Things are not looking good for President Donald Trump. On one hand, his proposed peace agreement with Iran is falling apart before his eyes, evidence of a forced series of demands intended more for media flare than for actual diplomatic progress. On the other, he faces growing pressure domestically over the war, as shown in the passage of a War Powers resolution in the House of Representatives, and the looming economic disaster from the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Trump’s statements on the status of the conflict and the terms of the agreement change by the hour, while the world perceives the obvious reality that this war has accomplished nothing and the region is further away from lasting peace than before it began. Meanwhile, the war-hungry Netanyahu government in Israel remains a hand grenade ready to re-ignite the conflict at any moment.
In Ukraine, another war Trump claimed he would end in 24 hours, the situation is also getting out of control. Ukrainian drone strikes against energy and civilian targets deep inside Russia—done with the direct assistance of NATO countries—are reaching a breaking point for Russia. Ukraine attacked targets in St. Petersburg overnight on June 2-3 as guests were arriving for the annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). NATO even held a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council in Kiev for the first time on June 3, in a provocative show of Western support for Ukraine.
Aside from the obvious necessity to avoid starting wars that one can’t stop or contain, there is a higher level from which to understand this crisis—that of strategy. The late statesman Lyndon LaRouche enunciated the strategic outlook for peace with Iran and Southwest Asia in a 1996 interview with Iranian television as follows:
“Iran is a nation-state; it has its own internal problems, it has its own interests….The long-term interest of Iran is obvious: that it is the link from Central Asia and China to the ocean, and to the Caspian Sea. It is the link, through the Caspian Sea, to Teheran. It is the link into Turkey…. It is the link into the Middle East. It is the link into Europe. So, therefore, Iran plays a vital strategic role in creating peace—and that’s the interest of Iran….
“The basis of our policy toward this region must be to bring together South Asia, Southeast Asia, China, the Middle East, together with Europe, and with outside U.S. support for the whole operation, into large-scale railway-centered development projects for economic cooperation, and thus, to permit the nations of the region to cooperate, not only for the benefits, but to create a second benefit: stability. So, our object should be long-term, stable relations among states in the region, and that economic projects, which are in the interests, and security interests of these states, should be the basis of the United States’ policy.” LaRouche also insisted on the importance of water for the economic development of this arid region.
LaRouche was emphatic that those who are intent on destroying Iran—then as today—could care less about supposed human rights violations or whatever other reasons are given to justify a “regime change.” The issue is “the geographic position of Iran,” he insisted. “It doesn’t matter who is there, what government is there, it’s the same thing. The problem here is … not just an Iran policy, the Iran policy is a product of that global strategic outlook. It is that global strategic outlook we have to defeat.”
In contrast to the efforts of those imperial geopoliticians attempting to rebuild a global Anglo-American empire, who seem to have the ear of Mr. Trump, the rest of the world was discussing real policy in St. Petersburg. At the annual SPIEF, 20,000 people from more than 130 countries and territories attended the forum, the main theme of which was “Pragmatic Dialogue—The Path to a Stable Future.” Here, discussions took place on topics ranging from trade to new technologies to the emerging post-colonial paradigm. As Kremlin special envoy Kirill Dmitriev put it on the sidelines of the event: “We continue to cooperate with a number of Western countries, but our focus is definitely on the Global South… the Global South accounts for more than 80% of all economic growth in the world.”
It is past time that the nations of the West wake up to this reality, and extract themselves from the criminal and evil outlook they are being asked to enforce. War and coercion in the age of thermonuclear weapons will only lead to the extinction of the human species. Instead, the solution is already on the table in the form of the extended Oasis Plan for Southwest Asia. It is exactly this policy which the U.S and the West must adopt, not only to stop the cycle of violence in Southwest Asia, but also to save their own nations from the presently oncoming disaster.
Join the International Peace Coalition for its weekly meeting Friday, June 5, where the next steps in this mobilization will be discussed.
