Schiller Institute Conference Announcement
June 15–16, 2024

The World on the Brink:
For a New Peace of Westphalia!

The signs point to a storm! The collective West’s attempt to assert the global dominance of the neoliberal system after the end of the Cold War has been a resounding failure. The majority of nations were by no means prepared to accept the “end of history” that Francis Fukuyama had prematurely announced, and which the countries of the Global South perceived as merely a continuation of colonialist policies. The means by which attempts were made to cement the unipolar world order, from color revolutions, wars of intervention, or unilateral sanctions aimed at regime change, to the weaponization of the dollar, had an enormous boomerang effect. Instead of accepting Western neoliberal values, the nations of Asia, Africa and Latin America turned to their own cultural traditions and are now, aided by the economic rise of China, building their own economic system based on sovereignty and equality.

But instead of supporting the efforts of the Global South, which has long since become the global majority, to overcome poverty and underdevelopment through industrial development (which would also solve the refugee crisis in the only humane way), the so-called collective West is insisting on the “narrative” that it is a fight between the “democracies” and the “authoritarian dictatorships,” that Russia is waging an “unprovoked war of aggression” against Ukraine, and that Israel is only exercising its “right of self-defense” in Gaza. In order to defend these “narratives,” constitutional rights such as the right to freedom of expression, the ban on censorship, and the right to freedom of assembly are undermined.

It is astonishing to see how utterly incapable the establishment of the collective West is, to recognize the failure of their policies and make the necessary corrections! After more than a dozen sanctions packages, Russia is not “ruined,” but the European economy is collapsing, especially Germany! After increasingly powerful arms deliveries, which have long since brought the West up to or past the point of being a party to the war, it is clear that Ukraine cannot win. Russia has now conducted its first military exercise with its tactical nuclear weapons, in response to French President Emmanuel Macron’s threat to send NATO troops to Ukraine, and to UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s recommendation that Ukraine use Western-supplied missiles to attack Russia. After eight months of the West watching the war crimes in Gaza, the ICJ and the ICC have now intervened to stop the ongoing genocide, because it appears to have become clear to some forces that the double standards tolerated so far were destroying the entire legitimacy of the international order.

Today we stand on the brink of potentially the greatest catastrophe in human history. If we do not overcome the geopolitical confrontation of the West against Russia and China, there is a very short path to escalation into a new world war, in which the assured use of thermonuclear weapons would result in a nuclear winter and the extinction of the human species.

The tectonic shift, caused by the absolute determination of the nations of the Global South to assert their right to sovereign development, also represents a monumental opportunity to overcome the crisis. First, we must ensure that people in Europe and the United States learn about the new “Spirit of Bandung” that is inspiring the nations of the Global South, and then we must demonstrate the immense opportunities that present themselves if we cooperate with these states in their development.

The next six months will be of utmost importance for the continued existence of humanity: the NATO and SCO summits in July, the BRICS summit in Russia in October, the U.S. presidential election in November. During this time, we must succeed in placing on the international agenda the concept of a new global security and development architecture that takes into account the interests of all nations on the planet, if we are to prevent the extreme polarization of the world order into two separate and immovable blocks, to the point of its complete collapse.

The upcoming Schiller Institute conference will therefore bring together speakers and forces united in the intention of charting a path out of the crisis, by presenting a new paradigm for the next era in human development.

Panel 1
The Biggest Change in World History

Panel 2
The Development Aspirations of the Global Majority

Panel 3
The Implications of the Scientific Revolution Underway

Panel 4
The Richness of the Cultures of Humanity and the Coming Golden Renaissance

Go to the Schiller Institute website for more information and for registration.