HARLEY SCHLANGER: Hello and welcome to our weekly dialogue with the founder of the Schiller Institute and the initiator of the International Peace Coalition, Helga Zepp-LaRouche. Today is August 19th, 2026. I’m Harley Schlanger and I will be your host. You can send your questions and comments to Helga via email at questions@schillerinstitute.org or post them on the chat page.
I’d actually like to begin with something that we received on the chat page this morning from Burkina Faso, from Adama Koulibaly, who wrote, “Thank you for the effort of the Schiller Institute for peace in the world. The world needs peace for development, not war.” And that’s basically going to be our underlying theme for today’s discussion.
I’d like to begin by discussing the increasing danger of the present strategic architecture, which is shaped by British imperial geopolitics heading toward thermonuclear war. And this is a serious question; it’s not a hypothetical. You’ve raised this danger repeatedly, and now there are top U.S. defense officials, such as the Undersecretary for Policy of the Department of War, Elbridge Colby, and other war hawks, who are promoting the idea of creating a new generation of tactical nuclear weapons to give the president an option in the case of war. In response, former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has called for a bold response to this. How serious are these out of control war hawks? And what are your thoughts about the intervention against them from Marjorie Taylor Greene?
HELGA ZEPP-LAROUCHE: Well, unfortunately, I think it is extremely serious because the situations, both in Ukraine and in Southwest Asia, are heading towards a point of exhaustion. So either there is a resolution in the short term through negotiation and diplomacy, which is not in sight in both cases, or there is the danger of an escalation. And since the conventional means in the case of Southwest Asia are looking very bad for the United States, that option of the use of tactical nuclear weapons has to be taken very seriously. Now, it was not just Marjorie Taylor Greene who issued this warning and that got a lot of publicity. Her post was watched by 6 million people within two days, a very short period of time. But now the news about that danger is also breaking into various mainstream media. There was a Forbes magazine article on the 16th of August, which warned exactly of that; basically reporting by professors who had been present in scenarios where in each case, the use of just one nuclear weapon would always result in a barrage of global nuclear war followed by a nuclear winter, leading to mass famine and eventually mass starvation and an end of life on the planet. So I think this is extremely serious. And now the situation in Southwest Asia is unbelievable, because all the reports we studied and all the information we can get says the situation is lost for the United States.
The unbelievable reports about what happened on the aircraft carrier USS Lincoln, where you basically almost had a mutiny of the Marines, of the Navy soldiers because of a lack of food, lack of general conditions. That is the result of the U.S. bases in the Gulf States having been pretty much dismantled, especially in Bahrain, which was the home of the Fifth Fleet. So for logistical resupply they have to go 2,200 miles to Diego Garcia, very far away. So this is not tenable. Then there are reports that U.S. munitions have been so depleted that the Iranians clearly have the upper hand. Therefore, when President Trump then says that the U.S. is in control of the Strait of Hormuz, that it is now American territory, that the blockade is perfect; I mean, the opposite is true. And when Hegseth gave a speech, saying that the ability of Iran to produce missiles and drones has been destroyed because the industrial basis is destroyed, it’s like a reverse picture; because that is the condition of the United States and not of Iran.
Iran, although having suffered serious losses and casualties very clearly, has an industry which is largely functioning. They increase the production of weapons at a higher rate than they are destroyed. So the situation is upside down of what the Trump administration is telling themselves and the world. And therefore, the danger is that if such options like what Elbridge Colby was saying are being discussed—and Marjorie Taylor Greene seems to have gotten some inside knowledge about these discussions, which have been confirmed by many other people as well—it has to be taken extremely seriously. So, I can only say the world has never been so close to the danger of an out of control situation leading to a global nuclear war.
And then since you mentioned British imperialism in your introduction, well, I mean, the British have been supplying Ukraine with long range missiles. I think it’s the Storm Shadow missiles and also drones being used far into the territory of Russia. So that has now caused a very serious response by the Russian embassy in London, which said that all of these British measures will be responded to in an appropriate form. And that was even talked about by Foreign Minister Lavrov who said that Russia will absolutely respond to these provocations in a very substantial way.
So, I think we are on the edge of something and we absolutely have to reverse course because world wars, as wars in general, never proceed the way somebody was planning, but something always goes out of control and then a catastrophe happens. And we are closer to that than at any time since the end of the Second World War and that includes the Cuban Missile Crisis.
SCHLANGER: Well, let’s break down these two situations you mentioned, Ukraine and Southwest Asia. Starting with Ukraine, one of the things Lavrov said is that the Russians will consider Britain to be a party of the war, and therefore a legitimate target. Now, some of the British media are trying to undercut these warnings saying that Britain should not be intimidated by Russian statements. What are your thoughts about this kind of absolute provocation coming from the British media, which obviously emanates from the military and security networks?
ZEPP-LAROUCHE: Well, I think it reflects a policy of certain, I would call them imperialist oligarchical layers in the West and the City of London is obviously a crucial place because that’s where a lot of the financial power of the trans-Atlantic financial system is located; and they are bankrupt. There is a huge crisis on the bond market, there is a huge crisis with the AI bubble. And the awareness is clearly that this system is about to go into a systemic crisis, and it seems that some circles think that the only way to avoid that is by going to war. But that will lead to a catastrophe, because Russia is still the strongest nuclear power on the planet and if pushed to the wall, they have said very clearly and they have a nuclear doctrine that when the existence of the Russian Federation is threatened, that they will respond with a nuclear strike, and that nobody will survive. Europe will be eliminated, so will the United States, but Europe for sure; and Great Britain has put itself up front right now on the target list.
SCHLANGER: Now on Southwest Asia, we have an email from an anti-war activist who writes about Trump changing his position, which you mentioned in the opening, going from planning to annihilate Iran militarily to now talking about tougher sanctions, the on-again, off-again war with Iran. The Memo of Understanding has expired, there are signs that Tehran may actually launch an offensive instead of waiting for the U.S.
Now, Trump has also finally admitted that there are no negotiations underway with Iran, so it’s looking more and more like an endless war is what this person is writing, and he said, “Given the inconsistencies coming from the Trump administration, this undermines any prospect for serious negotiation.” So how can there be negotiations with Trump?
ZEPP-LAROUCHE: Well, if you look at the statements coming from Trump in the last week or two, he manages in one day to say the exact opposite of what he’s just said before. There are negotiations; there are no negotiations; the Strait of Hormuz belongs to the United States; then the next moment he threatens Oman. I don’t want to repeat the language he used for that occasion, but he’s saying things which are so out of order that I’m absolutely flabbergasted. Normally you would think that European heads of state or other mainstream honest journalists would say there is something wrong with somebody who talks like that; that is not a civilized behavior. But do you hear any word from any head of state or minister or journalist, apparently there are no honest journalists because otherwise they would say something; because the role of the media should be to comment on things which are questionable or wrong in political life. The fact that none of this is commented on, you have the feeling that there is such an unbelievable, I don’t know, thick offense, not only in the administration, but also in the so-called Western alliance. If you remember the picture when all the European Union leaders went to the White House and they were sitting there like school children around Daddy Trump, listening to what he had to say. I think if people would just have the feeling that if you compare that to previous leaders like Roosevelt, Kennedy, de Gaulle, Adenauer, Helmut Schmidt; you may not have agreed with them in every instance, but they were states-people, they were statesmen. And I don’t want to call Angela Merkel a stateswoman, but she at least was civilized in her behavior. So I think we have gone into a, I can only say it has all the characteristics of a decadent collapse of an empire, and therefore people don’t mind anymore if somebody says, like Caligula, I make my horse, the next emperor, that would not be a surprising statement.
So I think we are at the end of a system, and these are all symptoms of that.
SCHLANGER: Well, now just to go a little deeper on the question of Trump diplomacy. There was an activation in the last couple of days of the so-called Board of Peace with Kushner, the son-in-law of the President and leader of the Board of Peace, meeting with Hamas and then engaging in talks with Benjamin Netanyahu, who is essentially almost a godfather to Kushner. Netanyahu used to stay at the Kushner house when he came to New York. Now, it appears that Kushner gave a go-ahead to Israel to continue the genocide against the Palestinians. And so we have a question that came in. “Does the Board of Peace have any credibility?”
ZEPP-LAROUCHE: No, I think none. I mean, it is so bad that when Ben-Gvir, the police minister or interior security minister of Israel, recently made a video in which he said very openly what he had said before; namely that 30 to 40 Palestinians should be killed every night, that they have no right to live, that they should not even be called human beings. I mean, that has for the first time, to my knowledge, found coverage in the German mainstream media, in the German TV, in the radio, in several print media. And now for the first time, the CDU foreign policy spokesman has demanded sanctions against Ben-Gvir; that the EU should impose sanctions. Now, I think these people realize that if they do not distance themselves from that, the whole world will recognize that what Ben-Gvir is saying is not anything different than what the National Socialists said 80-some years ago in Germany. And if Germany would not distance itself from that in the strongest possible terms, that somebody would say it’s just the same.
So I think this is a tragedy. And I think the only hope really would be that the American people make an even stronger mobilization, forcing Trump just by their sheer resistance, to step in; because who should step in but the United States to stop this?
SCHLANGER: You’re listening to Helga Zepp-LaRouche from the Schiller Institute. I have the quote from Ben-Gvir here. A Palestinian journalist sent this in and had a question about it. But the quote was, “There are people there,” referring to the Palestinians, “who are not worthy of life. They shouldn’t live. They’re not even people.” And then he called for killing 30 to 40 per day. So the journalist said, “This makes a mockery of those who say, ‘Never again’.” And he asks, “Is there a reaction to this in the West?” which you partly gave.
ZEPP-LAROUCHE: Yeah, I think it’s definitely making the headlines, and I think it will confirm what a lot of people have been observing already. But as I said, it’s not enough; because this is happening every day and probably worse than 30 to 40 people. And therefore, there must be a mobilization to intervene. And the only place I can see would be if Trump would basically put his responsibility above his loyalty to his financial supporters. And that can only happen if there are enough people in the United States making that clear. I mean, they’re already now in the primaries. Most of the Trump-backed candidates have lost despite massive, massive amounts of money coming to support obviously loyalists; but they lost in large numbers all over the place. And that is the message which is necessary, because what else can you do?
SCHLANGER: Now, one of the voices that has been heard is that of Pope Leo XIV. And you’ve been very much involved in making sure that what he’s saying is getting out. And someone wrote in and asked about the idea of a new letter to the Pope to call for a conference to end the wars. What can you say about that?
ZEPP-LAROUCHE: This is very important. And I would ask all of you who are watching or listening to this program right now to immediately join this effort. Just to briefly tell the prehistory, there was an initiative coming essentially from Pax Christi circles in the United States, writing an appeal to Archbishop Wester of New Mexico that he should basically help to encourage Pope Leo XIV to do what Pope John XXIII did during the Cuban Missile Crisis, namely to intervene on the highest level at that time between Khrushchev and Kennedy. And that Pope Leo should likewise intervene right now in convening or calling for an international conference with all the major heads of state. Now that letter, that open letter has gotten a lot of support. Naturally the Schiller Institute also is among the supporters of this.
But then because of the urgency—and that letter has obviously traveled to the place of his destination; there were a lot of conferences and so forth. But because the danger of nuclear war is becoming so much more urgent by the hour and as these developments around Iran and Ukraine, which we mentioned before get worse, there was the idea that an even more direct appeal to Pope Leo should be drafted. So that letter has been written. And just yesterday and today, a list of initial signers got together and they signed this letter. And basically that letter will be released, I think in the course of today.
So please go to the website of the Schiller Institute and look for that letter, which should probably be up by noon or the latest, a little bit later, U.S. time today. And then I would ask you to sign it and not only sign it, but get it to everybody you can think of, parliamentarians, congressmen, former congressmen, church people of all denominations, former military, trade unionists, professors; just everybody in as many countries as possible. Because this is an effort to awaken the world to the immediate danger of nuclear war, and by making this initiative as powerful as we can, we are trying to awaken the world to that danger. So please help us in this campaign, and make sure it becomes the strongest message to the world that the world population does not want World War III and does not want to be eliminated.
SCHLANGER: So the letter, as Helga just said, will be found at the schillerinstitute.com website. And hopefully it will be up, if not already, sometime soon.
Now, there are a couple more questions of strategic issues. One has to do with Germany. There were several requests for your response to the latest poll that came out, which now shows that Friedrich Merz, the Chancellor, has an approval rating of 13%; that’s down around the level of approval of bubonic plague. So one of the questions is, “Do you have any comments on the initiative coming from Sahra Wagenknecht to outflank the firewall around the Alternative for Deutschland? Also, about the events going on in Thuringia about the corruption scandal involving a CDU leader?” It does appear as though the German situation is starting to loosen up. So what can you tell us about that? Obviously it’s related to the economy.
ZEPP-LAROUCHE: Well, if you apply the principle that government is only legitimate if it has the consent of the governed, you could argue that this Merz government is not legitimate anymore, because it doesn’t have the consent of the people. So I think that that is an early, not so early, but a sign that the government may not last very long, because even in the CDU-CSU, there is a revolt against Merz. And it may lead to a replacement of Merz before his term is out. But he is clearly among the Coalition of the Willing together with Macron and now the new head of government in Great Britain. They are the ones who are continuing the war and are behind the rearmament policy. So I think what Sahra Wagenknecht is attempting to do is to get some motion into the picture. She makes the argument that the so-called firewall against the Alternative for Germany is undemocratic. And parties who have 5% support, like the Greens in some states, are demanding the banning of the AfD. I mean, this is absurd. And I think the AfD for sure has some points which are noteworthy. Unfortunately, their policy on migration is absolutely terrible. I mean, you cannot have re-migration without a massive change in economic policy.
We in the Schiller Institute are campaigning to have a complete change of the economic foreign policy by working together with China and the BRICS in the industrialization of Africa and the Oasis Plan for Southwest Asia. In other words, creating the economic conditions so that the migrants have no reason to leave their homes by building up the economies of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. But I have never heard one single word from the AfD in this direction. And therefore, I’m very worried what will happen with the migrant question if the AfD would get into power. In any case, they are not worse than the present government, because it’s the present government which is not doing anything to stop the war danger. And one can only hope that if there would be a change, maybe even some kind of a, I think Wagenknecht has called for a Minister-President above parties, which that’s an option to be looked at. In any case, anything is better than the present status quo.
SCHLANGER: And you’re sponsoring a Zoom call in Germany on September 1st. Is that something that some people listening to this could join?
ZEPP-LAROUCHE: Absolutely, it will be in German; but with AI and other means you can translate, maybe we will even consider an AI translation into English. Yeah, this is a very urgent call which we have put out to stop the collapse of Germany. The German economy is in a free fall. I’m very, very shocked that more forces are not standing up to demand a shift in policy because it’s subjective. It’s not an objective condition; it’s the Green policy. They are sticking to the Green paradigm even when everything is falling apart. We should immediately start talking to Russia; have the negotiations to reopen the sale of Nord Stream 2. Putin has offered to start the shipping of gas right away. The Nord Stream 1 pipeline is still de facto intact. The repair of Nord Stream 2 would just take a certain amount of time; but it should be started. Other means of delivery of gas should be immediately started.
You need cheap energy if you want to restart the German economy. We have to absolutely unite with the Global Majority who have expanding markets for Germany not to engage with, but that would require a positive relation to China, a positive relation to Russia, a positive relation to the BRICS countries in general. And that shift is absolutely required; and that will be discussed on September 1st. So absolutely join this because this will be an effort to prevent the German economy from completely crashing against the wall.
We are about to lose everything which was built after the Second World War. The entire social fabric is at stake. And therefore, that would bring down the whole European economy as a consequence, because chaos is the best option which would be the result of the present policies. So a change is more urgent than ever before. So you should definitely join in.
SCHLANGER: I have a question for you from a journalist in Pakistan that you know on the formation of the Turkey-Pakistan-Saudi union or defense agreement. He asked, he said, “Trump administration officials are putting out the word that this is proof that Trump’s approach to the Middle East is working. In other words, the Abraham Accords.” But the journalist said he disagrees and said “It appears to be a means by which regional nations are trying to move away from being subservient to the United States or dependent on the United States for security.” And he asked for your thoughts on this.
ZEPP-LAROUCHE: Well, absolutely. You know, it is an effort. First of all, the fact that the alliance was made in Mecca was meant as a clear signal that it is a stepping stone in the direction of an Islamic-founded alliance. Other countries have expressed an interest to join. The U.S. bases in the Gulf cooperation countries are no longer tenable, because how can you have logistics there? The U.S. bases are much more destroyed than has been admitted publicly.
So these countries are all looking for an alternative. And many people have pooh-poohed it, even people who otherwise have reasonable views. I think it’s not something to be looked at as a static question. But we plan to escalate our campaign to combine this alliance with the Extended Oasis Plan, which is the idea to take the entire region from India to the Mediterranean, from the Caucasus to the Gulf States, which is essentially all desert, and have the Extended Oasis Plan adopted by all countries, which would mean using Chinese technologies and techniques to green the desert, to extend the development corridors already built in the region—the CPEC corridor, the North-South transport corridor—and extend them all the way from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Egypt, then another one going all the way to Turkey, into Europe; so that the entire region would again become the hub between Asia, Africa, and Europe, as it used to be during the time of the ancient Silk Road. And that is a perspective which I think is absolutely necessary to be added to this Mecca alliance, because many of the countries in the region are completely destroyed by previous interventionist wars. And also, the new name for peace is development. So I think you should stay tuned in, because in the short period, we will announce a first Zoom conference on that topic.
SCHLANGER: I have one more question for you. There are actually quite a few more. For those of you who’ve sent in questions, there’s so much going on, and we have to choose the ones that we think are most appropriate, but I’ll try and get answers to you, so keep the questions coming in.
So here’s someone who describes himself as a long-term LaRouche watcher, and he said, “Given the past accurate economic forecasts made by your late husband, Lyndon LaRouche, as well as you and other associates at Executive Intelligence Review, what do you see as the prospects of escaping a serious dollar crisis if things continue in the same direction?”
ZEPP-LAROUCHE: None. No, if things continue in the same direction, I think we are on the verge of a new bubble bursting, which could be triggered by many factors, but as of now, we are already looking at a serious energy price crisis, and as a result, a lack of food. The food production will be absolutely reduced, not helped by the recent hot summer in Europe in particular. So I think, you know, we are going to see a worsening of the situation in the short term, for sure. It could lead to a depression. The depression could trigger a financial collapse. I mentioned the bond market, the AI bubble, all of these developments are a short-term powder keg.
I cannot see how with the present U.S. government a change can be effected, but then, you know, things may change very quickly. And I think if the crisis gets worse enough, maybe people will step forward around the four laws of Lyndon LaRouche, who anticipated all of that.
As a matter of fact, if you are a LaRouche watcher, I would encourage you to become a LaRouche activist, because watching at this point is not enough. There are all the policies which my late husband has worked out to be acted upon, and if they would have been acted upon in 1971, when he predicted all of this, and subsequently in hundreds of videos, in articles, interviews. You know, it’s amazing, if you look at the life work of my late husband, how absolutely accurate he was on what is happening and unfolding now in front of the world’s eyes. But now is the time his solutions have to be implemented, which includes Glass-Steagall, it includes a national bank in every country, and the new credit system, especially providing long-term credit for the development of the Global South, and naturally an increase in productivity by making crash programs in the realm of fusion energy, and space cooperation for peaceful purposes.
Then you could pull the economy back into shape; but it would require—you have to get rid of geopolitics, you have to get rid of the Green paradigm; and I do not see that the present combination of forces is willing to do that. So changes are necessary for sure, and there the Presidential campaign of Diane Sare is right now the only viable option in town for the United States.
SCHLANGER: Let me conclude by asking you about a couple of other initiatives that you are taking. September 4th is the next EIR-International Peace Coalition Roundtable on the peaceful development of Latin America; and then also on September 11th, very important, a Schiller Institute concert, which will feature Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Can you say something about these two events?
ZEPP-LAROUCHE: Yes, the 4th of September is a very important initiative on the present policies of the United States to try to declare dominance over Latin America and drive out especially China, but also Russia, which is not going to work. And we are proposing instead that the United States and the BRICS should cooperate in the economic development of Latin America, and eliminate the reasons why the migrants are fleeing and trying to get to the United States. I don’t think they’re trying anymore, but they’re being shipped out with unbelievable means. The ICE tactics and so forth are making a horror show out of the reputation of the United States. So we propose instead cooperation in such projects like the bio-oceanic railway between Peru and Brazil, and similar projects. So this would be a very exciting intervention because there are elections coming up in Brazil. It seems that there are forces in the United States who absolutely want to get rid of President Lula. I think they are very aware in Brazil of that danger. So this is a very hot development. So absolutely join that.
And then naturally the big concert on September 11th is in memory of what happened on September 11th and the victims and the changes. I mean, the aftermath of September 11th was when the Patriot Act was enacted; something my late husband had warned about already on January 3rd, 2001, that the Bush administration would go for a Reichstag fire, which then happened exactly nine months later. So this all needs to be, you know, commemorated. But especially also, to choose the Ninth Symphony, which is probably one of the, if not the most beautiful and sublime works of Classical music, uniting the ideas of Friedrich Schiller’s Ode to Joy, celebrating the image of man and a beautiful universe, loving God having created that universe, with the music of Beethoven. And there is no more sublime and noble music than that. And we want to have that as an antidote to the present cultural collapse of the Western society, which is becoming more decadent by the day, more violent, just horrible. So we need in times of crisis, something to lift people up and remind us all of the dignity and beauty of the human person. And that’s why we are having this concert. So you should definitely contact us and be in contact with us about all of these initiatives.
SCHLANGER: And there should be information on these events on the Schiller Institute website. Helga, thanks for joining us today, for taking the time and for coming up with these initiatives at a point in which too many people are silent and quiet. This has been creating a pathway out of Hell, and it’s absolutely essential for everyone. So thanks for joining us and see you soon.
ZEPP-LAROUCHE: I hope on Friday at the weekly IPC meeting at 11 East Coast time.
SCHLANGER: Ah, I knew I forgot something.
ZEPP-LAROUCHE: Five o’clock Central European time.
SCHLANGER: Okay, very good. See you then.
ZEPP-LAROUCHE: Till then. Okay.
