Spread Recognition of Nuclear War Danger, Make Way for Development | EIRNS

by Marcia Merry Baker (EIRNS) — The immediate and severe threat to these positive initiatives is the Trans-Atlantic networks discussing use of nuclear weapons as “an option.” Credit: CC/Zcobb99

Experts from ten countries representing 40% of the world’s population on Nov. 12 agreed on texts for a “draft action plan for multilateral trade and economic cooperation” over the five-year period, 2026-2030. The representatives of the member nations of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization met via videoconference for three days this week, moderated by Russia, which will host the SCO Heads of Government Council in Moscow in person next week, Nov. 17-18, where the agreement to implement the accords will be signed. This meeting follows the standard protocol of the SCO in recent years, by which an “implementation review” session follows after the annual SCO Heads of State Summit, which this year took place in Tianjin, China, Aug. 31-Sept. 1, as the beginning of an extraordinary week of a sequence of gatherings of national leaders, seeking common interest in development.

Thus, next week’s Moscow meeting, which will be hosted by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, is the latest expression of the dynamic to undertake joint beneficial action, which can take humanity forward into unprecedented realms of advancement. The SCO, based in Eurasia, has relations with nations on every continent, through bilateral ties, through BRICS and other configurations. The ten SCO member nations are China, India, Russia, Belarus, Iran, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Pakistan. The SCO Secretariat, based in China, on Nov. 12 confirmed its preparations for joint SCO follow-up.

Another initiative of note is that today, the joint communiqué issued by the Foreign Ministers of Egypt and Türkiye, following their meeting in Ankara, includes a joint call for international collaboration in the reconstruction of Gaza, for which Cairo will host a conference some time in the coming weeks.

The immediate and severe threat to these positive initiatives, and the important economic diplomacy involved, comes from the trans-Atlantic networks, especially out of London, discussing use of nuclear weapons as “an option,” and otherwise pushing militarization—via Ukraine against Russia, backing Netanyahu in Southwest Asia, and now by the U.S. in the Western Hemisphere.

The Nov. 12 Group of Seven Foreign Ministers’ joint communiqué, after their meeting in Canada, was a list of belligerent geopolitical points. One example: They pledged to keep the Indo-Pacific “free” in terms of the Taiwan Strait, the East China Sea, and so on. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in his lengthy exchange with reporters, when departing Hamilton, Ontario, likewise issued one belligerent assertion after another. For example, he defended the U.S. force build-up in the Caribbean, as the right of the United States to take whatever action it deemed necessary for U.S. security, including bombing boats at sea. In particular, he denounced the Venezuelan government of President Nicolás Maduro as “illegitimate” and a “narcotrafficking organization.” Though unconfirmed, reports are that President Donald Trump on Nov. 12 was provided by his military advisers with options for directly attacking Venezuela.

Meantime, tension and danger continue over the Trump Administration’s laconic talk of the United States resuming “testing of our nuclear capabilities,” as Rubio termed it on Nov. 12.

Where is the world outcry? It is reported that there was a loud silence on this topic at this week’s meeting of the 65th session of the Preparatory Commission of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO). Founded in 1996, the CTBTO Preparatory Commission’s mandate is to further compliance with worldwide nuclear weapons controls, even before their enactment. But no one at this week’s session even identified Washington’s position by name! Russian envoy to Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov called this “strange.” As reported by TASS on Nov. 13, Ulyanov told Rossiya-24 TV that “no serious concern has been expressed here.” He went on: “I think, the reaction in the 20th century would have been much sharper. After all, the ban on nuclear testing is sacred, especially for countries in the Global South and developing countries, as well as Western European countries.”

Mobilize to sound the alarm on the nuclear threat, make way for peace. Join with the International Peace Coalition, whose next meeting on Zoom is on Friday, Nov. 14, at 11 am (ET).