EIR LEAD EDITORIAL FOR SUNDAY JANUARY 29, 2023

Strategic Watchword of the Last Ten Days? Not ‘Tanks’ (to Ukraine), But Sovereignty

Jan. 28, 2023, 2022 (EIRNS)—The strategic watchword of international relations over the past ten days is not “tanks” for Ukraine, but “sovereignty” for all nations. There is no such thing as national sovereignty in the West’s vaunted “rules-based” order of “democracy.”

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s capitulation Jan. 25 to approve German tanks to Ukraine, after his 2022 assertion that Germany would send no heavy weapons, because of its endangerment to all concerned, marks an historic moment of disgrace and call for international change. It was noted yesterday by Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, “The day the decision was made in favor of supplying Leopard tanks was historic. It was all the more historic because it finally testified to, and cemented what we had been talking about for quite a long time—Germany’s absolute loss of sovereignty.”

A different kind of incident this past week underscores the loss of sovereignty. Boris Johnson popped up in Kiev Jan. 22, to declare all Global NATO would support Ukraine to the last, which signals his and the British Empire’s mad intent to override all national sovereignty anywhere. His exact words: Britain will “stick by NATO as long as it takes.”

But voices are speaking out against this deadly arrogance. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has ordered that no Brazilian-made tank ammunition will be supplied to Germany, because it is likely going on to Ukraine. Instead, he called for getting peace talks started. Argentina has done similarly.

Former Guyana President Donald Ramotar has released an article (to be posted by EIR News Service and others), in which he appeals to fellow leaders in the Americas to initiate action against the war. It is titled, “Russia-Ukraine and CARICOM.” (CARICOM is the 15-member Caribbean Community organization established in 1973, comprising 14 nation-states and one dependency.)

Ramotar writes, “It is time that CARICOM as a whole and the countries that comprise it individually make their presence for peace felt. They should denounce the escalation that is presently happening by the sending of more weapons, new tanks, etc. to Ukraine.”

He reviews the danger of nuclear war, and the history of NATO’s action “to prepare Ukraine to wage a war against Russia.” He calls for signing the letter in support of the Pope’s offer of a venue for peace talks.

In Europe, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on state radio Jan. 27, that Germany’s decision to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine was emblematic of the direct role in the war that the West is now taking, and instead, the West should seek “a ceasefire and peace talks.”

Institutionally, there are tectonic shifts toward a new order in the world, by alignments among sovereign nations, committed to promoting mutual development. There are notable diplomatic initiatives in this direction. India—soon to be the world’s most populous nation—will host the G20 Foreign Ministers March 1 and 2 in New Delhi, and in late May or June, host leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and guest nations in Goa.

Representing the Eurasian Economic Union, Sergei Glazyev was in Jakarta this week, visiting the leaders of ASEAN, and meeting with Indonesian leaders to further the free-trade agreement in the works between the EAEU and Indonesia.

The benefits of the fast-moving ascendency of the BRICS for the BRICS+ was discussed this week by Argentine Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero, host of the just-concluded Jan. 24 meeting of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), involving 33 nations, in an exclusive interview with China’s CGTN Jan. 25, on the focus of CELAC and China. Cafiero pointed out that for Argentina, three BRICS nations already rank among the top four trade partners of Argentina, and that further collaboration is wide open to development. For example, China and Argentina are the world’s current two nations able to manufacture small nuclear reactors (SMR). Cafiero pointedly discussed how the Malvinas Islands have been occupied by the British for 190 years, and it’s high time this ended—by diplomatic means.

The expected third Belt and Road Forum in China, some time in 2023, its 10th anniversary, is expected to be a kick-off for more development.

Helga Zepp-LaRouche, founder and leader of the international Schiller Institutes, made sovereignty the first point of her “Ten Principles of a New International Security and Development Architecture,” which she issued for world dialogue and consideration in November 2022.) The document states:

“First: The new International Security and Development Architecture must be a partnership of perfectly sovereign nation states, which is based on the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and the UN Charter.”

Plan to discuss this, attend the Feb. 4 international Schiller Institute Conference, and mobilize, each in their own way. This can make miracles.