The Oasis Plan: A Bold Initiative to Bust the Geopolitical Axiom

The horrendous death and destruction unleashed in Gaza have caused many around the world to despair of ever finding a way out of the maelstrom. A way to bring about what now seems to be unimaginable: a future of cooperation and mutual prosperity for all of South-West Asia. In such a situation, the solution can only be found “outside the box”, on a higher level than the forces immediately at play, in a bold initiative to break out of the rules of the game.

Such is the “Oasis Plan” for the Middle East, first proposed decades ago by Lyndon LaRouche, based on the principle of “peace through development”. An end to conflict and war can only be lasting if it is accompanied by the conditions for the economic and social development of all the parties involved.

Different aspects of the Oasis Plan – political, financial, technical – will be discussed at the April 13 online conference of the Schiller Institute. A preliminary program for the proceedings is published below.

This initiative was taken up by Schiller Institute chairwoman Helga Zepp-LaRouche in a discussion with U.S. blogger Kim Iversen on April 1, titled “The Plan To Change the World for the Better”. It was also the subject of a long interview she had given to Francesco Battaglia, professor of physical chemistry at the Modena University, which was published March 28 in the Italian daily La Verità.

“The Oasis Plan focuses primarily on solving the biggest obstacle to development in a region that is now a land of conflict — the shortage of fresh water — through the construction of a network of seawater desalination plants”, she explained to Prof. Battaglia. “These plants would be built along two new canals – one linking the Red Sea to the Dead Sea and the other linking the Dead Sea to the Mediterranean -with the specific purpose of transporting water and providing hydroelectric electricity, which, in turn, along with nuclear plants along these canals and on the Mediterranean and Red Sea coasts and the vast quantities of natural gas on the coasts of Gaza, Israel, Lebanon, Syria and Egypt, would feed desalination plants to green the vast deserts of the region and fuel a process of industrialization in the Middle East. The use of nuclear power would allow the region’s hydrocarbon resources to be used in chemicals and for industry. The Plan envisions a network of transportation infrastructure that would improve physical connectivity between all nations in the region, transforming a region of conflict into a center of interaction, a crossroads. Regional highways and rail networks would enable the entire area to operate from stronger economic foundations.

“Using this region – presently a land of conflict – as a land bridge between continents, with major powers such as the United States, China, Russia, and the European Union contributing to its development, will stabilize the area and, along the way, help cement better relations between the superpowers… By cooperating to fight the desert, rather than fighting each other, the peoples of the region will be protagonists of new prosperity. Cooperation and scientific, technological and cultural exchanges are key elements of the transformation process represented by the Oasis Plan.”