This is an extraordinary report by Helga Zepp
LaRouche on the current transformation of history now taking place - presenting
the potential for a true Renaissance centered on science, infrastructure, and
sovereign relations among nations, centered on China and the BRICS nations
recent creation of an alternative to the bankrupt trans-Atlantic financial
empire and the wars that empire is waging or planning to launch. It is the
introduction to a major Special Report we are producing on the scope of the
Global Development perspective which will be possible, and necessary, under
the new system.The article appears in the August 29, 2014 issue of
Executive Intelligence Review.
Mike Billington
The New Silk Road
Leads to the Future of Mankind!
by Helga
Zepp-LaRouche
The Coming
Helium-3-Based Fusion Power Economy
[PDF
version of this article]
This is
the Introduction to an upcoming EIR Special Report on the World
Land-Bridge.
August
2014—When the authors of this study decided last year to set out a new concept
for peace in the 21st Century, by producing a revised version of the World
Land-Bridge program—23 years after the first proposal for the Eurasian
Land-Bridge—it was their intention not only to provide a concept for
reconstruction of the world economy, but to present a war-avoidance strategy in
the context of an acute strategic crisis at the same time. For in the
intervening years, the danger of an intentional—or even an
accidental—thermonuclear world war has grown dramatically. The attempt, fed by
geopolitical motives, to associate Ukraine with the EU, and thus bring it, de
facto, into the NATO sphere of influence, has triggered a series of escalating
confrontations, which, in the worst case, could end in the extinction of the
human race.
But in
addition, nearly the entire Near and Middle East is burning; set off by wars
built on lies, against so-called rogue states, the seeds of violence were sown
which have called to life a million-headed hydra, which has not only leveled the
Cradle of Civilization to the ground, and created there a Hell on Earth, but has
also become an existential threat to the West.
The
consequences of this policy of "regime change" have long thrown large parts of
Africa into chaos, and overrun the continent with wars of terror and civil wars.
But there are also geostrategic conflicts breeding in the Pacific, which have
the potential to set loose regional wars and beyond. And since absolutely
nothing has been done to remedy the causes for the collapse of Lehman Brothers
in 2008, the TBTF (too-big-to-fail) banks are, on average, 30-40% bigger today
than they were then, the indebtedness still more massive, and the derivatives
bubble grown to nearly $2 quadrillion; so that a new systemic crisis could
result at any moment, this time, given the strategic situation we have sketched
here, with the danger that chaos will be triggered, making a strategic
catastrophe unavoidable.
The entire
world thus finds itself in such an alarming condition that one can only wonder
how those responsible for the so-called Western community of values could have
let things get to this point.
Pope Francis,
who has characterized the global financial and economic system as "intolerable,"
recently put it this way, in an interview with the Spanish newspaper La
Vanguardia: "In order for the system to continue, wars must be waged, as
great empires have always done. But mankind cannot bear a third world war, and
so it seizes on regional wars."
Though one
could not put it better than the Pope has done, in this case, he underestimates
the satanic energy of the system of globalization, which is ready to defend its
privileges with all weapons available. One hundred years after the First World
War, we find ourselves in a very similar geopolitical situation, except that
this time there are thermonuclear weapons whose use would wipe out the human
race.
There Is an
Alternative
Meanwhile, an
alternative to the collapsing trans-Atlantic system has been created; the
attempts of that system to use supranational institutions such as the IMF, World
Bank, WTO, TTP, TTIP, and similar monetarist instruments of globalization, to
extend a worldwide imperium, have produced an opposition which might not have
been expected to manifest itself as it has.
In less than
one year, an alliance of nations has been created, which has built a parallel
economic order with giant steps, one which is dedicated exclusively to the
building of the real economy, in opposition to the maximization of speculative
monetary profit, and which now includes more than half of mankind. This new
community of nations represents a power center based on economic growth, and
above all, on leading-edge technology, one which belongs to the future, as shown
above all by the success of the Chinese lunar exploration program, focused on
the idea of bringing large quantities of helium-3 from the Moon back to Earth,
for the future economy of thermonuclear fusion power. It points the way to a
scientific and technological revolution which will increase, by orders of
magnitude, the energy-flux density, both in production processes on Earth, and
in fuels for space travel, and thereby introduce a completely new phase in the
evolution of the human species.
The first
step in the direction of a new economic world order was the announcement by
Chinese President Xi Jinping at a conference in Kazakstan in July of last year,
that China would build a new Silk Road Economic Belt, through Central Asia to
Europe, in the tradition of the ancient Silk Road. Then, in October, in a trip
to Indonesia and Malaysia, Xi took the initiative to involve all of Southeast
Asia in the construction of the Maritime Silk Road.
At the summit
meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi, on
May 20 in Shanghai, and Putin's state visit to China on the occasion of the 4th
Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia
(CICA) in Shanghai on May 21, extensive plans for collaboration of the two great
powers were signed, including a 30-year natural gas agreement, and 46 additional
bilateral accords. At the end of the summit, the two heads of state published a
common declaration of intent, stating that both countries wished to create a new
economic architecture in the Asia-Pacific region, oppose interference in the
internal affairs of other nations, and intend to coordinate, as much as
possible, their responses to important foreign policy questions on which they
agree.
They named,
among others, one goal of this collaboration as follows: "Increasing the
effectiveness of collaboration in high-technology areas, priority projects in
the international use of nuclear energy, civil aviation, and a program of
cooperation in basic research on space flight, satellite observation of the
Earth, satellite navigation, and research into deep space and manned space
travel." A further militarization of space should, on the contrary, be
prevented, and the unilateral stationing of missile defense installations was
judged to be a "destabilizing factor for the world." Other goals include
innovative research, improvement of agricultural techniques, and increasing
agricultural production. They also expressed the intention to reform the
international financial architecture.
The 30-year
Russia-China natural gas treaty, with a total value of $400 billion, can be
called historic. The two countries' cooperation in the petroleum field is also
to be deepened; coal mines in Russia will be jointly developed; additional power
plants will be built in Russia to supply electricity to China; and there will be
collaboration on many other projects in infrastructure, transportation, water,
and nature conservation.
Of still
greater importance is President Putin's support for President Xi's strategic
initiative to expand the New Silk Road. Their common statement says:
"Russia
recognizes the enormous significance of the Chinese initiative for the
building of the 'Silk Road Economic Belt,' and particularly appreciates the
readiness of the Chinese side to take Russian interests into account in its
development and realization. Both sides will seek further opportunities to
combine the perspective of the 'Silk Road Economic Belt' with the conception
of the 'Eurasian Economic Union.' Toward this purpose, they intend to deepen
the cooperation of the relevant agencies in the realization of both projects,
especially in the development of transportation routes and
infrastructure."
The BRICS
Summit
Other nations
were then drawn into this collaboration at the May 20-21 4th Summit Conference
on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia in Shanghai. On July 16,
the 6th BRICS Summit was held in Fortaleza, Brazil; on the following day, the
Latin American heads of state and government joined the conference, and thus,
48% of humanity was represented at this meeting.
At the BRICS
Summit itself, and in a series of multilateral and bilateral discussions within
and around this summit, the heads of state agreed on the creation of an entirely
new economic and financial system, representing a fundamental alternative to the
casino economy of the present system of globalization, which is based on
maximized profit of the few, and impoverishment of billions of people. Included
in the 72 points of the "Declaration of Fortaleza" is the real thunderbolt: the
announcement of the creation of a new financial architecture. The new
architecture was launched with the formation of a New Development Bank with an
initial capitalization of $50 billion, and a Currency Reserve Agreement (CRA)
with an initial capacity of $100 billion to help participating nations defend
themselves against capital flight and other forms of financial
warfare.
China had
already previously decided to found an "Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank,"
the AIIB, to have an initial capitalization of $100 billion, with the invited
participation from the start of more than 30 countries. Xinhua quoted Jin Liqun,
under whose direction the Chinese Finance Ministry placed the founding of the
Bank:
"The means
of the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank fall far short of satisfying
the hunger for more infrastructure.... The Bank will open a new financing
channel for developing countries, especially for those with low income.... In
October 2013, during a visit to Indonesia, China's President Xi Jinping
proposed an Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank to support economic
integration."
The general
secretary of the Chinese Center for International Economic Exchanges emphasized
that the AIIB is to be an open and freely accessible platform, welcoming not
only nations in Asia, but also others, such as the United States and the
European countries. Up to this point, the nations of ASEAN, at a summit in
Myanmar, on Aug. 9, agreed to deepen their cooperation with China on "New Silk
Road" development projects, while Thailand and Singapore agreed to join the AIIB
as charter members, as has Bangladesh. South Korea, despite direct U.S. pressure
not to join, is considering charter membership, and requested that Seoul be
considered as a possible location for the Bank.
In the course
of this series of summits, collaboration was decided upon, among the various
states, in a large number of projects, above all, the development of nuclear
energy in Russia, China, India, Brazil, Argentina, and South Africa, and also,
such groundbreaking projects as a second Panama Canal to be built by China
through Nicaragua, and a transcontinental high-speed rail connection from Brazil
to Peru.
The
multiplicity of projects decided on among this community of nations in the areas
of infrastructure, energy, industry, agriculture, research, and education, has
reached a dimension which dwarfs the investments made by the U.S.A. and Europe
in the same spheres over the past 30 years. The claims that Russia is only a
"regional power," and China only a "cheap-production country," as was said at
hastily arranged seminars at various thinktanks on the theme of the allegedly
minor significance of the BRICS nations, have rather the character of whistling
past the graveyard.
For in
reality, there are now two economic and financial systems built on completely
different principles. One, the trans-Atlantic system, as an imperial structure,
seeks constantly to extend the boundaries of its sphere of power through
supranational structures which threaten the sovereignty of other nations. It
forces regime change against governments it disapproves of, insists on
submission to a "consensus," and in the process, uses methods which do indeed
produce an aura of domination for a while, and the feeling of powerlessness
among the populations dominated in this way, but it ultimately goes the way of
all empires. The moment this aura of power fades, whether because the imperial
financial system is bankrupt, or because the people realize the hollowness of
the values handed down, then the capability for intimidation
disappears.
The newly
arising system of the BRICS nations and the countries associated with them,
bases itself on entirely different principles. Indian Prime Minister Narendra
Modi formulated it most expressively at the plenary session of the summit:
"BRICS is unique as an international institution. In the first instance, it
unifies a group of nations, not on the basis of their existing prosperity or
common identities, but rather their future potentials. The idea of the BRICS
itself is thus already aligned with the future."
Modi stressed
that the high percentage of young people, in India for example, represents an
enormous potential for the future, and proposed forming a BRICS forum for young
scientists, and a school of languages "offering language training in all of our
languages." Modi made an appeal: "Excellencies, we have an opportunity to define
the future—not only for our countries, but for the entire world.... I conceive
that as a great challenge."
The Future Lies in
Outer Space
Nicholas of
Cusa, the founder of modern natural science and a revolutionary scientific
method, came to the conclusion, in the 15th Century, that every human being who
strives to do so must be capable of reproducing virtually the entire evolution
of the universe in its essential qualitative levels of development, and that
this standpoint makes it possible to determine the necessary next step in
scientific progress.
Today, this
necessary next discovery, which defines the future for the entire world, is the
conquest of the energy source that will bestow energy and raw materials security
on mankind for thousands of years into the future: the utilization of
thermonuclear fusion power on the basis of helium-3.
Therefore,
the success of the Chinese Chang'e-3 mission this past December, in achieving a
soft landing of the "Jade Rabbit" rover on the Moon, was a milestone in
achieving this goal. The Chang'e-4 mission will follow immediately this year, in
preparation for Chang'e-5 in 2017, which can start the phase of flight back and
forth between the Earth and the Moon, in preparation for the future industrial
exploitation of the Moon. This will bring within reach, the separation of the
helium-3 found on the Moon in great quantities, for the nuclear fusion economy
on Earth.
In the
scientific collaboration among the BRICS nations, but above all, among Russia,
China, and India, helium-3 plays a prominent role, because as a fuel for fusion,
in contradistinction to deuterium-tritium, it does not produce energetic
neutrons, which are very problematic for the reactor materials, but instead
produces positively charged protons, which makes possible a revolution in energy
generation. Instead of producing energy through the customary method via steam
and turbines, in which there is a great energy loss, it will become possible to
convert the energy of fusion reactions directly into electricity, at much higher
efficiencies.
But Russia,
too, according to the Russian space agency Roskosmos, plans a mission between
2016 and 2025, which is intended to create the basis for the industrial
exploitation of the Moon. In the first phase, this involves robotic
infrastructure for work on the Moon, thus, among other things mobile cranes,
dredges, and cable-laying machines. After the landing probe "Luna Globe 1" in
2015, and the orbital module "Luna Globe 2" in 2016, then in 2017 the
hard-landing apparatus "Luna Resource," developed together with the Indian Space
Research Agency, will reach the lunar surface and, among other tasks, convey the
Indian lunar vehicle onto the Moon.
The
collaboration among China, Russia, and India is paradigmatic for the new area of
mankind, in which we—instead of plunging ourselves into geopolitical wars—will
concentrate on the common aims of mankind. With the attainment of energy
security for at least 10,000 years on the basis of helium-3-fed thermonuclear
fusion power, and with the technologies associated with this, such as the fusion
torch technique which will enable raw materials security by reducing waste and
all types of materials into isotopes which can be recomposed as needed, mankind
will reach a completely new economic platform on the basis of a very high
energy-flux density. This new economic platform begins a new age of mankind. The
utilization of helium-3 sources for the fusion economy will be the game-changer
which will revolutionize all relationships in science, economy, and politics on
the Earth and in the Solar System.
It is obvious
that a continuation of the geopolitical thinking which already led to two world
wars in the 20th Century, into a third, and this time, a thermonuclear world
war, will cause the extinction of mankind. Instead of seeing the rise of China
as a threat to the West's supposed geopolitical interests—and thus, as the
American Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey has repeatedly warned,
groping around in a new "Thucydides Trap"—we need a new conception, a new
paradigm which considers the development perspective of mankind as a
whole.
A New Economic
Order
The late
German-American space pioneer Krafft Ehricke described the long arc of evolution
as an upward development, in which, at first, life spread from the sea to the
continents by means of photosynthesis in plant world, and then led gradually to
the rise of biological species of high complexity and metabolism with higher
energy-flux density. He described how the human species, as the highest
expression of this evolution up to now, initially settled on the coasts and the
shores of rivers, and then along roads and canals, and finally along railroads
and modern infrastructure, making the landlocked regions of the continents more
and more accessible.
This process
is still not completed—and exactly this is the goal of the World Land-Bridge
presented in this study, to achieve the infrastructural development of the
continents of the Earth. krafft Ehricke saw, in space travel and the
colonization of the universe, the natural next phase of the evolution of
mankind, and saw in the industrialization of the Moon, in particular, the
springboard for excursions of human beings into the Solar System and potentially
beyond. He was convinced that the evolution of the human species would only
effectively reach adulthood with manned space travel; that only the "great
challenge of the extraterrestrial imperative," as Krafft Ehricke called it, will
raise mankind to its true purpose and destiny: namely, representing through its
power of reason, the only creative species (known up to now), to act on
verifiable universal principles, and not on the illusory world of
sense-perceptions
By doing so,
the human species will achieve a considerable advance in bringing its
relationships to this planet and to near-Earth space, into harmony with the
cosmic order. Perhaps the most important contribution of Lyndon LaRouche
consists in that by the further development of the Leibnizian term "physical
economy," he has created a theory of scientific economy which corresponds to the
real laws of development of the physical universe.
One of its
basic concepts is that it is indispensable for the continuously sustained
existence of the human race that its relative potential population density
should increase on the basis of rising energy-flux densities in the production
process, because at any arbitrary stage of economic development, there is a
relative exhaustion of resources. The entire history of human development,
particularly the most recent 10,000 years, in which the population potential has
risen from a few millions to presently over 7 billion, demonstrates the
correlation of the anti-entropic character of human creativity with the knowable
universal principles of the physical universe.
The use of
the helium-3 resources on the Moon for the fusion economy on the Earth also
recalls in an interesting way the controversy between Plato and Nicholas of
Cusa, over whether ideas possess an existence already effectively present in the
objective universe, independent of mankind, or whether it is only with human
creativity that these ideas are created. Helium-3 supplies on the Moon are, in
the first instance, only deposits in the upper layer of the regolith. Only human
creativity, in mastering thermonuclear fusion power, makes these isotopes into
the fuel which can even exceed the power of nuclear fusion in the
Sun!
But mankind
has reached a phase-change not only from the scientific standpoint, but also
from that of universal history; that is, the end of geopolitics is necessary for
the survival of the species. Shortly before the Berlin Wall fell, LaRouche
proposed the "Productive Triangle Paris-Berlin-Vienna" infrastructure program,
and thereby, the plan to make this triangle the scientific motor and starting
point for development corridors for the transformation of the Comecon states
(the then-Soviet Union and Eastern Europe).
When the
Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991, and thus the Iron Curtain disappeared,
Schiller Institute teams further elaborated this program into the conception of
the Eurasian Land-Bridge. Thus the idea was developed of linking the population
and industrial centers of Europe with Asia by so-called development corridors,
and thus providing the landlocked regions of Eurasia with the same
site-characteristics which the regions with ocean or river access already
had.
In the 23
years which have passed since then, this idea has not only been presented in
innumerable conferences and seminars in cities around the world, but also
further filled out into the idea of the World Land-Bridge. The linking of
peoples through this World Land-Bridge is now the realistic perspective emerging
from the collaboration of the BRICS nations, Latin America, and the ASEAN
nations, and in which the U.S.A., Europe, and Africa must urgently
participate.
A new
strategy for mankind means the ability, from now on, to see the human species as
a unity, and to see that unity in the process of mutual development. Thus, along
with Friedrich Schiller, we see no contradiction whatsoever between the
inviolability of national sovereignty, which is guaranteed by the law of nations
and by the United Nations Charter, and the rationality of the world citizen who
has in view the interests of mankind as a whole. For this unity lies in the
higher development of all; the concordance of the macrocosm requires the maximal
development of all microcosms to their reciprocal benefit, as Nicholas of Cusa
said.
This also
signifies a new model of cooperation among the nations of the world. It means
that all potential treaty organizations and alliances must be inclusive, that
they cannot be for the security and economic interests of some nations, while
excluding others. While the support of mutual development is the premise, they
must nonetheless respect the different levels of development, history, culture,
and social systems, and above all, respect national sovereignty. That is Cusa's
idea of unity in multiplicity, and it must be inspired by a tender love for the
idea of the community of nations, for the idea of mankind as the creative
species.
We must learn
to view this mankind from the same perspective as the astronauts, cosmonauts,
and Taikonauts have seen it, as so wonderfully expressed by one of the Apollo
astronauts who walked on the Moon:
"The fact is
that evolution is now taking place in space, as much as on Earth. Man has shown
that as a species mankind was willing to commit itself to living in environments
that were completely different than those in which the species evolved—with a
shield of life around ourselves in order to protect the life within. But the
willingness to go out there, is there. We've shown that. The curve of human
evolution has been bent."[1]
Translated from German by
Paul Gallagher
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