EIR LEAD EDITORIAL FOR SATURDAY JUNE 24, 2023

Pursuing a Breakout for Peace

June 23, 2023, 2022 (EIRNS)—Significant breaks are developing in the trajectory toward war, increasing the potential to free the world from geopolitics, even as Anglo-American lunatics are promoting the scenario of a supposed Russian attack on the Zaporozhye nuclear plant as a basis for a full confrontation between NATO and Russia.

The foreign policy address by presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., was a breath of fresh air for the forces of peace, coming, as it did, from a member of an establishment family. His speech, refreshingly free from us-vs-them thinking, acknowledged the great danger the world faces today, from those who insist on destroying Russia and provoking war with China over Taiwan. The newest revelations about the Biden family and bribery strengthen Kennedy’s ability to get this message across.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington was characterized by trade deals—with a significant intention to achieve something like “decoupling” from China—rather than any successful attempt to turn the Indian leader against Russia. “The last few years have seen deeply disruptive developments,” said Modi in his speech to the U.S. Congress.

“With the Ukraine conflict, war has returned to Europe. It is causing great pain in the region. Since it involves major powers, the outcomes are severe. Countries of the Global South have been particularly affected. The global order is based on the respect for the principles of the UN Charter, peaceful resolution of disputes, and respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity. As I have said directly and publicly, this is not an era of war. But, it is one of dialogue and diplomacy. And, we all must do what we can to stop the bloodshed and human suffering.”

The Schiller Institute’s International Peace Coalition held a meeting on Friday, June 23, drawing together 30 representatives of ten or more pro-peace organizations from around the world for a two-and-a-half-hour discussion, addressing the increasingly urgent need to bring together the diverse international pro-peace organizations to stop the increasing danger of the current conflict between NATO and Russia expanding into a full-scale war, with the danger of a nuclear war now openly discussed by political leaders and media outlets.

That the world is shifting has even been acknowledged by foreign policy apparatchik Fiona Hill, who said in Estonia in May: “The war in Ukraine is perhaps the event that makes the passing of Pax Americana apparent to everyone.... Countries in the Global South’s resistance to U.S. and European appeals for solidarity on Ukraine are an open rebellion. This is a mutiny against what they see as the collective West dominating the international discourse and foisting its problems on everyone else, brushing aside their priorities.... The Cold War-era Non-Aligned Movement has reemerged....”

The populations of NATO nations, confronted with the absurd contortions required by their legacy news anchors to toe the official line, is becoming hungrier for change. German opposition party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) has come in second place in a recent national poll. The U.S. campaign of Robert Kennedy, Jr., is drawing significant electoral support, and, crucially, is fostering an improved quality of discussion right now.

Against the backdrop of the new paradigm forming—the expansion of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the BRICS-Plus, the New Development Bank, the development of alternatives to SWIFT and the dollar, the move towards normalizing relations among Southwest Asian nations—the peril posed by the insistence by the Anglo-American establishment that they will rule a unipolar world is great.

The work in preparing the minds of politicians and the public for an attack on the Zaporozhye nuclear plant (the latest of the Russia-attacked-itself narratives) indicates how high the stakes are. Senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal convened a press conference to announce that the destruction of the Zaporozhye plant would mean the invocation of NATO’s Article 5 and the destruction of Russia. Blumenthal: “It is meant to send a message to Vladimir Putin, and even more directly, to his military. They will be destroyed; they will be eviscerated if they use tactical nuclear weapons or if they destroy a nuclear plant in a way that threatens surrounding NATO nations.”

Note on Russia: As of this writing, the situation in Russia vis-à-vis Yevgeny Prigozhin and his Wagner Group is unclear, to say the least. The Wagner Group Telegram channel posted what it claims is video footage showing that the Ministry of Defense attacked Wagner forces. A purportedly irate Prigozhin is supposedly on his way to Moscow to take out Defense Minister Shoigu. An arrest warrant for Prigozhin has reportedly been issued. Triumphantly seen by some hawks as demonstrating Russian discord and a coup attempt, the truth remains to be seen. The Ministry of Defense, (in Russian) for its part, has said that the Russian military attack on the Wagner Group never happened.