Dec. 10—The war threat situation is worsening by the day. It is epitomized by the ceremony at Omaha, Nebraska on Dec. 9, for the changeover of command of the U.S. Strategic Command. Present were the outgoing commander Adm. Charles Richard; the new commander Gen. Anthony Cotton; and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. They each held forth, as would Dr. Strangelove, on aspects of the “tripolar” nuclear situation with the U.S., Russia and China, and that the U.S. has to “compete successfully.”
Schiller Institute founder and chairwoman Helga Zepp-LaRouche today described the present nuclear threat level as worse than 1983 with the Pershing missiles emplacement in Europe or even the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
The diplomacy question, “Why won’t the U.S. at least start to talk to Russia” about strategic stability, and dial this crisis down, was addressed bluntly on Dec. 9 by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov. He said that the U.S. is just not ready to show any common sense. “Should this stance reveal any hint, any shade of common sense, any willingness of Washington, if not to step in the same water, at least to remember what the temperature of that water was, when they were stepping into it, we will be ready,” he said, speaking at the Valdai Discussion Club “expert discussion” in Moscow on “Russia-U.S.A.: What Are the Limits of Confrontation?”
Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday, regarding Russia and the Western leaders, “Trust as such is close to zero.” He was answering a reporter at his Bishkek press conference, who had asked about the admission by former German Chancellor Angela Merkel this week, that she and other leaders feigned honesty for years toward Russia about Ukraine and the Minsk Accords, all the while they were building up arms defenses to use Ukraine against Russia. “What can one say to this?” Putin asked. “Of course, the issue of trust is at stake … but after such statements, the issue of trust is coming to the fore. How negotiate anything? What can we agree upon? Is it possible to come to terms with anyone, and what are the guarantees? This is, of course, a problem.”
In this context, the effort by the Schiller Institute and collaborators internationally is critical to mobilize voices everywhere to speak out for the “common sense” of demanding an end to nuclear-age confrontation. Giving this the potential for profound meaning—the paradox involved in Ryabkov’s phrasing—is the circulation for discussion of Ten Principles for a New International Security and Development Architecture, issued Nov. 22 by Helga Zepp-LaRouche.
These were elaborated on today on the weekly “Manhattan Project” dialogue broadcast by The LaRouche Organization, with guests Harley Schlanger and Cliff Kiracofe, and host Dennis Speed. The program was titled, “The Poetic Principle Must Supersede Warfare.”
The momentum is gaining speed internationally, even amidst the danger, for a new world framework of mutual benefit among nations. Concrete aspects of this were put forward in two parts of Asia yesterday. Chinese President Xi Jinping keynoted two summits in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: with the Gulf Cooperation Council nations (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, U.A.E., Saudi Arabia) about a raft of economic, scientific and cultural programs between China and the Persian Gulf nations for the next five years; and the first First China-Arab States Summit, including the heads of state and government of 21 Arab nations.
In Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan yesterday, the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) discussed many development initiatives, with the proposal made by Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko for a summit to be held soon by the EAEU, the BRICS and SCO to further collaborate for a new world of development.
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