Schiller Institute forum warns of global nuclear war, urges new security architecture

The Executive Intelligence Review (EIR) and the Schiller Institute convened an emergency international online forum on Tuesday, titled “Epstein and the bottomless depravity of the elites: Urgent need for a cultural renaissance.” Bringing together a diverse panel of international scholars, former legislators, and analysts, the event painted a stark portrait of a global order allegedly on the precipice of thermonuclear conflict, driven by what speakers characterized as the moral and institutional bankruptcy of Western political elites.

The forum, moderated by representatives of the EIR, opened with an urgent assessment that the current global crisis must be comprehended through the lens of long-term historical processes rather than fleeting “current events.” Central to the discussion was the recent military escalation involving the US, Israel, and Iran, which participants described as a catalyst for a potential third world war.

The specter of war and the LaRouche legacy

The forum opened with a retrospective on the geopolitical strategies established nearly two decades ago. Organizers invoked the 2007 disclosure by American General Wesley Clark, who claimed that in the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the US military had adopted an objective to “take out seven countries in five years”—a list that included Iraq, Lebanon, Somalia, Sudan, Libya, Syria, and Iran.

Attendees were played a 2007 speech by the late economist and statesman Lyndon LaRouche, who warned at the time: “The time has come to make some history, to make a turning point in history because there is no alternative.” LaRouche cautioned then that the world monetary financial system was in the process of disintegrating and that war with Iran would represent a “different form of World War II,” asserting that the prevailing US political institutions were incompetent to manage the unfolding collapse.

Helga Zepp-LaRouche, founder and chairwoman of the International Schiller Institute and editor-in-chief of Executive Intelligence Review, opened the panel by warning that “it is more than likely that World War III has already begun.”

“With the unprovoked attack by the United States on the Republic of Iran, we have entered now a spiral of escalation which could escalate within a short period of time to a global nuclear war,” Zepp-LaRouche stated. She cited reports indicating that the Pentagon had informed the US Congress prior to the attack that there was no evidence Iran intended to strike the US first.

Zepp-LaRouche drew parallels to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, arguing that the recent hostilities were based on fabricated intelligence regarding Iran’s nuclear capabilities. “The US attack on Iran is a repetition of the US attack on Iraq in 2003, where it is now 100% documented by the testimony of active participants in the process that all relevant US responsibles knew ahead of time that neither did Saddam Hussein possess weapons of mass destruction, nor was there any threat from Iraq to other countries,” she argued.

Institutional degeneration and the ‘law of the jungle’

Professor Zhang Weiwei, Director of the China Institute at Fudan University in Shanghai, argued that current global crises—ranging from the conflicts in the Middle East to the Epstein files and domestic social divisions—are fundamentally interconnected.

“To my mind, they are in fact deeply interconnected,” Zhang stated. “They have challenged the bottom line of human conscience, the foundations of peace and justice, international law, and basic human rights.”

Zhang posited that these crises are the “inevitable outcome” of the alienation of power from the people, the practice of the “law of the jungle,” and widespread moral depravity among Western elites. “The Western democratic model as practiced in the US and in many other countries is trapped in a deep structural crisis—a crisis of institutional degeneration and governance failure, marked by poor leadership, governance incompetence, and moral collapse,” he said.

Regional perspectives: Brazil, India, and the Global South

Professor Beatrice Bisio of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro emphasized the gravity of the situation for Latin America and the BRICS nations. She characterized the aggression against Iran as an attack on the entire BRICS bloc.

“The truth of the matter is that the aggression against Iran—and we have to understand this—this has been an aggression against the BRICS nation,” Bisio said. She noted the severe consequences of this regional instability, arguing that the “current version of the Monroe Doctrine… finds echoes here within our area.” She called for a massive mobilization of civil society to demand a return to diplomacy.

Professor B.R. Deepak, former Director of the Center of Chinese and Southeast Asian Studies at JNU, New Delhi, focused on the necessity of a “dialogue of civilizations.” He rejected the “clash of civilizations” thesis proposed by Samuel Huntington, noting that history proves civilizations prosper through mutual learning rather than isolation.

“At a time when geopolitical tension threatens international stability, the example of past civilizational dialogue reminds us that cooperation across cultures is not only possible, it is essential,” Deepak asserted.

The US legislative and economic crisis

Former US Congressman Dennis Kucinich, who served from 1997 to 2013, offered a sharp critique of American foreign policy, framing the conflict as a “war of choice.”

“This is a further expression of a long-standing colonial mindset and one that is now tethered to a type of megalomania that is obsessing some of our leaders in the US,” Kucinich stated. He urged the US Congress to utilize the War Powers Resolution or proceed with impeachment to halt the executive branch’s unchecked military actions. “The US Congress must go forward not just with the War Powers Resolution, but this is certainly a cause for impeachment,” he added.

Professor Ding Yifan of the Institute of Global Governance and Development at Renmin University, Beijing, shifted the focus to the economic repercussions of current US policy. Ding argued that the US is risking an economic collapse comparable to, or worse than, the 2008 financial crisis.

“The US economy is on the verge of a crisis… because the New York stock market was relying heavily on these AI companies,” Ding explained. He warned that diverting funds into military actions would “poke the bubble,” forcing an economic contraction. He further noted that protectionist tariffs implemented by the Trump administration had failed to protect domestic manufacturing, instead causing widespread bankruptcies among small and medium-sized businesses by raising costs across global supply chains.

The Epstein nexus and the decline of the West

Namit Verma, an Indian author and security analyst, addressed the panel’s titular theme—the “Epstein” scandal—framing it not merely as a criminal case, but as a mechanism for elite blackmail and the subversion of international governance.

“The Epstein scandal… is representative of the decline of American governance,” Verma contended. He alleged that the scandal was inextricably linked to the manipulation of the United Nations and the erosion of diplomatic independence. “The individual corruption of all who are plenipotentiaries and other significant representatives of participating nations is today a tool which the CIA is a master of,” Verma asserted.

The forum also heard from youth and security representatives from Africa. Timothy Nimsilma, a 25-year-old from Uganda, spoke of the dangers of oligarchic control. “If power is overconcentrated in the hands of the few, the system ends up decaying,” he stated. Kwame Amua, a security expert from South Africa, emphasized the “descent of leadership” and the lack of a moral compass in global governance.

A call for a new paradigm

The forum concluded with a plea for an immediate shift in the global paradigm. Father Harry Bury, a 96-year-old Catholic priest and anti-war activist based in Minnesota, delivered an impassioned argument for “active nonviolence” and development-oriented peace-building.

“The way to have peace is for all nations to be able to equally get what they need,” Bury argued, advocating for the “Oasis Plan,” which seeks to foster peace through the mutual development of infrastructure and resources across the Middle East. “We need to put it in operation right away. It’s about thinking differently.”

In her closing remarks, Helga Zepp-LaRouche issued a final call to action, urging the formation of an “international movement of citizens” that prioritizes the interests of humanity as a whole over narrow geopolitical or nationalistic ambitions.

“If the governments fail, if the establishments turn out to be too corrupt to address the urgent self-interest of humanity as a whole, then our response is that we need an international movement of citizens,” Zepp-LaRouche declared. She advocated for the implementation of a “new security and development architecture,” urging a departure from the “might makes right” doctrine that she and her fellow panelists argued has brought civilization to the brink of annihilation.

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