Greetings to the Schiller Institute Conference
The following messages of greeting were read to the audience at the 30th anniversary conference of the Schiller Institute on June 15 in New York City.
[PDF version of these greetings]
Sergei Glazyev, Russian Federation
Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation
It is a great honor for me to greet and congratulate you on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Schiller Institute!
Dear colleagues! The Institute has been and will always be a unique platform for dialogue and for the development of important solutions to various aspects of contemporary social, political, and economic development and humanitarian cooperation in the world!
Many of your ideas, proposals, and thoughts have found demand, in the development of valuable initiatives of practical significance, in the areas of social justice, the global order, and the prevention of regional conflicts.
Besides the solution of strictly practical tasks related to current, day-to-day problems of our mutual development, you also make, on a daily basis, a weighty contribution to the conceptualization and solution of urgent issues of geopolitics and public life.
I am certain that your conference today will provide an important impetus to discussions concerning the equality of peoples, regardless of where they live, the sovereign right of peoples to self-determination, and the choice of methods for building a harmonious future, based on peace, cooperation and good-neighborly relations!
I wish you fruitful work, dear colleagues, and peace to your houses!
Sergei Glazyev
Moscow, June 13, 2014
Natalia Vitrenko, Ukraine
Doctor of economics, Chairman of the Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine, co-founder of the National Resistance Front Against Eurocolonization
Congratulations on this jubilee anniversary, which is important not only for the Schiller Institute, but for all progressive humanity.
I am proud to be taking part, together with the LaRouche movement, in the fight to change the world and save civilization. I am proud to know Lyndon LaRouche and Helga Zepp-LaRouche, these outstanding public figures of our time, personally, and to know many LaRouche movement activists in the U.S.A., Germany, France, Italy, Australia, and other countries.
I greatly value your intellectual and research work, which is honest, bold, and great in spirit.
Great, too, is the practical significance of your work, because many scientists and politicians around the world have been guided by your evaluations of the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization, and of the problems of the banking system, as well as (most important) your specific proposals for transforming the world.
As usual, the topic of your conference, “An End to War!”, is precise and extremely timely. It is especially timely for us, as citizens of Ukraine, and for the entire Eurasian continent. A war is going on in our country. It is a terrible war by a neo-Nazi regime against the population of Ukraine's southeast, which has risen up against it. You and we precisely identified the nature of the coup d'état in Ukraine, and sensed the monstrous danger that would result from it, not only for our people, but for all mankind. It was the Schiller Institute that organized the historic tour of our delegation in France, Germany, and Italy (February 23-March 5, 2014) and made possible an informational and political breakout of the truth about what was happening in Ukraine, through our numerous meetings with political and other public figures in these countries, and through press conferences (including at the European Parliament) and interviews for the media. Unquestionably, this was our joint contribution to preventing a Third World War from being ignited.
But the officials in Brussels and Washington, pursuing their geopolitical goals and defending their own personal, selfish interests, have supported the Ukrainian putschists and entered into a shameful alliance with Ukrainian Nazis.
Today, southeastern Ukraine is drowning in blood. Thousands of people have been killed, and tens of thousands are refugees. We have had the Odessa “Khatýn,”[1] the tragedies in Mariupol and Volnovakha, the blockade and humanitarian catastrophe in Slavyansk, and the use of cluster bombs and phosphorous bombs against civilians. These events, and much more, are going on right in front of our eyes, in the center of Europe. But the UN and the OSCE remain silent, and neither the Red Cross nor journalists from international news agencies are operating in the hot spots of Ukraine.
And in this setting, a massive media campaign has been launched within Ukraine, aimed at turning the entire population of our country into Nazis and pitiless killer-robots, for the purpose of inciting war with Russia. There is no doubt that this would be a catastrophe for the Eurasian continent.
I am certain that, as always, you will deliberate in depth on the causes of the war in Ukraine, and identify who ordered it and carried out, and what their motives are. And, as always, you will offer a peaceful alternative. I promise to do everything possible, to bring your findings to the citizens of Ukraine.
I wish you every success!
Yours,
Natalia Vitrenko
Kiev, June 13, 2014
Daisuke Kotegawa, Japan
Research Director of the CANON Institute of Global Studies
I would like to extend a deep congratulation for your 30th anniversary meeting in New York on June 15. At this critical time of the history, it is so important that unselfish people work together towards the common welfare of all people on this earth.
It is well known from our experience in late 1990s that recovery from an economic crisis triggered by financial crisis requires special subscription. A cleaning of the banking system, with substantial change in management of major banks and with pursuit of responsibility of management, is a precondition of the bail-out of banks and restoration of confidence in the financial system. A fundamental streamlining of the financial system by reintroduction of the Glass-Steagall Act is essential to avoiding repetition of the mistakes made by Wall Street to gamble with depositors' money. A battle against Wall Street is an urgent task for us, to defend our lives.
After restoration of confidence in financial system, a large-scale fiscal stimulus is necessary to create real demand and increase the welfare of whole world. One example is the idea of a new canal at the Kula Narrows in Thailand. Financial resources have to be mobilized for such purposes, rather than gambling by Wall Street.
Power has to be brought back to Main Streets from Wall Street. I hope that you will win in the battle soon.
With best regards,
Daisuke Kotegawa
Sungbin Yim, Republic of Korea
Former Secretary for Green Growth to the President of the Republic of Korea
Many sincere congratulations on your anniversary, marking meaningful three decades of relentless strife for human dignity. Korea's future also lies in the success of the Eurasian Land-Bridge, which will bring countries in the region together to collaborate to build the physical economy based on science, human intellect, advanced infrastructure, and great culture. “Peace Through development,” which the Schiller Institute upholds, indeed is a timely call for all mankind.
Thomas Buffenbarger, United States
International President, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers
On behalf of the Officers and Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, I wish to extend warm greetings and congratulations to the Schiller Institute on the Occasion of its 30th Anniversary.
The IAM and the Schiller Institute have long shared a vision for a world built upon progressive concepts and the ideas leading to a better, brighter future for all nations.
The application of sound economic principles, such as those contained in the proposed reauthorization of Glass-Steagall legislation, combined with a renewed emphasis on an innovation-driven industrial policy in tandem with rebuilding the global energy distribution network, are the goals that capture the imagination of nations as we collectively seek to build productive, progressive, and sustainable societies.
The IAM applauds the Schiller Institute for its monumental efforts to inform, educate, and promote the alternative ideas our entire planet is yearning for.
Best wishes to all for a successful 30th Anniversary celebration.
R. Thomas Buffenbarger
June 12, 2014
[1] The fire deaths of dozens of people inside the Odessa Trade Unions building on May 2 have been compared with the March 1943 massacre of the population of the village of Khatýn, Belarus, by the 118th Schutzmannschaft Nazi battalion, composed chiefly of collaborationists from Ukraine; The Khatýn victims were locked in a shed and burned alive—translator's note.
