Nov. 6—Helga Zepp-LaRouche, founder of the Schiller institute and initiator of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) addressed the IPCʼs 179th consecutive weekly meeting via a pre-recorded video presentation where she warned of the immediate danger of war. According to media reports both the U.S. Central Command and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in Israel are preparing for renewed strikes on Iran. Israel was told by the United States to wait until after the U.S. elections before launching more attacks on Iran. If Israel waited, the U.S. would join the fight. Meanwhile, Air Force Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, at the Warsaw Security Forum, on October 12, set out his theory of victory based on “deep strikes” into Russia. Zepp-LaRouche said that this is all beyond the red-line for the Russians so we needed to act quickly.  

China, however, has been very active diplomatically, sending Chinese Special Envoy Zhai Jun to visit Oman, Iran, and Saudi Arabia in November. The Secretary of Iranʼs Supreme National Security Council Mohsen Rezai went to Moscow on Nov. 5 to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, and to convey an urgent message from Iranʼs Supreme Leader ⁠Ayatollah ⁠Mojtaba Khamenei—but something more fundamental is needed. China is using its four Global Initiatives (on Development, Security, Civilization and Governance) to move the world quickly to a new architecture. Two weeks ago, over Oct. 23-25, Zepp-LaRouche attended Chinaʼs 2026 Global Governance Forum in Xiongʼan New Area near Beijing, a “truly historic” event which, she noted, brought together over 400 high-ranking participants from over 90 countries. Zepp-LaRouche also called on believers of all great faiths to answer the call for peace by Pope Leo XIV who says that there is no such thing as a “just war,” and that only peace is holy. Zepp-LaRouche ended her presentation by demanding that the world reject geopolitics and hegemony, which she called a “morbid idea.”

Ray McGovern, a former CIA analyst and one of the founders of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, praised U.S. voters for attempting to restrain insanity on election day. He spoke about Omanʼs foreign minister Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi, a key mediator in the U.S.-Iran nuclear talks, who spoke on CNN, saying that there was no need for the Iran War. The mediator said that on the day before the war, Iran had agreed to all the core demands. McGovern blamed Israel for making the decision for starting the Iran War in February, but if the war started again, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States would collapse. McGovern also called on former Army Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia to speak out about the decisions to start the Iran War. Later, during the question period, McGovern warned that both China and Russia have interests in the Iran outcome. Russia is supplying weapons to Iran, and China is supplying advanced air defense systems.

Moderator Anastasia Battle tied in the ongoing revolt in the American people citing a petition signed by nearly 1,000,000 people calling for a new house speaker, replacing AIPAC backed Jeffries.

Garland Nixon, the veteran progressive radio and television talk show host, said that after the U.S. election both the Democratic and Republican parties are dealing with internal “civil wars.” But he said that this should not be a surprise since the same forces control both parties. He said that we have seen two “blowout” elections in a row. In 2024 then presidential candidate Donald Trump crushed Vice President Kamala Harris by promising to end the “forever wars” and promoting economic development. He won support from a broad range of constituents, but in 2026, the same people came out to vote against him for the same reasons that they voted against Harris. Dennis Small commented that Nixon was correct that election victories were not enough, using the example of Brazil where incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silvawon the Oct. 25 run-off election, but is now under financial warfare from the City of London and Wall Street. 

Speaking from Pakistan, Dr. Yasir Masood, a political and security analyst, started his presentation thanking Helga Zepp-LaRouche for her work in creating a basis for peace, and said that he was impressed with her plans for the “Extended Oasis Plan.” Dr. Masood spoke of the role that Pakistan is playing in bringing warring countries together to negotiate and its desire to be seen as a trusted country that all sides in a dispute could turn to in order to resolve conflicts. He was very proud that Pakistan played a role in bringing the United States and China together to cooperate. He said that the Mecca Defence Alliance formed on Aug. 7 by Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey was working for peace and will not allow itself to become an anti-Iran bloc. He spoke of the importance of economic corridors for achieving peace, saying that countries need shared security and shared development. At the end of the conference, Dr. Masood proposed that the IPC and/or the Schiller Institute hold a conference of leaders from Southwest Asia, especially around the implementation of the Oasis Plan.

Feride Gillesberg, a Schiller Institute activist living in Denmark, who was born in Albania, spoke about the student protests ongoing in Albania. She said that Albania has always been a captive nation, but when a new Prime Minister, Edvin “Edi” Rama, was elected in 2013, many were hopeful. However, one million people have left the country—forced out by the economic “Shock Therapy” imposed by foreign banks and financial institutions. Now, Albania is being sold off to foreign interests, including President Donald Trumpʼs son-in-law Jared Kushner, as laws dealing with property titles have been changed—some homes are being sold for as little as one euro. The country is in the service of George Soros and the Mafia. Thousands of young people protest the injustice, but are being beaten-up or tear gassed by police. Many students say that they are willing to give their life for their country. Ms. Gillesberg ended her presentation with a short video of the peaceful protesters, the violent response from the police, and an interview with one of the protesters who said that young people are protesting in Albania, but the fight is the same everywhere in the world as the Epstein Class is treating the world as its personal playground.

Diane Sare, the independent candidate for President of the United States, said that after years with Presidents Trump and Joe Biden in the White House, Americans are looking for the adults in the room. She credited young voters for fueling the election disaster for Republicans. But she read from her new leaflet, The People Have Spoken: Itʼs Not About Party, Itʼs About Destiny, saying that the same interests control both parties. She said that there will be another revolt if Democrats Sen. Chuck Schumer and Congressman Hakeem Jeffries are forced into positions of the leadership in the U.S. Congress. Candidate Sare called for a global youth movement.

Jacques Cheminade, three-time French presidential candidate and leader of the French political party, Solidarité et Progrès, gave a short report about the Thursday mass demonstrations across France with students, labor unions, and others. These protests were estimated to have 600,000 to 1.6 million participants, but Mr. Cheminade said that what is missing is a Lyndon LaRouche-style economic solution.

A final report was from the recent congressional candidate from the New Yorkʼs 15th C.D. (The Bronx), Jose Vega, who spoke about the U.S. elections. He said that if anyone has been watching what has been happening in Brazil, France, Italy, Spain, and even Israel, they should not be surprised by the results in the United States. President Trump was completely rejected in 2026 for the same reasons that Kamala Harris was completely rejected in 2024. 

The weight that the Chinese government and the governments of the Global South attach to the subject of global governance can be seen from the list of participants alone: many current and former policymakers from more than ninety countries were represented, including more than a dozen former foreign ministers and ministers of other departments, as well as more than one hundred leading figures each from academia and from government advisory institutions around the world. Four former heads of state or government had even come to Xiong’an, among them former Nepalese President Bidya Devi Bhandari and former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. The delegates also included numerous senior UN officials and heads of other international institutions. Business and youth delegates from dozens of countries took part in the deliberations as well. The Schiller Institute was represented by its founder, Helga Zepp-LaRouche.

During numerous plenary sessions and panel discussions, multilaterally oriented governance and cooperation were addressed, as well as a fundamental reform of the United Nations with an emphasis on strengthening the Global South. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s win-win approach at the international level permeated the deliberations on sustainable development, as well as the analysis and “revitalization” of the international financial and trading systems. The emerging age of artificial intelligence (AI), it was stressed, requires an even stronger focus on global governance that includes all nations and institutions, as well as mutual learning and trust-building on an equal footing, regardless of the size or strategic relevance of the nations concerned.

At the opening of the forum, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi read a message of greeting from Chinese President Xi Jinping, which said in substance:

Xi Jinping observed that the world is undergoing accelerated change unprecedented in the past hundred years, and that the deficits in peace, development, security and governance are growing rather than diminishing. He had put forward the Global Governance Initiative (GGI), he said, in order to advance the building of a more just and equitable global governance system and a better world.

In his own speech, Wang Yi contrasted what he believes to be two rival ideologies of governing. Regarding the future of the global governance system, the world faces two stark choices: The one exalts strength, favors self-interest, monopolizes power, and practices double standards, while the other champions multilateralism, and upholds sovereign equality, mutual respect, and international law.

Upholding the UN Charter, he said, has been the indispensable foundation for safeguarding the peace and prosperity of nations ever since it came into being 80 years ago. Wang stressed the absolute necessity of preserving it in these turbulent times. Nevertheless, China supports reform of the UN in order to ensure equal representation for developing countries. Every country, large or small, has the right to choose its own social system, the one best suited to the development of its citizens, and the equality of all peoples must be protected. He highlighted the historic shift now emerging internationally:

The rise of the Global South is the most momentous shift the world has seen since World War II; it reinforces and expands the force for good on the international stage. In keeping with this shift, the Global South must enjoy greater representation and say in international affairs. This will not only correct a historical injustice, but also provide a wealth of ideas for improving global governance….

Momentous transformations not seen in a century are unfolding before our eyes at a faster pace. While unilateralism and bullying resurge and the governance deficit widens, our world is decidedly moving toward multipolarity and greater democracy in international relations. This is the trend of our times and the trajectory of history, overwhelming and unstoppable. Humanity is woven together by intertwined interests and a shared future. We should unite as one, rise to the challenges, and take proactive, strong and persistent steps to make the GGI a full reality.

Restructuring the World Order

At the Xiong’an forum, China presented a concept for restructuring the world order in which the idea of One Humanity must take precedence over all national or particular interests. This idea is not really new, since it is implicit in the UN Charter; but above all, however, it is consistent with the traditional Confucian ideal of the harmonious development of all humanity. This intervention comes not a moment too soon, for the so-called “rules-based order” is disintegrating, and chaos reigns in large parts of the world. Even Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney had to admit what the Global South has long known: The narratives of the international rules-based order were skewed, insofar as they encouraged the stronger to exempt themselves whenever it suited them, and “trade terms were imposed asymmetrically.” The Global Governance Initiative, by contrast, proposes a world order built on five core principles—sovereign equality, international law, multilateralism, the common good, and real results—with the aim of promoting a more just and equitable global governance system and cooperation for a shared future of humanity.

Given the worldview that prevails in the West, most journalists and politicians find it hard to imagine that China is genuinely motivated by altruistic ideals; instead, they tend to project their own motives onto China, claiming that China merely seeks to replace American imperialism and European colonialism with Chinese ambitions of power. In reality, Chinese philosophy is very different, and historically it rests very strongly on, among other things, the concept of tianxia, which goes back to the Western Zhou Dynasty (1046–771 B.C.) and means roughly “all under heaven.” President Xi Jinping’s concept of a shared future for humanity is in keeping with this idea. The “Canon of Yao,” the first chapter of the Book of Documents, China’s first collection of historical texts, presents the idea of “harmony among the states”—an idea also found in the various writings of Confucius.

In the history of ideas in Europe, one has to go back to thinkers such as Nicholas of Cusa and his conception that harmony in the macrocosm requires all microcosms to develop into a harmonious whole, or to Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz’s idea of a preestablished harmony. Alexander von Humboldt thought along similar lines, understanding the world as a network of interconnected natural and human systems; so, of course, did Friedrich Schiller, for whom the world citizen and the patriot formed a unity, and Ludwig van Beethoven, with the hymn to humanity expressed in his Ninth Symphony: “Alle Menschen werden Brüder!” (All men shall become brethren!)

Zepp-LaRouche Addresses the Conference

The forum brought together people united by their concern over the present state of humanity and by the struggle for a better world order. Schiller Institute founder Helga Zepp-LaRouche also spoke on several of the many topics discussed in the 22 panels. In the panel on reform of the financial system, she warned urgently of an uncontrolled financial collapse triggered by the energy price shock:

Given the fact that the financial system is already extremely overstretched, and that energy prices could rise further, since the war in the Middle East could even escalate, I think the potential for a collapse of the system worse than 2008 is very real. My question is: Is China—or any other government—preparing contingency plans? Because if [the collapse] happens in an uncontrolled way, the world would face an absolutely unprecedented catastrophe, which would increase the danger of wars spinning out of control, not only in the Middle East but also in Ukraine. So is there any contingency planning for this possibility?

Zepp-LaRouche also spoke up in the panel on cultural dialogue. She spoke about the key role of Nicholas of Cusa in overcoming the apparent contradictions between cultures:

Yes, I would like to say something about how one can find a corresponding idea [to the Confucian idea of harmony] in European philosophy, because the whole world is currently very worried about the direction Europe is taking. And I think we have to go back to the 15th Century, to the philosopher Nicholas of Cusa, whose ideas are entirely in line with Confucius—namely, the idea of harmony in diversity, the notion that peace in the macrocosm can only come about through the development of all microcosms. He also developed the idea of the coincidentia oppositorum, the coincidence of opposites, that is, the notion that the One has a higher power than the Many. And I see a great correspondence between this idea and Xi Jinping’s conception of a shared [future for the One] Humanity, according to which the One Humanity holds a greater significance and the diversity of all cultures finds its resolution. Because in every single civilization, including those we see in Dunhuang [in western China, with the Mogao and other caves—ed.], universal ideas find expression, albeit in different forms, and that is precisely what makes unity possible. So I think that in order to find a solution to the present difficult situation, it is extremely important that the idea of this harmony in diversity be spread to every part of the world, including Europe.

In keeping with the spirit of renewal that pervaded the forum, it met in the “City of the Future,” Xiong’an, a newly built city constructed over the past nine years at Xi Jinping’s initiative. It is part of the effort to relocate heavy industry from Beijing to the Hebei-Tianjin-Xiong’an region in order to relieve the capital. Xiong’an is meant to be a model of the urban planning of the future: In this “smart city,” the utility infrastructure is located underground, in order to keep to a minimum the distances residents must cover for shopping and other basic needs, while at the same time making an aesthetic way of life possible through the integration of landscape gardening, which China has brought to perfection—with a planned 70-percent share of green space.

At the close of the forum, a document titled “Global Governance: Xiong’an Vision” was released, summarizing the spirit of the conference. It called for a joint defense of the UN Charter and of multipolarity, expanded South-South cooperation, and the establishment of a more just global financial system.

We are of the view that the current international financial architecture lacks sufficient representation, and cannot fully reflect the reality of the world economy. The future international monetary system should develop toward a dynamic balance. Countries should strengthen dialogue, and Global South countries in particular need to take proactive moves, to promote the transition of the international monetary system.

Oct. 30—At the 178th consecutive weekly session of the International Peace Coalition (IPC), Dennis Small of the Executive Intelligence Review Ibero America desk began by saying that “the glass is half full,” and suggested that we look not just at this moment, but at the ongoing action: is the glass being drained, or filled? He said that Helga Zepp-LaRouche, the founder of the Schiller Institute and initiator of the IPC, who was not available for this meeting, had already addressed this issue several weeks ago—when asked whether the world was closer to nuclear war or to realizing the prospects for peace, she replied: “Iʼm afraid that both options, the new paradigm and the total degeneration of the strategic situation, are both within reach. How this will play out, I cannot say.” For those who might be puzzled by this, Small suggested that rather than passively focusing on the news events, they should instead focus on, and be part of, the process which shapes events. In the past week, in particular, he said, there has been a notable advance in this direction: the Global Governance Forum in Xiongʼan New Area, Hebei Province, China, Oct. 23-25; the stunning turn-around in the second round of Brazilʼs presidential election, with the reelection of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Oct. 25; the Vatican-sponsored meeting on war and peace held in Assisi, Italy, Oct. 25-27, with the participation by video of Pope Leo XIV; and the Third Russia-Africa Summit held in Moscow, Oct. 28-29. Small said that today’s IPC meeting would feature first hand reports from participants in three of those four major developments.

• The Global Governance Forum was held in China’s Xiongʼan New Area, and the participants included IPC initiator Helga Zepp-LaRouche (see below).
• In Brazil, Lula came from behind to win the presidency, which prevented all of Ibero America from falling into the clutches of the Shield of the Americas gang. Small noted the comment by former President of Guyana Donald Ramotar (2011-2015): “Sovereignty matters.” Faced with the decisive defeat of both “Plan A” (victory for their candidate Flávio Bolsonaro) and “Plan B” (a narrow electoral victory for Lula which Bolsonaro could challenge), Small noted that the City of London and Wall Street have turned to “Plan C,” unleashing financial warfare against Brazil.
• Pope Leo addressed the Assisi meeting via video, because he has not fully recovered his health, but he plans to go ahead with his visit to South America in November. In the course of his remarks, he said, “We have to cultivate the spirit of Assisi, which entails a rejection of the religious justification for war…”
• The Russia-Africa meeting was the third such summit. Russian President Vladimir Putin warned in his keynote address that “Westerners are making an aggressive attempt to drive Africans back into financial bondage…” In contrast, the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum Action Plan for 2027-2029 has identified in 236 individual points, grouped into 19 clear categories and areas of cooperation, ranging from nuclear power, to education, to combatting infectious diseases, combatting terrorism, and much more.

On the negative side of the ledger, the Israeli election was inconclusive and Prime Minister Netanyahu remains in office (for now), which is an imminent threat to world peace. The U.S. President Donald Trump administration is clearly contemplating a renewal of the war on Iran. Following a meeting of U.S. Senators at the White House, Small reported that U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) is reported by Middle East Eye to have said, “their plan is insane. It will lead to devastating escalation and the likely destruction of our commitment to the rule of law.” Small referred to a [[recent interview]][[https://radicaldesai.substack.com/p/sergey-glazyev-the-world-economy]] in which Russia’s leading economist, Sergei Glazyev, speaking on the sidelines of the Global Governance Forum, pointed to the underlying problem: “This financial bubble will in any case collapse. And I am certain that in the near future the American and Western financial system will suffer a huge crisis, not only because of the artificial intelligence bubble, but also because of the derivatives bubble. According to some estimates, the derivatives bubble is more than $2 quadrillion.” In response to a question, Glazyev stated that the war in Ukraine “will finish together with the collapse of the artificial intelligence financial bubble.”

Estevão Damacena of the Brazilian Schiller Institute youth movement reported that Lula’s electoral victory “did not come easily,” and that the mass mobilization in the streets by Brazilian youth played a critical role. He displayed a photo from a rally, with a poster in Portugese that read, “He who sleeps in a democracy, wakes up in a dictatorship.” Damacena read aloud from U.S. presidential candidate Diane Sare’s statement on the Brazilian election, and emphasized that this victory “can be a message of hope for the youth, and the people around the world.”

Jose Vega, U.S. independent congressional candidate for New Yorkʼs 15th congressional district (The Bronx), offered a survey of social turmoil around the world, including the case of evicted Spanish octogenarian María del Carmen Abascal, widely known as Maricarmen, and the abuses of power by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in his own district. He argued that the United States should join the BRICS in order to work with the Global South to implement the kinds of solutions that the LaRouche movement has long promoted. He emphasized the importance of the ongoing elections around the world, including the one where he is on the ballot for Congress in the Bronx.

Martin Kaptein, youth leader, classical pianist and music educator, spoke on China, which he visited this summer to organize concerts. He had considered himself well-read and knowledgeable about China, but was unprepared for what he found there, and described the experience as “incredibly humbling.” In addition to the spectacular achievements in infrastructure and urban planning, he was very impressed by the cultural attitudes of the Chinese people, their embrace of social responsibility and the arts. He found that the piano, which is his instrument, is highly valued in China, and that culture in general is given great importance in China. He went on to develop Friedrich Schiller’s ideas on the Beautiful, and its importance for the general progress of mankind.

Sébastien Drochon is an organizer for the French political party Solidarité et Progrès. He asserted that France is presently at the epicenter of the world crisis. France has a history of erupting into violence during periods of political crisis—the police are presently using violence against peaceful demonstrators. The crisis today stems from a collapsing economy. Solidarité et Progrès intervenes in the demonstrations, promoting non-violence and a program of solutions to the economic breakdown. “The real looters and vandals are the big banks,” he said.

Claudio Celani is co-editor for EIR Strategic Alert Service. He reported that there is a general strike going on right now in his home nation of Italy, with a million people on the streets. This was inspired by the protests in France, but was preceded by a mobilization of farmers, fishermen and truckers in southern Italy, sparked by increases in fuel prices.  He attended the Assisi conference, and described how Cardinal Matteo Zuppi polemicized against those European leaders who favor proxy wars. Cardinal Zuppi warned that a prevailing “vortex” is seducing the world toward rearmament and war, describing this trend as a “false reality” that leads to an abyss of violence. An “Unarmed and Disarming Peace” was the theme of the conference. His colleague, Christophe Lavernhe of the Schiller Institute, described how they distributed Schiller Institute material to the participants. He offered a description of the conference, and discussed the history of peace activism by Catholic leaders and the legacy of the Peace of Westphalia in 1648.

Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Schiller Institute founder and International Peace Coalition initiator, sent a video report from her participation in the Global Governance Forum in China. The conference, which she described as “truly historic,” with about 400 participants, half of them international high-ranking participants and about 200 from China, was devoted to the Global Governance Initiative, one of the four Global Initiatives presented by Chinese President Xi Jinping over the previous years to establish a world order of harmonious cooperation among sovereign nations. The spirit of the conference participants, she reported, was “unbelievably optimistic.” The conference took place in the Xiongʼan New Area, a dazzling “smart city” that was built from scratch over just the past nine years.

Discussion

A question came in from someone who asked what citizens can do to prevent Trump from renewing his war on Iran before the possible meeting with Putin and Xi at the APEC summit in Shenzhen, China on Nov. 18-19. Dennis Small replied that the tripartite summit seems very likely at this point, and we need to vigorously promote the emerging structures that favor the creation of a sweeping paradigm shift, consistent with Helga Zepp-LaRouche’s proposals for a New Security and Development Architecture.

Dennis Small concluded by warning that the ferment we see in demonstrations around the world is not sufficient to turn the tide on the war danger, adding that “ferment does not a new paradigm make”; it is ideas which can ensure that the glass is being filled, not drained.

Helga Zepp-LaRouche, founder of the Schiller Institute reports from the just concluded Global Governance Forum in Xiong’an, China.
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by EIR staff

Oct. 23—The 177th consecutive weekly meeting of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) opened with remarks by Dennis Small, EIRʼs Ibero American intelligence director. He reported that one week ago, on Oct. 16, Pope Leo XIV picked up the phone next to his hospital bed shortly after undergoing lung cancer surgery, to call Russian President Vladimir Putin, reportedly to discuss the need for ongoing mutually respectful dialogue of cultures, civilizations and religions to find solutions to the global crisis. Small characterized as a “cover story” media reports that the Pope then called Acting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and is talking to both sides, to see what can be done about the war in Ukraine—suggesting that “there is far more involved with this” than what we know from media accounts. He noted that the relations historically between the Vatican and Russia have been very difficult and moreover the Vatican is not, and cannot be, the mediator in any Russia-Ukraine settlement—however the Russians have reported that the recent visits of Archbishop Paul Gallagher and Cardinal Matteo Zuppi to Russia are preludes to the kind of discussions which are necessary. More to the point, Small said, is the international meeting for peace, “Unarmed and Disarming Peace” in Assisi, Italy, sponsored by the Vatican over 25–27 October, which will take up these dangers of nuclear war which the Pope has taken a forceful interest in.

Small then turned to the humorous side of U.S. President Donald Trump’s presently acrimonious relations with Zelensky over Trumpʼs desperate turn towards Putin to secure diesel fuel for U.S. citizens weeks away from the U.S. mid-term elections—after his own mad rush to war with Iran, caused the global shortage of not only oil and gasoline, but particularly of diesel fuel that not only the U.S. economy but the world economy runs on. He noted that a three-way summit between Presidents Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping at the Asia‑Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Summit in Shenzhen on 18–19 November 2026 is increasingly likely, a promising development, which opens tremendous opportunities both to address the strategic crisis as well as the underlying economic issues. But said that we “must temper our evaluation,” for several reasons. First, Putin in a recent interview, when asked to respond to Zelensky‘s “great offer” to freeze the conflict with Russia along the current front lines, even if that means losing 25% of Ukrainian territory, responded that after these provinces in the Donbass and Novorossia voted in 2022 to join the Russian Federation, “this isn’t their territory”—a fact ignored by our ill wishers in Europe who constantly talk of the Russian threat and ramp up spending for war, against the wishes of their own populations. Second, Putin when asked about the prospects for a 3-way discussion between the United States, Russia and Ukraine, “left the door open,” but only after the Nov. 3 U.S. elections—and provided the goal of the talks is to ensure the long-term security of Ukraine and Russia. Finally, despite Trumpʼs present inclination to partially lift sanctions to allow Russian diesel fuel imports, neither the United States, Wall Street nor the City of London have shown any inclination to change the disastrous economic policies which are the underlying cause of the war danger.

On the Iran situation, Small referred to the recent article by retired U.S. Army Col. Douglas Macgregor, “Is Trump Considering the Nuclear Option?” The article quotes from nuclear war enthusiast Elbridge Colby, the U.S. Under Secretary of War. Small remarked on the mass ferment in the populations of the “Atlantic” nations, noting in particular the significance of American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)’s publicly announced decision that they will not endorse candidates, because these endorsements have become the “kiss of death.” He concluded that the physical universe works in a way consistent with 15th Century Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa’s conception of the “coincidence of opposites,” and we must pursue policies that are in the common interests of mankind.

Prof. Georgy Toloraya is the Director of the Center for Asian Strategy at the Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He expressed his support for a discussion of a new strategic architecture at the upcoming talks in Shenzhen. He said that he was working up a “global taxonomy of power,” and that the United States and China “are the ones who write the rules now,” but there is the possibility of a new set of arrangements. He disagreed with characterizations of the summit as a possible “New Yalta.” He worried that the European governments are “instigating hatred” toward Russia, and Europe has “become a sick man of the world.”

A video interview with Peter Kuznick, Professor of History and Director of the Nuclear Studies Institute, at American University, in Washington, D.C., was presented next. He offered a survey of statements by leading figures in various nations, in which the possibility of the use of nuclear weapons is openly discussed. Iranian leaders are now calling for the development of nuclear weapons as the only thing that could deter further attacks by the United States and Israel. 87% of Americans, according to recent polling data, oppose the war with Iran. He called the Pope “a voice of sanity who speaks for the planet,” and called for the inclusion of Zelensky in negotiations between Russia and the United States on Ukraine.

Prof. Richard Anderson Falk is professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University, Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor’s Chairman of the Board of Trustees, and a former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories from 2008 to 2014. He said that Pope Leo XIV’s Assisi initiative establishes that the center of moral clarity in the world today is no longer with the Secretary General of the UN, or with secular leaders of nations—with the exception of China. He said that Trump’s endorsement of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu puts him on the record as supporting the most transparent case of genocide since the Nazi Holocaust, and posed the question, what sort of message does this send to the younger generation? He concluded by saying that when you invest so much in warmongering, while displacing vulnerable members of your society, that is evidence of insanity.

Jacques Cheminade, President of Solidarité et Progrès (French political party) and three-time candidate for French President, described France as “the epicenter of a global earthquake” of civil unrest. He described the genesis of the street demonstrations, beginning with legitimate grievances, but then followed by the deployment of agents provocateurs to discredit the movement by launching violent attacks. “The right and far-right reacted to this by conflating students with looters.” He described the “increasing militarization of law enforcement,” who used brutal tactics against protesters, and tear-gassed members of an orchestra that was attempting to peacefully perform music at a rally.

François Martin, French intelligence strategist, said that we are witnessing “the battle of the number two” in the upcoming French election. He provided a detailed and complex analysis of the maneuvering for power by the various French parties and personalities. Then he expressed his satisfaction at recent U.S.-Russia negotiations, describing them as the emergence of a path toward de-escalation in Ukraine, which regime he described as “almost finished.” He concurred with the description of a possible Trump/Putin/Xi summit as a “New Yalta,” and commented on the European attitude toward this: “If you are not sitting at the table, then you are on the menu.”

Dennis Small praised Kuznick’s comments, but noted humorously that he begged to differ on the question of Zelensky’s participation in negotiation.

Larry Johnson, former CIA intelligence official and a member of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), responded to Small, saying, “I totally agree with you about the cocaine clown of Kyiv.” He warned that the evacuation of U.S. personnel from the Middle East is a clear indication that the United States is planning a major escalation. The Saudi elite is also engaged in a hasty evacuation. The 31 regional commanders of the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Iran have been authorized to operate autonomously in the event of major attack, and to launch attacks on their own initiative against U.S. and Israeli targets. The Ansar Allah (Houthis) “are just beating the daylights out of the Saudis.” Johnson also debunked the Trump administration’s claim that oil is flowing freely through the Strait of Hormuz. “I don’t recall a time in history when you have such a disconnect between political leaders and populace.” Trump had intended to wait until after the elections to attack Iran, but then Hegseth went to Israel where he received the “Bibi bamboozlement” and returned with a demand for immediate military action.

Small commented on the “disconnect,” saying that this is what leads to revolutionary situations which open the door to change, either for the better, or for the worse. “This is where what the pope is doing is of particular importance.”

Larry Johnson predicted that the midterm elections will be “a complete disaster” for Trump. He also anticipates a major reaction against the corruption of the Trump family members who have been extraordinarily arrogant in enriching themselves at the expense of the public.

Discussion

Dennis Small commented on the Brazilian elections on Sunday, Oct. 25, calling attention to the massive and clearly spontaneous upsurge of youth activism and putting this in the context of global unrest. He presented a graphic that depicts the network of corruption around Brazilian presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro, with individuals including Susana Cordeiro Guerra, who is the godmother of children of President Trumpʼs son-in-law Jared Kushner, and the wife of the aforementioned nuclear war enthusiast, Elbridge Colby.

Small concluded by saying that “the biggest corruption is the existing financial system.” He recalled the Reichstag Fire of Feb. 27, 1933 and the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks as “outrageous, desperate provocations” launched by parties who were trying to stay in power in the face of an onrushing financial collapse. He posed the possibility of collaboration between nations of the North and South, as the way out of the present crisis. The injection of this idea into the present mass ferment can tip the scales toward a positive outcome.

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

Wednesday, October 21th, 2026, 11am ET/ 5pm CET

We are seeing the disintegration of both the world order of the post-World War II period, and of the larger context of the demise of centuries of colonialism. Moreover, we’re at a phase of tumult, and economic and political breakdown, concentrated in the West, which cannot continue for long. “Either there will be a new paradigm, or World War III,” was the evaluation today by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, leader of the Schiller Institutes, in her review of current events.

We see “symptoms” of the disintegration of all kinds, from the mountains of unpayable debts and inflation—look at France and the United States, to mass street protests from unlivable conditions, to the continuation in high office of those unfit for government positions of power, associated with the Epstein class, throughout the Western capitals. The resort to force and warfare is an expression of the “keepers” of the dying financial order attempting to remain on top, no matter what, even at risk of warfare escalating to nuclear obliteration.

In short, “the system is not functioning,” as reiterated by Zepp-LaRouche. Her advice is to intervene with people in this time of great tension, to recruit everyone possible to mobilize for a new system. This is the concept of peace-making guiding the activism of those participating with the International Peace Coalition, she founded in 2023.

The mass demand for change is clear, but in need of reason and an understanding of principles for a new paradigm. In France, Nov. 5 is the date for the next nationwide protest action, following the Oct. 17 demonstrations, estimated to have turned out 800,000 people. Meantime much is happening daily. Tomorrow the French parliament will take up the national budget, but within the logic of the existing rearmament orientation in France and Europe, there is “no money” for schools, health care, infrastructure, agriculture, and so on. With other particulars, street protests continue from Portugal, to Albania to Belgium.

Internationally, the oil marketing system—however it worked in the recent past, is breaking apart. Shipping rates are up by 40% since before the U.S.-Israel attack on Iran, shipping times are far slower, supply sources have shifted. This comes along with refinery capacity that was already limited. The same holds true for the supply system for chemicals, fertilizer and other basics of the world economy.

Against this backdrop, comes the danger of super-escalation of the already destructive warfare situation. Certain national elections figure in this danger. In Israel, with elections one week away on Oct. 27, President Netanyahu yesterday held an in-person press conference, his first since the Oct. 7 attack. He released his new national security doctrine, which, among other points, stressed “pre-emptive” action against threats, not a policy of containment. Will he unilaterally resume strikes on Iran, even nuclear?

In the United States, the question was asked in an article yesterday by strategic analyst Col. (ret.) Douglas Macgregor, as stated in his headline: “Is President Trump Considering the Nuclear Option?” The article outlines the frustrations for Trump, the contention in the White House, saying, as in the subheadline: “Why the Trump Administration might be crazy enough to drop a nuke on Iran.”

In notable contrast to these desperate contingencies, there is still the potential of world leaders coming together to solve, not create problems, in particular, that the heads of the United States, Russia and China could meet at the APEC Summit in Beijing in November. Today’s Wall Street Journal carried a story headlined, “Putin Floats a Summit with Trump and Xi to Discuss Ukraine Deal,” which then came to be put as a question to high places in the three countries. The WSJ further noted that “Ukraine’s Zelensky wouldn’t be included in proposed talks….”
…
The concept of a summit of world leaders is exactly the focus of the petition circulating now, “Appeal to Pope Leo XIV To Organize a Global Leaders Summit To Address the Questions of Peace and Nuclear Disarmament.” A week from now is an important meeting in this process, “Unarmed and Disarming Peace,” before which everyone is urged to sign the international petition.

Also of note, the Global Governance Initiative, announced a year ago by President Xi Jinping, will have a meeting Oct. 25-27 in northern Hebei Province with high representation from 90 to 100 nations, to further a new paradigm in international relations.

On the eve of these meetings, attend the International Peace Coalition meeting Oct. 23.

Oct. 16, 2026 (EIRNS)—The 176th consecutive weekly meeting of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) began with a strategic briefing by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Schiller Institute founder and IPC initiator. She warned of the possibility of a major escalation by the United States and Israel against Iran, possibly using the Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) bombs, and since most military targets have been destroyed, the attack may be directed against civilian population centers. U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are both facing the possibility of major electoral defeats in the near term, which creates an incentive for both to act aggressively. In Ukraine, the Russians have little hope of a diplomatic solution when they are dealing with Acting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Trump, so they are motivated to end the war with a military victory. The only forces moving toward a diplomatic solution are China and the Global South, Belarus, Pope Leo XIV, and the IPC. The peace movement is still plagued by division, but protests are erupting all over the world over a variety of issues, and the potential is there to unite these protests into a unified movement for a new security and development architecture.

Jack Gilroy is a member of the Pax Christi New York State Council, Veterans for Peace, and Ban Killer Drones. He reminded the participants of the famous aphorism that crisis means opportunity. It has been ten weeks since the launch of the open letter to Pope Leo, appealing to him to call for a global peace summit. The pope is doing well after receiving surgery for lung cancer. Gilroy discussed the pope’s upcoming conference of religious leaders for peace,, and reviewed all the initiatives that have been taken by the Schiller Institute and IPC to intersect the pope’s activities, to promote a paradigm shift and a solution to the war danger.

A video was presented with an on-the-ground report from France on how IPC organizers are educating the French youth who are out on the streets, protesting the conditions in their schools.

This was followed by a second video in which Luiz Augusto Erthal, editor of the Brazilian news platform TodaPalavra, presented a report on the presidential race in his country, and how Brazilian youth are now engaged in spectacular mass demonstrations in support of incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s candidacy. American social media such as Meta are intervening on behalf of right-wing candidate Flávio Bolsonaro, by suppressing pro-Lula social media posts. Lula is making a contribution to history by promoting a reduction of the work week from six to five days.

He described the million-strong youth mobilization in support of Lula’s candidacy as “a final line of defense against fascism, barbarism and imperialism.”

UN Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter joined the panel, who stated his intention to debunk the propaganda that the United States is betraying Ukraine. Ukraine only exists today, in its current form, to serve as a proxy for the Anglosphere to damage Russia. American political leadership no longer concurs with this agenda. Trump worries about the upcoming U.S. midterm elections, and he is trying to manipulate the perceptions of the population and the energy markets with a short-term infusion of diesel, in the form of his deal with Russia. We are now looking at the divorce between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky, and the death of the Ukrainian state.

In response to a question by Zepp-LaRouche, Ritter responded by warning that Europe must choose between its own survival and “joining Ukraine in her deathbed.” Zepp-LaRouche asked how the situation in Southwest Asia will interact with this. Ritter predicted that Trump will resume bombing Iran, but he is also looking for a viable exit strategy from the war. He opined that the critical feature of the regional crisis is what will become of Saudi Arabia, which is undergoing a major destabilization.

Co-moderator Dennis Speed welcomed the arrival of Larry Johnson, a well-known whistleblower and former CIA intelligence official, with a short summary of the proceedings thus far. Johnson noted that the MOAB bomb can only be delivered by the slow, turboprop-driven C-130 aircraft, which are very vulnerable. He reported on how he addressed the UN Security Council in an informal Arria-formula meeting on October 14, 2026, invited by the Russian delegation. He described the presentation by the U.S. representative as curiously detached, like an arsonist calmly describing a fire to authorities after having set it. He said that he came away from this meeting convinced that Russia and Europe will be in a shooting war within a year, and described the presentations by Denmark, Latvia, France and Greece as “vicious.” Unlike in the 1960s and 70s, the Europeans seem oblivious to the danger that nuclear weapons may be used.

Johnson opined that the days of the present Saudi regime are numbered. The Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, a Zaydi Shia Islamist political and military group from northern Yemen, have inflicted unprecedented damage on Saudi Arabia. He said that Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) has been an inept and corrupt ruler whose hold on power is tenuous at best.

In response, Zepp-LaRouche vowed to find a way to prevent the war that Johnson predicted for Europe. She raised the question of how to break the cognitive warfare of NATO, and asked what motivates the war-crazed Europeans. Johnson said Russia is terrible at telling its story, which ought to be a compelling one; he compared Russia in the 1990s to a drug addict that visited the depths of despair, but recovered and became a successful businessman. Johnson credits Russian President Vladimir Putin with orchestrating Russia’s recovery. Johnson contrasted the ineffectual messaging of Russia’s foreign policy team to what he called the “brilliant” efforts of the young Iranians who make humorous and truthful Lego videos to mock the Western neocons.

Independent U.S. presidential candidate Diane Sare said that Americans have a hard time conceiving that other nations have the same right to sovereignty that we do, and we need to take seriously the phrase in our Declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal.” The United States is not exempt from the revolutionary upsurge that is occurring elsewhere in the world.

Discussion

Congressional candidate Jose Vega addressed the political unrest around the world, saying that “people want to fight despair and nihilism.” In the U.S., people have “decided that enough is enough with ICE [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement],” and are also concerned with housing and economic issues. He asked Zepp-LaRouche to speak on the question of the death penalty. She responded that no government has the right to take a life, a view which she attributed in part to her Catholic upbringing. She spoke of the “Schreibtischtäter” (desk-perpetrators), bureaucrats who kill with the stroke of a pen. Jack Gilroy echoed her words and asked how a government can persuade people not to murder by murdering them.

Luiz Augusto Erthal was asked by Dennis Speed for an update on the Brazilian elections. Erthal said that Lula’s performance in the first round was disappointing, but in the second round, the engagement of the youth has been decisive and has caused a transformation of Lula and his campaign. The media, the oligarchy, and the “Don-roe Doctrine” are arrayed against Lula, but he is better prepared to combat them now.

In response to a question, Zepp-LaRouche warned that if the West attempts to sabotage China’s development, it will backfire due to China’s resilience. She concluded by saying that the weeks ahead will bring many surprises, possibly terrible ones, but also possibly good ones. As Jack Gilroy said, crisis means opportunity. She called for a “continuous mobilization” to support an intervention by Pope Leo and the other initiatives promoted by the IPC.

[eir]

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Wednesday, October 14th, 2026, 11am ET/ 5pm CET

Monday morning the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the economics Nobel to Robert Hall and Michael Woodford for the theory that governments and central banks, by communicating their plans, “can influence this view of the future and move the economy in the right direction.” The committee chairman said their models leave us “better equipped to deal with shocks in the economy, such as energy crises.” The shock is here. Brent oil opened the day at $105. The Strait of Hormuz is mined, and Riyadh’s airport has been hit four times in five days. China has stopped exporting fuel. The 30-year Treasury is at a 24-year high. And the prize goes to a doctrine in which talking about the economy is the way forward.

Is that doctrine already the method of government? On Sunday President Trump posted that “effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE” between Russia and Ukraine. Zelensky said it was news to him. Today Peskov would say only that “contacts continue,” and Lavrov observed that “ceasefire” has replaced “strategic defeat of Russia” as the slogan of Zelensky and his European “masters,” with the same purpose, a respite to rearm. The White House then told Axios that the ceasefire covers refineries only, a proposal its own official called “one-sided.” Something real did happen: Treasury’s license for Russian diesel runs to April 2027, while seven senators of both parties are demanding it be revoked. And Boris Johnson wants the Royal Navy to intercept Russian fuel tankers. But a ceasefire is not declared into existence. It is negotiated, and Witkoff and Kushner have put their Moscow trip on hold.

The same method runs through the week. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., with 4,080 measles cases in the country and several children dead in Pennsylvania, announced that HHS will pay doctors for every report filed to a system that records anything that happens after a vaccination and proves nothing, so that the number of reports, the anti-vaccine movement’s favorite statistic, will rise. Homeland Security agents searched Rep. Ilhan Omar’s home three weeks before the election, well inside the 60-day pre-election window during which Justice Department guidance has forbidden such actions. The War Secretary proposes to livestream a firing squad, although it’s not clear whether that will actually happen. We have announcements in place of policy.

Meanwhile the people who do real work are in the street. Italy’s steelworkers struck today in Taranto and Genoa against a court order to shut the country’s last blast furnace by Oct. 25. France’s students and teachers strike for “10 billion on the table” in a school system where more than half of secondary schools began the year short a teacher. Argentina’s students march Thursday. Italian farmers who gathered in Cosenza on Saturday will march on Rome Oct. 27. In Germany the labor minister resigned this morning and the SPD will elect a new leadership; Merz has 10% approval and his own party’s premier in Saxony says four years of weapons instead of diplomacy have led to “a catastrophe.” These are not calls for improving management of expectations. They are asking whether they have a future, and demanding concrete actions to ensure they have one.

Lyndon LaRouche wrote in 2007, when the Nobel went to three game theorists a year before the crash none of them foresaw, that the award showed the Committee “does not presently require a demonstration of what scientific tradition defined as a ‘crucial,’ or unique … proof of principle in defining its standards for awards,” and that the world needed their designs “about as much as a sufferer from the common cold needs the curative powers of a heavy dose of cyanide.” The proof of principle in economics is whether a people can feed, fuel, employ and improve itself, and raise the next generation to go further. Diane Sare’s independent campaign for President has a program of Glass-Steagall, a national bank in place of the Federal Reserve, and credit directed to production. The alternative, as she put it of Hegseth’s autonomous-warfare command, is a system that keeps “sucking the life-blood out of the real economy and the human race.” Three weeks before the midterms, in which LaRouche independent Jose Vega is a candidate in NY-15, the choice is between a government that announces and a government that builds.

Dennis Fritz, a retired Command Chief Master Sergeant of the United States Air Force, current senior fellow and former director of the Eisenhower Media Network, reveals how U.S. foreign policy helped drive the wars in Iraq, Ukraine, Iran, and the Middle East. He warns that the military-industrial complex, imperial ambitions, and the pursuit of profit have come at an enormous human cost, while escalating tensions and nuclear weapons pose a growing danger. He calls on Americans to challenge the status quo, hold political leaders accountable, and fight for a new foreign policy centered on peace rather than endless war.

Mr.Fritz is the author of Deadly Betrayal: The Truth About Why The United States Invaded Iraq.

Oct. 9, 2026 (EIRNS)—The 175th consecutive weekly meeting of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) began with Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Schiller Institute founder and IPC Initiator, who praised the awarding of the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize to South African judge Navi Pillay, who chaired the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel that concluded in a Sept. 16, 2025 report that Israel was guilty of genocide in Gaza. She went on to describe the wave of protests that have broken out around Europe, noting that “the one common denominator” is opposition to the war drive being led by the governments of the “coalition of the willing.”

As an indication of the “brutalization of the population as part of the cognitive warfare,” Zepp-LaRouche cited U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s stated intention to live-stream the execution of the Fort Hood shooter U.S. Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Hasan who was convicted of murder in 2013 for the 2009 shooting rampage on the base that killed 13 people and wounded more than 30 others. The final and most important news she reported was the proclamation by Pope Leo XIV that Saint Augustine was, in fact, not the author of the “just war” doctrine, particularly the version that is presently being misused by war enthusiasts. She called for a “just peace.”

Kathy Kelly is an American peace activist, three-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee, and co-coordinator of the “Ban Killer Drones” campaign and of “World BEYOND War,” of which she became board president in 2022. She began by greeting many of the prominent personalities who have spoken at past IPC meetings, including Prof. Falk, who followed her in this session. She referenced the assassination of Swedish diplomat Count Folke Bernadotte, who served as the first United Nations Mediator for the Arab-Israeli conflict of 1947-1948. He was killed by the Zionist Stern Gang on Sept. 17, 1948 to thwart the peace proposal which he and Ralph Bunche, an American diplomat and assistant to the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine had drafted and which was submitted to the UN the following day. She described how Pope Francis directed that the “popemobile” be converted to a medical relief vehicle, and how the Israelis, to this day, have refused to allow this vehicle to enter Gaza. She concluded with the famous quote by a leader of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising of Jan. 18, 1943, Marek Edelman, who asserted that “to be a Jew means always standing with the oppressed, never the oppressors.”

Prof. Richard Anderson Falk is professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University, Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor’s Chairman of the Board of Trustees, and was United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories from 2008 to 2014. He recalled how, in the past, leaders of the United States welcomed immigrants—an indication of what “the American narrative could be and should be.” He described the current deportation of immigrants to “third countries” as “racism on top of xenophobia.” Falk echoed Zepp-LaRouche’s appreciation of the awarding of the Nobel Prize to his former boss at the UN, Navi Pillay, but expressed the wish that it could have been shared with his fellow Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, which would have also been richly significant.

He added that Pope Leo speaks with a moral authority that the Secretary-General of the UN lacks. The latter “cringes at the point of challenging the powers of the world.” He described how leading politicians must defer to corruption in order to attain and retain their status. Zepp-LaRouche, in response, agreed that corruption has become a sort of prerequisite for political leadership, that a person who aspires to political power must have skeletons in his closet to ensure that he can be controlled. She presented a vision of an alternative system, based on a dialogue of civilizations, and said that Popes Leo XIV and Francis are examples of the leadership required. Kelly recounted a tale of an encounter with a U.S. Marine in Baghdad during the U.S. invasion and “shock and awe” bombing of Iraq in 2003. The Marine astonished her by identifying the book, which she had seen him reading earlier, as a copy of Joseph Conrad’s anti-colonial novel, Heart of Darkness—which he said that he was reading for the thirteenth time. She again praised Pope Leo and said, “We don’t want to give up on that edifice of international law.”

Dennis Fritz, retired U.S. Air Force Command Chief Master Sergeant, reminded the participants of earlier warnings by other military men, Gen. Smedley Butler, who famously said that “war is a racket,” and Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, who warned of the Military-Industrial Complex. Today, our political leaders seek unequaled military power which they will use to get anything they want, typified by the “Wolfowitz Doctrine” of U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, which set the stage for multiple wars in the Middle East. He said that Pete Hegseth presides over “the scariest Pentagon” he has ever seen, and warned of Hegseth’s plan to use artificial intelligence (AI) to create a fully automated attack capability.

The Upcoming Election in Brazil

Beatriz Bissio, Associate Professor in the Post-Graduate Program of Comparative History, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, said that “democracy in Brazil is now facing its greatest test, since the restoration of constitutional order in the mid-1980s”—with the contest between President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro. The latter represents “the rise of the far right, globally,” and is supported by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The first round of elections on Oct. 4, she said, had shocking results with Bolsonaro coming out on top with 47% of the vote while President Lula came in second, with 45%. She described Brazil as being encircled by right-wing regimes, with the exception of Uruguay. “The outcome of the [run-off] elections in Brazil [on Oct. 25] will have reverberations in Latin America and beyond… the far-right governments are subservient to U.S. interests.”

Felipe Bombardelli, a Brazilian post-graduate student in robotics at the Federal University of Paraná, is active with the International Youth Movement of the Schiller Institute. He described that there was very little political participation of students at the universities in Brazil going into the first round of the elections—many people on the left, including in Lulaʼs Workersʼ Party (PT), thought Lula would win on the first vote. Waking up to realize that “it will take a miracle to make Lula President,” an unprecedented mobilization of students, professors and even labor has exploded in support of Lula’s candidacy—in the face of a difficult situation.

Staying on the topic of student activism, Schiller Institute activist Remi Lebrun reported on the ground from Paris, France, where there is a widespread mobilization from primarily high school students who are protesting the collapse of conditions in French public schools. The government has responded with severe repression, worse even than that directed against the “yellow vest” movement in France between 2018 and 2020. High school students are now being joined by middle school and college students, and their parents.

Discussion

In response to questions, the participants discussed the proposal of E. Martin Schotz, MD, the coordinator for the JFK Peace Speech Committee and a leader of Massachusetts Peace Action (MAPA) who in last week’s IPC meeting suggested an “American National Congress” modeled on the “African National Congress,” which led the fight against apartheid in South Africa. They moved next to the possible consequences of a Flávio Bolsonaro victory in Brazil, including the possible withdrawal of that nation from the BRICS.

Independent congressional candidate Jose Vega raised the implications of the latest shooting by U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) agents of a 28-year-old man with a 5-year-old child in the back seat of his car, in the Bronx, New York. He placed it in the context of worldwide anger over the mistreatment of the poor and elderly, such as the case of María del Carmen Abascal in Spain—an 87-year-old woman evicted from her apartment in Madrid after an investment fund acquired the property and raised the rent—by governments that are increasingly bankrupt but insist on transferring funds to an arms buildup.

Zepp-LaRouche closed the meeting by reiterating that the world is entering an inevitable phase change, and that whether that change is for better, or worse, will depend on the courage of individuals. [eir]