Russian government, while the “maximalist” goal is the complete breakup and partition of Russia “along ethno-religious lines” and the simultaneous creation of separate states such as Chechnya, Dagestan, and Tatarstan. In that case, they say, demilitarization comparable to the Morgenthau Plan proposal, a “de-Sovietization,” would have to be carried out, and broad sections of society would have to be brought before a war crimes tribunal or re-educated.

Since the collaborators of these two think tanks are recruited from the inner core of the U.S. intelligence agencies and the military-industrial complex, i.e., the real U.S. power structure, Moscow must assume that these scenarios reflect the intention of the U.S. government. That, in turn, would fulfill the condition that the Russian military doctrine has set for the use of nuclear weapons, i.e., when the territorial existence of Russia is threatened.

According to experts from several nations, a military victory for Ukraine is far away. Ukrainian troops have suffered huge losses, averaging 1,000 men per day over the past three months and around 500 per day since mid-February. Some 10 million refugees—two million of them in Russia—unanimously say they do not want to return to Ukraine. Overall, the Ukrainian population has dropped from 37.5 million to about 20 million at present. Almost half of the urban infrastructure has been destroyed, while all critical industrial capacity is located in Russian-speaking regions.

In such circumstances, a war of attrition lasting many years, as the amount of weapons ordered by NATO would seem to indicate, will be a meat grinder in which the population will be wiped out “to the last Ukrainian.”

While U.S. military officials such as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley are pushing for negotiations based on a realistic assessment of the situation, and even the Rand Corporation has advised against a “long war” in Ukraine for its own reasons, the hawks around the State Department are apparently following the proposal made by one of Britain’s leading think tanks, the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), which advocates escalating the war to the point where Russia would have to threaten to use nuclear weapons because of a threat to Crimea and thus to Russian territory. According to this perverse logic, the ensuing “Cuban Missile Crisis on steroids” would “promote” the settlement of the war because Russia could thus be forced to surrender. U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Victoria “Dr. Strangelove” Nuland, notorious for her active role in the 2014 Maidan coup in Kiev, recently reiterated her support for Ukrainian military attacks on Crimea. Thus, the danger of an escalation to a global nuclear war in the short term is knowingly accepted. Obviously, the lives of the Ukrainian population do not count in this scenario; the sole goal is to ensure the defeat of Russia in order to re-establish the status of American hegemony.

The European Council for Foreign Relations, the EU’s own think tank, points out in a recent study that although the U.S. and Europe have drawn closer to one another, the rest of the world is moving further and further away from the West. Those who wish to get an idea of this reality for themselves are advised to watch the video of a dialogue between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and the head of the Indian think tank ORF (Observer Research Foundation), Sunjoy Joshi, at this year’s Raisina Dialogue. A good representation of the Global South’s elite meets regularly at this prestigious event sponsored by the Indian government. As Lavrov, among others, indicated, the Russia-India-China troika, first initiated by Russian Foreign Minister Primakov, continues to be a centerpiece of strategic cooperation, but has since greatly expanded into the BRICS Plus group, to which two dozen other countries of the Global South have applied for membership. Therefore, Russia is hardly isolated, as this includes an overwhelming majority of humanity.

And this majority supports the Chinese peace proposal, which calls for respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, abandoning a Cold War mentality, ending hostilities, ending sanctions against Russia, and proposes concrete steps on how to overcome the crisis diplomatically. President Zelensky has also stated that he wants to discuss this with President Xi. The near-hysterical reactions of the mainstream media and the Atlanticists to the Chinese proposal prove once again that ideological glasses cause blindness.

The majority of the world’s population supports a diplomatic solution to the crisis. Brazilian President Lula, who has called for a peace club composed of the nations of the Global South, will travel to China later this month to discuss peace initiatives with Xi Jinping. Italian General Fabio Mini, former commander of the KFOR mission in Kosovo, has proposed further useful steps for a settlement of the conflict in Ukraine. Pope Francis’ offer to use the Vatican as a venue for diplomatic negotiations is gaining support from key individuals and institutions around the world, as well as religious leaders of various denominations.

Therefore, it is high time for China’s proposal to become the center of the discussion. The situation today is comparable to that in which the negotiations leading to the Peace of Westphalia ended 150 years of religious war in Europe. At that time, the warring parties came to the conclusion that the war had to come to an end, otherwise there would be no one left to enjoy a victory because everyone would be dead. That is precisely our situation today, with the difference that the existence of nuclear weapons today would guarantee such an outcome.

One of the most important results of the Peace of Westphalia, which laid the foundation for international law, was the realization that peace requires taking into account the interest of the other. From that standpoint, not only is NATO’s repeated eastward expansion a catalyst for war, NATO itself is obsolete and urgently needs to be replaced by a new international security and development architecture that takes into account the interests of all states on the planet.

It is urgently necessary that the newly emerging peace movement, that came onto the scene at the “Rage Against the War Machine” demonstration on Feb. 19 in Washington, on Feb. 25 in Berlin, and in many other rallies in Italy, France, Germany and numerous other countries, take a clear position in favor of ending NATO and supporting the Chinese proposal for a peaceful settlement to the conflict which otherwise threatens to lead to the end of civilization.

zepp-larouche@eir.de

Appeal to Religious Leaders of the World

February 21, 2023by madeleine in General, Global Diplomacy, Helga Video, Helga Zepp-LaRouche

Helga Zepp-LaRouche appeals to religious leaders of the world to join with Pope Francis, who has offered the Vatican as a venue for unconditional negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.

Mobilize your community for peace now because this is a crisis that tests our ability to survive.

Sign the “Open Letter to Pope Francis From Political and Social Leaders: We Support Your Call for Immediate Peace Negotiations”

Take this Tragedy as the Opportunity to Lift All Sanctions Against Syria

February 7, 2023by Anastasia Battle in Activity of the Schiller Institute, Economic development updates, General, General updates, Geopolitics updates, Helga statement, article, transcript, Sanctions, Syria, Turkey

By Helga Zepp-LaRouche

PDF of this statement

Feb. 6, 2023 (EIRNS)—The recent double earthquake in southern Turkey and northwestern Syria is a terrible disaster which is generating a wave of emotion and empathy from around the world. The situation will likely worsen due to forecast weather of extremely low temperatures throughout the region, resulting in the collapse of weakened buildings due to the cold and frost, not to mention the immediate consequences to children, women and men who have lost everything.

Time is of the essence. We welcome an international response; in fact there are several countries that have already offered their assistance to the populations affected by the earthquakes. This being said, it is difficult to accept that the same disaster has a very different human impact on either side of the borders of Turkey and Syria. On the Syrian side, this tragedy is affecting a population that has been hard hit by years of war and sanctions imposed by the United States with other nations.

This situation confronts us, as Western nations, with our responsibility to uphold the values we claim to embody. Are we going to continue to apply the measures that we very well know have led to the unimaginable suffering, misfortune and death of innocent people? Or are we going to finally make the decision to lift these criminal sanctions? Don’t we know, after so many years of use, that the weapon of sanctions only hurts the people?

It is time for Western leaders to regain a minimum of moral fiber, by taking this tragedy as the opportunity to definitively lift all sanctions against Syria and, from then on, to organize the reconstruction of the country with those who are determined to contribute to it.

‘Soloviev Live’ Interviews Helga Zepp-LaRouche on Ten Principles

December 8, 2022by Mary Jane Freeman in Economic development updates, General updates, Geopolitics updates, Germany, Global Diplomacy, Helga media coverage or interview, Helga Video, Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Media coverage of our activity, Russia, Sanctions, Ukraine, World war danger updates

Dec. 7, 2022 (EIRNS)–Wednesday Dec. 7, 2022—Vladimir Soloviev aired a 21-minute interview with Helga Zepp-LaRouche on Dec. 7. {Video version of this interview is here: https://disk.yandex.ru/d/6gNnbGKzVoMQLA }

VLADIMIR SOLOVIEV: Well, unfortunately, that’s about my German, so if you don’t have anything against it, we’ll try English. I’m sorry for being late a couple of minutes. You know, those Russians, they’re never good on time. There’s always a problem with Russians being good on time! [laughter]

I have to say: I was quite impressed with your very tough point of view, (should I say that?) very revolutionary. Definitely not mainstream of current European political ideas. How come? It looks like the Dawn of Europe, the book that was written more than a 100 years ago, suddenly comes true. What are we facing right now? And what should be done, in order to save the world?

HELGA ZEPP-LaROUCHE: Well, I think the problem is that we are, as some of the Russian officials have stated recently, we are already at a state of war between NATO and Russia, and many people in many countries are extremely worried that this may lead to nuclear war. And if it would come to that, I don’t think it would be a limited nuclear war. I think regional war, the use of only tactical nuclear weapons, I think this is all ruled out. And if it comes to the use of only one single nuclear weapon, it would have the danger of a global nuclear and that would mean the annihilation of civilization.

And for me, I think you have to start with that: This is why I have suggested principles, 10 principles for a new international security and development architecture, which is drawing very much on the example of the Peace of Westphalia which ended 150 years of religious war in Europe. And I’m really fighting very hard to put this on the agenda before it is too late.

SOLOVIEV: So, what are those 10 principles? And what makes you think that current political power in Germany, but basically in U.S.A.—we realize that; whatever is there right now in Germany, it’s just a reflection, it’s just another projection of American point of view—that they will hear you? That you won’t be punished severely for your point view. Because now it’s not—it’s impossible to talk about the freedom of speech and the freedom of philosophical ideas in Europe.

ZEPP-LaROUCHE: I know it’s not allowed, and you are being ostracized immediately, and worse. But I think we are in a situation—I mean, this is not a tenable situation. Germany, for example, has lost all of its sovereignty with the present government, at least concerning certain ministers. We are running against a collapse in Germany: The economic situation is absolutely devastating. The result of the sanctions, which Germany imposed against Russia, on orders practically of the United States, is boomeranging, and the blowback is threatening the existence of Germany as an industrial nation. So this will become apparent in the next weeks and months.

And I think we are in an epochal change: It’s not just a war between the West and Russia, but the result of the policies imposed against Russia in particular, have led to a counterreaction: The entire Global South is in a revolutionary spirit to establish a just new economic order, and this is a revival of the Non-Aligned Movement, which was already on that course in the 1970s, and now I think it is unstoppable. You have the emergence of a completely new system, which is the BRICS, the SCO (the Shanghai Cooperation Organization), the Eurasian Economic Union, all of these countries are reacting to the policies coming especially from the British and the United States, and they’re forming a new world economic order.

Some people may think it is enough if you have a multipolar world; the unipolar world is definitely over. But I am of the opinion that even multipolarity is not sufficient, because it still has the potential of a geopolitical confrontation. So this is why I think the most advanced proposal to overcome that in the present world comes from President Xi Jinping, who is talking about the “shared community of the future of mankind.” My 10 principles are basically an effort to elaborate principles how we can get people to understand what the new paradigm is, in which we have to move. That is a very deep philosophical conception: I’ve been working together with my late husband, Lyndon LaRouche, on that for the better part of the last 50 years. So I’m convinced that this is resonating with what the world right now urgently needs, which is a new conception—the question, really, is can we as a human civilization give ourselves an order which allows the long-term survivability of our species? So this is the biggest challenge to our intelligence you can have. And since I’m—and that’s the 10th point of my 10 principles—I’m convince that man is fundamentally good, and that the evil in the world is the result of a lack of development.

So I’m confident. I think the danger is incredibly big, but on the same time, I’m also extremely optimistic that a solution to this present calamity can be found.

SOLOVIEV: So what are those 10 principles? What are they? How dare you bring those 10 principles to the world of Schwab! Who is saying that humanity is a disease, and it’s better to be without humanity for the world! So how come that, nowadays, you’re coming with basically, let’s say “humanitarian tradition” of understanding humanity? Instead of modern liberal, Nazi view, where basically humanity should be destroyed?

ZEPP-LaROUCHE: Well, I think the present world order, in large part suffers from the problem of oligarchism: That is not a new phenomenon. You had empires, the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the Venetian Empire, the British Empire, which in one sense still exists, and these forms of government were based on the idea that you have a small, powerful elite, sometimes the aristocrats, sometimes the financial elite, and that they have all the privileges and rule over backward masses of people. That system is the origin of what a former President of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Klaus, calls the “green delirium,” which is the idea that we are living in a world of finite resources, that you have to have management of scarcity, and all of this.

But that’s not the real universe. The good thing is that man is different from animals, because we are capable of discovering universal principles about the physical universe. This is called scientific and technological progress, and when we apply that progress in the production process, then it leaves to an increase in the living standard, the longevity of people. So, I think we have reached the point now where the evolution of mankind is at a point where we have to adjust the political and economic order to the actual lawfulness of the physical universe, if we want to survive. That is not a new idea: That was actually a philosophical conception in Europe, it was called “natural law.” You have the same idea in other cultures. In India, for example, it’s called “cosmology,” where basically politics is supposed to implement the lawfulness of the cosmos. You have the same idea in Chinese philosophy, with the “Mandate of Heaven.” So in all great cultures, you have the idea that there is a higher lawfulness which we have to respect, or bring about destruction.

So I think we are in a very optimistic change of an epoch. I would call it that mankind is about to reach the age of adulthood.

SOLOVIEV: [laughs] That is very optimistic, should I say! But by reaching the age of adult, we have to face quite new challenges. One of them is that Europe is basically put in an Iron Curtain, by trying to recognize Russia as a “sponsor of terrorism” state, they are just cutting all possible ties that have been left, and it’s leading us to a completely new scenario. Europe without Russia is basically a very small place!

ZEPP-LaROUCHE: Right now, the mainstream media and the major political parties, as they are represented in the European Parliament, which made this resolution about Russian being a terrorist state, that is the surface. And if you only look at the mass media, you get the impression that that is everything there is. But we are organizing people: Look, there are demonstrations in all European countries, to end the war, to have a peaceful negotiation, use diplomacy already, and many people are demonstrating in east Germany, in Belgium, in France, in Italy, even in Great Britain. So I think, this is a very dangerous moment, obviously, but I think that as the crisis will become bigger, and you have hyperinflation, the energy prices, the food prices, I think we are heading towards a very big moment of decision. And what the Schiller Institute is trying to do, is we are organizing international conferences, which have to be virtual because of the still existing pandemic conditions, and we are trying to bring together people from all over the world.

I have initiated something which is called—I should explain—Friedrich Schiller, after whom the Schiller Institute is named, had the idea that there must not be contradiction between patriots and world citizens. So, given the fact that the danger of nuclear war makes everybody, instantly a world citizen, because the whole world is challenged, so I’ve called for a world citizens’ movement. And since I was born in Trier—which some people may recognize the importance of that—I have called for “World Citizens of All Countries, Unite!” [laughs] in which I find a certain irony.

But many people have responded. We’ve had three conferences already with many sitting and former parliamentarians, and former ministers and Presidents from Latin America, who have issued a call to all parliamentarians and elected officials of the world to join this movement, and fight essentially for these 10 principles, and a new security and development architecture.

SOLOVIEV: So you are still an optimist? Do you still think that humanity is going to survive?

ZEPP-LaROUCHE: Oh, yes! You know, obviously, the danger is enormous, because if it comes to nuclear war, there will not be even an historian left to investigate the reasons why it came to this point. So I’m not unaware of the incredible danger. But I believe that the majority of the world is already creating a new system: The BRICS countries already have a GDP which is higher than that of the G7. And you saw at the recent G20 meeting, despite incredible pressure, the majority of the countries of the Global South do not want to change sides! Even the Trilateral Commission, which is really—not exactly my kind of organization—the Japanese representative of the Trilateral Commission just recently said, telling the United States and Great Britain, do not force us to choose sides between China and the United States, because if we are forced, we will choose China. This came from Japanese Trilateral Commission members!

So the spirit is really not—people do not want this geopolitical confrontation any longer. And I think there is a tremendous chance—look, Modi, who will chair the G20 in the coming year, just wrote a very beautiful statement, where he echoed essentially what I’m saying, that there are people who say that man is evil, but he says, no, the fact that there are so many aspirations in religion and philosophy that man is fundamentally good. And I think that with the leadership of India in the G20, you will see that the Global South will have a much great voice.

And we are trying to convince people in the United States and in Europe to join with that new system, rather than trying to oppose it. And, OK, maybe that will not function, but I’m optimistic that it’s the only choice: Because we have to get the United States and Europe to cooperate with the countries of the Global South and China. If the United States and China, which are the two largest economies of the world, are not working together, then no problem of the world can be solved. On the other side, if we succeed in showing that there is an advantage for everybody, to solve poverty—I mean poverty should be eliminated! It is the biggest violation of human rights you can imagine. So, all I want to say, is that what we are proposing is actually in cohesion with the wishes and desires of the world population.

SOLOVIEV: Well! But how can you imagine those guys in U.S., in U.K., in Germany, giving up the complex of superiority, where they still consider the other part of humanity, according to Kipling, half-beast, half-humans, as in the burden of the white man? So how can you imagine Americans suddenly recognizing that they’re not the chosen nation? They won’t count it! They don’t want to do it! No one ever gave up the complex of superiority before being defeated. There is no brain to apply to: Look at Biden! There is no {brain} to apply to! There is a number of stereotypes! And that’s about it.

ZEPP-LaROUCHE: Yeah, but look, Josep Borrell from the EU made this incredible statement that the EU is a beautiful garden…

SOLOVIEV: Yes, surrounded by jungle.

ZEPP-LaROUCHE: And that made him the laughingstock of the whole world!

SOLOVIEV: But he is an idiot! And he represents the diplomacy of the EU! What kind of idiot right now represents the EU as the top diplomat? That’s annoying!

ZEPP-LaROUCHE: Yes. But, in a certain sense, you have to laugh about it, as many countries of the Global South are doing.

The countries of the developing sector are right now in a mood where they recognize that this is the effort to keep the colonial order. But that is not—Look, all of these countries have a different tradition. The United States, for example, made their independence in the War of Independence against the British Empire. And the Constitution of the United States was the first real republic in the history of mankind, and if you look at the principles of Benjamin Franklin, of George Washington, of John Quincy Adams—John Quincy Adams said exactly what we are saying today, that you need a partnership of perfectly sovereign republics and the United States should not go out and look for foreign monsters. And then, Lincoln had the same idea. Franklin D. Roosevelt, when he designed the Bretton Woods system, it was meant as the first priority to overcome the underdevelopment of the developing countries. Even Kennedy had a beautiful idea about the role of technology would solve all the poverty in the Third World. So there {is} a tradition in the United States which is completely different. The problem with the United States right now is that they have adopted the model of the British Empire as the basis to rule the world in a unipolar world, in a unipolar style. But that is not the whole United States! The people of the United States are essentially good. It is what some people call the “MICIMATT”—you know, Ray McGovern—

SOLOVIEV: Right.

ZEPP-LaROUCHE: It’s the military-industrial complex, plus the Congress, plus the media, plus Silicon Valley, but that is a small minority. They look like the all-powerful force right now, but I think this other tradition of America is there, and we are trying very hard to make a revival of the best traditions of the United States.

SOLOVIEV: I hope that you succeed. I hope you succeed! Unfortunately, our time is running out. And excuse my smile: The reason is that my wife’s name is Olga Sepp [ph], so when I see Helga Zepp, I feel like I’m talking to a relative, should I say! [laughter]

ZEPP-LaROUCHE: That’s funny!

SOLOVIEV: Yes, that’s quite unusual. And, I love what you’re saying! And I love your very sweet, idealistic, but very thought-through, based on the belief that human are better than they are.

The only minor thing is: The Founding Fathers of the United States, after all about democracy and “human rights,” shall we say, so they all owned slaves. So, their definition of free men, were only for WASPs, and that’s what makes us Russians being so careful when we’re dealing with the West—the definition of every word. You have to be sure that you understand words in the same way. In any other case, we’re running into problems all the time.

It was a pleasure, and I to continue our discussions in the coming future.

Zepp-LaRouche on CGTN: “Fostering Cooperation in a Fragmented World”

January 19, 2023by Mary Jane Freeman in Activity of the Schiller Institute, Agriculture, BRI - Belt & Road, BRICS updates, China, Economic development updates, Education, Finance, General updates, Geopolitics updates, Germany, Global Diplomacy, Healthcare, Helga media coverage or interview, Helga statement, article, transcript, Helga Video, Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Media coverage of our activity, New financial order updates, Power & Energy, Railway projects, Space updates, World Land-Bridge updates, World war danger updates

Jan. 18, 2023 (EIRNS)–CGTN today published on its English-language YouTube channel (which has about 3 million subscribers) a 14-minute video commentary by Schiller Institute founder Helga Zepp-LaRouche, on the occasion of the Davos World Economic Forum. CGTN’s introductory blurb asked the question: “How should world leaders work together in a volatile situation? Join Helga Zepp-LaRouche, founder and president of the Schiller Institute, to explore these talking points.” The video can be found here.

Helga Zepp-LaRouche:

The world economic forum has given its annual meeting the title “Cooperation in a Fragmented World,” and shortly before the Forum published their Global Risk Report, in which they present the results of the latest Global Risk Perception Survey. In that, they consider the current crisis, then the expectation of what many experts think will come out in the short term (two years), the most severe in the long term (ten years), in terms of the economy, the environment, society, and those geopolitical and technological risks that could become tomorrow’s crises. Then they consider how these different crises could evolve into a “poly-crisis” by 2030.

Concerning the methodology used to come to their evaluations, they report that they interviewed over 1200 experts from academia, business, government, the international community, and civil society between September 7th and October 5th, 2022. In other words, this Global Risk Report is not based on scientific methods, but rather on an Aristotelian method to arrive at the common denominator of the opinions of selected experts.

While there will also be attendance from countries of the Global South, who may try to set different accents, the World Economic Forum represents a good portion of the top global corporate establishment; and they clearly try to continue to push their agenda, which is an acceleration of the Great Reset, that they have been pushing before. It completely leaves out the optimistic perspective, for example, of the circa 150 countries working with the Belt and Road Initiative and their optimism that through investments in infrastructure, agriculture, industry, and international scientific cooperation, etc., most of the problems they insist will dominate the next years can be overcome.

Instead, there is a lot of talk about “progressive tipping points” and “catastrophic outcomes,” which are all designed to motivate the assembled business leaders and beyond, to adopt the program fitting the financial interests of the main financial players of the neo-liberal system. For example, in the section called “Natural Ecosystems; past the point of no return” they write:

“Human interventions have negatively impacted a complex and delicately balanced global natural ecosystem, triggering a chain of reactions. Over the next ten years, the interplay between biodiversity loss, pollution, natural resource consumption, climate change, and socioeconomic drivers will make for a dangerous mix.

“Given that over half of the world’s economic output is moderately to highly dependent on nature, the collapse of ecosystems will have far-reaching economic and societal consequences. These include increased occurrences of zoonotic diseases, a fall in crop yields and nutritional value, growing water stress exacerbating potentially violent conflict,” etc., etc.

The deep Malthusian pessimism reflected in such a statement makes clear that this report is more a program of their intent than a scientific prognosis. Because of human interventions, the world population has increased from a few millions after the last Ice Age to 8 billion. If there will be a fall in crop yields, then [it will be] only because of the Green demonization of modern agriculture. And if there will be a violent conflict, then only because the necessary development of new fresh water resources will be blocked by the Malthusian environmentalist agenda.

Economic Risks in 2023

Unfortunately, I think that 2023 will see an escalation of the financial and economic crises. The central banks have tried to curb inflation by raising the interest rates rather rapidly. Then, as we could see for example in Great Britain, they had to suddenly go from quantitative tightening to quantitative easing again, because of the danger of a chain reaction of over-indebted firms; thus going back to the inflationary money pumping. Since the tendency towards hyperinflation is the result of ever more monetarist policies going for profit maximization at the expense of physical economy and the reckless liquidity injections following the systemic crisis of 2008 by the trillions of dollars, euros, and pounds, only an end to the casino economy could solve the problem.

What should be put on the international agenda is the reintroduction of a Glass-Steagall banking separation, which puts the commercial banks under state protection, but forces the investment banks to straighten out their balance sheets on their own without taxpayer money. Then, each country must create their own national bank, because credit creation must be under the sovereign control of the governments. These national banks must then cooperate to create a new credit system, which is only devoted to investments in projects serving the common good of the people. There are already efforts going on in this direction among many countries of the Global South — also, to create a new international currency.

While it is very difficult to predict the exact time when the systemic crisis of the neo-liberal system will come to a head, it cannot be excluded that the decision to have a complete reorganization of the international financial system could force itself on the agenda in this year of 2023.

Geopolitical Conflict Triggering a Chain of Reactions

Right now, unfortunately, the crisis over Ukraine — which is not a crisis between Russia and Ukraine, but between NATO and Russia — is accelerating in a dangerous way. I think it is extremely urgent that a diplomatic solution is found quickly to end the war. There are various efforts, like Pope Francis has offered the Vatican as a venue for negotiations, and I and a group of Latin American legislators have written an open letter to the Pope to mobilize people around the world to support this idea. We are also asking people to sign that letter. Also, President Lula from Brazil has been asked to mediate by several countries from the Global South; and also President Erdogan from Turkiye has made some efforts.

I think all of these proposals should be merged, because too much is at stake. But, I think because the crisis around Ukraine is so dangerous, the initiatives made by President Xi Jinping with the Global Security Initiative, together with the Global Development Initiative are probably the most important angle to solve the crisis. The Global Security Initiative is really a proposal for a new international security architecture, and obviously that must take into account the security interests of every single country on the planet for it to work.

I am aware that right now it does not look very likely that the countries of the so-called West would be willing to discuss such a new international security architecture, given the fact that NATO is trying to become Global NATO, and Japan and Great Britain have just signed the so-called “Reciprocal Access Agreement,” and the US, the UK, and Australia have signed the AUKUS pact. But the BRICS countries already have a higher GDP than the G-7; and 17 countries of the Global South are applying for membership in the BRICS. So, they are in the process of representing the vast majority of the human species. And the countries of the Global South have made it quite clear that they don’t want to be drawn into a geopolitical conflict between the West on the one side, and the China and Russia on the other side.

I think it is therefore quite possible that in the course of 2023, the financial crisis erupts even more dramatically, and that that will be the right moment to put the combination of the Global Security Initiative and the Global Development Initiative on the international agenda. I think President Xi is very right that security can only exist if there is development. So, I am sure that the vast majority of the countries who are striving to overcome the relics of colonialism, and who really want to develop into become modern and prosperous countries, would support such an intervention.

And then hopefully, the countries of the West can see that it would be in their best interest to cooperate with the Global Security Initiative, the Global Development Initiative, and the Belt and Road Initiative.

Global Risks in the Next Two Years

There are policy initiatives which can overcome the inflation by reorganizing the financial system, by addressing the root causes for the crisis. The excessive profit orientation at the expense of the physical economy clearly did not work. And what the World Economic Forum calls the geo-economic confrontation can be stopped the moment these CEOs recognize that win-win cooperation with the majority of the countries in the world would also be in their best interest; since to cooperate with growing markets with billions of people with growing buying power is for sure better than to go bankrupt in a crash. And the best way to cope with natural disasters and extreme weather events is to invest in basic infrastructure, water management, and scientific and technological progress in order to develop the technologies to have early warning systems, secure housing construction, and other means of adaptation.

Disagreements on Cybersecurity in Major Countries

There have been various attempts to have agreement between major countries on cybersecurity. There was an agreement for example in 2013 between Russia and the United States to establish a secure phone connection, and a working group to mitigate cybersecurity threats. In 2017, in light of the allegation of election interference made against Russia, Trump and Putin agreed to create a cybersecurity unit to prevent election interference and other cyber threats. Trump praised it as a big step forward, but was forced to backtrack only 12 hours later, due to massive pressure from Congress and the mainstream media. Then, in preparation work for the 2018 meeting in Helsinki between Trump and Putin, Russia offered the United States cooperation in the field of preventing cyberattacks on critical infrastructure — power plants, water supply and transport management systems, hospitals, banks, and so on. The corresponding provision was included in the joint statement of the Presidents of the two countries prepared by the Russian side for adoption at the summit in Helsinki. While the summit between the two Presidents worked well, all hell was unleashed against Trump afterwards by the same forces, and the agreement was not signed.

At this point, the trust between the West and Russia and China is at an historic low point. Under these circumstances, an isolated agreement on cybersecurity seems very unlikely. Therefore, a great vision is required on how a solution can be put on the table which addresses all the major problems together, such as a new, just world economic order based on such concepts as the Global Security Initiative in combination with the Global Development Initiative.

I think that we have reached a point in the history of mankind where we really must get serious about the international order of relations among nations, and how we can organize them in such a way that we can self-govern as a species which is gifted with creative reason. In an existential crisis, [such] as the one we are experiencing right now, and which is very likely going to get much worse, it is not the amount of money one owns that counts; but it is the quality of political leadership of exceptionally wise and moral men and women who have the ability to shape the future for the benefit of all humanity.

In Davos, there will be a great number of billionaires, millionaires, and hangers-on to power. It will be very interesting to watch if they are also up for the larger job required.

The Present Danger of Nuclear War Confirms what We Have Said: There Is No Peace Without Development

November 25, 2022by madeleine in General, Helga Video, Helga Webcast, Helga Zepp-LaRouche

Helga Zepp-LaRouche issued a direct challenge to viewers today, that they join the discussion process underway around what she presented as 10 Principles of a new security and development architecture as a matter of utmost urgency. There is a “daily escalation” of the war danger, she said, citing Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zakharova, who said the war in Ukraine is now a war “between NATO and Russia.”

Most people are not getting that this is the real picture. The process around our mobilization is “exploding”, she said, as increasing numbers of officials have become fearful that world war looms, unless there is a serious effort to end the NATO escalation against Russia. In her presentation in the November 22 SI conference, she showed why “pragmatic solutions” cannot work, and that it is necessary to go to a higher level, exemplified by Nicholas of Cusa’s “Coincidence of Opposites”. This means returning to the ideas of the Peace of Westphalia, in which sovereign nations act on the basis of recognition of the legitimate interests of the other — which means not just the absence of war, but the eradication of poverty.
In her concluding remarks, she said, the issue is defining principles under which we can “govern ourselves” — let’s debate this,” insisting that it is not only necessary to approach the problem on this higher level, but possible.

Helga Zepp-LaRouche on China Plus ‘World Today’ Program on Scholz’s Beijing Visit

November 6, 2022by madeleine in Helga media coverage or interview, Helga Video, Helga Zepp-LaRouche

The transcript of Helga Zepp-LaRouche’s participation in the panel interview, ‘What’s the Outlook for China’s Foreign Policy in the Next Five Years?’ on Nov. 4, 2022 follows:

China’s diplomatic efforts are in full swing, with the first round of visits by foreign leaders since the conclusion of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s visit to China, as the first EU leader since the start of the pandemic, follows that of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan. What does it say about the outlook of China’s foreign policy after the Party Congress? Host Ge Anna is joined by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Founder of the Schiller Institute; Dr. Rong Ying, Vice President and Senior Research Fellow, China Institute of International Studies; Hamzah Rifaat Hussain, News Anchor, Indus News, Islamabad, Pakistan.

GE ANNA: China’s diplomatic efforts are in full swing with the first round of visits of foreign leaders since the conclusion of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. What does it say about the outlook of China’s foreign policy after the Party Congress? Welcome to World Today, the panel discussion with Ge Anna. We come to you from our studio in Beijing with a different perspective.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Beijing, noting the complex international landscape, the Chinese President underscored the need for China and Germany—two major countries with significant influence—to work together in times of change and instability and contribute more to global peace and development. Scholz’s visit to China as the first European leader after the 20th CPC National Congress follows that of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan.

So, what does China’s intensive diplomatic efforts say about the outlook of China’s foreign policy after the Party Congress, as China strives to translate its visions into reality? What can the rest of the world’s developed countries and developing ones alike expect from the rapid growth in the country?

To delve into this and more, let’s have: Helga Zepp-LaRouche, founder of the Schiller Institute, a Germany-based political and economic think tank; Dr. Rong Ying, Vice President and Senior Research Fellow, China Institute of International Studies; Hamzah Rifaat Hussain, News Anchor from Indus News, Islamabad, Pakistan. Thanks for joining us today.

Zepp-LaRouche, the just-concluded 20th National Congress of the CPC has laid out a new blueprint for China’s future development, including shaping the trajectory of its engagement with the world. So, with such a background, what messages are being sent by China’s active diplomacy this week, shortly following the Party Congress?

HELGA ZEPP-LAROUCHE: I think this constitutes a major new initiative towards harmonic development in the world. I think this is a very important step, because the world is in deep trouble. We have incredible challenges as President Xi Jinping has always emphasized; challenges which have not been seen since 100 years. We face the danger of nuclear war; we have out-of-control inflation in many of the countries of the trans-Atlantic sector. I think what China is bringing into this world is a completely different approach. I think the potential of the combination of the Belt and Road Initiative, the global development initiative, and the global security initiative, are all conceptions which can bring a completely different paradigm into the world situation.

[Ge asks other guests questions.]

GE ANNA: Speaking of the purpose and objectives of China’s foreign policy, that is, to maintain world peace, promote common development, and a view to a community with a shared future for mankind, Helga, how do you read these objectives of China’s foreign policy? Especially when many believe we are living in a world where forces are keen to draw ideological lines and provoke confrontation between camps?

ZEPP-LAROUCHE: Well, I think this idea of a community with a shared future of mankind is very important, because it should remind people that we are sitting in one boat. And especially in times when the danger of a global nuclear war is on the horizon, I think it is a very useful concept to remind people that if it ever would come to that, nobody would survive such a war. And at the same time, it’s also a forward looking conception for the New Paradigm, because I think we have reached an epochal change in the history of mankind where we have to overcome geopolitical thinking. Geopolitical thinking was the cause for two world wars in the 20th Century, and if we continue to think in terms of blocs, this can go awfully wrong. So, the idea of the shared community of the future of mankind is the idea that we have to think about the one humanity first; that there can be no national interest, or the interest of a group of nations which would be in contradiction to the one humanity. I think this is a very important concept, and I think it would be very good if the Western countries would not just push it aside, but recognize that this is a philosophical idea which does give a concept for how we can build a future where all of humanity can prosper and survive.

[Ge asks other guests questions.]

GE ANNA: Helga, what’s your take? How do you look at the centrality accusation against China?

ZEPP-LAROUCHE: I think if you go away from the words and actually look at the substance, behind all of this is the fact that the Western countries have pursued the neo-liberal model of economy and that is collapsing right now. I would even say that we are in the final phase of a hyperinflationary blow-out of the trans-Atlantic system. Because of that, they look at the rise of China as a systemic threat.

China is doing nothing to give a reason to be regarded as a threat, but I think it’s the idea that only if you contain the rise of China, if you decouple from Russia, from China, that you can somehow maintain what they call the “rules-based order.” Now, what this rules-based order is, nobody knows exactly. It’s also not so clear who is making these rules. We have the UN Charter, which should be the standard for international law, but I think the idea that China should be a systemic rival is not what the majority of the world population thinks. I think more than 150 countries that are cooperating with China in the Belt and Road Initiative do not see China as a systemic rival, but they see China as the country which helps them to overcome the relics of colonialism and poverty and under-development.

So, I think it’s really a tragedy that the Western media are so absolutely unified—the German word is Gleichschaltung—that they don’t allow anymore any truthful coverage. Because if the people of Europe and the United States would know the reality of what enormous progress China has made, they would not believe the story about systemic rivalry, because China has said many times that there is absolute room for everybody. Xi Jinping has made many times offers, especially to the United States, saying that there is a new concept of great power relationships; that the two strongest economies of the world must cooperate. I think the idea of finding a win-win cooperation remains the only way how we will get out of these many calamities in which the world is right now.

GE ANNA: Zepp-LaRouche, another question based on what you were just talking about, because China has repeatedly stated that it will never accept any zero-sum game, or the law of the jungle. But many experts believe this is a challenge to Western values. How do you look at such accusations?

ZEPP-LAROUCHE: What is behind that, is that since about 2017, especially the British, but also the U.S. National Security papers, the National Security doctrines, started to characterize China as a systemic rival, as a competitor, and even harsher words. In a certain sense, China pursues a policy of harmonious development. I have not found—and I’m really a critical observer of politics—I have not seen any country of the developing sector, of the Global South, that would complain that they have been coerced by China. These accusations only come from the Western media. I think China has, on the other side, learned the lesson from its long history; from the century of humiliation, the enormous struggles of the 20th century. Now that China is finally strong enough to not have to put … [show goes to break while Zepp-LaRouche is still speaking].

GE ANNA: Let’s move on to the most recent visit by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. This is the first visit by a leader of a European Union country since the start of the pandemic, and the first visit by Scholz since he took office as Chancellor of Germany. This trip also attracted much attention from the media. Zepp-LaRouche, what do you think makes this meeting so significant to China and Germany in particular?

ZEPP-LAROUCHE: I think it is extremely important, because it brings together the second- and fourth-largest economies of the world. Obviously, their collaboration is extremely important to solve any problem in the world. It is also very noteworthy because Scholz did this trip despite enormous pressure to not have a good relationship with China. He’s being pressured enormously from the U.S., from the British, and the Atlanticists inside Germany. As a matter of fact, the German Foreign Minister Baerbock, she is completely unreasonable in relationship to China. Therefore, I think it’s very important that Scholz does this, especially as the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Germany has just occurred last month. Obviously, with the enormous rise of China, Germany has profited enormously, a lot of the living standard in Germany was also supported by the strong integration of the two economies. So, I think it is extremely important, and I’m actually happy, because I hope that this will be a signal for all the other European countries, and it will be a sign of at least a little demonstration of sovereignty on the side of Germany.

GE ANNA: But the German-based media has been bombarded for days with commentary on whether Scholz’s visit to China is showing weakness to Beijing, or is buying time for Germany to wean itself off its dependence on China. What’s your reflection on their perspective? What’s the meaning, in your opinion, of Scholz’s trip to China?

ZEPP-LAROUCHE: Scholz just wrote a longer piece in the German newspaper FAZ, where he says he wants to reduce the dependencies on certain supply chains. That makes sense, because as we have seen in the pandemic, if you don’t have a certain security in terms of essential goods, this can be devastating in times of crisis. But that is different than to say that Germany should decouple. If Germany would decouple right now, because of Atlanticist pressure the relationship with Russia has already been completely ended. Right now, there is no relationship between Russia and Germany anymore. These are the words of Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov. I think if Germany would give in to this pressure, and also decouple from China, that would be the end of Germany as an industrial nation. We will look for an enormously difficult period in the coming fall and winter. The energy prices, the food prices, the inflation; we are looking at the potential de-industrialization of Germany. Many leaders of German industry have said that very clearly.

So, I think for Germany, the relationship with China must absolutely be a cornerstone of the existence of Germany as an industrial nation. But I’m optimistic that the industry leaders who are accompanying Scholz on this trip have said very clearly that they see the future of the German economy being very closely tied to that of China.

But it will be a battle, because I expect that the pressure is coming from the U.S. and Great Britain, so it will be a question of whether Germany can assert its sovereignty and its own interests. Hopefully that will happen, and then the future is bright. I have said many times that the fact that there is now a new economic system developing between the countries of the Global South, the BRICS, the SCO, the Eurasian Economic Union—these countries are all building a new economic system. It would be in the fundamental interest for Germany, which is an export nation, to cooperate. Hopefully if Germany goes in this direction, many other European countries will see the benefit for themselves as well.

[Ge asks other guests questions.]

GE ANNA: Zepp-LaRouche, besides differences between China and Germany, both China and Germany are actually the beneficiaries of globalization, and are striving for a more just international order with less political gains, sanctions, and confrontations. Do you think both sides do have the same vision in these turbulent times, as Dr. Rong suggested? In what areas can China’s and Germany’s cooperation and communication better insure multilateralism in the world?

ZEPP-LAROUCHE: Obviously, when you think small-minded, then you think that the world is only made up of competitors. But if you think creatively, and you think that scientific and technological progress are what make the economy progress, which was the philosophy of Germany for a very long time, and it is now the philosophy of China with the continuous application of innovation. If those two countries would join their creative efforts in discovery of new fundamental physical principles, scientific and technological progress, and they would cooperate, they could become so strong as a locomotive of the world economy.

For example, if Germany and China would cooperate in the area of artificial intelligence, digitalization, manned space flight, it would open up a whole array of new technologies; real fundamental breakthroughs as they go along with space science and space travel. It would really be a complete science driver for the whole world. So, hopefully, those elements of the German economy which are still in the traditional German sense and have not been infected by the Green delirium as Vaclav Klaus, the former President of Czechia, was calling it, then these two countries could cooperate tremendously to the benefit of the whole world. Because the industrial capacity of the entire world economy presently is below that which is needed to create enough food and development for all countries. That is the reason we have world famine and lack of clean water and all of these problems.

I think philosophically we must go back to the spirit of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, who was a philosopher in the 17th and 18th centuries, who in 1697 wrote the beautiful Novissima Sinica, What Is New from China. He was at that time advertising that Germany and all of Europe should cooperate with China, to reach out and touch their hands and develop all the countries on the planet. I think that would be the joint mission for China and Germany to adopt in the best tradition of the Leibnizian outlook, which was the most advanced philosophical conception Germany had.

[Ge asks other guests questions.]

GE ANNA: Zepp-LaRouche, what’s your reflection on China’s emphasis on neighboring diplomacy as a top priority of these foreign relations?

ZEPP-LAROUCHE: I think the success of that outlook is pretty obvious, because, for example, when you look at the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) which was founded in the beginning of this year, this has now become the largest free-trade zone in the world. In ASEAN you have a similar very good cooperation. And all the other economic and political alliances, partnerships China has, the BRICS, for example—that’s not all neighbors, but nevertheless—the SCO, all of these are examples of extremely well-functioning relationships among China and its neighbors. I think the success of that is seen by the fact that the economic dynamics in the world have clearly shifted to Asia. I think the Asian economic cooperation, not only China, but many other Asian countries, has become really the motor of the world economy. I think this is very important for the future, because we are in a transition form. It’s very clear that the old system of geopolitical control and bloc-building, this will not be suitable for the future, and a new model for cooperation has to be found. And I think what China has done in making these new kinds of diplomatic relations, that can actually be a role model for many parts of the world based on sovereignty, non-interference, acceptance of a different social model. All of these are ideas which would be very useful for other countries to study.

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