Nov. 15—The Schiller Institute and the French party, Solidarité & Progrès (S&P), jointly sponsored an international conference in Paris, Nov. 8-9, in person and on-line, titled “The Emancipation of Africa and the Global Majority, a Challenge for Europe.” Keynote speeches were given by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, founder and leader of the Schiller Institute, as well as Jacques Cheminade, chairman of S&P. In addition to the emphasis on development for Africa, the event focused on the dramatic moment of decision facing humanity: Will we follow the oligarchy’s drive towards global, possibly nuclear war in defense of empire, or can the West be induced to return to its highest ideals and principles to join the Global Majority in a new paradigm?

In fact, that new paradigm is well underway, as was evident in contributions by mostly youthful presenters from across the Global South, especially Africa, on the prospects for creating new platforms of development. Delegations from Mexico, Brazil, and elsewhere in the Western Hemisphere spoke out, as well as participants from Europe.

The two-day agenda and roster of over 30 speakers featured a cohort of young specialists, representing a remarkable range of specialties, from proponents of concrete economic development projects, to musicians, to candidates running for office in France, the United States and elsewhere. The dialogue was exciting.

The conference drew some 200 participants in person, from more than a dozen countries, representing almost every continent. In addition, there were important livestream satellite gatherings in Nigeria, Uganda, the United States (in the Bronx, New York City), and elsewhere. The full audience reached thousands, streaming on YouTube and Zoom, with simultaneous translation in French, German, Spanish and English. The full video archive, and program are available here.

The titles and themes of the conference panels give an idea of the important topics discussed. EIR will publish selected presentations in coming weeks. Day one began with, “Responding to the Cry of the People,” with reports from France, the United States and elsewhere on the ferment welling up against the economic and moral breakdown in the West. The second panel focused on the signature theme of the entire conference, “The Emancipation of Africa and the Global Majority, a Challenge for Europe.” The third panel was titled, “Youth from Around the World for Peace and Mutual Development.” The day ended with an evening of music.

Day two was designed as a “political training day” to equip and mobilize participants to intervene in national and world affairs. The first of two seminars addressed “Lyndon LaRouche’s science of physical economics by exploring the concept of fundamental discovery through the scientific approach of great thinkers such as Pierre de Fermat and Georg Cantor.” This was followed by a session “exploring the true political and revolutionary nature of thought in art, culture, and history through the study of the works of great geniuses such as Rembrandt, Rabelais, Shakespeare, Schiller and many others.” Another evening of music closed out the conference.

The Process of Conferences

Lyndon LaRouche often characterized the movement that he founded as “a series of conferences,” and the Paris symposium was the third in a trio of gatherings held thus far in three countries over 2025.

In May in New York/New Jersey, the Schiller Institute held a Memorial Day conference, “A Beautiful Vision For Humanity In Times of Great Turbulence.” In July, in Berlin, Germany, the Schiller Institute weekend conference was titled, “Man Is Not a Wolf to Man—For a New Paradigm in International Relations.” Followed immediately by a seminar on the necessity for Europe to collaborate on development in Africa, the Berlin conference, in particular, provided the foundation upon which the Paris event was then built.

The next moment in the conference process is December 14, when young leaders of the Schiller Institute will host a worldwide conference on Zoom.

Asked about the importance of the recently concluded Paris event, Zepp-LaRouche, in encouraging people to watch the proceedings in full, said, “It was necessary because I think the world needs to go in a different direction…. The Coincidence of Opposites as a new paradigm of international relations is on the table; but unfortunately, the Western countries are opposing cooperation with the Global Majority, and in this way preventing the emergence of a new system. So, the whole idea is that the young people of the world—the young people of the Global South, but also the young people of Europe and the United States—must take a much stronger role in leadership, because it’s their future. I think the so-called ‘elites’ of the Western world who are now in a war-mongering mode like we have not seen since the 1930s, have no right to destroy the future of the youth.”