The Lead

The Great Crossroad of 2024

by Stewart Battle (EIRNS) — Jan. 01, 2024

There have not been many, if any, years that began as tumultuously as the current one. As 2024 commences, we see wars across the globe, indescribable amounts of suffering and destruction, combined with dysfunctional governments and institutions at every turn. Despite how dramatic these events may seem, they are actually less significant than the much larger process which they betray: The end of the modern neocolonial world system. As EIR has pointed out since the 1970s proposal of Lyndon LaRouche’s International Development Bank idea as the core of a new, anti-colonialist system, this process is the actual play on the stage of history, despite most others’ failure to recognize this fact.

Whether in Ukraine-Russia, Gaza-Palestine, or the recently attempted Venezuela-Guyana conflict, the policy of endless imperial wars must be counterposed with their solution-concept, namely peace and economic development. There is not a single one of these conflicts, nor any other one across the world, that could not be solved were the United States to abandon its commitment to this dying neocolonial system, and instead work in collaboration with other nations, most especially Russia and China, to create a lasting peace. This process could rapidly begin with the retooling of the vast capacity of today’s military-financial complex—as outlined on Dec. 14 by EIR—to instead produce the materials desperately needed by a world of over 8 billion today.

This contrast can be clearly seen as five new members officially joined the BRICS on Monday, four of which are directly surrounding the ongoing onslaught in Gaza—Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Will this new year bring new inspiration and impetus for resolving these kinds of difficult conflicts through dialogue, understanding, and the spirit of the future? Or will the world continue to be dragged through the failed thinking of militarization, brute strength, and vengeance for past events?

The Dec. 30 strikes by Ukraine into Belgorod, Russia, killing 24 and injuring more than 100 civilians, indicate the urgency of resolving this question. The U.K. and U.S. are clearly refusing to give up on their goals in the Ukrainian war, despite the fact that Ukraine is only a skeleton of its former self. As Russian President Putin accurately described on Jan. 1: “The point is not that they [the West] are helping our enemy, but that they are our enemy. They are solving their own problems with [Ukraine’s] hands, that’s what it’s all about.”

At the same time, this is really a sign of the desperation of this dying system. At a press conference with U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron on Dec. 7, Secretary of State Blinken said that over 90% of our “investments” into Ukraine have actually stayed in the U.S., creating jobs at our arms manufacturers, “so this has also been a win-win that we need to continue.” Columbia Professor Jeffrey Sachs blasted such blather, stating: “The fact that Blinken resorts to this … shows the desperation. They couldn’t win on the facts: They lied about the causes of the wars; they lied about the progress of the wars; they lied about the military and civilian disasters of the wars; they lost the argument that this is in the American interest in foreign policy or security or anything like that. And so they resorted to this last desperation of saying you got factories in your district as if this is the best use of the American people and know-how and technology.”

In that context we are pleased to announce that EIR will be celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2024, a proud accomplishment in that EIR has consistently provided critical insights and clarity that have been crucial for citizens interested in doing something in a dangerous world. It is more important now than ever that a top-down strategic vantage point be grasped by many. A shift is occurring, indicated by the growing acceptance of the name of Lyndon LaRouche. While his name was for a long time considered too dangerous to associate with, many who are now looking at the unfolding events in the world are coming to realize that LaRouche’s name was not only wrongly tarnished over the recent decades, but that his ideas and discoveries hold the key to resolving today’s crisis.

In this New Year, it is important to remind ourselves, and consciously rediscover if need be, that the problems in the world can be solved. Human beings were created in the living image of the Creator, imago viva Dei, and are not simply beasts of the field that are destined to accept whatever fate is bestowed upon us. Today, more than ever, the future must be created, as a conscious action by at least a significant margin of society. It’s our job to do just that, and a good place to start is the urgent need to retool and repurpose today’s bloated military-financial complex, before the next war becomes our last.