There Is No ‘Third Option’

EIR LEAD EDITORIAL FOR THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 28, 2023

Sept. 27, 2023, (EIRNS)—The military quagmire in Ukraine, combined with the onrushing breakdown of the entire trans-Atlantic financial system—which now includes the takeover by predatory hedge funds of the $25 trillion market in U.S. Treasuries—has brought the world to a crossroads.

In her Sept. 27 weekly “Dialogue” webcast, Schiller Institute founder Helga Zepp-LaRouche underscored the importance of widely circulating the Aug. 28 proposal by four German experts, “Ending the War with a Negotiated Peace.” That article, she stressed, argues that

“very soon NATO will be faced with a decision of recognizing the fact that the military operation in Ukraine failed, and that the counter-offensive by Ukraine also failed, and that leaves only two options. One is immediate negotiations for a diplomatic solution; secondly, an escalation which may quickly bring the world to the level of a nuclear catastrophe. I think that is, indeed, the choice.”

Those behind the second, deadly option were on lurid display in last week’s in-your-face cavorting by NATO-member Canada’s government and Parliament with a self-proclaimed soldier with the Ukrainian 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of Hitler’s SS. The Russian government understands what they are dealing with. On Sept. 26, Dmitry Medvedev, former President and current Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council, warned that “NATO has evolved into an openly fascist alliance, resembling Hitler’s Axis, albeit on a larger scale. We are prepared, although the outcome may come at a much higher cost to humanity than in 1945.”

A White Paper issued by the Chinese government on Sept. 26, “A Global Community of Shared Future: China’s Proposals and Actions,” likewise warned of the imminent danger of nuclear war, if the current crisis is not resolved. “Our world is undergoing change on a scale unseen in a century,” the policy paper stated. “The shadow of the arms race lingers on, and the threat of nuclear war—the Sword of Damocles that hangs over humanity—remains.”

The lengthy Chinese document did not linger on the danger, but went on to elaborate a global proposal for peace and development, resonant with the policies presented over decades by Lyndon LaRouche and the Schiller Institute, including an emphasis on the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia. Arguing that “the new era calls for new ideas,” the White Paper repeatedly stressed the universality of Mankind, as opposed to the Hobbesian war of each against all, as the key to solving to current crisis.

“Standing at a crossroads, humanity is faced with two opposing options. One is to revert to the Cold War mentality that deepens division and antagonism and stokes confrontation between blocs. The other is to act for the common wellbeing of humanity, strengthen solidarity and cooperation, advocate openness and win-win results, and promote equality and respect. The tug of war between these two options will shape the future of humanity and our planet in a profound way.”