EDITORIAL
Putin at Valdai: New World Order ‘To Make Economic and Technological Progress Accessible to All’
Oct. 27 (EIRNS)—Russian President Vladimir Putin today delivered the closing remarks at the Valdai International Discussion Club in Sochi, Russia, in which he presented both an insightful denunciation of the collapsing trans-Atlantic order, and a stirring vision of the future that all of mankind must urgently construct. His remarks picked up—and drove forward—the central concepts of the Sept. 4-5, 2016 summit of the G20 nations in Hangzhou, China; they echoed, in sections, the ideas presented by Mexican President José López Portillo in his historic October 1982 address to the United Nations General Assembly (which was so heavily influenced by his exchanges with Lyndon LaRouche); and they otherwise made clear why the theme of this year’s Valdai Club meeting was, rightly, “The Future in Progress: Shaping the World of Tomorrow.”
In his speech, Putin explained that the trans-Atlantic economy is in the throes of a “systemic crisis” that is driving the world to war, and that an entirely new approach is required to save mankind:
“The mammoth scale of destruction demands drawing up a long-term comprehensive program, a kind of Marshall Plan, to revive the war- and conflict-ridden area. Russia is certainly willing to join actively in these team efforts.
“We cannot achieve global stability unless we guarantee global economic progress. It is essential to provide conditions for creative labor and economic growth at a pace that would put an end to the division of the world into permanent winners and permanent losers. The rules of the game should give the developing economies at least a chance to catch up with those we know as developed economies … [and] make the fruit of economic growth and technological progress accessible to all. Particularly, this would help to put an end to poverty, one of the worst contemporary problems.”
Putin stressed Russia’s alliance with China to build such a new world order: “That is how we arrange the work of the Eurasian Economic Union and conduct negotiations with our partners, particularly on coordination with the Silk Road Economic Belt project, which China is implementing. We expect it to promote an extensive Eurasian partnership, which promises to evolve into one of the formative centers of a vast Eurasian integration area…. An important task of ours is to develop human potential. Only a world with ample opportunities for all, with highly skilled workers, access to knowledge and a great variety of ways to realize their potential can be considered truly free.”
Putin stated that the lack of such a policy for the future, is destroying the very soul of the trans-Atlantic sector. “There is a lack of strategy and ideas for the future…. The future does not entice them [the people], but frightens them…. People do not at all vote as the official and respectable media outlets advised them to, nor as the mainstream parties advised them to.” He decried an American Presidential election campaign which “just goes beyond all boundaries,” in its failure to discuss substantive policy issues.
A potentially useful break in that bleak affair came yesterday in a speech by Republican candidate Donald Trump in Charlotte, North Carolina, in which he blamed the 2008 financial crisis on the “lifting of Glass-Steagall,” and then stated that “it’s time for a 21st-century Glass-Steagall.” Lyndon LaRouche commented that we do not at this time know the actual seriousness or intent behind Trump’s remarks, but they at least have placed the issue on the table, so that it can’t be ducked. In any event, what is central is that the only actual solution to the systemic crisis identified by Putin, is LaRouche’s Four Laws, including Glass-Steagall. And we know precisely what our intention is, and what has to be done—including the immediate removal of Obama from office, as the only effective way of stopping the Obama-Clinton drive for nuclear war with Russia and China.
STRATEGIC WAR DANGER
Fear of a Nuclear War Is Growing in Europe and Russia
Oct. 27 (EIRNS)—Belief in the likelihood of a nuclear war between NATO and Russia has begun to grow within Europe. An opinion poll conducted by the Forsa Institute in Germany, Reuters reported, shows about one-third of Germans believe the tensions between Russia and the West over Ukraine, Crimea, and Syria may indeed erupt into a full-fledged nuclear war. The Forsa Institute’s poll found “supporters of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party were especially worried, 63% of them telling Forsa that war could break out. Some 41% of all those polled said relations between Russia and the West were poor, 51% not good and only 6% said relations were good,” the news report said.
Mary Dejevsky of Britain’s Independent, attending and reporting from the Valdai International Discussion Club annual conference in Sochi, said in her report today that in the U.K., fears have been stoked against Russia and it has transcended the Cold War state to the hot war potential. “It is something quite different; more like a complete breakdown of trust, in which officials and sections of the media seem almost to be encouraging the idea that the Russia of today is irresponsible and rash to the point of precipitating armed conflict.”
Dejevsky also noted that during her stay in Sochi she has come to realize that fear of war is equally prevalent in Russia. She wrote: “But the chief impression from this year’s meetings, which included lengthy question and answer sessions with the Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, and the Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov … is that Russian distrust of the West at the international political level has rarely been higher, and that armed conflict, accidental or by design, is seen as a real possibility.”
The U.S. Is Trying To Drag its NATO Allies into a Conflict with Russia in Syria
Oct. 27 (EIRNS)—German Gen. Harald Kujat (ret.), speaking Oct. 26 in advance of a NATO defense ministers’ meeting, warned that Russia and the U.S. must cooperate in Syria, and that the U.S. would like to use the NATO AWACS deployment around Syria as a first step to turn Syria into a NATO-versus-Russia showdown. “The situation in Syria, overall, and in Iraq, cannot be solved without close cooperation between the United States and Russia. The future of these two countries and the region, is contingent upon Russia and the U.S. developing a combined strategy and concerted action,” he said in an Oct. 26 interview on the Baden-Württemberg SWR radio/TV channel.
Asked about the value of NATO’s military engagement with AWACS planes, General Kujat said Syria is a fight of ground forces and the AWACS have little impact, “and one can disregard them.” Since they are tracking Russian and Syrian aircraft as well as those of the U.S.-led anti-ISIS coalition, they can aid in avoiding collisions. Because Kujat was a former chairman of the NATO Military Committee (2002-05), SWR asked him about NATO’s involvement as a counterweight to Russia’s presence. General Kujat replied, “you are right with your statement which essentially concerns, particularly for the Americans, bringing NATO into the conflict in Syria. That is a political matter and one must be very careful that it stays at this first step,—or, if we fall down a slope, and then more measures follow which could have major consequences … that it comes to a conflict between NATO and Russia. We don’t want that; no one could wish that.”
Former French Defense Minister Warns that the World Is on the Verge of a Third World War
Oct. 27 (EIRNS) —“If the United States opts for a policy of overthrowing governments elected by the people, a third world conflict could explode,” warned Jean-Pierre Chevènement, former French Defense Minister and currently France’s Special Representative to Russia for economic relations, in an Oct. 25 interview with Sputnik France. “Our planet is on the verge of a Third World War,” he said. “I consider the situation very dangerous. Because, among us, there are some people who are prepared to go to the brink. I don’t want to say that all of the political elite of the United States is possessed by such opinions. For instance, that is not the case with [Secretary of State] John Kerry. But on the other hand, the neo-conservatives advocate a policy aimed at overthrowing foreign governments. And we have seen that this is intolerable, as in Iraq, Libya and Syria.”
Turkey To Exchange Intelligence Data With Russia, Iran, Iraq and Syria
Oct. 27 (EIRNS)—The Iranian news agency Fars, citing an Izvestianews report, wrote today that Turkey will be exchanging intelligence data with Russia, Iran, Iraq and Syria in order to carry out the Operation Euphrates Shield in Syria. Operation Euphrates Shield is an ongoing cross-border operation by the Turkish military and allied groups in Syria. According to Izvestia, the agreement was reached during the Oct. 10 talks between Russian and Turkish Presidents Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “Experts believe that cooperation with Ankara on Syria may result in more benefits for Russia than what Moscow can gain through cooperation with the U.S.,” Fars noted.
The Fars article cited the Russian First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council (upper house) Committee on Defense and Security Franz Klintsevich, who asserted that “the current cooperation between the Russian and Turkish armed forces has emerged thanks to Ankara’s decision to revise its foreign policy priorities after this summer’s failed coup…. President Erdogan and Turkey’s leadership understood that they can have deals with Russia.”
U.S. ECONOMIC & POLITICAL
Warnings of Obama-Clinton Drive for World War III
Oct. 27 (EIRNS)—A senior Russian official speaking at the Valdai International Discussion Club annual conference in Sochi, ripped a hole in the widespread media hype that Russian President Vladimir Putin is a provocateur who is itching for a confrontation with the U.S. According to an Oct. 26 Bloomberg wire, a senior Russian official “who spoke on Valdai’s traditional condition of anonymity,” spoke about a Cabinet meeting where Putin reported on a “high risk” incident a number of months ago in which Russian planes had buzzed U.S. ships in the Black Sea, and that some people at the table cheered with phrases such as “they deserve it.” Putin, the senior official said, shut them down, saying, “Are you crazy?”
The Bloomberg article then cited Sergei Karaganov, Dean of the School of International Economics and Foreign Affairs of the National Research University Higher School of Economics, saying that “the current situation is just like that in the 1960s, when the world was on the brink of war,” and that we are “sleepwalking” in that direction. Fyodor Lukyanov, of Russia’s Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, and also Research Director of the Valdai Club, said that the recent collapse of cease-fire attempts in Syria was a “watershed” for Russia, convincing them that nothing would come of that track.
Britain’s Guardian on Oct. 25 ran an article attacking Hillary Clinton’s call for a no-fly zone in Syria, warning it “could provoke U.S.-Russia conflict.” It began by taking note that Trump had warned that the proposal would “lead to World War III,” and then quoted a number of U.S. intelligence and military officials attacking the idea. John Kuehn, a retired Navy officer who flew no-fly zone missions over Bosnia and Iraq, said of Clinton: “If she is not politically posturing, it’s going to be a disaster. I hope it’s political posturing.” Lt. Gen. David Deptula (USAF, ret.) said: “Until a strategy that defines the desired end-state is clearly laid out in a comprehensive way, it’s difficult to advocate for a no-fly zone. Right now, the way it’s being discussed, it’s a solution in search of a strategy … a no-fly zone is a non-starter.” Kuehn added that an escalation could occur by accident under a no-fly zone, and that “I see almost nothing positive that can come from implementing [a no-fly zone] at the current time over Syria. Conversely, the potential to make a bad situation worse is very, very high.”
Donald Trump Puts Glass-Steagall in the Thick of the Election Campaign
Oct. 27 (EIRNS)—About halfway through his campaign speech yesterday in Charlotte, North Carolina, which his website touted was on as his policy for “urban renewal for America’s inner cities,” Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said:
“I will also pursue financial reforms to make it easier for young African-Americans to get credit to pursue their dreams in business and create jobs in their communities. Dodd-Frank has been a disaster, making it harder for small businesses to get the credit they need. The policies of the Clintons brought us the financial recession—through lifting Glass-Steagall, pushing subprime lending, and blocking reforms to Fannie [Mae] and Freddie [Mac]. It’s time for a 21st Century Glass-Steagall and, as part of that, a priority on helping African-American businesses get the credit they need.”
A few paragraphs later, Trump stressed, “Equal justice also means the same rules for Wall Street. The Obama Administration never held Wall Street accountable.”
Later in the speech, Trump also warned that Hillary Clinton’s policies could lead to World War III. After ripping into her and President Obama’s failures in Libya, Iraq, Egypt, Syria, the Russian Reset, the Asia Pivot, etc., Trump stated, “Now, Hillary Clinton wants to confront nuclear-armed Russia with a shooting war in Syria that could lead us into World War III.” In an earlier speech in Florida, Trump had also warned that the U.S. could “end up in World War III if you listen to Hillary Clinton.”
Trump’s call for Glass-Steagall is getting some coverage in the U.S. media. For example, Reuters headlined its wire: “Trump Calls for ’21st Century’ Glass-Steagall Banking Law,” and notes that the Republican Party has that in its platform, but fails to mention that it is also in the Democratic Party platform). The article reports that Glass-Steagall was repealed under Bill Clinton.
EIR Founding Editor Lyndon LaRouche commented today that what Trump said is a credible idea, but is it true? Hillary is a foul ball and has to be politically wiped out, but that doesn’t make the other side geniuses, necessarily. There’s a question as to Trump’s seriousness. We don’t know at this point, but we have to find out what’s behind this. But the issue is on the table, so people can’t duck it.
Goldman Sachs Insists There Will Be No ‘Brexit’ Surprise in the U.S. Election
Oct. 27 (EIRNS)—Goldman Sachs economist Alec Phillips yesterday issued a note to clients with a timely evaluation: Don’t expect a Brexit-type surprise in the U.S. presidential race, CNBC reported. Whistling past the graveyard, Phillips elaborated on all the ways the two situations are different, including the silly argument that “voters in the U.K. were asked to decide on an idea, whereas in the U.S. they are being asked to decide on a person.” CNBC noted that “Wall Street is heavily invested in a Clinton victory.”
COLLAPSING WESTERN FINANCIAL SYSTEM
Genocide Program in Brazil Freezes Budget for 20 Years!
Oct. 26 (EIRNS)—On the evening of Oct. 25, Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies voted overwhelmingly to approve Constitutional Amendment 241, demanded by Wall Street. The amendment freezes—for the next 20 years!—all public expenditures except debt payments at today’s level, plus a correction for the prior year’s inflation.
EIR Founding Editor Lyndon LaRouche commented today that this amendment is a death sentence for Brazil and its people. Having visited Brazil in June 2002 with his wife Helga, LaRouche noted that he understands the Brazilian situation very well.
“This is a panic situation,” he said; “the collapse of an entire nation, and of the human beings of that nation.” Helga LaRouche added that it’s an act reminiscent of the economic crimes documented by former IMF/World Bank economist John Perkins, in his 2005 bestseller, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man.
PEC 241, as it is known, overrides the current Constitutional mandate that governments must provide the resources required to guarantee the people’s right to free public education and healthcare. With no “correction” permitted to provide for the needs of a growing population, the measure in reality is not a “freeze” in expenditures, but locks in their savage reduction. The ceiling cannot be changed whether the economy grows or collapses; nor do needed investments in science, technology, or infrastructure have any claim on public resources. Only the financial vultures have a claim—and that by constitutional mandate!
Imposition of this economic genocide is among the key reasons the international bankers’ economic hit men ordered President Dilma Rousseff overthrown by a parliamentary coup. Since its installation in power at the end of August, passage of PEC 241 has been the first priority of the unelected government. President Michel Temer told members of Congress that no opposition to the PEC was admissible by any Deputy who wished to get anything from the government. His Treasury Secretary, former FleetBoston President Henrique Mereilles, has repeatedly stated that the government had no Plan B: either it passes, or it passes.
Former Minister of Social Development and the Fight against Hunger Tereza Campello warned today that Brazil will soon appear again on the world hunger map; child labor will soon return again, as social assistance programs are slashed; the expected halt to programs as simple as building cisterns in the semi-arid impoverished Northeast, mean that hopeless drought will again overwhelm Brazilians in that region. Economist Jose Carlos de Assis, leading a “Brazil Now Movement,” rightly warned yesterday that the elimination of social protections through the PEC will provoke class war in Brazil.
To become law, a Constitutional amendment must be voted up twice by the Chamber of Deputies, and twice by the Senate. The Chamber has now passed PEC 241 twice, and it was sent over to the Senate immediately. The Senate leadership promises to pass it before the Christmas recess, and without a radical shift in the situation internationally, it is set to become law.
SCIENCE & INFRASTRUCTURE
Silk Road in Outer Space
Oct. 27 (EIRNS)—After experiencing a “space walk” in zero gravity, the six silkworms taken aboard China’s new Tiangong-2 space lab for experiments, have started showing off their spinning skills. Footage released by CCTV on Thursday shows the insects spinning in their special “living rooms” held by astronaut Jing Haipeng.
The six silkworms, dwelling in separate containers made from aerospace material, are wrapped with aerospace-used sponge, to help them better adapt to the environment.
According to a researcher from China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp., the six silkworms with “whiter skins” and “larger shapes” were selected from nearly 4,000 silkworms after extensive training before starting their outer space travel.
The silkworm experiment, one of the three projects designed by Hong Kong middle school students, aims to study the insect’s spinning, cocooning and transformation in microgravity. More experimental results are expected.
AIIB Keen To Finance Myanmar’s Infrastructure
Oct. 27 (EIRNS)—Leading a delegation to Myanmar, Jin Liqun, president of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), met with Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, and afterward told media that the AIIB is looking forward to promoting infrastructure in Myanmar, reported Xinhua on Oct 26.
As Xinhua elaborated, “Noting that Myanmar is suffering a shortage of electric power supply and lacking such infrastructure as railways, highways, and particularly subways, Jin believed that the country can develop its economy by cooperating with other ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries in developing deep seaport, power transmission and distribution. On China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the AIIB president said all the programs within the framework of the initiative are for the purpose of promoting connectivity. He stressed that the regional conductivity is important for the economic integration and the AIIB would help connectivity among its members.”
OTHER
Italian Professor Guarino: Study Alexander Hamilton To Understand Europe’s Failure
Oct. 27 (EIRNS)— Prof. Giuseppe Guarino, a 94-year-old former government minister and the dean of Italian constitutionalists, gave a lectio magistralis in Rome Oct. 20, saying that if you want to understand why Europe has failed, you have to read Alexander Hamilton. “If you want to address an issue, do not trust your opinions,” Guarino began. “Do not trust recent opinions either. Go to the classics. The classics never betray. And when I was told that I should speak about this issue today, I took Hamilton’s introduction to the Federalist Papers.”
Hamilton, Guarino explained, teaches us that states are born out of wars, popular will, or by accident. In the case of Europe, there was no popular will because there is no people. According to Hamilton’s definition, a people is more than a collection of individuals. It is a community of persons who feel they belong to the same collectivity.
There is no such thing as a “European”: if you ask anyone, they won’t tell you, “I am European.” They will tell you: “I am a German; I am a Greek; I am a Frenchman, I am an Italian; etc.” To be members of the collectivity, a sense of brotherhood is needed. “Do we have that sense of brotherhood today in Europe?” Guarino asked rhetorically. “Are we sure that the Germans feel themselves brothers with the Greeks, or the Greeks with the Poles? I don’t think so.”
