The World Is Arriving at a Crossroads It Cannot Avoid

EIR LEAD EDITORIAL FOR MONDAY SEPTEMBER 25, 2023

Sept. 24, 2023 (EIRNS)—All reports are indicating that President Biden told Zelenskyy last week that U.S. ATACMS long-range missiles will be sent to Ukraine. If confirmed, this indicates an escalation of not only the war in Ukraine, but of the danger that the world as a whole will enter into a full-scale global war. Following the recent string of Ukrainian attacks into Russian territory in Crimea, along with U.S. officials’ nonchalant attitude about their culpability in escalatory attacks of this type, it is clear that this will only mean a further increase in the broiling tensions that set new and larger conflicts into motion.

The world has one and only one choice in front of it: Deliberation or destruction. Ukraine’s counteroffensive has all but failed, leading to the obvious opportunity for NATO and Ukraine’s Western backers to reflect on this situation and move towards the negotiating table. Ukraine would surely follow. This could very potentially pave the way towards a more lasting peace, and the possibility of a new security architecture for Europe—or even more broadly.

If, on the other hand, Western nations double down under the weight of an irrational arrogance and rage, and instead further arm Ukraine—in a war Ukraine can never win—then how much longer will it be before NATO troops are in direct conflict against Russia? How long will a direct conventional war between the U.S. and Russia last—before it turns nuclear?

A recently released proposal by four German experts provides what is likely the most comprehensive peace proposal in the 18 months of this conflict. If circulated and followed, it might be a crucial intervention into this frightful situation. Referencing World War I as the beginning of the previous century of wars, it demands: “The Ukraine war must not become the primordial catastrophe of the 21st century!”

What’s more: It must be recognized that this situation is only being exacerbated by, if not a direct reaction to, a new system in the world. There is an impulse coming from an increasing share of the world demanding to be free from servitude to poverty and its global enforcers. This un-ruly order itself is being identified by an increasing majority around the world as the main cause of inequality and conflicts globally.

Consider the remarks by Egypt’s Foreign Minister to this year’s UN General Assembly, who said there is a “structural deficiency vis-à-vis the international system’s ability to deal with political, security, and socio-economic crises. The hallmark of this [post World War II] era has been a marked tendency by the great powers to attempt to usurp or monopolize the international community’s decision-making process while paying scant heed to the rights, ambitions, and legitimate interests of hundreds of millions of world citizens.”

What kind of nonsense is it to believe one is fighting to save some imaginary “Western democracy” in Ukraine, when the majority of the world is rejecting the same Western hegemony? As Egypt’s Foreign Minister said: “by which authority have some come to believe that their value system is superior to another?”

If moral midgets choose further escalation, the danger of civilization-ending war may become greater than at any time before—a choice we can’t afford to make. If, however, the path of deliberation is chosen, an entirely different path opens up to world history. The opportunity presented by the growing calls for a new financial architecture, for the purpose of massive industrial and economic development, could mean something far beyond a peace formula for Europe and Russia—it could be the beginning of a new civilizational architecture which emphasizes the oneness of the human species as its primary cornerstone.

The stakes really are that high, as Lyndon LaRouche and his wife Helga Zepp-LaRouche have insisted for years, and the pathway out demands citizens such as yourself think and act on that level. Study Helga Zepp-LaRouche’s Ten Principles, which present the scope of the option before us. And be active and engaged—this is no moment to wait and see.