Strengthen the Forces of Hope | EIRNS

Marcia Baker - Pope Leo and Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán meeting: Credit: Viktor Orbán Instagtram page

Our present phase of history is a time of terrible tension between those promoting war, and those promoting resolution of disputes. Deliberate backing of armed conflict in an age of nuclear weapons is insane. But there are growing forces of reason and hope.

Pope Leo XIV’s raising, on Oct. 25, the breakthrough concepts of Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa (1401-1464) is an important advance for forces seeking peace. Cusa’s concept of seeking and proceeding on the higher level of overcoming differences has repeatedly been studied, reported, and advocated by Lyndon and Helga LaRouche over decades. But most particularly, Mrs. Zepp-LaRouche formed an activist association in 2020 that she named the Committee for the Coincidence of Opposites, based on Cusa’s idea of the coincidentia oppositorum (coincidence of opposites), which organization came to be the precursor to the International Peace Coalition, founded in June 2022, at the initiation of Zepp-LaRouche, and now functioning as a critical platform for world dialogue.

At the Vatican on Oct. 27, Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban met with Pope Leo. Orban has volunteered for Budapest to be the venue for a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Orban posted on X today, “I asked His Holiness to support Hungary’s anti-war efforts. Private audience with His Holiness Pope Leo XIV.”

Other figures and associations, likewise acting on the side of humanity, include leaders of the Global Majority, the BRICS, the expanding Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and collaborating initiatives. In the Indo- and Asian-Pacific this week, there are signals of this direction. Speaking of amity, on Oct. 26 India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, addressing the ASEAN-India Summit in Malaysia by video, pointed out that India and the ASEAN 11 nation members, now constitute 25% of the world’s population, and intend to continue to function as friends.

On the sidelines of the APEC summit in South Korea this week, President Trump reports he will meet with China’s President Xi Jinping. On Oct. 28, President Trump, now in Tokyo, Japan, is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who has expressed concern to pursue a foreign policy of stability and peace in the region. This goes against the prevailing Western insistence that China is the enemy.

The most direct threats of warfare continue to come from the Europe-centered “Coalition of the Willing,” directly charging that Russia is the enemy, bent on invading Europe. Add to this the U.S. belligerence in the Western Hemisphere, building up military forces in the Caribbean.

In the last 10 days, military spokesmen in France have called for contingency readiness that could see French forces placed directly in Ukraine. Chief of Staff of the French Army Gen. Pierre Schill told members of the Defense Committee of the National Assembly on Oct. 24: “We will be ready to deploy forces under security guarantees, if necessary—for the benefit of Ukraine.” He stated that 2026 will be the “year of coalitions,” pointing out that upcoming multinational military exercises, “Orion 26,” will test land, air, and naval contingents, wherever they have to go.

In the Caribbean, U.S. military activity and force deployment have escalated, along with homeland propaganda that fighting the dope trade means taking down Venezuela. The guided missile destroyer USS Gravely has now docked in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, within seven miles of Venezuela. The story is that the ship is carrying out training exercises until Oct. 30. The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford has been ordered to the Caribbean, from its present location in the Mediterranean. There have been nine U.S. airstrikes on boats in international waters in the Caribbean, plus two in the Pacific off the western coast of Central America. At least 43 persons were killed.

The International Peace Coalition will convene its 126th consecutive weekly meeting on Friday, Oct. 31, at 11 am (ET).