Nov. 14—Helga Zepp-LaRouche, founder of the Schiller Institute and initiator of the International Peace Coalition (IPC), opened the IPC’s 128th meeting by juxtaposing NATO’s and Ukraine’s increasingly reckless desperation—seen in a just-neutralized mad attempt to hijack a Russian MiG-31 fighter jet, and use it to bomb a NATO facility in Romania—with an exciting new potential to secure a new security and development architecture, which came together at the just-concluded Schiller Institute-Solidarité & Progrès conference in Paris, November 8-9.

The situation, Zepp-LaRouche pointed out, is fraught with danger. Instead of minimizing tensions in the world, new hot spots are being created, such as in the Caribbean, in large part by new “options” and orders issued from the office of the American Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth. An example of this was Hegseth’s announcement of Operation Southern Spear just before the IPC meeting commenced, claiming: “this mission defends our Homeland, removes narco-terrorists from our Hemisphere, and secures our Homeland from the drugs that are killing our people. The Western Hemisphere is America’s neighborhood—and we will protect it.” Zepp-LaRouche said that other speakers would address this crisis in more detail.

Zepp-LaRouche outlined the recent report issued by the Russian Federal Security Service, which asserted that Ukraine and the UK attempted to hijack a fully-armed Russian fighter jet for a false-flag bombing operation intended to bring NATO directly into war against Russia. Ukraine’s defeat on the battlefield has led to this and other desperate efforts to keep the war going. Though there is war hysteria being fomented by governments across Europe, with military build-ups, and even a new military draft in Germany, the population is not in favor. Higher salaries and increased benefits are being offered to entice German youth to join the military, but this only enrages career officers and soldiers who are excluded from such offers.

A Betrayal of Creation

The “Coalition of the Willing” is even considering the use of nuclear weapons, a position that has recently been supported by the Protestant Synod in Dresden, Germany. Catholic Bishops and others, in contrast, are condemning the threat of the use of nuclear weapons; Pope Leo XIV is against even the possession of nuclear weapons. “Nuclear arms offend our shared humanity and also betray the dignity of creation, whose harmony we are called to safeguard,” he said in a statement issued Aug. 5 of this year. Catholic bishops in the Caribbean have also spoken out for dialogue, not violent confrontation; the bishops of the Antilles Episcopal Conference, representing 13 nations and several former British, French, and Dutch territories, voiced their concern about “the recent buildup of naval and other military assets in the Southern Caribbean.”

Zepp-LaRouche quickly reviewed several other global hot spots. Despite the ceasefire, the wanton killing in Gaza continues, and the shipments of food, medicine, and other basic goods are only 30% of the levels promised. Meanwhile, squatter-settler violence in the West Bank has only escalated. In Asia, tensions are growing between China and Japan after the recent comments by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi about Taiwan, threatening to spiral out of control. And in the United States, President Donald Trump is surrounded by think tanks and advisors pushing for war, while at the same time he is confronted by crises in the economy and the financial bubble.

Zepp-LaRouche also reminded IPC participants about the Able Archer NATO military exercises beginning on Nov. 7, 1983, which rehearsed a nuclear first strike on the Soviet Union, bringing the world to the brink of an actual nuclear war. A previously-redacted 15 page appendix to the State Department’s Foreign Relations of the United States, recently released by the National Security Archive, truthfully documents this.

The IPC must be solution-driven, as with the Ten Principles for a New Security and Development Architecture, and the Oasis Plan for Gaza and Southwest Asia. Zepp-LaRouche called on the IPC to circulate the statement by fellow member Father Harry Bury, who has appealed to Pope Leo XIV to support the Oasis Plan. She also urged participants to support Bury’s call for the canonization of the 15th-Century Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa, and the exoneration of economist and statesman Lyndon LaRouche.

Do You Get It?

Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst and founder of the Veterans Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, began by remarking about the clarity, conciseness, and comprehensiveness of Zepp-LaRouche’s briefing. McGovern then encouraged everyone to buy a subscription to the Executive Intelligence Review (EIR), saying that “If you don’t get it, you don’t get it.” He brought up the recent interview given by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to the Italian newspaper, Corriere della Sera. The publication decided not to publish the interview, blocking a very important discussion from the American and European public.

Lavrov had supplied an analysis of the breakdown of the process initially begun at the Alaska meeting on Aug. 15 between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, where both had called for cooperation. McGovern said that it was not clear why this cooperation had been sabotaged, but that Britain and the Financial Times were involved. Lavrov has said that Russia could work with the real Trump, but something is going on to prevent this, and in the meantime, communications have come to a halt. The Russians were expecting a meeting in Budapest, but everything was cancelled. Despite all of this, Russia is open to another meeting and is willing to deal with Trump. At the end of the Alaska meeting, Putin suggested another meeting in Moscow, but Trump never gave a direct answer, except to say that it would cause some “heat” for him.

McGovern also returned to the topic of the 1983 Able Archer crisis, with an “inside story.” Because others in the CIA refused to inform the White House of the seriousness of the situation, McGovern stated, then-CIA head William Casey had to go to the White House himself to brief President Ronald Reagan that Able Archer was risking war and needed to be stopped. McGovern made clear that it was a human intervention that stopped that war danger, not a machine.

Former President of Guyana (2011-2015), Donald Ramotar, spoke next regarding the Venezuela crisis. While the conflict in the Caribbean is said to be based on drug trafficking, he began, we all know that this is not true. (President Ramotar was one of eleven former heads of state in the region who signed the recent “Statement for the Peace and Stability of Our Continent,” declaring that the region should be a zone of peace.) Trump is under massive pressure with respect to the Jeffrey Epstein documents, he said, and is surrounded by war hawks. Other factors affect the U.S. domestic front as well, such as the recent New York City elections.

President Ramotar also remarked on Gaza, saying that the United Nations must call for an election in Gaza, but that it cannot be like the 2006 election that was voided when Hamas won. McGovern thanked Ramotar for his point, explaining that it had been then-U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice who insisted on having the election in Gaza. Then, when Hamas won, she helped to cancel the results.

Co-moderator Dennis Small also commented on Secretary of War Hegseth’s X-post about the creation of Operation Southern Spear, justifying it as “our neighborhood.” The plan is to extend the anti-narcotics campaign to the entire hemisphere, Small said, but to leave Wall Street untouched. Mexico and other countries have already been threatened in this way. The real target, however, is not oil, but Brazil. The plan is to prevent Brazil from working with the BRICS, especially China. If this policy succeeds, it will create a massive refugee crisis, which Guyana, Colombia, and Brazil are already anticipating. McGovern said that this was an accurate assessment of the crisis.

Ramotar then added that in 1980, the CARICOM (Caribbean Community) countries had signed an agreement with the United States to allow American military ships to stop and board suspected drug-trafficking boats for inspections; so, there is no need to attack ships at sea today. None of the boats which have been targeted by the United States could have survived the voyage all the way to U.S. shores, and none of the Trump Administration’s attempted justifications stand up to scrutiny.

The final presentation was by Dr. Gershon Baskin, an Israeli peace activist who played a leading role in the Israeli-Hamas hostage negotiations. Speaking via pre-recorded video, Baskin said that ending the war in Gaza must come first. He gave Trump full credit for forcing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to the ceasefire. After Israel failed to assassinate Hamas leaders in the Doha attack on Sept. 9, Arab friends told Trump that the attack proved that Netanyahu is “unhinged.” Baskin is hopeful that the situation can lead to success, as the United States is now building a military base near Gaza and has taken over the aid delivery. For the first time, U.S. diplomats met with Hamas negotiators. Baskin emphasized that the task now is to build a Palestinian leadership and Palestinian security forces.

Looking for a Higher Truth

Importantly, Dr. Baskin has called for regional economic development for Southwest Asia, and would like to see both the United States and China working together on this. He suggested that Qatar could be a facilitator between China and the U.S., but that barriers to this cooperation will have to be removed. The “coincidence of opposites,” looking for a higher truth, Baskin said, is the only way that two opposing forces could agree to work together at a higher level. He referenced the U.S. motto, “E pluribus unum” (from many, one) as an example of the principle.

Zepp-LaRouche, who had just spent an entire weekend in Paris discussing the coincidence of opposites as not only the proper method of thinking but also the method for diplomacy, pointed to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and China’s most recent five-year plan. While the plan uses China’s phrases and terminology, the ideas in it, she said, cohere with the outlook formulated by her late husband, Lyndon LaRouche, with an emphasis on scientific innovations, education, culture, and an understanding of their true history. China, in effect, is saying it wants to use the American System of economy! She contrasted this to the ongoing economic collapse of Germany, where one-third of Germany’s world famous machine-tool industry, the very heart of the German economy, is bankrupt.

Zepp-LaRouche also spoke about Cusa’s idea that the only legitimate government is one based on the principle of the consent of the governed. Leaders in the West no longer have the consent of the governed. The UK’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer has single-digit support percentages, and his counterparts in France and Germany have similarly low ratings. Therefore, the people themselves must take responsibility for self-government—and that is why what is happening among youth around the world, especially in the continent of Africa and among the BRICS nations, is so important.

Several youth activists from Europe, Mexico, and the United States reported on the Schiller Institute’s recent Paris conference and follow-up activities. (A full report on this will become available later.) They spoke of the upcoming December 14 online youth conference, and the New York City Schiller Institute Chorus musical event shortly thereafter.