HARLEY SCHLANGER: Hello and welcome to our weekly dialogue with Helga Zepp-LaRouche. She’s the founder of the Schiller Institute and the leading force behind the building of a new international peace movement. Today is April 22nd, 2026. I’m Harley Schlanger and I’ll be your host. You can send your questions or comments to Helga via email to questions@schillerinstitute.org.
Now Helga, the global instability caused by wars and the economic crisis is intensifying. Trump’s last minute extension of the ceasefire with Iran has done nothing to alleviate the tension. There is no agreement between the U.S. and Iran on the terms of an extended ceasefire. Trump’s blockade remains in place. The Iranian closure of the Strait of Hormuz continues. And there are troops ready and willing to go into battle. There are 50,000 U.S. troops in the region and President Trump is continuing to make threats of total destruction, boasting that Iran is collapsing financially.
The title of our program today is “From Ceasefire to Real Peace.” How do we get there from here?
HELGA ZEPP-LAROUCHE: Well, I think that the situation is very precarious because even if there is no ground invasion, which obviously is hanging as a Damocles sword over the situation because the minimum this would cause is bloodbath, more destruction of human life. But even without that, any prolongation of this crisis is throwing the world economy into a depression. Already now, the consequences in terms of people who will lose their lives because of the increased energy prices for fertilizer and various other side effects, will mean that a lot of people, especially in the developing countries, will suffer greatly, many of them with their lives.
In the so-called advanced economies like Europe, we have Germany, for example, in a free fall. The combination of long-term sanctions against Russia, the loss of cheap gas from Russia, the sabotage of Nord Stream, and more recently the increased energy prices because of the unprovoked war of aggression against Iran is in combination—and the Green Deal I should not forget to mention. The German economy is plunging. They’re losing tens of thousands of jobs almost every day. So if this continues any longer, the consequences will be catastrophic. So I think obviously it is up to the American population, the American Congress to act because they’re the only ones who can act on the situation. If the War Powers Act would be voted on, the war could end in a similar fashion like the Vietnam War was ended.
Otherwise, I think more countries need to develop the courage to clearly distance themselves from this. Unfortunately, the Europeans are not doing that. I mean, they’re criticizing it mildly, but if you hear what the German government, for example, says, it’s completely ridiculous. They say, this is not our war. We said this clearly, but now that the United States and Israel are conducting it, we have to support it. This was Pistorius the other day. So I think what would be required to end the war would be a clear action by the rest of the world to say this war absolutely has no legitimacy whatsoever. It’s committing war crimes, as a matter of fact, as the situation goes by.
But it shows you that the world community right now is in a terrible condition, and we will all suffer the consequences. So I can only say that’s why we are calling for the peace movement to unify finally, because as long as the peace movement is separated into many well-meaning groups but not united, it is easy to overlook them.
SCHLANGER: Now we have a question from a history graduate student in the United States. He says, “CNN reported last night that the U.S. is facing critical munitions shortages. While Trump and Hegseth brag they’ve wiped out Iran’s Air Force and their Navy, their Navy’s at the bottom of the sea. But while the ceasefire may be used to reload, empires in the past have collapsed due to the increased percent of national budgets allocated to military expenditures—the problem of guns, no butter.” And he reports about the warnings of major food shortages likely. He said, “Do you think this will have an effect on support for the war in the U.S.? And shouldn’t this increase the potential to build an anti-war movement?”
ZEPP-LAROUCHE: Well, I think it should. And, you know, one is really at a loss sometimes why this has not caused hundreds of thousands and millions of people to go into the streets already. I think it has to do with the long-term—I hate to say it—but dumbing down of the population due to the control of the narrative, due to the banalization of entertainment. People have become more stupid than they were during the time of the Vietnam War. And the medium-range missile crisis at the beginning of the ’80s, when there were hundreds of thousands of people in the streets knowing perfectly well that we were on the verge of World War III. And now the situation is so much more dangerous than at the beginning of the ’80s. Even though that was the Cold War, there were structures of communication and there was a certain amount of civil behavior, even among the Warsaw Pact and NATO at the time, which is seemingly lacking completely right now.
So I think, you know, it really depends on the more morally upright people, the people who have been keeping their intelligence going and not falling for the narratives. I mean, I’m not a fan of Professor Mearscheimer because he’s too much of a so-called realist for my taste. But nevertheless, for once, I do advise people to listen to his recent account of the situation in the Middle East. And I’m saying that because there is such a discrepancy between the narrative told about this crisis in the mainstream media, at least in Europe or in Germany in particular, and what middle-of-the-road Americans like Professor Mearscheimer are saying regarding who is the culprit in the war. And given the fact that I’m speaking from Germany, I almost cannot repeat what Professor Mearscheimer is saying because you’re in danger of being sued and worse. So I can only say that people should listen to Professor Mearscheimer. What is the reason for this war? What is the result?
I can comment that obviously the power relations in the world have dramatically shifted because the miscalculation of the Trump administration that this would be a war conducted quickly with shock and awe, the change of leadership in Iran did not happen. And instead, it is very clear that the power of the United States is greatly diminished. And this will have long-ranging consequences because this is clearly a superpower in decline. And there is obviously a big debate. The Tokida Distrep[ph; 08:47] Strip has been mentioned many times by people. I’m not necessarily convinced that is the way history has to go. But I also believe that there is a clear demand on the American population to make sure the course is changed; which I understand is very difficult, given the fact that you have a power structure dominated by the two major parties, which at the top are very similar. Except naturally with Trump, who used to promise a change in policy, but now it seems that he has completely gotten back on the line of the neo-cons in the Republican Party. So I think the voters are really in a very challenging situation to act.
SCHLANGER: Well, you’ve called repeatedly for a mobilization of citizens to pressure the Congress to cut the funds for the war. What can people do to join this campaign?
ZEPP-LAROUCHE: Well, I think what everybody can do, no matter what country on the planet you are living in, you can either call the Congressman yourself, or you can go to your elected officials, your parliamentarians, your National Assemblyman, your state elected official, your mayor, even your city council, and you can demand that they should launch phone calls into the U.S. Congress and the Senate demanding that they enact the War Powers Act right now, because that’s a constitutional issue, you know. The United States has been created as a constitutional republic where the power to launch war is not with the President, but with the Congress. And that has a very good reason, which the Founding Fathers understood very clearly. So if President Trump now thinks he can declare war, it is the duty of the U.S. Congress to correct that.
SCHLANGER: Now we have a question from Florida, Palm Beach, which is where Mar-a-Lago is located. The person writes, “Reports are leaking out about disagreements over U.S. military strategy, while polls show opposition to the war growing in the U.S. Hegseth’s clownish recitation of a fake prayer lifted from a Hollywood movie has made him a laughingstock worldwide, while Trump’s decision to pick a fight with Pope Leo XIV is causing a significant drop of support from Catholic voters in the United States, while provoking talk that the President appears to be suffering from serious mental decline,” and this is including from former supporters of Trump. “So,” he writes, “what is necessary to take these splits in parties and coalitions and build it into a force committed to a New Paradigm?” I know this is sort of a repeat of the question, but obviously it’s on people’s minds.
ZEPP-LAROUCHE: Well, I think it’s extremely important that Pope Leo XIV is almost every day now repeating his belief and his stand on the issue that God is not with those who wage war, and that it’s actually a blasphemy to evoke the name of God when you are conducting war and you make hateful speeches. Now, President Trump has started to attack the Pope, which I think is completely out of proportion. I mean, the Pope has a moral standing, which is based on the fact that he is the leader of one of the, if not the largest congregation of believers of one faith. I think there are 1.4 billion Catholics all over the world. And the fact that he has taken such a high ground and is appealing that religious leaders of all faiths should come out and preach peace and not war, I think that’s maybe the most important feature right now of the hope that the most terrible result, namely World War III, can be avoided. So I think what people should do is they should go to their religious leaders, no matter what faith they belong to, and encourage them to preach peace and intervene; because this is a moral test of society at large, and every moral fiber is called for to prevent a catastrophe from happening.
SCHLANGER: I had a conversation with a Russian podcaster today, and he brought up that we keep hearing from Trump and Bessent that the U.S. economy is in great shape, and he said, “Yet the debt is approaching $40 trillion. There are warnings that private credit funds are stressed and may require bailouts.” He said, “The growth of these private funds is the result of neoliberal ideologues who promote deregulation and a bigger role for private funds in the economy.” And he went on to say “Some are warning that a crash is coming.” What can be done about this?
ZEPP-LAROUCHE: Well, I think Pope Leo XIV, in his recent speech, I think it was a sermon I think it was Angola, maybe not, mentioned the fact that there has been an absolute widening of the gap, where about 1% of the population is becoming richer by the minute, while the vast majority of people, practically in all countries, at least in the Western world, are becoming poorer, and that that is a completely unnatural condition.
Now, the new billionaire class, the Epstein class, if you want, they are bragging and say, “Oh, we should not be afraid to demonstrate our wealth. It’s not a sin to be wealthy and have a lot of power as a result.” I think it’s as perverse to be a billionaire trying to become a trillionaire, as the sexual behavior of the Epstein class has been generally. Because wealth is not something which should be, you know, people can have a certain amount of private property, private wealth, but wealth looked at in the right way, should be understood as an obligation to serve the common good.
Now, if the individuals are too greedy to do that, then I think it is the role of the state to make legislation that stops such excesses. I think that there must be legislation to remedy that. And right now, given the fact that the Western part of the financial system is in an absolute state of collapse, where one can only guess how long it will be until a blowout occurs; the only remedy for that is what Lyndon LaRouche had said many years ago already, The Four Laws. First, the global class legal banking separation, exactly as Franklin D. Roosevelt had implemented it in 1933. Then you need a national bank for sovereign credit generation in every single country. You need a new Bretton Woods system, which remedies the injustices towards the Global South. It has to make sure that there are equal conditions for every country. And then you need an increase in the productivity of the economy due to the long-term effect of the Green paradigm, and that is why, you know, you have to put a lot of emphasis on fusion technology to get to a fusion economy as quickly as possible, and a massive enlargement of the space part of the economy, because that’s the most advanced sector. So if these Four Laws would be implemented right now, the tragedy could be prevented. Unfortunately, it does not look like it right now, because what is lacking again is a ground mobilization by the population demanding these things, so we have to remedy that.
SCHLANGER: You mentioned the situation in Germany before. There are layoffs coming really quickly, with Bosch announcing 22,000 layoffs, Volkswagen 50,000. They’re leading the way, but there are also a record number of bankruptcies among Mittelstand firms. There’s talk among German businessmen of lifting sanctions against Russia and normalizing relations. What stands in the way of such a policy shift in Germany?
ZEPP-LAROUCHE: Well, primarily right now we have a Chancellor who had a career before he became chancellor with Hongshang Banking Corporation and BlackRock. Can you imagine, he just made a speech which is rocking the political spectrum in Germany right now. He made a speech mainly in front of banking and businessmen, CEOs of various kinds, where he said pension, the retirement money, should not be the full amount that it is now, but it should only be a baseline, and the rest should be taken care of by the pensioners themselves. You know, with having a pension based on stocks, you have to pay yourself or other forms of schemes. Now, this is causing a big, big scandal because the Social Democracy, which is in a coalition with the CDU, CSU, knows that if they go along with that, that means that the SPD will vanish. I mean, they’re already now hovering around 10%, 15%, 5%, depending on the state. If they go along with that, they will vanish. They will not even get the 5% to be in the parliament. Now, that is explosive because it could detonate the coalition because if the SPD takes a stand and Merz insists on that, I mean, this is ridiculous. The pension is what people have been working for their whole life. They have been paying in the pension insurance, and they get paid back basically because of their lifelong work. So, for Merz to come along and say, let’s take that away, just a basic baseline, is just robbing the life work’s value of what people have been working for five decades or more, for the advantage of the speculators and their losses. So, it’s a complete scandal, and I think this Chancellor is unfortunately not representing the well-being of the people as he has taken an oath to do when he took office, but he’s obviously clearly only representing the interest of the moneybags.
SCHLANGER: Another question. The Schiller Institute co-sponsored a forum in Berlin last week with the China International Communication Group, which included representatives of German and Chinese businesses, government officials, and others, on the topic of a China-Europe dialogue for economic cooperation. One Chinese official there told me they’re optimistic about German cooperation with China, in spite of the problems that have come up from the European Union. And they asked, “Do you think Germany under its present leadership could play a leading role in opening a new productive relationship between German and Chinese businesses?”
ZEPP-LAROUCHE: Well, I think the recent trip of Chancellor Merz to China, where he had a large delegation of some of the top CEOs of the top multinationals, but also a significant number of hidden champions, the Mittelstand firms who are actually the inventors and where the patents are being made and so forth. So, they went with him, and it’s very clear that they gave him a very clear message that Germany cannot afford not to be linked economically with China. Simply because, for example, in several sectors, including prominently the auto sector, where Germany used to be leading for decades, has been bypassed by China, so that now German auto producers are happy about the cooperation with China because they’re relearning what they used to be the best in now from China, and China is so friendly to offer cooperation, joint ventures, joint R&D, but also joint ventures in the global markets. So, Germany is absolutely not in a position to not cooperate with China, and I think that that is a very important development, and that was highlighted by that event in Berlin.
SCHLANGER: Now, we have a question here. “What is the BRICS, Shanghai Cooperation Organization, position on the ongoing war, and is there something more they could be doing to bring it to a close?”
ZEPP-LAROUCHE: Well, I think the situation is extremely tense. I think the BRICS countries are, you know, forming new alliances. For example, President Lula from Brazil was just in Spain, where he participated in a very important meeting of progressive countries in Barcelona. And between Prime Minister Sanchez of Spain and Lula, there was a very good understanding, which is important because Spain is a NATO country, and it’s a member of the European Union, and clearly is breaking line with these other war hawks in Brussels and elsewhere. Then Lula went to Germany to participate in the Hanover Fair, so I think that that is also important because, you know, German industry would be very welcome in Brazil. So, I think there are changes going on. Many of them are not even meeting the eye because it’s a tense situation.
I personally think the countries of the Global South should do more, because they should raise their voice more clearly. Because as it was discussed already by President Sukarno and President Nehru at the Bandung Conference in 1955 in Bandung, if it ever comes to a new world war, maybe the countries of the Global South will be hit a few weeks later; but they will be hit by the radioactive fallout in case of the use of nuclear weapons anyway, and eventually everybody will be dead in a global nuclear winter. So they have an absolute self-interest to speak out, and since they represent the global majority, I think it would be important that they really unite and make their collective power more a factor in world politics, which they could if they unite.
SCHLANGER: Here’s a question from someone who follows very closely the developments in Israel. She writes that “It’s clear that Netanyahu believes that war is good for him as a candidate. He’s got an election coming up soon, and that continuing the war in Lebanon and fighting to some extent with President Trump to continue the war, even though there was supposedly a ceasefire, the Israelis are still shelling and destroying villages in southern Lebanon.” So this person writes, “Do you think that this has something to do,” that Trump’s support for Netanyahu, “has something to do with his chief of staff Susie Wiles, who was the campaign manager for Trump, his chief of staff, and worked for Netanyahu in 2020?”
ZEPP-LAROUCHE: Well, that may be a factor, but I think it’s more wide-ranging that the entire cabinet seems to be dominated. I’m not saying everybody in it is of that conviction, but it seems that they have taken over. Many people welcomed the second term of office of President Trump, because he promised to be a President of peace and not start new wars, and end whatever wars were still ongoing. And look where we are now.
I mean, the whole world is at a loss about such statements like bombing an entire civilization into the Stone Age where they belong. I mean, that kind of language is so absolutely unbelievable. And I think that people are starting to really seriously ask themselves about the fitness of Trump to be in this position. That number is growing by the day. There is a rather significant letter by Jeffrey Sachs and Professor Bandy Lee, who is a psychiatrist who has made some arguments which I think would be a topic for the Congress to investigate. I mean, if that accusation or that worry, I would rather say, has valid foundations, I mean, my God, if you think that the control of a nuclear war is in the hands of such a combination of people, you can only get sleepless nights.
So I think that people are being really challenged to act. I mean, get Congress to act. I mean, there’s discussion about the 25th Amendment, impeachment, all of these things would take much too long. The only thing which would change the situation on the spot is if Congress declares the War Powers Act and retakes their constitutional power to declare a war or to deny to have war. That would stop it.
So the absolute demand on the American population, and as I said earlier, citizens around the world calling into the U.S. Congress, I think that is the most urgent thing you can do.
SCHLANGER: Now, here’s a question from a peace activist from the United Kingdom, who’s referring to the hearings yesterday in the Parliament questioning Starmer over the Mandelson appointment, the Epstein crony. And he writes, “Intense pressure is being applied on the Starmer government over the appointment of the Epstein crony Mandelson. There are calls for Starmer to resign.” And then he writes, “At the same time, there’s pressure building over President Trump’s relationship with Epstein, especially after Melania’s press conference, in which she insisted that neither she nor her husband had ties to Epstein, and she denied knowledge of his criminal activity.” Then he writes, “It doesn’t appear that the scandal around the Epstein class is going to die down. Yet the Epstein cronies in the United States, such as Palantir’s Peter Thiel and Oracle’s Larry Ellison, seem to be facing little or no scrutiny. Why?”
ZEPP-LAROUCHE: Well, it has to do with the fact that their power over a lot of things, including AI, including the use of AI software in the military realm, has not been challenged. I think in the United States, the only institution which could do something about that is the Congress. The Congress, however, is highly corrupted because, you know, America unfortunately has become a plutocracy. The amount of money needed to win a seat in Congress is generally, I think, $5 million minimum. To get a Senate seat, you can add a zero. And then, you know, if you want to be President, you need three-digit millions or something.
And that generally comes from, I think, the whole question of where does the so-called Z-lobby get so much money from, is another question one should investigate. But I think if this is not remedied, I’m convinced that the United States will collapse. The only hope the United States has to not collapse in the medium term is if they use the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution to go back to those principles and be a republic. Right now, the United States is not a republic anymore. I think it’s an empire and it’s a plutocracy and democracy is a joke.
SCHLANGER: On the question of the money for the Z-lobby, we just produced a special report on Epstein called The Empire Has No Clothes, which people can order through Executive Intelligence Review, which goes through where the money comes from. And a lot of it comes from organized crime networks associated with the AIPAC firms.
Now, to just get back to the mobilization, you have been consistent in providing leadership, and part of this has been through the weekly calls of the International Peace Coalition. I believe we’ve had 150 straight weeks of Zoom calls on Fridays. There’s another one coming up this Friday, 11 a.m. Eastern Time. And this is sort of a special one pointing toward a conference coming up later. Why don’t you tell us what your planning is for this?
ZEPP-LAROUCHE: Well, it is the case that the International Peace Coalition has gained in the more than two years it’s meeting continuously every week, a reputation for being an absolute bastion of resistance against this war policy. And we had over the two years many people, I think 15,000 people participating, many of them being institutional representatives and so forth. But still, despite our enormous efforts, the peace movement is internationally still absolutely separated into many groups of many well-meaning people. But, you know, as long as they’re not united, they’re not strong enough, and they’re not being regarded as a real challenge to the war policy.
So this Friday, we are calling on all peace-loving people, and people who realize that even the continuation of this stalemate in the Middle East is resulting in a world depression, which can cut out the bottom of the whole world economy in many countries. And this is very, very dangerous to social stability, to the livelihood of many people. And if you have a collapse into a depression, it could again be the trigger for more wars and more calamities for humanity.
So please come to this coming Friday IPC meeting; bring your colleagues, tell everybody you know about it. Circulate it in your social media, and let’s make a real effort to unite. We will have important speakers there. I don’t have the full list in front of me right now. I know Larry Johnson will be there, and maybe other people from the VIPS, as well as other spokesmen for peace in the Middle East. So help us to build this unified effort, because, you know, it is really the fate of humanity which is at stake.
SCHLANGER: One of my regular contacts sent me an email the other day saying that he has been showing people the Wednesday dialogue, the one we just did, to help build for the IPC meetings, and he recommended that. He said he’s gotten some people who were inspired by the discussion with you to get on the call on Friday. So that’s something people can do also.
So, Helga, thanks for your time today, and we’ll see you on Friday.
ZEPP-LAROUCHE: I hope so; ‘til then.
