{"id":120568,"date":"2026-10-24T09:55:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-24T13:55:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/schillerinstitute.com\/?p=120568"},"modified":"2026-10-24T09:55:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-24T13:55:15","slug":"poised-between-heaven-and-hell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/schillerinstitute.com\/ru\/blog\/2026\/10\/24\/poised-between-heaven-and-hell\/","title":{"rendered":"Poised Between Heaven and Hell"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Report on IPC #177<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">by EIR staff<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Oct. 23\u2014The 177th consecutive weekly meeting of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) opened with remarks by <strong>Dennis Small<\/strong>, EIR\u02bcs 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 \u201ccover story\u201d 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\u2014suggesting that \u201cthere is far more involved with this\u201d 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\u2014however 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, \u201cUnarmed and Disarming Peace\u201d in Assisi, Italy, sponsored by the Vatican over 25\u201327 October, which will take up these dangers of nuclear war which the Pope has taken a forceful interest in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Can Assisi Become the Catalyst for Peace?\" width=\"860\" height=\"484\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/23pk3Wi2LLQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Small then turned to the humorous side of U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s presently acrimonious relations with Zelensky over Trump\u02bcs desperate turn towards Putin to secure diesel fuel for U.S. citizens weeks away from the U.S. mid-term elections\u2014after his own mad rush to war with Iran, <em>caused<\/em> 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\u2011Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders\u2019 Summit in Shenzhen on 18\u201319 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 \u201cmust temper our evaluation,\u201d for several reasons. First, Putin in a recent interview, when asked to respond to Zelensky\u2018s \u201cgreat offer\u201d 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, \u201cthis isn\u2019t their territory\u201d\u2014a 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, \u201cleft the door open,\u201d but only after the Nov. 3 U.S. elections\u2014and provided the goal of the talks is to ensure the long-term security of Ukraine and Russia. Finally, despite Trump\u02bcs 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On the Iran situation, Small referred to the recent article by retired U.S. Army Col. Douglas Macgregor, \u201cIs Trump Considering the Nuclear Option?\u201d 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 \u201cAtlantic\u201d nations, noting in particular the significance of American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)\u2019s publicly announced decision that they will not endorse candidates, because these endorsements have become the \u201ckiss of death.\u201d He concluded that the physical universe works in a way consistent with 15th Century Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa\u2019s conception of the \u201ccoincidence of opposites,\u201d and we must pursue policies that are in the common interests of mankind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Prof. Georgy Toloraya<\/strong> 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 \u201cglobal taxonomy of power,\u201d and that the United States and China \u201care the ones who write the rules now,\u201d but there is the possibility of a new set of arrangements. He disagreed with characterizations of the summit as a possible \u201cNew Yalta.\u201d He worried that the European governments are \u201cinstigating hatred\u201d toward Russia, and Europe has \u201cbecome a sick man of the world.\u201d<br><br>A video interview with <strong>Peter Kuznick<\/strong>, 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 \u201ca voice of sanity who speaks for the planet,\u201d and called for the inclusion of Zelensky in negotiations between Russia and the United States on Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Prof. Richard Anderson Falk<\/strong> is professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University, Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor\u2019s 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\u2019s 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\u2014with the exception of China. He said that Trump\u2019s endorsement of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin \u201cBibi\u201d 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Jacques Cheminade<\/strong>, President of Solidarit\u00e9 et Progr\u00e8s (French political party) and three-time candidate for French President, described France as \u201cthe epicenter of a global earthquake\u201d 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. \u201cThe right and far-right reacted to this by conflating students with looters.\u201d He described the \u201cincreasing militarization of law enforcement,\u201d who used brutal tactics against protesters, and tear-gassed members of an orchestra that was attempting to peacefully perform music at a rally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Fran\u00e7ois Martin<\/strong>, French intelligence strategist, said that we are witnessing \u201cthe battle of the number two\u201d 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 \u201calmost finished.\u201d He concurred with the description of a possible Trump\/Putin\/Xi summit as a \u201cNew Yalta,\u201d and commented on the European attitude toward this: \u201cIf you are not sitting at the table, then you are on the menu.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dennis Small praised Kuznick\u2019s comments, but noted humorously that he begged to differ on the question of Zelensky\u2019s participation in negotiation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Larry Johnson<\/strong>, former CIA intelligence official and a member of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), responded to Small, saying, \u201cI totally agree with you about the cocaine clown of Kyiv.\u201d 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) \u201care just beating the daylights out of the Saudis.\u201d Johnson also debunked the Trump administration\u2019s claim that oil is flowing freely through the Strait of Hormuz. \u201cI don\u2019t recall a time in history when you have such a disconnect between political leaders and populace.\u201d Trump had intended to wait until after the elections to attack Iran, but then Hegseth went to Israel where he received the \u201cBibi bamboozlement\u201d and returned with a demand for immediate military action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Small commented on the \u201cdisconnect,\u201d saying that this is what leads to revolutionary situations which open the door to change, either for the better, or for the worse. \u201cThis is where what the pope is doing is of particular importance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Larry Johnson predicted that the midterm elections will be \u201ca complete disaster\u201d 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Discussion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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 Fl\u00e1vio Bolsonaro, with individuals including Susana Cordeiro Guerra, who is the godmother of children of President Trump\u02bcs son-in-law Jared Kushner, and the wife of the aforementioned nuclear war enthusiast, Elbridge Colby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Small concluded by saying that \u201cthe biggest corruption is the existing financial system.\u201d He recalled the Reichstag Fire of Feb. 27, 1933 and the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks as \u201coutrageous, desperate provocations\u201d 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Report on IPC #177 by EIR staff Oct. 23\u2014The 177th consecutive weekly meeting of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) opened with remarks by Dennis Small, EIR\u02bcs 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 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":120569,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[798],"tags":[842],"class_list":["post-120568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international-peace-coalition","tag-lang-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/schillerinstitute.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/schillerinstitute.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/schillerinstitute.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schillerinstitute.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schillerinstitute.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120568"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/schillerinstitute.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120568\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":120579,"href":"https:\/\/schillerinstitute.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120568\/revisions\/120579"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schillerinstitute.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/schillerinstitute.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schillerinstitute.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/schillerinstitute.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}