The Lead

Axioms for Conflict Will Never Allow Peace

by Marcia Merry Baker (EIRNS) — Jan. 06, 2026

The first week of the new year has provided a fearsome display of belligerent insanity in the Transatlantic, sounding the alarm for the world community to mobilize for reason and morality.

In the Western Atlantic, the United States invasion of Venezuela on Jan. 3. has been followed up by declarations of more power plays for the Hemisphere, including that U.S. oil companies will proceed to rule over Venezuela’s oil resources, and that the United States will acquire Greenland. At the end of this week in Miami, Florida, executives from oil firms—Chevron, Exxon, Conoco, others—attending a GoldmanSachs energy conference, are expected to meet on this project with U.S. Energy Secretary Chrisopher Wright and others. U.S. President Donald Trump has announced in the last 24 hours, his team for running the economic and political affairs of Venezuela: Secretary of State Marco Rubio is to head the foursome, including Vice President J.D. Vance, Trump’s Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (he prefers War Secretary). Trump has raised the prospect of giving U.S. government subsidies to the oil companies.

On the U.S. takeover of Greenland, the White House press spokesperson on Jan. 6 said that there are a “range of options” for how the U.S. will proceed. Stephen Miller last night on CNN held forth that Trump has said for months that the United States has to have Greenland, so it will happen. He said that in today’s “world of superpowers,” the United States “is the top superpower.”

In the Eastern Atlantic on Jan. 6 was another show of insanity. French President Emmanuel Macron hosted the Coalition of the Willing (Killing), on the topic of providing security for Ukraine, once a ceasefire/peace is in effect. From the United States, envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner attended in person, alongside Ukraine Acting President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and several other leaders, in person or by video, from some 30 nations. This evening Starmer and Macron announced their mutual pact to provide British and French forces on the ground in Ukraine, once a ceasefire is announced. Starmer held forth to the media about setting up military hubs and other details. For what purpose? To be prepared for attack by Russia, Starmer stated explicitly. It goes without saying that this contingency is completely unacceptable to Russia, so it in no way provides “security.”

All such perverse actions and conditions as the France-U.K. stunt are alike in their focus on perpetual injustice and conflict, which in the nuclear era carries the threat of escalation to total obliteration of humanity. True, there are frictions and splits breaking out among this crowd, but the danger remains. On Jan. 6, NATO member Denmark was joined by six other NATO nations—France, Britain, Italy, Poland, Germany, and Spain—to state their opposition to the United States intent to grab Greenland.

It is urgent that voices for sanity ring out and mobilize for positive relations for peace and a future. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum issued a courageous statement on Jan. 5 defending national sovereignty against the kind of attack shown by the U.S. invasion of Venezuela, in which Sheinbaum referred to the first U.S. President, General George Washington. She states, “Unilateral action and invasion cannot be the basis of international relations in the 21st century; they lead neither to peace nor to development. In 1796, George Washington called for good faith and justice toward all nations, cultivating peace and harmony for all.”

To resolve the Ukraine crisis, there must be a new security—and economic—framework that respects the interest of all nations and peoples. This approach was laid out for discussion in 2022 by Schiller Institute leader Helga Zepp-LaRouche in her “Ten Principles for a New International Security and Development Architecture.”

This week, a remarkable open letter was issued by leading figures in Germany, with a comprehensive approach. Appearing in the Jan. 5 Berliner Zeitung, it is titled, “Ukraine and Russia: How This War Can Be Ended with a Negotiated Peace.”

As an immediate intervention, the International Peace Coalition, after deliberation Jan. 2, issued a statement on Jan. 6 for wide circulation, review, and endorsement, headlined, “International Peace Coalition Statement: Appeal to the American People, To President Trump, and To Congress!” It focusses on the necessity of stopping the emplacement of U.S. long-range missiles in Germany. A signature page is now available.

Notably, one of the signers, Diane Sare of New York, will be announcing her campaign for U.S. President at an event Jan. 10 in New York City, in person and online.

Plan to attend and enlist in the world mobilization.