Time for the West to Jump into the Lifeboat

The acute danger of a new world war, the ongoing collapse of the trans-Atlantic financial system, the re-emergence of a non-aligned movement in the Global South, the moves to de-dollarize the monetary system, the urgent need of a new security architecture, and above all, the basic principles on which to agree to ensure peace and development for all nations – all these themes were taken up at the Schiller Institute online conference of April 15-16, titled “Without the Development of All Nations, There Can Be No Lasting Peace for the Planet”.

Speakers from Ibero-America and Asia, from Germany, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Russia in Europe, as well as from China and the United States, participated in the four panels, where were followed live by over 500 people (and are now available on Internet). The focus of the proceedings was given by Schiller Institute chairwoman Helga Zepp-LaRouche in the introduction to her keynote speech.

“We are gathering here via internet, united by the sincere commitment to develop and present options how humanity can overcome the present existential dangers which lie in the presently escalating geopolitical confrontation between ‘the West’ and Russia and China in particular, which could in the worst case and very short-term lead to a global nuclear war, and therefore the annihilation of the entire human species and life on Earth in a following nuclear winter.

“But while that danger is very acute”, she continued, “there is at the same time reason to be extremely joyful and optimistic that we are experiencing the birth of a new era in the history of mankind. An epochal change, whereby the remnants of the old colonial order, in which several billion human beings were condemned to suffer poverty, hunger, and underdevelopment, are being replaced by a new world economic order, which in the coming years will create conditions, whereby every newborn child will have the chance to fully develop his or her potential to become a creative person and contribute to the further advancement of humanity. So we are very privileged to live in one of the most exciting moments in history!”

In the course of her presentation, Mrs. Zepp-LaRouche called on Western countries to stop trying to sabotage the new system emerging, but rather welcome the lifeboat that it offers for everyone.

The videos of the conference can be viewed (in English) here, and will be progressively made available in French, German and Spanish translations on the respective SI websites. The final program is provided as a supplement to this issue, to help you navigate through the speakers. We strongly encourage our readers to watch as much as you can.