International Peace Coalition: The Light at the End of the Bering Strait Tunnel
Sept. 1—The 117th consecutive weekly meeting of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) 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,” presented as a series of unacceptable ultimatums on Iran's nuclear program, including calls for increased inspections of its nuclear facilities that were bombed by the U.S and Israel in the so-called 12 Day War. 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 Sept. 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.
Voice of the Global South
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.
Why Do Leaders Risk Extinction?
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 Kyiv 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.”