EIR LEAD EDITORIAL FOR WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 20, 2023

What Can Unite Nations?

Sept. 19, 2023, (EIRNS)—Today began the General Debate at the United Nations General Assembly, in which each country has an opportunity to express its views on all topics. The discussion, although tinged throughout with anti-growth “green” policies, is notable for the differences between the outlooks of countries looking for a new direction, such as BRICS members Brazil and South Africa, contrasted to the perpetual war proponents Biden and Zelenskyy.

President Lula da Silva of Brazil spoke to the growth of the BRICS as being partially a result of the failure of the Bretton Woods institutions—the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund—the “unequal and distorted” representation among whose leadership is “unacceptable.” BRICS is a “strategic platform” to promote cooperation among states. Governments have to break from the “dissonance” between the “voice of the markets and the voice of the streets,” he said. Lula denounced unilateral sanctions, such as those against Cuba, and spoke up for freedom of the press: “A reporter like Julian Assange can’t be punished for informing society in a transparent and legitimate way.”

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa pointed out that the time is closing to reach the 2030 development goals of the United Nations, and that war continues to distract the world from needed efforts to ensure all human beings a dignified life. “At the moment when every human effort should be directed towards the realization of Agenda 2030, our attention and our energies have once again been diverted by the scourge of war.” He spoke of the African Peace Initiative, of the efforts to move towards peace in Ukraine through such measures as prisoner exchanges. There is hope, he insisted, pointing to his own nation’s journey from the injustice of apartheid to its democratic form. “As the international community, we must do everything within our means to enable meaningful dialogue, just as we should refrain from any actions that fuel the conflict.”

“To address the developmental challenges that face many people in the world we require targeted investment, technology transfer and capacity building support, especially in key areas such as industrialization, infrastructure, agriculture, water, energy, education and health,” he detailed. The wealth of Africa must benefit Africans, he insisted. Africa’s mineral wealth must benefit Africa.

The speeches of Polish President Andrzej Duda, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and U.S. President Joe Biden had an extremely different flavor, focused as they were on the maintenance of a “rules-based order” that exists nowhere in international law, and the escalation of a conflict that could destroy all of humanity. Biden’s embarrassing performance included his disgusting reference to the floods in Libya as a climate disaster; the flooding might never have happened had the planned upgrades to the dams occurred, upgrades never implemented, a result of the NATO-led intervention into that nation that destroyed its government, during Biden’s own tenure as vice president. Besides humanitarian aid—which is welcome—Biden had little to offer, beyond promises to reform UN institutions and to counter China with a Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment unlikely to get far off the ground.

As the United Nations event continues, other developments are notable. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi went to Moscow, for meetings on Sept. 18-19 with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and National Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev. They were able to discuss Kim Jong Un’s Sept. 12-17 visit to Russia and U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan’s meetings in China.

In the United States, three developments are of note.

The special counsel going after former President Donald Trump has requested an outrageous gag order which, he lied, is “narrowly tailored.” If accepted by the judge, it would make Trump the only person unable to speak publicly about his case, scheduled to go to trial just as the presidential primary election season in the U.S. is nearing its peak.

Following an assassination attempt (or at least a security probe) against him, pre-candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has again requested Secret Service protection, which has been twice denied by the White House.

Meanwhile, Ray Epps, a central figure to solving the question of law enforcement or intelligence involvement in the events of January 6, 2021 has been indicted on one puny misdemeanor count, in what appears to be a plea deal designed to allow polemicists to say, as they already have following the new indictments of Hunter Biden, “See? The justice system is unbiased!”

Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is scheduled to journey to China on Sept. 21, for his first visit to that nation since 2004. China had also hosted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Sept. 14. The U.S. can declare that nations are outcasts, beyond the pale of the international community, but China has a different idea.

Nations can unite, bilaterally, multilaterally, or globally, around the fundamental distinction of human beings from animals—the ability of our species to revolutionize and improve our relationship to our surroundings by fundamental discoveries of physical principle and their social implementation through technology and infrastructure. Freed from poverty, every nation can have something to contribute to this global pursuit!