March 28, 2024 (EIRNS)—The following is a transcript of the interview.
The widow of Reagan’s advisor: “To stabilize the region, the Oasis Plan, drafted by my husband 30 years ago, must be adopted. We need desalination plants, powered by gas and nuclear energy. Development will stop conflicts.”
There are minds that, as soon as you get close to them, perhaps because you happened to read some of their writings, stimulate your curiosity and you want to know more; and when you know more you realize they are geniuses. Lyndon LaRouche—author of a treasure trove of books and thousands of articles—is among them. A controversial figure, an inspiration to many heads of state—including Indian Premier Indira Gandhi—Lyndon was an 8-time candidate for the U.S. presidential nomination, 7 of them for the Democratic Party. He was given an ante litteram Trump treatment. As an adviser to Ronald Reagan, he was the one who conceived the (somewhat visionary in my personal opinion) Strategic Defense Initiative, later made his own by the Republican president. No less versatile is his wife Helga, who, to keep alive the eclectic thinking of her lifelong companion (who passed away, 96-years-old, in 2019), founded the Schiller Institute as early as 1984. One of Schiller’s recent projects coincides with what I think needs to be done for the world’s poor to redeem them from their plight: we need to do the opposite of what the Greens say to do, and make abundant and cheap energy available to them. But let’s leave the floor directly to Helga.
Helga, do you want to tell us about the Schiller Institute to start with?
“Named after the German poet Friedrich Schiller, it is a think tank with two main focuses: building a new world order and promoting a renaissance of classical culture. In these forty years it has become a rallying point for a new paradigm in international relations that values the individual as a human person. It currently plans to build a new architecture of security and development for the benefit of all nations. Without economic development, political arrangements are themselves unsustainable: every people must know that their children will have a better future, and economic development is the only successful basis for lasting peace. This is especially necessary in the Middle East. Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin understood this: there is no purely military basis for peace or security; development is essential. A model of peace through economic development is LaRouche’s program of building a World Land-Bridge, which is not only a specific plan for growth, but is a rejection of the anti-growth hegemonism advocated by Green Malthusianism. Lyndon LaRouche drafted the Oasis Plan as early as 30 years ago, just after the 1993 Oslo Accord was signed at the White House by Israeli and Palestinian leaders.”
Can you describe this Plan for us?
“The Oasis Plan focuses primarily on solving the biggest obstacle to development in a region that is now a land of conflict—the shortage of fresh water—through the construction of a network of seawater desalination plants. These plants should be built along two new canals—one linking the Red Sea to the Dead Sea and the other linking the Dead Sea to the Mediterranean—with the specific purpose of transporting water and providing hydroelectric electricity, which, in turn—along with nuclear plants along these canals and on the Mediterranean and Red Sea coasts and the vast quantities of natural gas on the coasts of Gaza, Israel, Lebanon, Syria and Egypt—would feed desalination plants to green the vast deserts of the region and fuel a process of industrialization in the Middle East. The use of nuclear power would allow the region’s hydrocarbon resources to be used in chemicals and for industry. The Plan envisions a network of transportation infrastructure that would improve physical connectivity between all nations in the region, transforming a region of conflict into a center of interaction, a crossroads. Regional highways and rail networks would enable the entire area to operate from stronger economic foundations.”
