International Peace Coalition

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

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

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

U.S. Tariffs Are a ‘Shakedown’

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

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

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

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

‘Davos Values’ Took Over NATO

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

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

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

Danger of the U.S. in the Caribbean

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

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

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

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

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

Michael Billington

Report on IPC #128

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Oct. 25, 2025 (EIRNS)—The 125th consecutive weekly meeting of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) on Friday, Oct. 24, was not the usual panel discussion, but instead a dialogue between Schiller Institute founder and IPC initiator Helga Zepp-LaRouche and Theodore Postol (U.S.), professor emeritus of Science, Technology and National Security at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Zepp-LaRouche began by describing the present strategic turmoil, where we are buffeted between hope and chaos. The Wall Street Journal said that the U.S. had given permission to Ukraine to use Tomahawk missiles to strike deep into Russia. U.S. President Donald Trump then denied the story, and Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that a Russian response would be serious, even overwhelming. There was also some confusion about the planned Trump-Putin summit in Budapest, which was on, then off again. Regarding Gaza, Zepp-LaRouche remarked, “The so-called peace deal does not seem to hold.” The Israeli Knesset voted to annex the West Bank, a repudiation of Palestinian statehood and an indication of Israeli obstruction to peace. The window of opportunity to stop World War III may be closing soon, she warned.

On the hopeful side, she reported on the Bering Strait Tunnel Project round-table discussion, which took place on Oct. 22, with experts on engineering, rail development, finance, and diplomacy from the U.S., Russia, Italy, and Germany.

Putin’s Leadership vs. German Lunacy

Zepp-LaRouche described Putin as “one whom one can only admire for his seemingly endless patience.” She charged that the “regime-change” people who want to get rid of “that thoughtful Putin” have not considered who would replace him, who would control Russia’s nuclear arsenal. Her sentiments were echoed by Postol, who said: “Whenever Putin shows restraint that saves humanity from catastrophe, they think it shows weakness on his part … he shows extraordinary ability to finesse these situations…. We can only be grateful that we did not have a Joe Biden equivalent in the Russian leadership.”

On the other hand, Zepp-LaRouche described how German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has shifted to an “idiotic” policy of “strategic uncertainty” regarding the deployment of Taurus missiles to Ukraine. To keep one’s opponent guessing is “really playing with fire,” she said. Postol added that he finds it hard to believe that anyone could have such a lack of grasp of history as to behave as Merz is behaving: “Germany is now being subjected to strategic deception by its political leadership and the American leadership.” Merz is lying when he says that the missiles deployed to Germany will not be nuclear armed. “The Russians will have no choice but to treat these weapons as nuclear armed,” Postol said. If they are conventional, they are meaningless. He compared this to the installations in Poland and Romania of defensive missiles that can quickly be converted to offense; the Russians do not have the luxury of speculating as to what the current status of those missiles may be. Merz’s approach will tremendously increase the likelihood that nuclear war will begin on German soil.

Teetering on the Brink of Nuclear War

Postol reported that there had been catastrophic events in the past few days, and that Trump’s statements and actions have seriously damaged the prospects for diplomatic progress. Putin has wisely offered to adhere to START provisions for a year while negotiations take place on renewing the treaty. However, due to Trump’s actions, “I think that Russia has now been put in a situation … where it really has no choice but to solve its security concerns on the battlefield in Ukraine.”

Postol, a leading expert on the consequences of the use of nuclear weapons, revisited some of the alarming material he has presented in past IPC meetings. “A nuclear war will effectively end modern civilization,” he said. “This is simply a fact of physics…. Fighting and winning a nuclear war is simply not technically feasible.” Statements by Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer betray a deep ignorance of these facts.

Because of the extreme destructive effects of nuclear weapons, any nation that is attacked with them will be forced to respond with nuclear weapons in a desperate effort to save itself. Able Archer was a 1983 NATO military exercise, simulating a war with the Warsaw Pact, conducted with high-level participants, including then-U.S. Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger. By day five of the exercise, it had escalated to the hypothetical use of strategic nuclear weapons—and the U.S. and Soviet Union no longer existed.

Regarding the physical effects of the use of nuclear weapons, Postol said that most people imagine the main devastation to be the result of the shockwave, but that is just a secondary effect. Extraordinary damage is done by the initial fireball, which is much worse than the shockwave. The fireball would set fires over a vast area—approximately 600-700 square kilometers would be instantly ignited. Hurricane-force winds would be sucked into this area by upward convection, causing a gigantic firestorm, a fire tornado. Shelters would turn into ovens. Three-hundred-kph winds would accompany the shockwave that follows. Postol illustrated this very dramatically and passionately with historic images.

Europe’s War Dance

Zepp-LaRouche noted that Putin had changed Russia’s strategic doctrine one year ago, from a basic “no first use” doctrine to one under which Russia reserves the right to use nuclear weapons, when even a conventionally armed country backed by a nuclear power threatens the national existence of Russia. The previous doctrine was not sufficient to deter existential threats.

Postol commented on the rearmament drive from leading NATO nations: “As for all this talk about going to war with Russia, it’s almost laughable.” Russia clearly has no intention to invade Europe or occupy Ukraine. They have been forced to take action because of the behavior of the West. In January of 2022, then-U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that the U.S. reserved the right to put nuclear weapons in Ukraine. Why is anyone surprised that Russia then invaded Ukraine?

Zepp-LaRouche asked Postol for his take on the strident calls for a conventional arms buildup. Postol said that the collapse of the German economy is a direct result of the Ukraine war. When Biden blew up the Nord Stream pipeline, he did much more damage to Germany than to Russia. “Germany is in the process of deindustrializing,” but Merz is not concerned with that. He wants to divert limited funds away from the people of Germany to prepare for an unnecessary war with Russia. European leaders are so desperate to cover up their own responsibility for the economic collapse that they are willing to initiate a war with Russia.

Good and Evil

When the session was opened to questions, one person asked about the question of evil in strategic politics. Zepp-LaRouche stressed the tenth of her Ten Principles of a New International Security and Development Architecture, that man is basically good. She said that the origin of evil is the system of oligarchy. Friedrich Schiller said the most important requirement for humanity is Empfindungsvermögen (empathy). What good does it do you to have written on your tombstone that you owned 200 Porsches and ate kilotons of caviar? Hannah Arendt was not entirely wrong about the “banality of evil.”

Postol agreed that man is good, with some qualification. He said that man is also “cursed with animal instincts.” We need a world where reason can overwhelm our animal instincts. Unfortunately, he said, there are very few people in positions of power today who wish to do good. European leaders of today created the conditions which led to the Ukraine war. They lack the courage of a Nikita Khrushchev to admit it when they have made mistakes.

Conclusion

Zepp-LaRouche expressed her appreciation of Postol as a “voice of reason,” saying that if you don’t start with what Postol laid out about the reality of nuclear war, you will end up wrong. She encouraged all participants to redouble their efforts to halt the march toward nuclear war, before the window of opportunity closes forever. [eir]

Oct. 17, 2025 (EIRNS)—The 124th consecutive weekly online meeting of the International Peace Coalition commenced with optimistic remarks by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Schiller Institute Founder and International Peace Coalition initiator. “All reasonable people in the world should be happy about the recent phone call between President Trump and President Putin,” she said, announcing the upcoming meeting between the two Presidents which is scheduled to take place in Budapest. She had no reading yet on the Oct. 17 meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy, but predicted that there is now a “big big question mark” over the delivery of Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine. She spoke of the possibility of a “Putin-Trump tunnel” connecting Alaska to Siberia, adding that the multi-national development of Siberia would represent an “incredible boost to the world economy.” This brings back the idea to the European continent that “diplomacy is the way to resolve conflicts.”

Zepp-LaRouche reported that the momentum of President Trump’s Gaza peace plan has carried over into the Ukraine situation. We published yesterday a very important interview with H.E. Ambassador Prof. Dr. Manuel Hassassian, Palestinian Authority Ambassador to Denmark, which underscores the absolute necessity of a “peace through development” approach, centered upon the Oasis Plan, originally proposed by Lyndon LaRouche in 1975.

“The Historical Roots of the”Peace Through Development” Plans

Later during the meeting, Schiller Institute activist Tim Rush reported on a think tank conference in Washington, D.C., where he noted a shift in world opinion against Israeli genocide. He intervened from the floor, referencing the Oasis Plan and the Eisenhower administration’s Water for Peace conference in 1967, to illustrate that these ideas have history. He referred the participants to a June 28, 2024, article in EIR titled “When ‘Water for Peace’ Was at the Center of U.S. Politics—1953-1968”. Co-moderator Dennis Speed noted a similar historical parallel, in a hand-drawn map recently shared by the Russian Ambassador to the U.S. and made public by U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, which envisioned a “Kennedy-Khrushchev World Peace Bridge” over the Bering Strait, a predecessor to the tunnel proposed by LaRouche in his World Land-Bridge plan.

Dialogue Between Israelis and Palestinians

Ali Rastbeen, director of the Académie Géopolitique de Paris, is a French national of Iranian origin. He said, of the peace plan for Gaza, that regional actors must maintain a balance between Israeli security and justice for the Palestinians. The regional actor he chose to emphasize was Iran. “Iran has remained silent—no official declaration … we haven’t seen that since 1979,” he said, calling this a “major strategic change…. Iran has been marginalized, no longer projecting power through proxies … a forced re-definition of its role…. Its influence has decreased, to the profit of the Arab countries.”

Rastbeen emphasized that we are entering a new era with the end of proxy wars. Regional power in the Middle East is now measured in the ability to negotiate, provide stability and cooperation.

Mossi Raz, former Knesset member and Director of Peace Now in Israel, observed that neither Hamas nor Israel can solve its problems by using force, and emphasized that pressure from the international community made this agreement possible. Pressure from the international community made this agreement possible. He warned that the success of the agreement was threatened by “misunderstandings on both sides”: the Palestinians are upset that Israel has continued to kill Palestinians, Israelis are upset because Hamas has not delivered all the dead hostages. The international community must keep pressure on both sides to comply exactly with the agreement, in order to prevent a further outbreak of war.

An excerpt was shown from Zepp-LaRouche’s video interview with Dr. Hassassian, who said that “President Trump has flexed muscles on Israel” to get a breakthrough in negotiations. He warned that the occupation has to end, and an independent Palestinian state with the 1967 borders is necessary for lasting peace and security. Zepp-LaRouche replied that “this is a very precious moment” to transform the dynamic of the region with the Oasis Plan. Hassassian agreed, saying, “This is the right time for your organization to push forward and to market the Oasis Plan… The benefits will not go just to the Gazans and the Palestinians,” but to the region as a whole.

Zepp-LaRouche said in response to Rastbeen’s description of a shift from ideology to diplomacy in Iran, that this is an interesting angle from which to look at the crisis. But the most important shift will be to an emphasis on economic development. This would “completely change the parameters.” Instead of coercion, we need a policy of mutual benefit. Raz offered his support for the Oasis Plan, but added that the economic dimension is a major factor, but not the only factor.

Discussion

A participant asked whether the “peace through development” approach is really desirable, given that economic growth threatens our “finite planet.” Zepp-LaRouche explained that there is a common misconception that growth must be linear and quantitative, as opposed to what the Schiller Institute proposes, which is qualitative growth such as the development of fusion energy, which China is making a reality.

Dennis Speed asked Raz to respond to former Knesset Speaker Avraham Burg’s assertion that Israel’s acts are at odds with Jewish tradition. Raz responded by acknowledging the importance of diplomacy and dialogue. Zepp-LaRouche added we have called for a dialogue of cultures, based on the best traditions of each culture in science and art, where human creativity expressed itself. “People have lost the idea of what a renaissance really is,” she said. “Collaboration among cultures would always spark a new development.”

A participant asked: Are we talking about a kind of consciousness we have never seen before? Zepp-LaRouche responded by saying that we must both reactivate our best traditions, and also create something new. It must be as different as today’s bestialized culture, as the Renaissance was from the Middle Ages, which were dominated by superstition and barbarism.

An African participant stated that she strongly supports the Oasis Plan, but asked: Why must we forgive the perpetrators of the genocide, of the killer sanctions? In response, Zepp-LaRouche insisted that we have to take advantage of branching points in history, in which we can influence the shape of things to come. We clearly have such a conjuncture, now that 500 years of colonialism is coming to an end. We should not try to impose the Western neoliberal model, but respect the singular characteristics of various cultures. We have to end the idea that conflicts can be resolved by military means.

In concluding remarks, Raz said that we need to incorporate the Oasis Plan among other issues which must be resolved, and it will take years to resolve them all.

In response to a question about China’s tightening of its export controls on rare earth elements, Zepp-LaRouche said that this “could bring the whole military-industrial complex to a screeching halt.” China’s next five-year plan could mean a change of relations among nations, a model of governance based on sovereignty, non-interference and cooperation.

An Ecuadorian reported that her new neoliberal government is attacking the indigenous population, which is protesting unjust austerity measures. Co-moderator Dennis Small said that Ecuador is part of a larger pattern; the neocons are willing to invade Venezuela, create regime-change in Peru (which they have done through an orchestrated scandal), and bail out Argentina, in order to maintain their control.

Zepp-LaRouche reminded the participants that although the discussion has focused on Gaza, she had emphasized at the start that the Trump-Putin meeting in Budapest is of crucial importance because of the ever-present danger of nuclear war, as was described by Ted Postol in the previous week’s IPC meeting. He will give another presentation at the next meeting. “In the age of nuclear weapons, we cannot have war as a method of conflict resolution”; we must return to diplomacy. [eir]

International Peace Coalition, Week 122

by EIR Staff

Oct. 3—Helga Zepp LaRouche opened the 122nd weekly meeting of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) by calling on members to study the speech given by Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Valdai Club meeting this week and circulate it to every political and institutional leader. She emphasized that Putin had made clear that Russia has no interest nor intention to invade Europe, and that the hysteria being riled up about Russian planes and drones threatening Europe was “nonsense.” Putin said that the European people do not support the “deafening” war mongering from their leaders and the media. He said that, as in 1914, it is the Europeans who are provoking a war.

On Gaza, Mrs. LaRouche said that the world is increasingly disgusted, as demonstrated by the general strike in Italy (which is reported to have a million people on the streets), and two demonstrations in Germany against the government’s policy for building up for war on Russia. She called for more support for the Oasis Plan and attention to the need for a power- and water-development plan for the entire Southwest Asian region, and for a global new paradigm for development and security for all nations.

Jonathan Kuttab, a Palestinian international lawyer, executive director of Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA) and co-founder of Nonviolence International, among other activities, noted that there have now been two years of Israeli genocide, “in the public eye, in the light of day, despite the incredible denials by Israel.” We are witnessing the “destruction of international law,” he warned, but we must fight to retain a system of international law by all means. Trump’s policy is that international law doesn’t matter, only power, and that those with power can do whatever they want. The Gaza “peace plan” is just an ultimatum, that Israel has the power and thus can do what it wants. Hamas may accept it anyway, simply out of desperation to end the daily slaughter. The Oasis Plan demonstrates the international policy which must be adopted. People must act in the absence of government actions, he said.

Asked why he had written about some successes by the Palestinians over these years of genocide, he answered that it was to overcome despair, and to let people know that their struggle has increasingly inspired people around the world to support them, especially youth, university students, and even many Jews, and for calls for Palestinian statehood.

A Thorn in the Side of Unilateralism

Prof. Lier Pires Ferreira, of the Center for BRICS Studies (NuBRICS) at the Fluminense Federal University of Brazil, attacked “Trumpism” for its assault against Brazil. Brazil, he said, following its era of dictatorship, established relations with Russia, China, and others while also maintaining friendly relations with the U.S., but President Bolsonaro (2019-2023) ended that, aligning only with the U.S. Trumpism and the extreme right, he said, use the media and “big tech” to spread disinformation and lies. Trump is targeting the BRICS, and the Lula government in Brazil, because it is a “thorn in the side of unilateralism.” He strongly promoted the idea that water is a “public good, not a commodity” and is key to sovereign development—one of the central tenets of the LaRouche Oasis Plan.

Zepp-LaRouche agreed that we must join forces internationally, but added that it must include development as a core of any solution. She pointed to China’s extraordinary development, noting a recently completed water project larger than any other in the world, saying that, if people understood that such development were possible, they would be better able to unite for a new paradigm.

Former Guyanese President Donald Ramotar said the so-called Gaza peace plan is not a peace plan at all, but a plan to retain Israeli and U.S. domination. The U.S. is “not an impartial broker,” and other countries should assert themselves as impartial brokers. Kuttab agreed, but said it is not a question of impartial brokers, but of a “framework for discussion” based on international law, rather than “fiat” by the powerful.

Steve Starr, a renowned nuclear-weapons expert, began by announcing that he was no longer teaching at the University of Missouri, which had dismissed him, due to his talking about genocide in Gaza and related issues, but that he was continuing his work to expose the extreme danger of nuclear war. He noted that the New START Treaty would expire in February 2026 if a new treaty is not negotiated. If it expires, the number of nuclear weapons and delivery systems will essentially double, he warned. He also warned that if the plan to send nuclear-capable Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine proceeds, it will mean war, likely nuclear war. He closed by showing a clip from Terminator 2, which accurately shows the gruesome impact of a nuclear explosion over a major city, both to human beings and to the infrastructure. Zepp-LaRouche called for Starr’s presentation to be shown to every politician, especially those talking about “winning” a nuclear war.

Department of War: A Rejection of Peace

Larry Johnson, a former CIA intelligence official and a member of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), began by noting that the Trump pronouncement that the Department of Defense will be called the Department of War is an intentional rejection of the idea behind the creation of the Department of Defense after World War II, which was to declare that there would be no more wars. Now the U.S. has warships and war planes on Venezuela’s border and in bases in Puerto Rico, which can not be sustained for long, leading Johnson to conclude that there will be a war on Venezuela within days or a week.

On Trump’s declaration that Hamas must accept the “peace plan” within four days or there would be “Hell to pay,” he ponders whether or not Trump has been watching what has gone on in Gaza over the past two years, which is already pure Hell. On Ukraine, the Russians are moving forward rapidly, and he suspects they plan to finish the operation within about three months.

Father Harry Bury, a long-time international peace advocate, submitted a video statement. He said he had formed a non-violence movement in the Twin Cities, where he lives, and that the mayors of those cities had declared the cities to be “non-violent,” while advancing efforts to educate former gang members to gain employment. He said he has partnered with the Schiller Institute on the Oasis Plan, a concept already being implemented by the BRICS nations around the world for development as a basis for peace, calling on the U.S. to cooperate with the BRICS.

Asuka Burke of the Schiller Institute gave a report on the international call with youth around the world held with Zepp-LaRouche this past week, with 60 participants from countries across Africa, Europe, Ibero America, and the U.S.

A comment posted by one participant said: “I am 78 years old, but I’d like to be part of the Youth Movement.” Mrs. LaRouche responded that he and other older people are totally welcome to join.

Another questioner observed that there could be no peace without justice. Zepp-LaRouche responded that justice had to include development for all nations, or it would not be just. She pointed to the Peace of Westphalia, which included justice, but also forgiveness, without which there would be no peace. IPC co-moderator Dennis Small added, in a variation of the famous concept by Pope Paul VI, “the new name for justice is development.”

Christoph Mohs of the Schiller Institute gave a report on two rallies for peace in Germany today, in Berlin and Stuttgart, with about 30,000 people. This included the distribution of many leftists, but also attendance by many “regular people,” many youth, and many Jews. Prof Jeffrey Sachs addressed both rallies by video, noting that it was the Western nations, not Russia, who cancelled the nuclear treaties, and that the Europeans refuse to even talk to Russia today.

Zepp-LaRouche closed the meeting with a call for distributing both Father Harry Bury’s statement to churches around the world and the presentation from Steve Starr on the horror of nuclear war.