The Underpinnings of a Sustainable Peace Movement Worldwide
The second panel of the Schiller Institute conference in Strasbourg was opened by Jacques Cheminade, President of the Solidarité et Progrès political party in France, who characterized the current historical period as “the battle between the Malthusian, domineering financial oligarchy that occupies our Western countries and those who believe that the human species has a right to development.”
Jacques Cheminade highlighted the crucial role of the American economist Lyndon LaRouche (1922-2019), in defining the principles of physical economy critical for a New Paradigm of development. This was stated explicitly by Russian economist Sergei Glazyev, Minister of Integration and Macroeconomics of the Eurasian Economic Commission [EAEU], who recognized that “it is the principles of physical economics championed by Lyndon LaRouche that underpin the Chinese economic miracle today, and that are the basis of India’s economic development policy.”
The panel included speakers from Argentina, Democratic Republic of Congo, France and Türkiye, all of whom are involved in the fight for economic development and social justice.
Panel III was devoted to “The Peace Movement Worldwide Above Party Lines: The Special Case of the United States; The Role of the Vatican and the Global South”. It was keynoted by Harley Schlanger, the Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Schiller Institute U.S.A., who began by presenting the vision of world peace defended by U.S. President John F. Kennedy, which was diametrally opposed to the path Washington has followed in the past few decades. The other panelists presented aspects from their respective countries of the effort to build a peace movement able to counter the massive propaganda of the mainstream media.
Sunday morning began with an inspiring panel on “A Culture to Emancipate and Expand the Creative Capacities of Every Human Being — A Dialogue among Cultures and Civilizations”. The keynote speaker was Dr. Luc Reychler, professor emeritus of Louvain University and former director of the Center for Peace Research and Strategic Studies in Belgium. His topic was polemically titled “European Humanist Values versus War Culture: What Would Erasmus Say about Peace in Ukraine?”, in which he hypothetically viewed the current proxy-war from the eyes of the great Dutch Renaissance scholar Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536).
The conference ended with what has become a highly controversial theme today “Scientific Ecology and Assessing the Climate Challenge: Eradicating Poverty and Hunger in the World Is the Priority”. The panelists (from France, Germany and Italy) refuted the current hype around “climate change” very competently and with a good dose of humor. The ugly Malthusian ideology behind the “Green Deal” was also exposed throughout the two-day proceedings.
On Saturday everning, participants had been treated to an uplifting Classical music concert. The program featured Albanian pianist Dhurata Lazo playing a romance by Albanian composer Tonin Harapi and three pieces by Frédéric Chopin. She then accompanied Swedish soprano Leena Malkki in three arias by Mozart and Verdi, and two Schubert lieder.
Helga Zepp-LaRouche expressed the fighting spirit of the participants in this extraordinary conference, by noting that “we need an explosion of optimism now”, optimism in knowing that we can become hegemonic, instead of the enemy.
