International Peace Coalition

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.

International Peace Coalition, No. 119

The 119th consecutive weekly meeting of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) began with remarks by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Schiller Institute Founder and initiator of the International Peace Coalition. She said that “the world is completely out of order,” cataloguing the latest eruptions: the uproar about Russian drones over Poland, the Israeli attack on Qatar, the assassination of Charlie Kirk, and others. She warned that the Kirk assassination can be seen as a warning to U.S. President Donald Trump, and the bombing of Qatar is another manifestation of the law of the jungle, which could be the final nail in the coffin of peace negotiations. The only “plus point” is that for the first time, all five members of the UN Security Council denounced the Qatar attack, with no U.S. veto.

She added that the common denominator in the violent acts around the world is that they all represent a reaction to the emerging new world economic order. A new development of the highest importance for the emerging order is China President Xi Jinping’s Global Governance Initiative, which echoes her Ten Principles of a New International Security and Development Architecture.

Donald Ramotar, former President of Guyana, focused on the tensions in the Caribbean region. He rejected Venezuela’s claim to two-thirds of the territory of Guyana, but also reminded the participants of U.S. attacks on Guyanese sovereignty in 1962, much as the United States is trying to bring about regime-change in Venezuela today. In the Caribbean, fear of U.S. sanctions is a major factor, after what has been done to Cuba and Venezuela. U.S. sanctions against a Brazilian judge are unprecedented interference in the internal affairs of a South American nation.

Regarding Trump’s justification of his assault on Venezuela, claiming that its government is a drug cartel, Ramotar reminded the participants that Pino Arlacchi, who served as the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), has characterized Venezuela’s anti-drug cooperation as one of the best. The issue is not drugs, Ramotar said, it is oil. Since President Nixon declared the War on Drugs in the 1970s, the drug scourge has gotten much worse. The use of the military to combat it has failed.

Looking at the global outbreak of violence referenced by Zepp-LaRouche, Ramotar asserted, “It is a clear sign of desperation and a new aggressiveness on the part of the NATO countries…. Gaza is being used in order to destroy international laws and international institutions.” He called the Ukraine war “a failed attempt to destabilize Russia.”

Shakeel Ramay, Political Economist and CEO of the Asian Institute of Eco-Civilization Research and Development, discussed the 2025 Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, saying that it should be a step toward a multipolar world, not a multibloc world. SCO has facilitated the resolution of conflicts, unlike NATO and similar “bloc” organizations. The SCO Development Bank will be created, complementing the efforts of other Global South organizations. Xi’s Global Governance Initiative is intended to combat the residual Cold War mentality. China respects diversity in its own society, and follows a people-centered policy; this approach can be applied globally.

Prof. Fernando Garzon, architect, urban planner, and leader of the Ecuadorian-Palestinian Union, referenced Ramotar’s warnings about regional tensions, noting that there are 25-30 U.S. and European military bases in the Caribbean, which represent a threat.

Turning to the issue of Palestine, he said that all members of the UN should recognize the Palestinian state and make it a full member. He called for the transfer of UN meetings to Geneva to include Palestinian representatives, and said we should hold corporations accountable for their participation in crimes in Gaza. Francesca Albanese has carried out an important study on this. We should consider sending armed forces into Gaza, and implementing UN Resolution 377, Uniting for Peace.

Jacques Cheminade, head of the Solidarité et Progrès party of France, dissected the confused and impotent foreign policy of his nation. Macron’s goal of sending troops to Ukraine provides targets for Russian missiles, and is rejected by the French population. “France has neither the money nor the weapons for what they pretend to do.”

An EIR video interview with Jonathan Kuttab, co-founder of Nonviolence International and executive director of Friends of Sabeel North America, was presented. He began by saying, “On the Palestinian side there is a strong feeling of helplessness, but not hopelessness.” Israelis know that their conduct is unacceptable to the world, but their attitude is “So what? We can do whatever we want.” Israel has a new sense of impunity. In response to a question on the role of the British in the Middle East, he said, “The British are behind every evil thing that happens in the world…. Many people think that they are also manipulating the United States itself.”

“We really need international law,” said Kuttab, including the Israelis. The Israelis are very shortsighted if they think they can ignore international norms. What would it take for nations to support UN Resolution 377? It will take pressure from ordinary people on their governments.

Zepp-LaRouche responded by saying that if the Palestinian delegates to the UN do not receive visas, we should mobilize the IPC to move the General Assembly meeting to Geneva. AOC is cancelling her appearance in North Carolina due to security concerns after the Kirk assassination. “The role of the British subversion of the American republic needs to be addressed,” she said, because it is the root cause of the destructive campaign for a “unipolar world.” She urged everyone to sign the new statement from the Schiller Institute.

Ramotar asserted that the BRICS is offering a viable alternative to the collapsing colonial system, and the ongoing aggression and sabotage is intended to wreck international law, replacing it with the “survival of the fittest” where the colonial forces hope to come out on top.

Discussion Period

In response to a question, IPC co-moderator Dennis Speed asked Zepp-LaRouche to elaborate on the 10th principle of her proposal for a New International Security and Development Architecture, that humans are essentially good. She responded by saying that when you are confronted with a great evil, we need to have love, and that is most difficult. If you don’t have that love, you cannot find a solution. Rage short-circuits your reason. Man has an infinite capacity for self-perfection, not only of the mind, but for the improvement of one’s character.

Cheminade suggested that Resolution 377 is often misunderstood as a way to trigger military intervention. Its effectiveness is to present a consensus of the world community and to isolate Israel, leading to boycotts and a halt to weapons sales, and to touch the consciences of Israelis.

A participant questioned whether the recognition of a Palestinian state would deter Israel, which has attacked numerous sovereign states. Speed emphasized the importance of intervening with their representatives at the upcoming UN General Assembly session and vowed that the Schiller Institute and The LaRouche Organization would have a regular presence there. Ramotar insisted that Israel will not stop because they see the opportunity to realize the dream of a Greater Israel, with the acquiescence of the U.S. He castigated the Arab countries for their passivity, saying that “we have to shame them.”

In her concluding remarks, Zepp-LaRouche urged everyone to pressure their governments in the context of the upcoming UNGA meeting. The SCO conference showed a new confidence in the nations of the Global South, and we have to convince the citizens of the Global North/Global West to give up their arrogance and cooperate with the Global Majority.

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Aug. 29, 2025 (EIRNS)—The 117th consecutive weekly meeting of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) on Friday, Aug. 29 began with opening remarks by Schiller Institute founder Helga Zepp-LaRouche, who charged that the international community is “impotent and doesn’t act” with respect to ending the genocide in Gaza. She reminded the participants that September 18 is the deadline for Israel to comply with International Court of Justice rulings, and should it fail to do so, the UN General Assembly can employ “Uniting for Peace,” UN resolution 377. A two-thirds majority in the General Assembly can decide to send Blue Helmets or a similar military force to break the siege. “We are not just threatening to lose the Palestinian people; we are losing the ability to look into the mirror every morning,” she stressed.

Germany, France and the U.K. have activated the “snapback,” an ultimatum to Iran for inspections of nuclear sites. The last time that Iran attempted to cooperate with the West, the U.S. engaged in fake negotiations to set them up for an attack. The sanctions regime imposed upon Iran has caused more than 500,000 deaths from hunger and lack of medical care.

Zepp-LaRouche commented upon the new German theory for how the Nord Stream pipeline sabotage was carried out. She said that the tale of a “small sailboat with practically hobby-divers” who supposedly carried out the crime, is viewed with skepticism internationally. This act of terrorism caused a rift between Europe and Russia, and marked the beginning of the German economic collapse. Russia points out that if there is not a proper investigation, no infrastructure anywhere in the world is secure. Zepp-LaRouche deplored the present political climate in her homeland of Germany, where military leaders are holding highly secretive meetings in preparation for war.

Fortunately, the September 3 meeting in Beijing will help consolidate the global majority. On the same day, more than 6,000 firms will attend the Vladivostok Forum, where Arctic development is on the agenda. We will push to include the Bering Strait tunnel as a key element for our perspective of global peace through development. Zepp-LaRouche joked that perhaps Trump deserves the Nobel Peace Prize because his bullying has brought China and India closer together.

Dr. Georgy D. Toloraya, Executive Director, Russian National Committee on BRICS Research; Director, Asian Strategy Center, Institute of Economics; and Chief Researcher, Institute of China and Contemporary Asia, Russian Academy of Sciences, said that the Beijing meeting will be a milestone, because the Shanghai Cooperation Organization will offer a declaration for how the Eurasian countries can jointly address the world crisis. Also, there will be a commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the end of war in the Pacific, and the Vladivostok Forum. Toloraya said that we have stepped back a bit from the threshold of nuclear war, but the situation is still very concerning.

Zepp-LaRouche replied that the voice of the Global South is being heard clearly in the collective West. All problems could be solved easily if we can change the mindset from confrontation to cooperation. In response, Toloraya said that this will not be easy, because egoism and exploitation is deeply ingrained in the so-called “golden billion,” and supported by military force and psychological warfare. Zepp-LaRouche came back saying that the golden billion is not a homogeneous group, and that Western leaders do not enjoy popular support; the collapsing economy will further erode what support they have. A clear offer of cooperation from the Global South, for joint ventures to develop the South, would have an impact. There is much room for intervention, which is what we should concentrate on. Toloraya said that Russians were hopeful that Trump’s election was an expression of the desire for change in the U.S., but the results so far have been disappointing.

Graham Fuller, former U.S. diplomat, CIA official, and Islamic scholar, said that “Ukraine is just the symptom of a much deeper malaise between the U.S. and Russia.” He is “very excited by the Schiller Institute’s idea of the land-bridge,” but political obstacles, particularly Russophobia in the U.S., are daunting; people will talk about hordes of communists rushing across the Bering Strait. He charged that the British created Russophobia, fearing that Russians might invade their crown jewel of India. In the U.S., we deported Russian ballerinas and musicians to keep the U.S. “pure.” Fuller proposed to make Ronald Reagan the poster boy for better relations with Russia, because he enjoys a good reputation in the U.S., and we could revitalize his image as a great patriot who was “a proponent of getting along with Russia.”

Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst and co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), thanked Fuller, who played the role equivalent to what today is DNI, for his “tour d’horizon.” He said that there is hope because Putin and Xi are in no rush. The world is shifting toward the majority.

Zepp-LaRouche said that there is something beautiful about humanity which gives her optimism, but she still can’t understand what is wrong with leaders who are willing to risk its extinction. “What does it help you to have riches, if everything is destroyed in the end?” she demanded to know. Lamenting again the condition of her homeland, she said, “You have to shout loud into Germany,” to awaken some of these Germans who are sleepwalking.

IPC moderator Anastasia Battle reported on her recent experiences in organizing in Germany, saying that people don’t share the Russophobia of their leaders, and it would be good if Russia’s leaders could directly address the European populace, and specifically anti-war demonstrators. McGovern, back from a week in Germany himself, pronounced, “It’s the media.” German media are worse than in the U.S. and as bad as in Britain. Russia stopped short of taking Kiev because they believed in the Minsk accords. Russia does not wish to expand its territory. He offered another joke: Why is Tony Blair involved in the Gaza negotiations? Because Satan was unavailable this week.

Discussion

Purnima Anand is the president of the BRICS International Forum, a civil society organization based in Delhi, India. She said that India will find new trading partners in response to the tariffs announced by Trump. India trades in large volumes with both Russia and the U.S., so why the complaints from the American administration? “America cannot always be number one, Europe cannot always be colonizers.”

Toloraya emphasized that “BRICS is open to cooperation with the West,” but lamented that the West isn’t interested.

Returning again to the sad state of Germany, Zepp-LaRouche reported that nurses there are being advised that they must be prepared to treat wounded NATO soldiers before caring for civilians. She touched upon the insolvency of the U.S. and the West, saying: “I think we are going into a very stormy period…. I think that what happened in 2007-2008 will be the proverbial peanuts” compared to the collapse we are faced with now.

The question of Trump’s threats toward Venezuela, and his claim that its government is a “drug cartel,” came up. IPC co-moderator Dennis Small reminded the participants that when the British HSBC bank was caught laundering over $60 billion for the Sinaloa Cartel, it faced no consequences.

In concluding remarks, Fuller asked, “Will we block the BRICS at every turn, or will we join them for something that could be very rich?” Returning to his proposal to promote Ronald Reagan as a model for U.S.-Russian détente, Zepp-LaRouche recalled that in his proposal for the Strategic Defense Initiative, Reagan offered cooperation with Russia on making nuclear weapons obsolete, an idea taken from her late husband, Lyndon LaRouche.

Moderator Battle posted a link to the names of 97 prominent endorsers of the “Urgent Appeal to Presidents Xi, Trump and Putin To Meet on Commemoration of VJ Day, Sept. 3.” eir

The 116th meeting on Friday, Aug. 22 of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) featured intense warnings against nuclear war, optimism about U.S. relations with Russia, and reports on the unrestrained genocide of Palestinians and the insanity of the Ukrainian and European leadership insistence of continuing the already lost war in Ukraine.

Helga Zepp-LaRouche began by emphasizing our campaign to activate the UN General Assembly Resolution 377, Uniting for Peace, to intervene against the horror unfolding in Gaza and the West Bank. A person connected to the UN told her that a deployment of Blue Helmets in the region under Resolution 377 would have a significant impact regionally and globally, to bring action against Israel’s atrocities. She asserted that Trump’s tariff wars were forcing the BRICS nations to get even closer, pointing to Indian Foreign Minister Jaishankar’s visit in Moscow and China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi in India. The September 3 military parade in Beijing, celebrating the end of World War II, and the related meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Tianjin, and the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, if they bring the leaders of Russia, China and the U.S. together for development of the Bering Strait tunnel and related great infrastructure projects, could, and must, mark a turning point in history towards a new international security and development paradigm for all nations.

Professor Ted Postol, the world’s leading expert on nuclear weapons, said that the Israeli and U.S. bombing in Iran has resulted in two nuclear powers now confronting each other in Southwest Asia, with Iran joining Israel as a nuclear power. He explained that Iran had 13,000 kg of 60% enriched uranium before the bombing, but still has 400 kg, enough to produce 10 nuclear bombs of the size of the Hiroshima bombs within 4 or 5 weeks, if they should decide to do so. “That was created by the U.S. attacks,” he said, noting that the 400 kg had been under the inspection of the IAEA, but after the bombing, the IAEA was thrown out. Iran will not announce any decision to make the bombs, but will prefer “strategic uncertainty.” Zepp-LaRouche asked him about Iran’s fatwa against producing a bomb. Postol answered that the authority of the fatwa was based on the stature of the supreme religious leader, but that it was not a law, and could be lifted according to Islamic law.

Scott Ritter described his just-completed trip to Russia, which was “citizen’s diplomacy,” aimed at capturing the reality in Russia for the American population, who lack any sense of that reality. Postol noted that he had been in discussions with Ritter, and that Ritter was understating his impact within Russia. Ritter concurred, reporting that a leading Russian political figure had told him that his trip had created a “political nuclear explosion” in the country, due to an American telling the truth about the crisis. He said that he was about to publish a public letter, co-signed by Ted Postol, Dennis Kucinich and Ray McGovern, addressing the issue. Asked by Zepp-LaRouche to comment on the state of the war in Ukraine, Ritter said the Russian view was that the war will be won by the Russians, that they have not changed their demands (neutrality, de-Nazification, freedom of language), and that they do not care about the European bluster, knowing that they have no capacity to continue the war against Russia without the U.S. He said that the territories taken over by Russia “will be Russian forever.” Neutrality, he said, will be “under a Russian umbrella.”

Zepp-LaRouche asked about the recent arrest in Italy of a Ukrainian supposedly part of the operation which blew up the Nord Stream Pipeline in 2022. Postol said he was very close to Sy Hersh, and that when Hersh was writing his exposé accusing the U.S. military, under the direction of President Joe Biden, of carrying out the Nord Stream attack, Postol questioned him with serious questions about the “underwater acoustics” in the incident, adding that he was an expert in the field. Hersh took the questions to his source, whose response fully convinced Postol, who changed his mind and led him to concur with Hersh’s analysis.

Postol also added his view on the reported 1.7 million dead or missing Ukrainian soldiers, noting that this number, with the (mostly young) men and their partners, means that about 3 million child-bearing youth had been eliminated. This, he said, would leave a devastating impact on the nation, virtually wiping out a generation of Ukraine’s population. He said the callousness of Zelenskyy’s continuing the war in this condition reminded him of Hitler’s refusal to concede when Russia was closing in on Berlin, a “racist and hateful” leadership.

Garland Nixon, a blogger with a large following, described the importance of social media, especially as the commercial media is failing. He described something called “stream yard,” which is groups of 8-10 platforms coming together to further expand their reach. He said that meetings like the IPC need to be mass-distributed in a manner that can be understood by the growing audience of social media. He was asked about his viewership in Russia, which he said was the result of a group called “Russia Accent,” which had requested permission to translate and broadcast his shows in Russian, and which has resulted in millions of views throughout Russia.

Zepp-LaRouche added that the same has to be done with people in Africa, Asia and elsewhere, to get the world unified around the September 3 events, demanding “Never Again” to fascism and war.

Dennis Speed added that, like the “Continental Congress” by the Founding Fathers, we need an “International Congress” today, to change the global paradigm.

In the discussion period, Postol was asked about something called “super fuse technology.” He responded that this was something he had discovered by accident, which is a new technology allowing far more accurate targeting of missiles in silos. His concern is that the Russians and Chinese who see this multibillion-dollar technology being built would convince them that the U.S. is preparing for a first strike. Putin, he added, knows that such fantasies about “winning a nuclear war” cannot work, but worries about Western leaders who think they can.

Zepp-LaRouche responded that Rear Adm. Thomas Buchanan, a Director for the Plans and Policy Directorate at USSTRATCOM, had argued in public that the U.S. could win a nuclear war, but should be certain to retain enough nuclear weapons to assure continued world dominance. Postol said that such a person was “ignorant” and should have no position of authority in the U.S. military. He had worked with many three- and four-star generals with more sense than that. He noted that Putin had fired a general who was leading the Russian forces in Ukraine, but who called for using nuclear weapons.

A woman from India issued a call of support for the IPC, and for all people to join the fight for development and infrastructure. Zepp-LaRouche strongly endorsed her call, emphasizing that building infrastructure was critical for the new world paradigm, including education, so that we can “create billions of geniuses.”

A question about the U.S. military forces in the Caribbean led Dennis Small to insist that this had nothing to do with countering drugs, despite the argument made by the U.S.. Any real war on drugs would start with the shut down of the banks running the drug financing, while the claim of fighting drugs was just an excuse for military intervention by those who want to continue the dying colonial system.

In her conclusion, Helga Zepp-LaRouche said, “Right now we are in the most important next period, because if we get this global development of the Bering Strait as a corridor for the World Land-Bridge, if that becomes the motor, then you can have peace between the United States and Russia. I think no other force in the world can stop it, because as Putin said, they are neighbors; it’s just a few kilometers. If that bridge or tunnel is being built, and then you start to develop Alaska and Siberia, a tremendous wealth of ideas and creativity could come from that.”

Aug. 8, 2025 (EIRNS)—The 114th consecutive weekly meeting of the International Peace Coalition took place on Aug. 8, eighty years after the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Schiller Institute founder, opened the session, saying, “There are many people who are acutely aware that the world has never been so close to extinction.” The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were unnecessary because Emperor Hirohito was already negotiating for peace through the Vatican. This was a demonstration of Schrecklichkeit (terror). If the proposed Putin-Trump meeting takes place, it will be the “necessary signal” that nuclear war can be avoided. On the economic war front, Trump’s tariffs are targeting all the BRICS nations, and may inadvertently trigger the de-dollarization which Trump claims to wish to avoid.

Co-moderator Dennis Speed cited the 1946 Strategic Bombing Survey’s official opinion that Japan would have surrendered, even if there were no atomic bombs, no entry of Russia into the war, no invasion. Why do most Americans today still believe the opposite? Why is this not known now, or taught in American universities and schools, 80 years after the events?

Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst and co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), said that the “overweening objective of the Russians” has been to restore normal relations with the U.S. The recent meeting with Witkoff was constructive, and “Witkoff is about ten times smarter, in my view, than Marco Rubio,” he said, citing Russian presidential aide for foreign policy Yury Ushakov: Trump was backed into a corner with his threat of an Aug. 8 sanctions deadline, and a summit with Putin offers him a way out.

McGovern also asserted that there is “more than an even chance that Netanyahu has Epstein-type blackmail on our President.” If Israel attacks Iran again, Iran is capable of defending itself. Would Netanyahu, in extremis, resort to nuclear weapons? This is a man who uses genocide to try to defend himself from criminal prosecution.

Anthony Aguilar, a retired U.S. Army Lt. Colonel and Green Beret, worked as a security subcontractor for the Israeli and U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), tasked with delivering aid to the besieged Palestinian enclave. Aguilar said that he doesn’t use the term “war crimes” lightly; he is referring to international agreements to which the U.S. and Israel are signatories. “We are violating those every day.” He described an “active campaign” to dehumanize the Palestinians, putting them in a position where they are “literally begging for food” and then must fight for it at distribution sites. The United States is absolutely complicit in all of this. Attempting a military defeat of Hamas is “a fool’s errand,” he said. Full occupation of Gaza will lead to “much, much more death…. If Israel continues down this path … they are only going to harm their position on the world stage…. A day of atonement, a day of judgment, a day of reckoning is coming.”

McGovern responded, “Colonel Aguilar is the epitome of what a U.S. Army officer used to be.”

Steve Starr, former director of the University of Missouri Clinical Laboratory Science program, stated that the Ukraine conflict has evolved into a hybrid form of World War III. The war would have ended in a few weeks if the U.S. (and Great Britain)had not moved in and torpedoed the talks in April of 2022. Germany is on the verge of providing Taurus missiles, which will be operated by Germans and guided by U.S. targeting data. Russian strategic sites have been targeted, and there was an attempted assassination of Putin in his helicopter, guided by U.S. targeting data. What would the U.S. do if such attacks were made on the U.S.? There are 51 new U.S. bases being established in Scandinavia, and the U.S. has abrogated almost every arms control treaty that we had. We have sent nuclear gravity bombs to the U.K. in the last month. “What does that tell Russia?” If the START treaty is not renewed, Ohio-class subs will be rapidly loaded with additional nuclear weapons.

Eduardo Siqueira, Brazilian researcher and analyst, and a professor emeritus of public health at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, warned that the U.S. is violating Brazil’s sovereignty, to punish Brazil for acting against those who attempted a coup there. A network of “the international extreme right” is operating, and it has backfired, causing “a significant unity of the Brazilian people” against the sanctions. “The United States wants to be the sole power in the world … the perception of the United States is definitely becoming much more negative.”

VIPS Members Review Their Groundbreaking Analysis

William Binney is a 32-year National Security Agency (NSA) veteran, former technical director, NSA Whistleblower, and member of VIPS. He reviewed the 2016 study by VIPS which demonstrated that the DNC emails were extracted by a “leak, not a hack,” and said that this was “provable in a court of law.” Ray McGovern added that the head of CrowdStrike, under oath, admitted in 2017 that there was no technical evidence of any exfiltration. Adam Schiff hid this for two years, and after it was released, the media refused to cover it.

Dennis Speed urged participants to read the Schiller Institute’s newly released

White Paper, “Worse Than Treason: The Actual Motive Behind Russiagate.”

Kirk Wiebe is a retired analyst and whistleblower at the National Security Agency, and VIPS member. He concurred that Putin is sending a signal to Trump that he is willing to talk, and “this is a moment to seize.” He discussed the policy of mass surveillance of Americans, initially launched by Gen. Michael Hayden: Why did they get Britain’s GCHQ involved? Because NSA can’t spy on Americans without a court order, so the British do it for them. Palantir has concluded an agreement with the government to sell personal data from all your digital devices, a combination which will be “the largest surveillance weapon ever devised by mankind.” Congressional oversight is minimal, “a wink and a shake of the hand.”

Zepp-LaRouche responded, saying that the common thread here is the dehumanization of people who are designated as “the enemy.” What is required is “an urgent, urgent change in what is called the image of man,” one that holds that “every human being on the planet is as human as we are.”

Discussion

McGovern noted that the mainstream media are refusing to report the evidence revealed by DNI Tulsi Gabbard. The New York Times claims that those who do talk about it are relying on Russian disinformation, because the emails were made public by Russia. But if one doesn’t trust the Russians, why not ask the NSA? It has all the same material. In concluding remarks, he said that we must distinguish between what Trump is trying to do in Ukraine, which is constructive, and his destructive support for Israeli genocide.

Zepp-LaRouche said that this week’s IPC discussion shows that we are in a pivotal moment, and we must get active. The world situation is complex; Trump does not know that the biggest threat of de-dollarization is cryptocurrency and stablecoins. She asked everyone to sign the petition calling for Putin, Trump, and Xi to meet in Beijing. The world’s problems are solvable if we have an attitude of cooperation, for a solution without catastrophe.

Co-moderator Dennis Small added that the intention behind Russiagate was to stop precisely the sort of meeting that Trump and Putin are about to have, and to stop the paradigm shift represented by the Ten Principles of a New International Security and Development Architecture.