Der var de fortsatte provokationer i Mellemøsten, provokationer i Asien, Koreakrigen, Vietnamkrigen – dette var geopolitik med det formål at bevare Det britiske Imperium. Og desværre, med mordet på Kennedy, blev USA en partner i det, man kunne kalde et »anglo-amerikansk geopolitisk imperium«.

Og hvad gik politikkerne ud på? Frihandel, neoliberal økonomi, nedskæringspolitik. Svækkelse af regeringer, svækkelse af ideen om national suverænitet og etablering af institutioner som den Europæiske Union, der ønsker ikkevalgte bureaukrater til at bestemme politikker for det, der plejede at være nationalstater.

Det så ud, som om alt dette kunne ændre sig i 1989, med den kommunistiske verdens fald, med det østtyske regimes kollaps og Berlinmurens fald. På dette tidspunkt intervenerede LaRouche-organisationen meget direkte, for et alternativ til geopolitik. Lyndon LaRouche var blevet fængslet af George Bush, med assistance fra den daværende vicestatsanklager i Boston, Robert Mueller. Men Helga Zepp-LaRouche anførte kampen for det, vi dengang kaldte den Produktive Trekant Paris-Berlin-Wien, og dernæst, så tidligt som i slutningen af 1990, det, der blev kaldt den »Nye Silkevej« eller den Eurasiske Landbro, som et middel til at bringe nationer sammen og overvinde disse kunstige opdelinger, skabt af Det britiske Imperium.

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Videoen fra diplomatseminaret om eftermiddagen:
Video from the diplomatic seminar in the afternoon:

Lyd fra diplomatseminaret om eftermiddagen:
Audio from the diplomatic seminar in the afternoon:
Audio from the diplomatic seminar in the afternoon:

Videoen fra aftenseminar for Schiller Instituttets medlemmer:
Video from the evening meeting for Schiller Institute members:

Lyd fra aftenseminar for Schiller Instituttets medlemmer:

Stor succes for diplomatseminar: Forlæng den Nye Silkevej til Vestasien og Afrika

København, 6. feb., 2018 – Hussein Askary, medforfatter af Schiller Instituttets nye Specialrapport, »Forlæng den Nye Silkevej til Vestasien og Afrika: En vision for en økonomisk renæssance«, var gæstetaler på et seminar for diplomater, der blev holdt i København i går. De andre talere var Ghanas ambassadør til Danmark, H.E., fr. Amerley Ollennu Awva-Ashmoa, og formand for Schiller Instituttet i Danmark, Tom Gillesberg.

Seminaret indledtes med en kinesisk folkesang, fremført af Feride Istogu Gillesberg og Michelle Rasmussen. Arrangementet så deltagelse af fire ambassadører fra Afrika, Sydasien og det tidligere Sovjetunionen, samt andre diplomater fra Sydvestasien og Østasien.

Desuden deltog en repræsentant fra et betydningsfuldt, dansk ministerium, en tidligere dansk ambassadør, en tidligere østeuropæisk ambassadør til Danmark, en professor fra et FN-relateret universitet, og en professor/parlamentsmedlem, der rejste hele vejen fra et østeuropæisk land særligt for at deltage i dette seminar. En afrikansk, politisk leder, en pensioneret selskabsøkonom, der har mobiliseret danske politiske kredse for den Nye Silkevej, præsidenten for en international fredsorganisation, en forsker ved et dansk universitet og en seniorakademiker, der er ruslandsekspert, deltog ligeledes, så vel som også Schiller Instituttets kernemedlemmer i København og Jylland.

Her følger nogle af de ideer, der blev præsenteret på seminaret. Tom gennemgik kort Schiller Instituttets forslag, som udgjorde grundlaget for Kinas Bælte & Vej Initiativ. Vi må opgive det dyriske, geopolitiske paradigme og i stedet samarbejde om at virkeliggøre det nye paradigme for menneskehedens fælles skæbne. Tom diskuterede betydningen af den franske præsident Macrons besøg til Kina, og stillede spørgsmålet: Hvad med USA? Gillesberg briefede desuden de forsamlede om betydningen af det netop offentliggjorte Nunes-memo, som pegede på briternes, og ikke russernes, indblanding i det amerikanske valg. Dette kan være med til at befri Donald Trump til at bryde med det gamle paradigme. I skrivende stund udviser finansmarkederne stor nervøsitet, og det er absolut nødvendigt, at vore politikker bliver vedtaget. Dernæst introducerede Gillesberg Hussein Askary ved at fortælle om hans baggrund.

Hussein Askary: Hussein, der lagde ud med at fremvise og forklare LaRouches Trippelkurve, gennemgik de væsentligste punkter i specialrapporten og understregede, at Vestasien og Afrika kan og må foretage spring frem til de mest avancerede, og ikke nøjes med de mest primitive, teknologier. Han brugte tidl. præsident Obama som eksempel på det gamle paradigme, som havde forhindret Afrikas økonomiske udvikling, ved at citere fra Obamas tale, da han var i Sydafrika. Obama sagde her, at, hvis alle unge afrikanere fik et stort hus og en høj levestandard, »ville planeten koge over«. Hussein viste dernæst et billede af Obamas hus til 8 million dollars. Det er helt fint, at han har så fint et hus; men det er kriminelt at forhindre andre i at gøre ligeså.

Hussein citerede fra Xi Jinpings tale, hvor denne sagde, at nøglen til at bekæmpe fattigdom i Afrika var at fremme industrialisering, det vil sige, fysisk økonomi. Schiller Instituttet promoverer ikke Kina som sådan, men vore egne principper. Med en gennemgang af rapportens anbefalinger sagde Hussein til seminarets deltagere, der repræsenterede mange nationer, at Schiller Instituttet kunne være med til at udarbejde udviklingsbanker for ethvert land, der ønsker at skabe sin egen kredit. (Han kom også ind på, hvordan Egypten havde gennemført en intern finansiering af den nylige udvidelse af Suezkanalen.) Moderne infrastruktur vil gøre Afrika ’mindre’. Afrika og Vestasien bør ikke blot eksportere råmaterialer, men derimod forarbejdede, værdiforøgede industri- og landbrugsprodukter. Kina ønsker at gå i retning af eksport af højteknologi og er med til at skabe optimisme i Afrika mht., at »Vi kan også gøre det«. Hussein anbefalede læsning af Xi Jinpings tale på den seneste, 19. partikongres.

Den Nye Silkevej handler ikke blot om jernbaner, men om transformation gennem videnskabelig opdagelse og kultur i form af udviklingskorridorer, hvor Hussein refererede til sin undersøgelse af, hvordan kinesernes opfindelse af papir havde gjort det muligt for den muslimske, videnskabelige renæssance at blomstre.

Se engang på omstændighederne i Afrika i dag, med langt flere, internt fordrevne end det antal flygtninge, det lykkes at nå frem til Europa. Ghanas præsident opfordrede ungdommen til at blive og opbygge deres lande. I takt med, at vi øger levestandarden, vil dette fordre en ny økonomisk platform med højere energigennemstrømningstæthed – kernekraft. Hussein afsluttede sit foredrag ved at vise et natfoto af Afrika i året 2015, og så Chance McGees vision af, hvordan det ville se ud i 2050, under LaRouche-overskriften, »Det er fremtiden, der bestemmer nutiden«.

Dernæst holdt Ghanas ambassadør en kort tale og bemærkede med glæde denne understregning af Afrikas industrialisering og erklærede, at hun var meget imponeret over det, kineserne nu gør i Afrika, og over det, vi her fremlagde på vores seminar. Et udskrift af hendes tale vil senere være tilgængeligt.

Herefter fulgte en livlig diskussion, som ikke blev optaget, men vi vil senere skitsere de spørgsmål, der blev diskuteret.

Om aftenen blev der afholdt et sekundært seminar for Schiller Instituttets medlemmer. Her kom Hussein med den vigtige bemærkning, at han vidste, at russernes intervention ville transformere situationen i Syrien og føre til, at vore ideer fik mulighed for at blive udbredt i området, hvilket var grunden til, at han tog initiativ til, at denne nye rapport blev udarbejdet. Diskussionsperioden er inkluderet i optagelsen (udlægges snarest).

De to seminarer var resultat af en stor kampagne, der har udbredt invitationen om specialrapporten, Kinas Bælte & Vej Initiativ og Schiller Instituttets rolle, præsident Macrons tale og LaRouches Fire Love, samt den danske oversættelse af en særlig introduktion til rapporten, vidt og bredt til alle ambassader og regeringer, akademiske-, erhvervs- og fagforeningskredse og offentligheden, og som omfattede kontakt til professoren/parlamentsmedlemmet, der kom fra Østeuropa, og opkald til ambassader. Interventionen i mødet i Dansk Institut for Internationale Studier/Udenrigsministeriet, der er rapporteret andetsteds, var ligeledes end del af mobiliseringen.

På begge seminarerne blev LaRouchePAC’s video-undervisningsserier i henholdsvis LaRouches Økonomi (på dansk her)  og den kommende undervisningsserie om Det Nye Paradigme annonceret for alle deltagere.

Vi vil se på hr. LaRouches omdefinering af, hvad infrastruktur virkelig betyder. Dette er afgørende på det aktuelle tidspunkt, for infrastruktur er blevet et meget populært spørgsmål, på både gode og dårlige måder. Så det er meget vigtigt, at vi behandler dette nu; på det globale plan har vi Kina, der fører an med Bælte & Vej Initiativet – vi ser her hovedkorridorerne i Bælte & Vej, der viser den massive udvidelse af infrastruktur i hele Asien og ind i Afrika, og som begynder at sprede sig til hele verden, under Kinas anførelse [Fig. 1]. Så infrastruktur er altså kommet til live igen, der er en infrastrukturrenæssance på en meget god måde.

Infrastruktur er også et varmt emne for diskussion i USA, men noget af det finder desværre ikke altid sted på højeste niveau. På den gode side har vi præsident Trump, der har rejst spørgsmålet om nødvendigheden af at genopbygge USA’s infrastruktur. Det er mange mennesker enige med ham i. Han har fremsat ideen om en investering på $1 billion i ny infrastruktur. Men selve ordet ’infrastruktur’ er også blot blevet en del af mange andre folks narrativ, fortælling, og det er blot et ord, der ikke rigtig har den hensigtsmæssige betydning i den måde, ordet bruges på af mange mennesker. For et par år siden lykkedes det Arnold Schwarzenegger mere eller mindre at udtale ordet i en af sine taler, og selv han taler om, I ved, denne mand, der beundrer Hitler og de degenererede ’greenies’ (miljøaktivister) og endda taler om betydningen af at genopbygge infrastruktur. Men det er blot et slagord, der ikke har den samme betydning, som det bør have i en fysisk-økonomisk betydning.

Så vi vil behandle hr. LaRouches omdefinering og højere forståelse af, hvad infrastruktur rent faktisk betyder. Han definerede denne nye betegnelse med den fysisk-økonomiske platform, som bliver emnet for vores diskussion i dag.

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Schiller Instituttets medlemmer og partnere stiller spørgsmål om den positive rolle, Kina spiller i Vestasien og Afrika, med den Nye Silkevej (Bælte & Vej Initiativet) d. 31. januar 2018 ved et møde, arrangeret af Dansk Institut for Internationale Studier (DIIS) og Udenrigsministeriet, med titlen “Magt og politik i Mellemøsten og Nordafrika”. Se video:

Schiller Institute in Denmark intervention at Middle East/North Africa conference

COPENHAGEN, Feb. 2, 2018 (EIRNS) – Members of the Schiller Institute Denmark went to an event hosted by the Danish Institute for International Studies and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on “New Trends in Power and Politics in the Middle East and North Africa” on Jan. 31. The conference speakers included the Danish foreign minister (who didn’t take questions) and international and Danish think tank analysts. About 200 people attended the event, and it was live-streamed. The main theme of the conference was that now there is an unstable political vacuum in the area due to the end of the neo-liberal world order. The Schiller Institute intervention was to bring the potential of new paradigm into the discussion. Two of the Schiller Institute members asked questions calling for the USA and Europe to join the New Silk Road, as Lyndon LaRouche has been calling for, and together with China build up Africa and West Asia with a win-win spirit as opposed to geopolitics, as French president Macron lately called for. Our upcoming seminar on Extending the New Silk Road to West Asia and Africa was also mentioned. (A woman from the German Marshall Fund in the U.S. Said that the Chinese investments were a great potential, but we have to see if we can go along with what the political price tag may be, another woman from the Carnegie Institute in Washington said that the U.S. should not join the Silk Road, which was just to benefit Chinese interests, but pick and choose what to participate in.) One question was about why there was not more support in the U.S. for Trump’s policy to cooperate with Russia and China, (a man from the Atlantic Council said that the problem is that Russia is on a different page on Syria), and the last question was about our campaign to end geopolitics, and which group of investors attached most conditions to their investments, the Transatlantisists or the Chinese. Mehran Kamrava answered, that the Chinese investments in the MENA region were purely economically oriented.

Vi introducerer her Schiller Instituttets nye, danske  specialrapport,  “Forlæng den Nye Silkevej til Vestasien og Afrika; en vision for en økonomisk renæssance”, som er en grundig  indføring i den 246 sider lange, engelske rapport, af rapportens forfattere, Hussein Askary og Jason Ross.

Glæd dig til en optimistisk og konstruktiv løsning på det forfærdelige fattigdoms- og underudviklingsproblem, som denne verdensdel er så hårdt ramt af, og, som Helga Zepp-LaRouche så ofte har nævnt, den eneste humane og retfærdige løsning på det umenneskelige flygtningeproblem, der nu også har ramt Europa.

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29. jan., 2018 – »Det afrikanske kontinent var en del af den gamle, maritime Silkevej og er nu i en god position til at blive Kinas naturlige partner«, sagde He Wenping, dirktør for afrikastudier ved det Kinesiske Akademi for Samfundsvidenskaber, med en fremstilling af Bælte & Vejs aktiviteter i Afrika på sidelinjen af det netop afsluttede topmøde i den Afrikanske Union.

He Wenping var en af hovedtalerne på Schiller Instituttets internationale konference i Bad Soden nær Frankfurt, Tyskland, der fandt sted 25.-26. nov., 2017.

Alene i Sydafrika er der flere end 300 kinesiske foretagender, af hvilke halvdelen er store og mellemstore virksomheder, der investerer $13 mia. i elektronik, biler, infrastruktur til finansiel informationsnetværk og konstruktionsteknologi, lyder en rapport, der er sammensat af den Sydafrikansk-kinesiske Økonomi- og Handelssammenslutning i 2016.

På trods af bekymringer, frustrationer og udfordringer, der kommer fra uventede besværligheder, misforståelser og kulturelle konflikter, så accelererer Kina fremgangen i sit generelle samarbejde med Afrika, fortsatte He Wenping. Det forventes at skabe et godt eksempel på intensiveret, regionalt samarbejde for de hidtil modstræbende, vestlige lande. »BVI fortjener at blive en platform for de overordnede udvekslinger og det intensiverede samarbejde mellem Kina og verden«, fremsatte hun.

(He Wenpings tale på Schiller Instituttets konference kan høres / læses (engelsk) her: http://newparadigm.schillerinstitute.com/media/president-xis-perspective-year-2050-perspective-african-development/)

Foto: He Wenping (venstre) sammen med Schiller Instituttets stifter og præsident, Helga Zepp-LaRouche (højre); i midten Jason Ross fra Schiller Institute i USA, på konferencen i Bad Soden, Tyskland, 25.-26. nov., 2017.

23. jan., 2018 – Da økonomiplanlæggerne begyndte at udarbejde og bygge dæmninger, vandkraftværker, vandafledning til at yde beskyttelse mod oversvømmelser og bragte elektricitet og lys til Tennessee-dalen under præsident Franklin Roosevelts Tennessee Valley Authority, TVA, indså de meget hurtigt, at arbejdere, der led af malaria, og som ikke kunne læse, ikke ville være i stand til at udføre opgaven. TVA gennemførte et stort, statsligt sundhedsprogram for at forebygge, behandle og helbrede sygdom. De byggede skoler og biblioteker og tilbød undervisning til elever i alle aldre. De etablerede demonstrationer for at lære folk, hvordan de skulle bruge elektriske apparater og gennemførte programmer for forskning og udvikling af ny teknologi og øget produktivitet.

Kina står nu over for en lignende udfordring med ikke alene at bygge infrastrukturen langs med Silkevejen, men også med udvikling af befolkningerne, så de kan få gavn af den. Bælte & Vej Initiativet bringer mere end projekter på »nationalt niveau« til lande, men er også med til at lægge grunden til, at stater og lokalsamfund kan få fordel af dem, som en artikel i People’s Daily i dag udtrykker det.

Artiklen beskriver nogle af de projekter, som kinesiske selskaber bygger, såsom broer, veje, skoler, klinikker og vandprojekter, for lokalsamfund. Ofte bliver disse mindre, nødvendige projekter bygget af Kina gratis, forklarede Yan Li, informationschef hos CITIC Construction. De styrker projekteffektivitet og forbedrer folks liv. Og ikke alle værktøjer, som folk har brug for, er fysiske. Et andet projekt, der forandrer folks liv, er den Digitale Silkevej. Dette er »også vigtigt, for at bygge bro over udviklingssvælget og folks tankegang med promoveringen af videnskab og teknologi.«

TVA, der transformerede en befolkning, der endnu ikke var kommet ud af det 19. århundrede, blev misundt af hvert eneste land i verden, som havde en underudviklet, ludfattig landbefolkning. Nu er det Kina, der har indledt denne transformation i de nationer, der udgør en del af Verdenslandbroen.

Foto: Øverst til venstre: Tennessee Valley Authority, en del af New Deal, underskrives som lov i 1933. Øverst til højre: Præsident Roosevelt var ansvarlig for initiativerne og programmerne under New Deal. Nederst: Maleri på en offentlig mur af en af de kunstnere, der fik arbejde under Works Progress Administration, en del af New Deal.   

Nu må Danmark på banen af formand Tom Gillesberg:
Den franske præsident Emmanuel Macrons besøg i Kina 8.-10. januar, hvor han annoncerede, at Frankrig vil samarbejde tæt med Kina om Xi Jinpings Bælte og Vej-Initiativ, er et glædeligt og dramatisk skifte i international politik. For første gang markerede en vestlig stormagt, tilmed et af de fem permanente medlemmer af FN’s sikkerhedsråd, at man vil forlade det fejlslagne, gamle, vestlige paradigme, hvor man har insisteret på en unipolær verdensorden med USA som verdens politibetjent, der sikrer, at private finansielle interesser med centrum i London og New York kan diktere, hvad der foregår i verdensøkonomien. Hvem, der kan få udvikling og hvem, der skal leve på tredje klasse. Kina har de seneste årtier formået at løfte 700 mio. kinesere ud af dyb fattigdom og ønsker med Bælte & Vej-Initiativet at gøre det samme muligt for resten af verdens nationer. Det anerkendte Macron og erklærede, at Frankrig vil deltage i denne proces, særligt i Afrika, hvor Kina er i gang med at udvirke infrastrukturelle mirakler, og hvor Frankrig har en lang kolonihistorie og (mener Macron) en forståelse for, hvad der rører sig blandt afrikanerne. Han fremhævede, at man ikke må gentage kolonialismens fejltagelser, som han mente, at Frankrig har sin del af ansvaret for, men have en inkluderende investeringspolitik, hvor alle kan være med. …

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Vi har et helt særligt program i dag; med mig i studiet har jeg Jason Ross, og via video fra Sverige har jeg Hussein Askary. Jason og Hussein er begge medforfattere af en ny rapport, der netop er udgivet, med titlen, »Forlæng den Nye Silkevej til Vestasien og Afrika: En vision for en økonomisk renæssance«.

(OBS! Se invitation til seminar i København 5. febr. med Hussein Askary)

[Bemærk: Der er mange billeder, der hver er separat nummererede af de forskellige talere; det er selvfølgelig bedst at se videoen, -red.]

Vært Matthew Ogden: Det er 19. januar, og dette er vores ugentlige fredags-webcast fra larouchepac.com.

Vi har et helt særligt program i dag; med mig i studiet har jeg Jason Ross, og via video fra Sverige har jeg Hussein Askary. Jason og Hussein er begge medforfattere af en ny rapport, der netop er udgivet, med titlen, »Forlæng den Nye Silkevej til Vestasien og Afrika: En vision for en økonomisk renæssance«.

Det bliver emnet for aftenens udsendelse; men før vi kommer til det, vil jeg gerne lægge ud med at sige, at LaRouche Political Action Committee har indledt en national kampagne for at sætte betingelserne for valgene 2018. Som I ser her, er titlen for vores kampagne »Kampagnen for at vinde fremtiden«, og det er titlen på en erklæring, der nu cirkuleres i hele landet. Erklæringens indhold fremlægger de politiske prioriteter, der vil bestemme udfaldet af valgene her i USA i år, med hensyn til dette lands overlevelse. Vi er i det indledende stadie for at indsamle underskrifter på denne erklæring, og vi opfordrer seerne, især her i USA, til at underskrive denne kampagne. URL ses her på skærmen, og I kan også få organisationer i valgkredsene, medlemmer af delstatskongresserne, siddende medlemmer af USA’s Kongres og i særdeleshed kandidater til offentligt (føderalt) embede, til at underskrive denne kampagne.

Indholdet af denne programerklæring er meget signifikant. Den kræver, at USA vedtager Lyndon LaRouches Fire Økonomiske Love, dvs.: Vedtag Glass-Steagall for at rejse en brandmur mellem kommerciel, produktiv bankaktivitet og spekulativ bankaktivitet på Wall Street; for det andet, at indføre et nationalbanksystem (statsligt banksystem) i Alexander Hamiltons tradition; for det tredje, brug billioner af dollar i føderal (statslig) kredit til at løfte det amerikanske folk og for at skabe produktiv beskæftigelse på det højeste og mest avancerede teknologiske niveau; og for det fjerde, sæt et forceret program i gang, der går i retning af udvikling af fusionskraft og udvidelsen af bemandet rumfart.

Det er meget, meget vigtigt, at vi har indledt denne kampagne nu, for vi går nu ind i de sidste 11-dages nedtælling fra nu og frem til præsident Trumps State of the Union-tale den 30. jan. Indholdet af dette politiske programforslag må være bestemmende for præsidentskabets politiske program her i USA. Som I ser, er vore to punkter på dagsordenen 1) Vedtag Lyndon LaRouches Fire Love, og 2) Gå med i den Nye Silkevej.

Det bliver emnet for vores diskussion i dag. For de seere, der evt. ikke ved det, så blev ideen om den Nye Silkevej først udarbejdet af Lyndon og Helga LaRouche i 1980’erne. Det var den daværende Eurasiske Landbro for at udvikle det eurasiske kontinents indlandsområder, som forbinder Øst og Vest. Det blev til den Nye Silkevej og blev kaldt således af præsident Xi Jinping i Kina, da han i 2013 vedtog dette. Det udviklede sig så til Bælte & Vej Initiativet, som var en forbindelse mellem den landbaserede Silkevej og udviklingen af en Maritim Silkevej.

Gennem LaRouche-bevægelsens lederskab udvides dette nu til ikke blot en eurasisk Ny Silkevej, men en Verdenslandbro, der omfatter alle Jordens kontinenter, inklusive Vesteuropa, Central- og Sydamerika, Nordamerika og for vores udsendelse her i dag i særdeleshed, Afrika.

Udviklingen af Afrika har ligesom været en slags lakmusprøve for menneskeheden i dag: Kina har taget denne udfordring op og har bestået prøven og sat standarden, som resten af verden må følge. Vi har set dette inspirere andre nationer, og for nylig har vi haft et meget signifikant gennembrud med den franske præsident Emmanuel Macrons besøg i Kina, hvor han mødtes med præsident Xi Jinping og erklærede, at Frankrig favner billedet af udvikling af verden gennem den Nye Silkevej, inklusive, at Frankrig ønsker at arbejde sammen med Kina om Afrikas udvikling. Dette er måske en bodsgang for Frankrigs kolonialistiske imperiefortid, men det, præsident Macron havde at sige, var meget signifikant.

Som I ser, så holdt han en meget signifikant tale i Xi’an, og i denne tale diskuterede han, hvad Kina har gjort for at udvikle Afrika og for at løfte 700 millioner af sin egen befolkning ud af fattigdom, og at Frankrig nu må imødekomme opfordringen til at deltage i denne udvikling, især udviklingen i Afrika, i partnerskab med Kina. Her følger et par citater af, hvad præsident Macron havde at sige:

»Det er lykkedes Kina i de seneste par årtier at løfte 700 millioner mennesker ud af fattigdom … Men jeg tænker også på Afrika. Kina har i de seneste par år investeret stort i infrastruktur og råmaterialer med en finansiel styrke, som europæiske lande ikke har. Samtidig har Frankrig historisk og kulturel viden om Afrika, som giver det mange aktiver for fremtiden.

Vi må ikke gentage fortidens fejltagelser, med at skabe politisk og finansiel afhængighed under påskud af udvikling … det turde være unødvendigt at sige, at denne udvikling kun vil ske i fællesskab … Frankrig har erfaringen med en ensidig imperialisme i Afrika, der undertiden har ført til det værste, og i dag, med disse nye Silkeveje, der åbner op … Jeg mener, at partnerskabet mellem Frankrig og Kina kan gøre det muligt at undgå en gentagelse af disse fejltagelser … Det er en moralsk udfordring, og jeg håber oprigtigt, at vi kan imødekomme den sammen … Det enorme arbejde, der gøres med infrastruktur og økonomisk udvikling, vil give et nyt ansigt til disse nye Silkeveje på det afrikanske kontinent.«

Som præsident Macron sagde, »det er en moralsk udfordring«; og nu får Afrika, der har været et af de mest underudviklede, fejlernærede, forarmede og tilbagestående steder på planeten, muligheden for en renæssance og for at blive et knudepunkt for udvikling for hele dette område af planeten.

Som jeg sagde, så er titlen på aftenens udsendelse »Forlæng den Nye Silkevej til Vestasien og Afrika«, og jeg vil lade Jason Ross introducere jer til Hussein Askary, og vi kan diskutere indholdet af denne specialrapport, der netop er udgivet.

Jason Ross: Jeg tror, vi skal gå direkte til Hussein nu. Hussein Askary har arbejdet i området i mange år. Han er den, der oversatte EIR’s Specialrapport, »Den Nye Silkevej bliver til Verdenslandbroen« til arabisk og lancerede denne oversættelse i Kairo på et møde med den egyptiske transportminister.

Hussein har arbejdet meget på dette. Sammen har vi skrevet denne 274-siders rapport, I ser her. I kan få en kopi af denne rapport på Amazon og direkte gennem vores site også, [LPAC.CO/ExtendedSilkRoad], I ser linket her for neden, for at få en kopi.

Og hermed, lad os høre fra Hussein.

(Her følger et engelsk udskrift af resten af udsendelsen).

HUSSEIN ASKARY:  Thank you, Jason and Matt.  I’m very happy
to be on this show.  The writing of this report, actually, which
took us several months last year, together with you, Jason, and a
great team of collaborators in the Schiller Institute, it was a
bit of a paradox, because we were writing this report from the
standpoint of the future, and therefore the tone is optimism in
the report.   But at the same time, when you look at the news
from Southwest Asia, which people wrongly call the “Middle East,”
and Africa,  the news that these regions are, you know,
hell-holes and people are fleeing from there by tens of
thousands, there’s famines, there’s wars, and all kinds of
things.  But, if you keep digging your feet into that so-called
“reality,” which is artificially created by geopolitics, you will
never come out and you will never be able to think clearly to
solve the problem.
And therefore, as Lyndon LaRouche always says, it’s the
future that determines the present.  It’s our vision of the
future which gives us the inspiration and the means of thinking
to change our behavior today.  And this is something which we
hope that with this report, too, and all the other campaigns we
are having, to change the minds of people, and of leadership,
whether it’s in the United States or Europe, or Southwest Asia,
or Africa — anywhere.
At the same time, we are not naïve, we are not in the ivory
tower, sitting and drawing nice baths, but this is a very
scientific study, based on LaRouche’s idea of physical economy,
but also they are philosophical and humanist principles
throughout this whole report and the project we are designing,
which goes both humanist Christian tradition and also the
Confucian humanist Chinese tradition.  We have provided for the
readers of this report, a complete picture of what are the tools
needed, whether physically, or intellectually, scientifically and
morally, to be able to reach this future we are outlining in the
report.
And we are not simply just reporting on “great things” that
have already happened, that China is doing, but we are drawing a
map towards the future: A future which Lyndon LaRouche already,
more than 30 years ago, when the African Union published the
Lagos Plan of Action for the development of Africa, he criticized
the reaction to that policy by saying that you cannot adhere to
the existing financial and economic and moral policies of the
existing order, and at the same time achieve the development
goals of Africa.  You have to have a complete shift.  And that
shift is what Helga Zepp-LaRouche, the president of the Schiller
Institute now says is the New Paradigm, the New Paradigm which
has been launched by China and its partners in the BRICS, Russia
and other nations, and many more nations are joining.
Now, if we look at the first slide, the Silk Road, this is
what Matt said in terms of our development of the idea — the
LaRouches’ development of the idea of the World Land-Bridge, to
bring all the continents together.  Now, the New Silk Road is
already reaching West Asia and Africa.  Egypt has been building
the new Suez Canal to adapt to the Maritime Silk Road, and the
other nations, like Ethiopia, Kenya, and others are already in
collaboration and new railway systems have been built.  So
already on the ground, that’s taking place.
But what is needed is a larger vision which we provide.
Now, also we have to reverse many of the old policies which have
been followed, which have kept Africa impoverished, such as, for
more than 200 years, Africa has been considered by the European
colonialists and their partners across the Atlantic, as a looting
ground — whether it is slavery, whether it is raw materials,
plantations, and so on.  And unfortunately, after World War II,
the vision of Franklin Roosevelt was not implemented, because he
died before the end of the war, and a wholly new type of
creatures took over in the United States.  And the United States
also, with the “special relationship” with the British Empire
became a partner in the looting of Africa. And companies we have,
like Anglo American, which is a corporation called Anglo
American, very active in mining in Africa — I mean, the name
tells you all about it.
But we just take a look at what has been happening in Africa
in at least the last 10-15 years, the attitude,  — that’s what
is fascinating with the New Paradigm — the attitude of Europe
and the United States toward Africa has always been that “Africa
is a problem,” while the Chinese see Africa as an “opportunity.”
Therefore, the focus by Europe and the United States, while they
were looting the continent, were just pushing aid programs.  Now,
the slide we have, number 2, here, is the “Foreign Direct
Investments in Africa,” where we see the United States is the
blue line on the top, and China is the red line, which is
increasing steadily.  The United States, something funny happened
in 2008 — there was the financial/economic crisis — then you
have a dip in investments in Africa, but also what happens in the
United States is that the first African-American President is
elected.  And you see, from 2009, U.S. investments in Africa
completely collapsed and came down to zero by 2015, while the
Chinese investments increased.
Now, there’s a flip side to this argument, is because most
of the U.S. investments in Africa are in the oil and mining
sector. And with the collapse of the oil and mining prices, there
was no more interest; and Mr. Obama also launched the largest
fracking operation on Earth in the United States, to make the
United States the biggest producers of fossil fuels in the world.
But China’s investments continued all the same.
In the next slide, number 3, we see the level of investments
by the Export Import Banks of the United States on the one hand,
which is the blue line which is completely dead, on the bottom;
the United States does not issue credit for exports any more to
Africa.  But then we have the China Exim Bank increasing its
investments, and more interestingly, is that the World Bank,
which is the top, and you see where the failure of Western policy
in Africa has been: The World Bank has been investing more than
China in Africa, but it’s a completely misdirected investment.
It’s on tiny, tiny, small programs, there is no financing of
large-scale infrastructure as China does; there are no
transformative projects, and no new technology.
In the next slide, we can see we have a lot of hypocrisy,
saying that the Chinese want to come into Africa to loot African
natural resources, and this image, number 4, shows a very clear
picture that it is actually the United States and the Western
countries, but with the United States, the investments in Africa
have been mostly in the mining sector and the Chinese investments
have been very diversified, in construction, manufacturing,
mining, and others, such as agriculture, for example.
We can see also, the next slide, is Britain.  Now, China is
the largest, and people think, is not the largest investor in
Africa, yet.  It’s the United States and Britain which have been
the biggest investors in Africa.  But as we showed the United
States is mostly interested in mining, energy, and metals; and
here we have Britain, you can see the last 10 years of
investments. [“U.K. Foreign Direct Investment Positions in
Africa, 2005-2014”]  And the last two columns in the breakdown
into types of investments: The red one is mining, and the light
blue is in the financial sector, which is also looting Africa’s
financial resources.
So that’s really the picture. And in the final slide in this
group, number 5, we have where the investments of the Import
Export Banks have gone:  The United States has 71% of all loans
from the Exim Bank, although it has been very, very little, but
70% of it is in the mining sector; while China, the greatest
chunk of the Exim Bank investments has been in the transportation
sector.  And of course, there’s mining and energy,
communications, water, and other — very, very important sectors
for Africa’s development.
Now, what we have, in addition to this looting of Africa, we
have the hypocrisy which is very rampant in the West, like in
Europe and the United States, that “we have to help Africa.” Now,
when they talk about “helping Africa” is simply very small relief
projects to keep things as they are.  And they usually talk about
“sustainable development.”  Now, “sustainable development” does
not mean that you build modern technology, technologies that we
have in the United States or in Europe, whether it’s in transport
or power generation; it is absolutely forbidden to support roads,
railways, nuclear power, hydropower — there is nothing like
that.  What they are proposing is simply, as President Obama, as
we show in one of the slides, when he went to Africa, his idea,
he had projects called “Power Africa,” for power generation in
Africa, and we looked at the numbers and you know, the goal of
Obama’s Power Africa is to keep Africa exactly as it is, with
very, very slight changes here and there.  And also what was
being proposed was this idea of using solar energy, which
everybody knows is not efficient to have a modern, industrialized
economy.
So this has been a real problem in dealing with Africa.  And
as we have seen, that China has completely different idea about
Africa —

ROSS:  Hussein, why don’t we switch over to a clip we have
of President Obama explaining what he thinks about African energy
development?

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:  It’s going to be your generation
that suffers the most.  Ultimately, if you think about all the
youth that everybody’s mentioned here in Africa, if everybody’s
raising living standards to the point where everybody’s got a
car, and everybody’s got air conditioning and everybody’s got a
big house, well, the planet will boil over. [end video]

ROSS:  That was President Obama in South Africa.

ASKARY:  And in fact, that’s really revealing, because
that’s his soul speaking, because they consider human beings as a
burden.  Now, the United Nations statistics say that by 2050, the
bulk of the world’s population growth will take place in Africa.
And of the additional 2.5 billion new people, projected to be
born between 2015 and 2050, 1.3 billion will be added in Africa,
which means Africa’s population will reach about 3 billion
people.  Now, for Obama and the Malthusians this is a huge
problem.  But for China, this is a great opportunity!
And if we look, in 2015, which is very interesting, a
complete contrast with what Obama’s saying, when President Xi
Jinping went to South Africa, the same place where Obama was
speaking, in December 2015 at the Forum on China-Africa
Cooperation (FOCAC), this is slide number 10, President Xi
Jinping said something very interesting, which is really the
spirit of the New Paradigm: What he told the African leaders is,
I quote, “Industrialization is an inevitable path to a country’s
economic success.  Within a short span of several decades, China
has accomplished what took developed countries hundreds of years
to accomplish and put in place a complete industrial system with
an enormous productive capacity.” And then he continues and says,
“It is entirely possible for Africa, as the world’s most
promising region in terms of development potential, to bring into
play its advantages and achieve great success.  The achievement
of inclusive and sustainable development within Africa, hinges on
industrialization, which holds the key to creating jobs,
eradicating poverty, and improving people’s living standards.”
Now, wow!  What a contrast!  President Xi Jinping said that
by using modern technology as scientific development, we have
achieved miracles in China and this really applies to Africa,
too, as developing nations.  And he means it.  So the Chinese now
have turned the whole idea of :sustainable development” upside
down.  What people think in Europe and the United States about
sustainable development means, pumps for water, the small solar
panels — no!  China’s talking about [industrialization] and it’s
also the latest, the state-of-the-art technology available.
Because this is also interesting from a economic-scientific
standpoint, because what China experienced that instead of going
back to square one, going back to the industrialization process
where the United States and Europe started, with the steam engine
— no, you start not with that, you start with the best
technology available today, and that’s high-speed railway for
example.  The same thing applies to Africa.

ROSS:  You know, Hussein, you and I were both at a
conference in November in Germany, in Bad Soden, and one of the
speakers there was a Chinese professor He Wenping, who gave some
talks about Chinese approach towards Africa.  And since you’re
bringing up what China’s policy is, why don’t run a short clip of
what she had to say, to hear it from a Chinese person directly?

DR. HE WINPING:  But now, I think One Belt, One Road is
entering 2.0 version–that is, now facing all the countries in
the world. As President Xi Jinping mentioned to the Latin
American countries, “you are all welcome to join the Belt and
Road.” In the Chinese “40 Minutes,” Xi said, all the African
continent is now on the map of the One Belt, One Road, the whole
African continent, especially after the May Belt and Road Summit
in Beijing had taken place. …
China’s One Belt, One Road initiative is relevant to
countries, their own development strategy. For example, Ethiopia.
Ethiopia has now been named as the “next China” on the African
continent. It’s not my invention, these words–many scholars have
been published talking about which country in Africa is going to
be the China in Africa, which means, developing faster! Faster
and leading other countries forward. Most of them refer to
Ethiopia.
Ethiopia has now reached an GDP growth rate, last year, as
high as 8%…
So very quickly, let’s move to Africa. In Africa, we have
commitment, that is the FOCAC, the full name is the Forum on
China-Africa Cooperation. This forum was established in 2000, and
every three years there is a FOCAC meeting. The FOCAC meeting in
2015 took place in Johannesburg, South Africa. In that meeting,
President Xi Jinping joined the meeting, put forward ten
cooperation plans, and pledged the money–as high as $60
billion–to cover all ten areas: industrialization, agriculture,
infrastructure, finance, environmental protection, and more.
The Belt and Road is very good for Africa’s job creation. A
lot of money has been earmarked to use for the industrialization
of Africa. Let me just highlight in my last two minutes, the two
areas, like two engines–like in an airplane, if you want to take
off, you need two engines: One is industrialization, another is
infrastructure. Without good infrastructure, there’s no basis for
industrialization–short of electricity, short of power, short of
roads, and then it’s very hard to make industry take off.
We have done a lot. Africa now is rising. Before, Africa was
regarded as a hopeless continent, more than 15 years ago. But
now, with kite flying over, now it’s Africa’s rising time….
Just to show you another infrastructure map: the Mombasa to
Nairobi railway that was just finished at the end of May. We are
going to build the second phase, from Nairobi all the way to
Malaba in Uganda, and then that’s an East African Community
network. When this railway was finished–this is President Uhuru
Kenyatta, saying this laid the foundation for industrialization.
This shows people celebrating this railway connection, and this
shows a man holding a paper saying “Comfortable, convenient, very
soft, safe, and very beautiful.” And here, very beautiful at 100
years old, a grandmother. [applause] [end video]

ASKARY:  Yes, that’s the spirit, that’s the spirit of things
that are happening in Africa, which is fantastic.  But it’s also
a certain projection of the happiness of the Chinese people and
their leadership in what they have achieved in their own country.
So China’s saying, we have done this ourselves, you can do it,
and we are committed to offering you everything we have achieved,
so you can also achieve yours.  It’s a win-win policy:  It’s good
for you, it’s good for us.
It’s completely different from what we have seen in the
Western policy, which hopefully will change — what we mentioned
about President Macron, what he had said is really shocking for
me, too. And you see that the New Paradigm, it changes people’s
souls.  And this is very, very important that we are becoming
more human than before, with these great achievements
So in any case, what we do in this report is, we took for
example, if you look at slide 12, this is a map which the African
Union put together in the Lagos Plan of Action in 1982.  But
nothing has been done.  This is for highways.  Now, we don’t
prefer to have trucks travelling 10,000km from north to south; we
prefer more high-speed railway, standard gauge railways, and so
on.  But this is the kind of vision which existed, but it was
never implemented.
Our vision of connecting the whole African continent, and
also with the so-called Middle East, that this could be done now.
We also believe that the Chinese intention is the same: To
integrate all of the African nations, the populations and the
natural resources of these nations, and utilize them for the
development of Africa itself.  Now, in 2014, which is my next
slide [slide 13], the Prime Minister of China, Li Keqiang, went
on a tour in Africa.  This picture is his meeting with the
leaders of the East African Community, which Professor He Wenping
just mentioned in her speech in the video you showed.  He told
the African leaders that China’s intention is to help connect all
the African capitals with high-speed railway.  One interesting
thing which the Africans themselves say, is that when the Chinese
want to do something here economically, when they want to help,
they are not like the Europeans.  The President of Uganda said,
they don’t come here with lessons in democracy; they come here to
build things, they are not lecturing us.  This is very
interesting because China is not imposing anything on any nation.
It’s inviting others and offering its capabilities.  This was in
May 2014, and in just three years, we have the first standard
gauge railway which is in the next slide [slide 14]; Uhuru
Kenyatta, very proud, inaugurating the railway from Mombasa to
Kenya.  There was a British line which was called the Lunatic
train, which was very slow, but it was designed to loot African
wealth.  And also the Djibouti to Addis Ababa railway was built,
also in three years in record time, and so on and so forth.  So,
China is winning African hearts and minds by doing these
investments, but doing them in record time and with no
conditionalities involved.
In addition of course, some of the mega-projects which we
are demanding be built and encouraging being built in Africa with
China’s help, for example we have in slide 15 the Transaqua
Project, which is an Italian-designed project to both refill Lake
Chad, which is drying up and threatening 30 million people’s
lives with drought.  To bring just 5% of the water of the
tributaries of the Congo River to Lake Chad through an artificial
canal.  But at the same time, connect East and West Africa with
railway and roads to open these countries, which are Rwanda,
Burundi, and Eastern Congo, the Central African Republic, Chad,
and so on.  These nations need outlets to world markets and also
to import useful machines and so on.  So, we have been
propagating, as the Schiller Institute, for many years and trying
to get the European Union and the United States to support this
project; but they rejected it.  Now China is proposing to start
looking at this project, and a Memorandum of Understanding was
signed with the Lake Chad Commission to have a feasibility study
of this project; which is a huge project, but it will transform
large parts of Africa, not because of the water itself, but
because of the old infrastructure involved in the central part of
Africa.  The next slide [slide 15] outlines the impact area of
this whole project.  It will create massive agro-industrial
centers in that part of Africa which is suffering the most.  The
biggest migration from Africa is from these regions into Europe.
But instead of having all those young people drowning in the
Mediterranean, trying to flee to Europe looking for a decent
life, they can stay in their countries now and build their
countries by giving them the tools to do that.
Of course, there are also other projects, but what’s
interesting about the Belt and Road is that it’s also inspiring,
not just helping countries, but inspiring countries to undertake
plans which have been dormant for many years.  But now the time
has come; for example, the new Suez Canal project.  There is also
connecting to Europe from Morocco, which is the next slide [slide
16]; building a tunnel under the Strait of Gibraltar, connecting
Morocco and Spain; and building a high-speed railway, the first
high-speed railway in Africa is being built now in Morocco.
There are new ports being built, and also a scientific,
industrial city being built in cooperation with China.  We have
another connection between Africa and Europe; we have still not
given up on Europe.  We want Europe to its and technological
potential to contribute to this project and help itself by
contributing to Africa’s development.  We have the Sicily to
Tunis tunnel and bridge connection to connect North Africa also
to Europe; this is a mega-project, and so on and so forth.  We
have also the Grand Inga Dam which China is now interested in
building on the Congo River, which will produce a huge amount of
hydropower — 40,000MW of power — which is twice as big as the
biggest dam in the world which the Chinese built in China; the
Three Gorges Dam.  The Inga Dam, or series of dams, will be twice
as big as the Chinese Three Gorges Dam, and a Chinese company has
made an offer to the government of the Democratic Republic of
Congo; and there’s also a counterbid by a Spanish company.
People should read the report; they should look at all the
content and try to understand it with a completely new eye.  The
eye of the New Paradigm, which I think is very important.  In
conclusion, what I wanted to say initially, is that as we have in
the last slide [slide 19] is this region which people call the
Middle East; we call is Southwest Asia.  It has been a horrific
scene for the worst results of geopolitics and power politics.
Regime change in Libya; regime change in Iraq; attempted regime
change in Syria supporting terrorist groups.  We have a horrible
war in Yemen which should end immediately.  It’s the worst
humanitarian catastrophe in the world right now, taking place in
Yemen.  You look at this region and say “How could this region
get out of this Hell?”  This is what Helga Zepp-LaRouche said:
This year we should kill geopolitics.  We should end geopolitics.
The idea that nations have to undermine other nations; that
nations are in competition with each other; that you have to
weaken your adversaries; you have to undermine them, you have to
kill them, you have to ruin their economy, destroy their
infrastructure, so you can become a winner.  That ideology is not
really human.  This has to end now and be replaced by the
“win-win” idea, which is the more human kind of idea.  The
potential for enormous development exists in this region.  It’s
the crossroads of the continents.  Both the Belt and the Road
pass through there.  Forty percent of world trade passes through
there.  You have natural resources, you have human resources, you
have rivers; you have every element necessary to have a massive
development process in this region, which will be the basis for
establishing peace among the nations of this region and also the
big powers.  If the United States joins Russia and China in
developing this region, this would be the biggest test for
mankind.  Of course, Africa is very important, but we have things
happening in Africa.  But, we still have a horrible situation in
Southwest Asia, which can lead into new and maybe bigger wars
than before.  Therefore, I think what Helga is saying that if we
use the Belt and Road idea, the idea of “win-win”, to crush
geopolitics, this would be victory not only for the countries of
this region; this will be a victory for all humankind.

ROSS:  Absolutely!  It’s a victory for a concept of mankind.
One example that comes to mind is Yemen.  Yemen is under constant
Saudi bombardment; they’ve been victims of a war by the Saudis
for some time now.  Yemen has a very powerful movement within it
for integration with the BRICS; a real sense of “Hey!  Even
though our conditions right now are what they are, this is our
future; and we’ve got to have that future in mind.  That’s what
we’re going to make happen.”
You think about the economic potential of Africa, and as you
said, it’s so clear, it’s so obvious the economic potential in
West Asia and Africa.  Geopolitics is what has prevented this
development.  It’s not that Africa didn’t get the help that it
needed; China is showing that it’s an obvious thing to do.  It
was a deliberate decision to prevent development and to hold
Africa back for the purposes — as you described — of looting.
A couple of examples that you brought up, just to bring out the
contrast a little bit more: You brought up the Grand Inga Dam
which would be located in the Democratic Republic of Congo; one
of the poorest, most energy-poor per capita, very low energy
availability.  It’s got the perfect site for a hydroelectric dam
complex, making enough electricity for tens of millions of
people.  The World Bank pulls out funding on it, because it’s a
big project which of course, they’re not going to touch because
it would have a major development impact.
What I’d like to actually show is another voice from Africa.
Professor He Wenping had mentioned that Ethiopia is sort of the
China of Africa, and other African diplomats will say this as
well; that Addis Ababa is sort of the unofficial capital of
Africa.  I don’t know if everyone in Africa agrees with that.
But I’d like to hear from Dr. Alexander Demissie, who also spoke
at the Schiller Institute conference in November, and hear from
him from a direct African perspective, what the impact of Chinese
investment has been and what the future can be in Africa.
DR. ALEXANDER DEMISSIE:  So today, what I’m trying to
discuss with you, or to present to you, is what is actually this
Belt and Road Initiative and how is that connected to Africa?
What kind of long-term impacts when we talk about the Belt and
Road Initiative and Africa?
So, this is a map [Fig. 1] I always present when I do
presentations, and I ask people, “What do you see here?”  It’s a
very simple question.  But what do you see here?  Yes, you should
see something.  So, it’s a rhetorical question; I’m not expecting
you to answer me.  But it takes usually several minutes until
people realize what they see here.  You see the absence of the
American continent; that’s what you see here.  The absence of the
American continent.  By saying this, you see that the Belt and
Road Initiative, the Chinese version of the Belt and Road
Initiative, is absolutely Eurasian-oriented; meaning that
starting in China, it is primarily Eurasian-oriented.  The idea
of the Belt and Road Initiative — probably even your idea back
in the ’70s — is the Land-Bridge that we have been discussing
yesterday and today.  Within this picture or map, you will see
also Africa.  Africa is prominent, Africa is not entirely in the
center, but on the left side; and it should be part of the Belt
and Road idea.  It’s primarily an infrastructural undertaking, so
the Belt and Road Initiative we don’t have yet political
institutionalization.  We have infrastructural ideas, we have
corridors; but we don’t have yet political institutions.  If we
talk about the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank or the Silk
Road Bank, these are just connected to infrastructure; they are
not political ideas.  And interestingly, this idea fits perfectly
into the current African needs.  What are the current African
needs?  The current Africa need is infrastructure development.
Africa wants infrastructure and the aspiration — I’m going back
here to the Agenda 2063, that has also coincidentally been coming
up 2013 together with the Belt and Road Initiative.  Africa wants
a good infrastructure connection, a good internal
interconnectivity.  So, the idea coming from China is perfectly
fitting into the idea actually happening or discussed within the
Africa continent.
We see now an actor coming in.  China is an actor coming in
and literally taking or doing part of those needed works.  This
is a huge — at least from the African perspective — this is a
huge plus for many African countries.  The idea of the Belt and
Road Initiative, which is actually coming only in 2013; we see
that it is helping what has been taking place on the continent
between China and African countries since the year 2000.  We see
this that China has clearly declared that they would like to see
Chinese-African cooperation moving into development of highways,
regional aviation networks, or industrialization.  Also we see
that China has been given a lot of clarity to the African Union’s
infrastructure development for Africa.  This program has
approximately 51 different programs, and this is translated into
400 different physical projects.  I speak about ports, and
streets, and telecommunication lines, whatever you require for a
nation to function, or for a continent to function.
What we see in Africa now is that since at least two years,
there is a growing corridorization in the China-Africa
relationship.  As corridorization, I mean that not single
countries are any more important, but entire regions are becoming
more important for China.  This is a huge departure from a
single, bilateral country-based approach towards corridor
development.  If you look at Africa corridors, the map on the
right [Fig. 2], we see right now as we speak today, there are
around 33 different corridors that have either been developed, or
are under development, or are thought out and need to be
developed.  Corridors do nothing else than combine two different
areas, and by doing so also creating a development initiative, a
development paradigm.
Let’s go to East Africa.  So now, this is Africa; I’m aware
that the plans for these things have been in the drawer for a
long time.  We know also that a lot of American research
institutes played a very good role in creating those plans in the
’50s and ’60s, especially in Ethiopia.  The Grand Renaissance Dam
that is being built in Ethiopia, goes back to American scientists
that have been creating those ideas in the ’60s.  It’s being
built already now.  So, a lot of ideas in East Africa have been
already on the table for decades, but no one was able or willing
to pay for it.  But now a lot of money is coming out of China, so
these infrastructure — and how this can change the life of the
people is easily described.  The transportation of cargo from the
Djibouti port to Addis Ababa used to take three days.  Now, with
the train, it’s already 10 hours.  So now we can imagine what
kind of economic activity will happen to this one corridor
development, or one infrastructure within this community. [end
video]

ROSS:  I just wanted to read another short excerpt from
Alexander Demissie.  Towards the end of his presentation, he
said, “The problem as I see it, is that the traditional partners
are still in the old paradigm of thinking.  They still think with
traditional assumptions.  Africa is seen as an aid-dependent
continent; not a continent full of opportunities.  It is still
seen with the wrong mindset.  This is one of the biggest
problems, and it has to change.”
So, I think our report does a very thorough job of
addressing the whole gamut of issues here.  What the historical
errors have been, or not errors, but cruelties or injustices that
have occurred towards Africa, towards Southwest Asia with the use
of geopolitics, with the use of looting rather than development.
As well as what some of the ideas are today that hold back the
potential for development.  The ways that environmentalism is
used; the ways that there shouldn’t be any net growth of the
human species are used.  This is the basis, for example, for the
World Bank refusing any loans to coal or to large hydro plants.
But you’re not going to develop a continent with solar panels, as
much as Obama might have wanted to have done that.
The other issues are in regards to economics.  That there is
this prevailing and totally wrong view about economics that looks
for financial returns as being the metric; as opposed to going
beyond GDP and saying how are we changing life expectancies?  How
are we changing productive potential?  What’s the long-term value
of helping a nation to develop in a partnership?  This is the
sort of thing.  So, the report goes through all of this; it goes
through what the specific projects are that are needed.  It goes
through something that’s very important for policymakers — how
to finance it.  How the hopes of trying to get investment, of
trying to get loans from private banks for these big projects;
it’s simply not going to fly.  The use of national banking, as
China has done both domestically as well as with its ExIm Bank
with these two large rail projects in Africa in particular in
Kenya and the Addis Ababa to Djibouti railroad.
So, I think we’ve heard from China, we’ve heard from
Southwest Asia, we’ve heard from Africa.  Let me ask you,
Hussein, if you have any words that you would like to direct
towards our American viewers.  What would you tell Americans?
What should we be doing?

ASKARY:  Exactly!  I had also in mind to say that, because
we need to hear from Americans.  I don’t think it’s a good idea
that the United States is not on the map of the Belt and Road;
but I think a different United States should be involved.  I’m
very sure that if President Franklin Roosevelt, President
Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King must be very happy now for what
is now already starting to happen in Africa.  They might feel
sorry for the lost time, but I’m sure they are happy.  Americans
should look back at that best of American tradition and work with
ideas of Lyndon LaRouche and the LaRouche PAC and LaRouche’s
associates, because the United States will not become great again
with the team that President Trump has.  America will be great
again with the ideas that the LaRouche PAC, the ideas of Franklin
Roosevelt, the Hamiltonian idea of a national credit system,
rather than depending on Wall Street.  These things will make
America great again, but it also will help the United States to
have a completely different policy in the world; which will make
the people around the world see the United States with completely
different eyes.  Right now, the United States is not so liked
around the world; not because of Trump, but because of previous
administrations’ war policies, their hypocrisy.  As you showed in
Obama’s case, their policies would lead to genocide.  So, the
United States is not really a popular country around the world,
but this can shift.  In order for that shift to happen, there
should be a shift inside the United States in the mind and the
soul of the American people.  I’m sure the kind of work you are
doing in LaRouche PAC would help greatly.

OGDEN:  And that’s exactly what we are doing with this
campaign to win the future statement.  As I said in the beginning
of the show, we’re initiating a national mobilization to bring
together all of the constituent layers — regardless of party,
political orientation — around a vision of economic development
for the United States and for the world.  If you just imagine the
kind of way that the world could be transformed in the next 15 or
20 years with what China has begun doing in Africa; something
that people thought was impossible.  They just disregarded Africa
and said well, this is just where you’re going to have
impoverishment and backwardness.  Now, this could seriously
become a hub of development for the planet.  But take that and
extend it across the Bering Strait into the Americas; have a rail
link between Eurasia and North America.  Then imagine an entire
development corridor down through the central part of North
America, through the heartland, the farm country in the Midwest;
down through Mexico, across the Darien Gap into Central and South
America.  Then also, extend the Maritime Silk Road to the
Caribbean.  That vision of what could happen in the Western
Hemisphere is the extension of the sort of optimism that you now
see China bringing to Africa.
So, as I said, I think it’s the great moral test.  Emmanuel
Macron was absolutely right; he said it’s a moral challenge what
the nations of the world do to collaborate to bring development
to the African continent.  I think we can be very happy that it’s
because of the leadership over decades of the LaRouche movement,
of you Hussein.  What you’ve been doing; what you did to
collaborate with Jason to put together this extraordinary Special
Report.  I know that this is being listened to in the highest
levels of power across the African continent and in Southwest
Asia; we have evidence of that.  The invitation that you
received, Hussein, from the Egyptian Transportation Ministry, and
other examples.  So, we have to proceed with that kind of
confidence that we are, indeed, shaping the policy for the
future.
So, let me put on the screen one more time; this is the
vision of an economic renaissance — this is the Special Report
that Jason and Hussein collaborated in authoring.  That is
available; you can find the link to that on the screen here —
LPAC.CO/ExtendedSilkRoad.  It’s a very thorough, book-length
Special Report.  This is something that is not just important for
the African leaders and for China.  This is something that is
very important for the United States.  This is something that we
should be considering when we talk about what is US foreign
policy, and those disgraceful graphics about the plummeting of US
investment into Africa over the course of the last eight years
during the Obama administration.  That needs to be reversed; and
it needs to be reversed by bringing the United States and China
into a “win-win” collaboration for the development of these
areas.
We are going to proceed with this campaign to win the
future.  And we’re asking you to endorse this, to join our
mobilization, and to make sure that this becomes the policy
parameter for the 2018 election.  None of the melodrama, not the
soap operas, not all of the secondary and tertiary issues.  These
are the questions which will determine the future of the United
States and the survival of our country and what our role is in
respect to this New Paradigm that we’ve just been discussing on
the show today.
So, again, we have 11 days between now and President Trump’s
State of the Union address.  We are putting these two items on
the agenda.  The United States must adopt LaRouche’s Four
Economic Laws, and the United States must join the New Silk Road.
So, Hussein, is there anything that you want to say in
conclusion before we end this show today?  Any special messages
for our viewers, both in the United States and internationally?

ASKARY:  I think it’s a great opportunity for people now to
get this report, take to themselves the scientific, even
philosophical and other ideas that are in the report which are
necessary.  As you said, it’s for everyone; it’s not only for
Africans.  I think the main target of the report should be
Europeans and Americans, because we need these kinds of ideas
more than at any time before.  We have problems here in Europe
with the infrastructure, with unemployment.  You have massive
problems in the United States.  You need to have these ideas for
your own sake, too; but there is enormous potential that exists
in Europe and the United States that could be revived.  But that
has to be done in the right way; and the right way was outlined
by Mr. LaRouche, but we put it in very clear terms in this
report.  I hope people will get the report and learn something
and push the policymakers in the United States to also do the
same.

OGDEN:  Wonderful.  Thank you very much, Hussein, for
joining us.  And thank you to Jason for joining me here.  I think
we have a lot more to come.  So, a very exciting report here
today.  Help us circulate this video; send it out to everybody
that you know; share it on social media.  Let’s get these ideas
to permeate the United States.  Thank you very much and please
stay tuned to larouchepac.com.

Leder fra LaRouche PAC, USA, 16. jan., 2018 – Vi bliver presset fra alle sider, i USA og i den transatlantiske sektor, til at synke ned på et lavpunkt, med hensyn til økonomi, kultur og moral. Under angreb fra dem, der forsvarer City of Londons/Wall Streets døende, monetaristiske system, presses vi til at fiksere på spørgsmål og »emner«, der har til formål at holde vores tankegang fangen, som i en fælde: »Hvad sagde Trump, eller hvad sagde han ikke?« Alt imens kendsgerningerne står klart: Vi må gå med i den Nye Silkevejs impuls for udvikling. USA skal med om bord. LaRouche PAC’s 2018 Platform; »Kampagnen for at vinde fremtiden«, blev udgivet i går for at mobilisere en styrke, der kan få dette til at ske.

En ny erklæring er nu under udarbejdelse, om at bringe den Nye Silkevej til de amerikanske kontinenter. Se på størrelsesordenen af krisen i Caribien og Mellemamerika! Fejlernæring af børn er f.eks. på over 17 % i Caribien. I Haiti er 47 % af børn fejlernærede; 80 % lever i fattigdom. I dele af Mellemamerika ser vi samme billede. Dette er de rene helveder på vores halvkugle.

Der findes ingen måde, hvorpå vi kan »løse« de »dagens spørgsmål«, der er åbenbare i USA – dvs., narkoepidemien, »migranter«, grænsesikkerhed, mistede jobs osv. – uden samtidig også at styrke Caribien, Mellemamerika og Mexico; samt de amerikanske kontinenter i deres helhed.

Det samme kan siges om Afrika, Sydvestasien og Europa. I Subsahara-Afrika har vi en fejlernæringsprocent på 22. Lægehjælp er en sjældenhed. De kampe, der er en følge af den onde politik for »regimeskifte«, har gjort millioner af mennesker fra Nordafrika og Sydvestasien, i Libyen, Irak, Syrien og Yemen, hjemløse. Godt og vel 1 million mennesker har søgt tilflugt i Europa siden 2015. I 2017 druknede flere end 3.000 mennesker, mens de forsøgte at krydse Middelhavet.

Se så på, hvad Kina gør i samarbejde med nationer i Afrika. Foreløbig har man bygget 6.200 km moderne jernbaner, eller de er under konstruktion, sammen med også kraftværker, dæmninger og andre projekter. Den kinesiske udenrigsminister Wang Yi har netop afsluttet en turne til fire afrikanske nationer, hvor flere projekter blev planlagt. Præsident for Asiatisk Infrastruktur-Investeringsbank (AIIB), Jin Liqun, udtalte i denne uge, på toårsdagen for bankens oprettelse, at den vil udvide lån til Afrika og også til Sydamerika. (Se Schiller Instituttets Specialrapport: »Forlæng den Nye Silkevej til Vestasien og Afrika: En vision for en økonomisk renæssance«,  af Hussein Askary[1] og Jason Ross.)

Se så på de amerikanske lande, og på, hvad Kina gør dér. Den 19.-22. jan. vil Wang Li deltage i Sammenslutningen af Latinamerikanske og Caribiske Staters (CELAC) møde for at diskutere udviklingsplaner og øge det strategiske samarbejde mellem de to områder »til et højere niveau«, hvorefter han vil tage på statsbesøg til Chile og Uruguay, der begge er entusiastiske tilhængere af Bælte & Vej Initiativet.

Forestil jer en »rygrad«, der består af en udviklingskorridor, som løber fra Sydamerikas sydligste spids mod nord gennem Darién-gabet (en sump- og skovafbrydelse af den panamerikanske hovedvej mellem Panama og Columbia, -red.) og Mellemamerika, fortsætter mod nord over USA’s og Canadas højsletter og ind i Alaska og videre til Beringstræde-tunnelforbindelsen til Asien og Europa. I USA ville denne nye korridor skabe en vej til at »genbefolke« (med nye byer, industri og landbrug) landbrugsamterne i de centrale, amerikanske stater, som i de seneste år har haft de højeste rater af udvandring, narkomisbrug og selvmord i nationen.

At virkeliggøre udvikling på en sådan skala kan ikke simpelt hen gøres »fra bunden og op«, men kræver derimod prioriterede forsknings- og udviklingsprojekter og lokaliteter, der har evnen til at hæve produktiviteten med en kvantespringsvirkning. Blandt de vigtige centre er centrene for rumraketopsendelse i det ækvatoriale, nordøstlige Sydamerika. I Puerto Rico – som stadig er hjemsøgt efter orkanerne Irma og Maria, samt af manglen på genopbygning – er der mulighed for en »Indfaldshavn til de amerikanske lande« på øens sydkyst ved Ponce, som vil være et knudepunkt på den Nye Silkevej.

Dette storslåede perspektiv for de amerikanske kontinenter blev i dag beskrevet af Helga Zepp-LaRouche, der pointerede, at vi må arbejde ud fra et fordelagtigt udgangspunkt. Fra et økonomisk perspektiv, fra et moralsk perspektiv: positionér jer fra et fordelagtigt udgangspunkt.

[1] Se Husseins Askarys tale (dansk) over samme emne

Mange gange er denne form for pessimisme blot en ’comfort zone’, for når folk først har boret hælene i jorden med deres pessimisme, betyder det, at de ikke behøver gøre noget, for verden er alligevel håbløs, og derfor behøver man ikke ændre den.

Det er min holdning, at, når tingene udvikler sig i en positiv retning, har alle – næsten alle på denne planet – mulighed for at forbedre ting og ændre ting til det bedre, hvis muligheden skabes. Jeg vil derfor appellere til folk om at have et kulturelt optimistisk livssyn på disse spørgsmål, for at sidde på hænderne og intet foretage sig i et historisk øjeblik som det aktuelle, er næsten en forbrydelse.

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Vi vil lægge ud med Barbara Boyd. Barbara er forfatter af den særlige undersøgelsesrapport, som nogle af jer måske har set; titlen er »Robert er en juridisk lejemorder; Han vil gøre sit job, hvis I giver ham lov«. Hun vil være med her på skærmen. Efter hende har vi to talere; William Binney, der sidder her på min højre side, og dernæst Ray McGovern (begge medlemmer af VIPS). Jeg vil introducere dem hver især, når de taler, selv om jeg ikke ved, om de faktisk behøver ret megen introduktion. Nu til vores første taler.

(Dansk udskrift af Barbara Boyds præsentation)

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Se opdateret version af brochuren: LaRouches Fire Love & Amerikas Fremtid på den Nye Silkevej.

Online-version.

Kan vi i tide, før et nyt finanskrak kommer ned over os – det hænger jo over vores hoved som et Damoklessværd – kan vi i tide skabe denne form for forandring i USA i særdeleshed, men også i Vesteuropa, hvor vi tilslutter os dette nye paradigme, eller vil denne kamp for civilisationen blive tabt? Jeg er meget optimistisk mht., at den kan vindes, men det kræver aktivitet: Vi oplever ikke dialektisk materialisme, eller historisk materialisme, hvor positive begivenheder får deres eget liv; for, det er altid den subjektive faktor, der spiller en meget stor rolle, og et sted, hvor dette ses meget tydeligt, er med Xi Jinping, der virkelig har frembragt en positiv kinesisk udvikling, en total opgradering og en total transformation ind i et nyt paradigme. Og vi har brug for sådanne mennesker i Vesten til at gøre ligeså.

Schiller Instituttet har absolut indgået en forpligtelse til at gøre alt, hvad der står i vores magt, for at få USA og Europa til at samarbejde med den Nye Silkevej, for det vil blive den afgørende kamp i det nye år.

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Vært Matthew Ogden: God aften, det er den 29. december; jeg er Matthew Ogden, og dette er årets sidste internationale fredags-webcast fra larouchepac.com.

Som vi nærmer os afslutningen af året 2017, er vi nødsaget til at se tilbage på året, som det udfoldede sig dag for dag, i de seneste 365 dage. Men vi er også nødt til at se fremad, til året 2018, og til forpligtelser og muligheder, som dette år vil bringe os.

Det forgange år, 2017, har selvfølgelig været et af de år, der har budt på flest forandringer i de fleste menneskers levetid. Vi erindrer, at året startede med først, valget, og dernæst indsættelsen af en ny præsident, præsident Donald Trump, og det var helt klart en af de største, politiske rystelser i moderne politisk historie, med valgnederlaget til Hillary Clinton, hvem alle antog for den sikre vinderkandidat til at blive USA’s præsident, og med valgsejren til den nuværende præsident Donald Trump. Men, som hr. LaRouche korrekt sagde på det tidspunkt, så ville det være en fejltagelse at anskue betydningen af dette valg ud fra et rent nationalt standpunkt. Det ville være en fejltagelse at anskue betydningen af denne valgrystelse inden for rammerne af national politik, men det sande perspektiv, man må have, både for årsagerne og også for den følgelige betydning af dette dramatiske, politiske skifte i USA, må snarere være et globalt perspektiv og et perspektiv for en global transformation, der fandt sted på mange, mange måder.

På den ene side har vi afslutningen af en æra, afslutningen af den transatlantiske æra med finansspekulation og med at bringe USA som en del af denne sektor i verden til et punkt for desperation, økonomisk, socialt og på anden vis, her i USA, og som frembragte denne dramatiske, politiske sejr og dette dramatiske, politiske nederlag til Hillary Clinton og det, hun stod for. Og ligeledes den angst, som amerikanerne følte, over, at verden kom nærmere og nærmere til randen af Tredje Verdenskrig, til en konfrontation mellem USA og Rusland, en konfrontation mellem USA og Kina.

Men man må også se den potentielle betydning af denne dramatiske, politiske begivenhed her i USA, ud fra et standpunkt om de muligheder, der er udløst på verdensscenen. Og disse muligheder var, og er fortsat, potentialet for et samarbejde mellem USA og Rusland og USA og Kina, som en relation mellem stormagter for at afslutte æraen med koldkrigs-geopolitik og frembringe et nyt stadie for samarbejde mellem disse store magter i verden, for et nyt paradigme for relationer mellem disse lande, og som ville udløse et hidtil uset potentiale for samarbejde, fredelig, gensidig fordel og »win-win«-samarbejde.

Det er en udfordring for amerikanere at se længere end det daglige melodrama i amerikansk politik og 24-timers nyhedsudsendelser og se, hvad der virkelig har udfoldet sig på verdensscenen i løbet af året 2017. Men, hvis vi ser længere, og vi tager et globalt perspektiv, ser vi, at året 2017 virkelig havde sin historiske betydning med den kendsgerning, at dette er året, hvor hele verden begyndte at blive transformeret af den dynamik, der nu er associeret til den Nye Silkevej, eller Ét Bælte, én Vej-initiativet, som fejer hen over verden fra Kina. Det har haft en transformerende virkning for hele planeten: Hvert eneste kontinent er blevet transformeret, og alle nationer er blevet berørt af Silkevejsånden, inklusive, på signifikant vis, USA. Som vi senere skal tale om, så er Vest Virginia et meget, meget godt eksempel.

Men det, vi har set, er en stor bølge af optimisme, der er blevet udløst. Det er det, der kaldes »Silkevejsånden«, og vi ser, at meget af denne transformation allerede er i gang; men der er selvfølgelig meget tilbage at virkeliggøre.

I dag er tilfældigvis hr. og fr. Lyndon og Helga LaRouches 40 års bryllupsdag, og det er en meget passende dag til at reflektere over den ekstraordinært positive virkning, som disse 40 års frugtbart samarbejde og helligelse til det gode har haft på verden, gennem disse to, ekstraordinært verdenshistoriske personer: både Lyndon og Helga LaRouche. Dette forgangne år 2017 har på en meget virkelig måde været en meget stor modning af disse 40 års utrættelige arbejde på begges vegne, og ligeledes på vegne af dem i bevægelsen, der er blevet inspireret af dem.

I det kommende år må vi sætte os for, og træffe vore nytårsforsætter om at se konsolideringen af denne vision. Alt det, der nu er blevet virkelighed, mht. potentiale i året 2017, nu må konsolideres og krystalliseres i året 2018. Som Helga Zepp-LaRouche har karakteriseret det: 2018 må være afslutningen af geopolitik og lanceringen af et nyt paradigme for den menneskelige race, baseret på win-win-samarbejde mellem alle folkeslag og blomstringen af en renæssance, bestående af det bedste i alle kulturer, civilisationer bragt i dialog med hinanden, og som drager fordel af det bedste af det, alle nationer har at tilbyde det almene vel for menneskeracen som helhed.

Det kunne være nyttigt at tage et snapshot af et par af de mest afgørende vendepunkter i året 2017 for at beslutte den transformerende virkning, der har fundet sted i løbet af dette år. Hvis vi ligesom tager et forskudt tidsbillede af året 2017, selv om alle udviklingerne, der har fundet sted, kan have syntes at være næsten for meget og for dramatisk til at holde trit med; hvis vi ser tilbage, ser vi, på hvor absolut dramatisk vis, verden er blevet forandret af denne Silkevejsånd i dette år, 2017.

Vi begyndte året her på LaRouche PAC med en appel, der blev cirkuleret bredt og faktisk havde en ret intens virkning, og som krævede, at præsident Trump, med sin indtræden i embedet, tog alle sine kampagneløfter og hele sin diskussion om at genopbygge USA’s industri, genopbygge USA’s varefremstilling, genopbygge USA’s infrastruktur alvorligt, men også at tage en ny holdning over for verden og en samarbejdende relation med Rusland og endda med Kina; og denne appel krævede, at præsident Donald Trump rakte en hånd tilbage mod Kina. Det, som Obama havde afvist mht. et samarbejde, et samarbejdende partnerskab med det, Kina havde påbegyndt, Asiatisk Infrastruktur-Investeringsbank, den Nye Silkevej, Bælte & Vej Initiativet, og så i stedet række en ånd frem til Kina for samarbejde og blive en del af dette.

Det har endnu ikke helt båret frugt, og det er opgaven for året 2018, men vi er kommet meget, meget langt.

Lad og se på et par af de meget vigtige vendepunkter i løbet af det forgangne år:

I april – 6. og 7. april, for at være helt nøjagtig – blev præsident Xi Jinping af præsident Trump budt velkommen i USA til et meget vigtigt statsbesøg, der fandt sted på præsident Trumps Mar-a-Lago ferieresort i Florida. Vi har set billederne og videoerne af deres diskussioner og deres moddage i løbet af disse to dage på Mar-a-Lago. Det var under dette topmøde, dette præsident Xi Jinpings statsbesøg, at præsident Trump og præsident Xi begyndte at skabe det, der nu er blevet til en meget nær, personlig relation.

Dette var en meget dramatisk vending af præcis det, præsident Obama gjorde mht. en politik for militær konfrontation, en politik for at omringe Kina og en politik for at forsøge at ophede konflikten over det Sydkinesiske Hav og andre ting, mht. at anbringe USA i en konfronterende holdning over for Kina.

På trods af sit meget krigerske sprog under valgkampen, tiltrådte præsident Trump embedet og besluttede at vende denne Obamas politik og i stedet skabe en, i det mindste på det personlige plan, varm og nær personlig relation mellem ham selv og præsident Xi Jinping. Det begyndte på Mar-a-Lago-topmødet den 6. og 7. april i år.

Den følgende måned, den 9. maj, begyndte LaRouche PAC en meget koncentreret kampagne og en slags nedtælling til det, der tydeligvis skulle blive et meget afgørende topmøde, der skulle finde sted i Kina. Dette var Bælte & Vej Forum for Internationalt Samarbejde, der skulle finde sted 14.-15. maj. Så i begyndelsen af maj indledte LaRouche PAC en to uger lang nedtælling og lagde ekstraordinært pres på præsident Trump for at acceptere præsident Xi Jinpings invitation til personligt at deltage som USA’s repræsentant på Bælte & Vej Forum i Kina. Som en del af denne kampagne udgav vi en video, en meget kort men meget fyndig video, med Jason Ross som fortæller, ved navn »Bælte & Vej Initiativet: Vort århundredes afgørende projekt«. https://larouchepac.com/20170509/belt-and-road-initiative-defining-project-our-century

Denne video blev meget hurtigt cirkuleret bredt og er nu blevet set af 50.000 mennesker; den udlagte video har 50.000 visninger.

Jeg vil gerne tage jer tilbage til dette historiske øjeblik og afspille et kort klip af denne videofortælling af Jason Ross for jer. Den hedder altså »Bælte & Vej Initiativet: Vort århundredes afgørende projekt«.

Her følger resten af udskriftet på engelsk:

[Begin Video]
JASON ROSS:  It would be the biggest mistake ever, if the
U.S. didn’t take advantage of the Belt and Road Forum that’s
taking place in a week in Beijing, China —  the biggest mistake
ever.  This event is going to bring together representatives of
over 100 nations on this planet, including the direct
participation of almost 30 heads of state, and they’re going to
discuss the greatest project of our generation, the Belt and Road
Initiative.
Now, so far, there’s no indication or announcement that
President Trump or other U.S. representatives will attend, but
—
HELGA ZEPP-LAROUCHE: “If we can convince President Trump to
take up the offer to join with China and the other nations in the
New Silk Road, he can become one of the greatest Presidents of
the history of the United States….”

ROSS:  This initiative, the Belt and Road Initiative, was
launched officially by China in 2013.  It’s a program of mutually
beneficial connectivity, of infrastructure, of common development
programs.  So far, the proposals and works in progress embrace
over 60 nations, affecting over 4 billion people, the majority
of humanity, with plans for $20 trillion in infrastructure
spending.  That’s two or three times what would be needed to
fully revitalize U.S. infrastructure; it’s 20 times the $1
trillion that Trump has called for so far.  This is a huge
project.
These programs have got the potential to eliminate poverty,
on the globe, within a generation, completely and totally
eliminate endemic poverty everywhere.
Already over the past few decades, China has seen phenomenal
development….

SECRETARY OF STATE REX TILLERSON: “And China really began to
feel its oats about that time, and rightfully.  They have
achieved a lot: They moved 500 million Chinese people out of
poverty in to middle-class status….”

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: “OK, it’s a great thing, thank you.
And I met with the President of China, at great length in
Florida.  And we had long, long talks.  Hours and hours and hours.  He’s a good man.”

ROSS:  China is springing ahead with its own development,
and working together with its neighbors.  Through Chinese
investment, by the nation, by the corporations, and through new
financing from institutions like the Asian Infrastructure
Investment Bank, the New Development Bank, and the Silk Road Fund
— these are mechanisms created since 2013 — major projects of
enormous scope are made possible.

RICHARD TRIFAN [The Eurasia Center]: “This is an historic
project, as you all know.  It is probably the biggest global
achievement which is analogous to our reaching out into space,
and to the Moon and other planets.  It’s probably the most
comprehensive initiative that many nations will be working
together on….”

ROSS:  So let’s take a tour:  Starting in Asia, there are
six development corridors proposed by China, for road, rail,
water, electricity, communications, along with soft
infrastructure such as education, customs standardization,
cultural exchange.  These corridors are currently under way to
varying degrees.  So much of the world is currently working
together for aims of common development, and a shared future of
advancement, of dignity, and of scientific achievement.  Will the
U.S. join in?  We’re invited with open arms.

ZHANG MEIFANG [Deputy Consul Chinese Consulate, New York]:
“Last, but not the least, I want to quote President Xi as saying
that China welcomes the United States to participate in
cooperation within the Belt and Road framework.  Both countries
should really seize the opportunities….”

ROSS:  Let’s accept this invitation.  The U.S. of a hundred
years from now, looking back, will be so glad that we did.
[END VIDEO]

OGDEN:  Now, that video was released on May 9th, and as I
said, quickly received tens of thousands of views on YouTube, a
very rapid circulation.  And despite the fact that almost no one
in the United States at that time was discussing, or frankly had
even heard of the idea of the Belt and Road Initiative or the New
Silk Road, or the One Belt, One Road policy of China, all of a
sudden this project and this idea asserted itself in a very large
way and was thrust into the center of U.S. political debate.
Almost seemingly out of nowhere, three days after the release of
that video, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer was asked
multiple times during the White House press briefing about the
One Belt, One Road policy and whether or not President Trump was
going to be sending a representative to the Belt and Road Forum
in Beijing, and whether the United States was going to join the
New Silk Road.  So here’s that press briefing from May 12th of
this year:

[BEGIN VIDEO]
Q: “I wanted to ask you about the One Belt, One Road summit
that starts on Sunday in China.  You announced yesterday, or
Secretary Ross said that you’re going to send a delegation to
that summit.  Could you talk about how you came to that
conclusion, why it’s important for the U.S to be represented at
what’s ostensibly a major trade initiative by a foreign country?”

PRESS SECRETARY SEAN SPICER: “As you point, it’s a major
trade initiative.  There’s a lot of ports and infrastructure that
they’re going to do, and through those discussions that Secretary
Ross and Secretary Mnuchin and others had at Mar-a-Lago, and part
of this is that this is something they’ve done; we’re going to
continue to work with them.  Obviously, trade is a major issue
for us and what they’re looking to do is of great importance to
our economic and national security, and they’ve asked us to send
people to that.  And we have them attend things that we’re doing
as well.  And I think that’s, as the President has shown in terms
of the relationship that he’s built with President Xi, and the
rest of the team has built with their delegation, those
relationships are clearly paying dividends both on the national
security front and on the economic front.
“Jennifer?”

Q: “…is the U.S. going to participate in the One Belt, One
Road initiative?”

SEAN SPICER: “We’ll have a readout. At this point that’s all
we have on One Belt, One Road….”
[END VIDEO]

OGDEN:  So, as you saw, it was announced that President
Trump had really at the last minute, decided to send a high-level
representative to the Belt and Road Forum.  This is very much,
largely due to the campaign that we waged here in the United
States, and that high-level representative from the State
Department was sent to the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, Matt
Pottinger.
Now, also in attendance at that historic summit in Beijing,
with multiple heads of state and representatives from all around
the world {was}:  Helga Zepp-LaRouche herself.  And that was
really poetically just that she should be there.  Because the
fact is, she is recognized in China as the “Silk Road Lady,” and
the efforts of herself and her husband Lyndon LaRouche and the
movement which has been inspired by them, really has laid the
groundwork for what became in the year 2017, the great
flourishing of the New Silk Road.  So, Helga Zepp-LaRouche
attended this Belt and Road Forum; she was present there in the
proceedings, and she also conducted numerous other meetings.  She
was a speaker at some of the roundtable discussions and break-out
sessions on the side, and then followed that with a two-week tour
of China.  Helga Zepp-LaRouche gave a report back on her
presence, on her participation in the Belt and Road Forum, and
during that report she gave a wonderful overview of the 40 years
of effort that she and her husband, Lyndon LaRouche, have
invested into bringing this vision into actuality.  Going all the
way back to Lyndon LaRouche’s proposal in 1971 for an
International Development Bank and the development of the entire
planet.  You’ll see that she goes through that entire sweep of
history.  So, obviously, reviewing this sweep of history is a
very appropriate thing to do on the occasion today of Mr. and
Mrs. LaRouche’s 40th wedding anniversary that we’re observing
today.
So, I’d like to play for you a short excerpt from that
report back, that very immediate report that Helga LaRouche had
upon her return from this historic Belt and Road Forum on May 14
and 15 of this year.

HELGA ZEPP-LAROUCHE:  I just wanted to make sure that you
get a first impression from me from my trip, because the worst
mistake we could make is to respond to the absolutely incredible
propaganda coming from the US mainstream media and the new
liberal media in Europe; like Der Spiegel underlined, the chief
editor piece which was really out of this way.  It is very clear
that people who are primarily relying on such media, have a
completely, totally 100% wrong idea what the reality is that’s
going on.  We should really get that out of our heads and not try
to swim within the fish bowl of an artificially created
environment.  Because from my standpoint, the world looks very
different.
First of all, I said this already and I reiterate it.  With
the Belt and Road Forum, the world has dramatically consolidated
the beginning of a new era.  I don’t think at all that short of
World War III, this is going to go away, because the majority of
the world is moving in a completely liberated way.  This was the
highest level I ever participated in; there were 28 heads of
state speaking one after the other.  Obviously, the speech by Xi
Jinping was absolutely outstanding.  Whoever has time to listen
to it, should really do it; because it was a very Confucian
speech which set the tone for the two-day conference in a very
clear way.  So, please listen to it when you have some time.
I think the way people have to understand what is going on,
is you have to really think what this organization, and Lyn in
particular, did for the last almost 50 years.  The first time
when Lyn in 1971 recognized what the significance of the
dismantling of the Bretton Woods system was, and then all the
many things we did in the last over 40 years.  Lyn coming back
from the Iraqi Ba’ath Party celebrations in 1975 when he proposed
the IDB as an International Development Bank to foster a New
World Economic Order.  The fact that we for one year campaigned
with this IDB proposal which then basically became part of the
Colombo, Sri Lanka resolution of the Non-Aligned Movement in ’76.
Then at the end of the ’70s when we worked with Indira Gandhi on
a 40-year development plan for India.  We published a whole book
about the industrialization of Africa.  We worked with López
Portillo on Operation Juárez.  We put out a 50-year Pacific Basin
Development Plan.  Lyn had already proposed the Oasis Plan.  And
then naturally when the Wall came down and the Soviet Union
disintegrated, we proposed the Productive Triangle and the
Eurasian Land-Bridge.  All of these proposals — and just think
of the many, many activities we did — conferences on five
continents; all of this was on the level of ideas.  But only
after Xi Jinping put the New Silk Road on the agenda in 2013 and
in the four years of breathtaking developments of the One Belt,
One Road Initiative since, these ideas are becoming realized; and
the genie is out of the bottle.  You have now the bi-oceanic
railway discussion and the tunnels and bridges connecting the
Atlantic and Pacific around Latin America.  You have all these
railways now being opened up in Africa.
This is unprecedented; this was not done by the IMF or the
World Bank.  They suppressed it with the conditionalities.  But
with the AIIB [Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank], the new
Development Bank, the New Silk Road Fund, the Maritime Silk Road
Fund, the direct investment of the Chinese Ex-Im Bank, the China
State Bank; all of these projects are now proceeding, and they
have completely changed the attitude and the self-confidence of
all participating countries.
The way people in China look at President Trump is
absolutely different than what the media is trying to say.  They
are very positive about Trump, in the same way that people in
Russia think Trump is somebody you can absolutely have a decent
relationship with; and that is reality.  Forget the media; forget
these whores of the press who are really just prostitutes for the
British Empire.  Don’t pay any attention to what they say, and
don’t allow other people you are talking with to do that either.
When Trump promised $1 trillion investment, this was the
right thing, and we put out the right program saying the United
States must join the Silk Road.  That should be our focus and
nothing else.  Everything else should be a subsumed aspect of
that.  This is the strategically important thing.  And the fact
that the head of the China Investment Corporation, Ding Xuedong,
said it’s not $1 trillion, but $8 trillion that the United States
needs; this is absolutely on the mark and you know it yourself
from the condition of the roads and the infrastructure in all of
the United States.  The fact that this same organization has now
set up an office in New York, advising Chinese investors how to
invest in the United States, and vice versa how US investors can
invest in China; the fact that the Chinese are invited to
participate in this infrastructure conference in June; all of
this is absolutely going in the right direction.
What happened in the Belt and Road Forum and the many
meetings I had afterwards — after all, I spent two full weeks in
Beijing, in Manjing, in Shanghai.  But it’s the fact that in the
many interviews, many quotes, we were treated with the highest
respect possible.  People are fully aware of Lyn’s significance
as a theoretician of physical economy; his ideas are highly
respected.  People treated me as we should be treated; namely, as
people who have devoted their entire lives to the common good of
humanity.  This is in absolute stark contrast to the shitty
behavior that we are getting normally from the neo-liberals in
the trans-Atlantic region.  You should understand that what the
attack on Trump is supposed to do, is to make it so difficult for
him to focus on the positive aspects; and there are quite some
many of them, including his working relationship with Russia and
China, which is strategically the most important.  Basically, he
has to defend his staff, and everybody thinks they have to spend
all the time to defend themselves.  So, don’t fall for it.  The
idea that we are losing is completely off; mankind is on the
winning track, and we have to pull the American population up to
create the kind of ferment so the implementation of the
infrastructure program as a first step is on the agenda and on
everybody’s mind and nothing else.
I have the strong conviction that by the end of this year,
the world will look completely different because the development
perspective is so contagious that I think all the efforts by the
British Empire to somehow throw in a monkey wrench will not work.
So, take the winning perspective; take the high ground.  Think
strategically and realize that what is happening in reality in
many development projects around the world is what this
organization has been fighting for, for almost half a century.  I
just wanted to tell you that, because the worst thing we could do
is look at it from inside the United States, from within the box,
when the whole world has moved out of the box decisively with the
Belt and Road Forum, which is not going to be stopped by
anything.  That is my view I wanted communicate.

OGDEN:  This is an inexorable, almost irresistible dynamic;
this is a dynamic which is not going to be stopped by anything.
Of course, the subsequent months saw a very dramatic attempt to
escalate the campaign to undermine and overturn the Presidency of
the United States; largely because of President Trump’s
willingness and commitment to working together with these
countries which were supposed to be our enemies and our
adversaries under the Obama view of the world.  But also, we saw
the continued expansion of the Silk Road.  This was almost an
unstoppable march of this development perspective to every corner
of the planet.
Perhaps most significantly, we saw the development of
Africa.  This is a continent which for centuries had been kept in
an enforced state of backwardness, poverty, miserable famine
across the entire continent of Africa; with no development.  What
China has done just in the last few months, has been
unbelievable; in terms of the railroads that have been built, the
power projects that have been built, the water projects that are
now under consideration such as the Transaqua project.  But
already, just in the latter portion of this year, we’ve seen the
dramatic transformation of the continent of Africa and the change
in the attitude of the African people; who now are — as Helga
LaRouche has repeatedly noted — have a renewed sense of optimism
and self-confidence because of what China has done to bring
development to that continent.
We’ve also seen the nations of South and Central America
begin to embrace the Silk Road spirit.  We’ve seen increasing
collaboration between China and Russia, with the integration of
the Silk Road and the Eurasian Economic Union idea.  We’ve seen
barriers that have been erected geopolitically between nations in
South and Southeastern Asia crumbling as we speak.  We saw the
forging of a new partnership between Japan and China; two nations
which have historically been at each other’s throats.  We’ve seen
the Philippines join enthusiastically the New Silk Road dynamic
and reach out a hand of collaboration to China in friendship.
And we’ve even seen nations in Europe — most notably southern
and eastern Europe — enthusiastically become part of the New
Silk Road dynamic.  So, you’ve had an almost unstoppable rhythm
of developments, month after month, week after week of nations
embracing this New Silk Road spirit.
As Helga Zepp-LaRouche said at the conclusion of that report
that she delivered immediately after her attendance at the Belt
and Road Forum in Beijing in May of this year, she said, “I am
confident that, by the end of this year, the world will have been
transformed in a very dramatic way by the New Silk Road dynamic.”
Indeed, now we sit at the end of this year, and what Helga
Zepp-LaRouche said at that point is very true.  So, if we fast
forward from May, those dramatic developments leading into and
then leading out of that Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, China;
if we fast forward from May all the way up to November, and take
a look at the historic trip by President Trump to China — the
“state visit-plus” that he made — which occurred in the
immediate aftermath of the historic Chinese Communist Party
National Congress; where President Xi Jinping was elevated to
another term as President of China.  The Silk Road idea was
literally written into the Chinese Constitution.  This historic
trip that President Trump made to China, which was in the context
of his grand tour of Asia, of southern and southeastern Asia as a
whole; this trip consolidated an entirely new era in US-China
relations.
Again, Helga Zepp-LaRouche, who is a unique voice in terms
of her analysis, because she’s not just a commentator looking at
this from the outside; but again, is speaking as somebody who has
been on the ground for years if not decades in bringing this Silk
Road reality into existence.  Helga Zepp-LaRouche, in the
aftermath of President Trump’s historic state visit-plus to
China, gave her analysis and her report on what the significance
of President Trump’s visit to Beijing and his continued, very
warm special relationship with President Xi Jinping of China.
So, here’s what Helga Zepp-LaRouche had to say in the immediate
aftermath of President Trump’s historic visit to China in
November of this year.

ZEPP-LAROUCHE:  I think it is the beginning of a new era of
strategic relationships between the United States and China, as
Xi Jinping had said.  What they did in order to receive Trump and
give him the best possible honors, the characterization was that
this was a “state visit-plus” and President Xi Jinping even said
that this was a “state visit-plus-plus”.  They rolled out the red
carpet, so to speak, in a way that they have never done for any
other foreign dignitary before since the existence of the
People’s Republic of China. What they did is, they had a first
day of introducing President Trump to the ancient culture of
China.  For that purpose, they closed down the Forbidden City for
an entire day; then they had a gala dinner in one of the palaces.
They showed him three different Beijing operas, they showed him
the restoration of art, crafts, and similar things.  Obviously,
President Xi Jinping was the tour guide for all of this.  Anybody
who has ever read or listened to his speeches knows that he is
very well-cultured in Chinese history, but also in universal
history.  So, this is really an incredible thing.  Naturally,
there were other aspects like trade deals for $253 billion.  When
President Trump came back from the Asia trip, he said that he had
deals for about $300 billion, but that would only be the
beginning.  Soon this figure would be three-fold.
But I think much more important — as much as the economic
deals are important; I don’t want to neglect that — but I think
much more deeply was the deep human accord between these two
Presidents.  So, I am confident that the chance to have a new
renaissance, to have an uplifting of people where the best
traditions of all nations and cultures of this planet are being
revived; and out of that, a new renaissance can be created.  I
think that that is an absolutely realistic possibility.  So, be
happy and join us.

OGDEN:  And indeed, an immense optimism was unleashed around
the world after seeing this very successful trip that President
Trump made to China.  There was an optimism from inside the
United States; notably, most conspicuously, the case of West
Virginia.  If we take a look at West Virginia Governor Jim
Justice, who announced in the immediate aftermath of President
Trump’s return from this historic trip to China, he [Justice]
announced an $83.7 billion investment deal that was signed
between China and the state of West Virginia.  This is $10
billion more than West Virginia’s entire annual GDP for the year
2016, which was only $73.4 billion.  So, this investment is $83.7
billion into one of the most impoverished and really despairing
states in the entire United States.  Just take a look at the
optimism and the sheer enthusiasm that Governor Jim Justice of
West Virginia showed in this press conference that he gave, upon
announcing this investment by China into his state.

GOVERNOR JIM JUSTICE:  Who in the world can even begin to
describe what $83.7 billion of money and investments is?  Well,
I’ll tell you what it is.  Do you realize it’s 83,700 $1 million
investments?  Now just think about that.  83,700 $1 million
investments.  I don’t know if you could actually pull this off,
but you could maybe be able to rebuild every city in the state of
West Virginia with $83.7 billion.  I would say to all of y’all
that may be doubters that this could become a reality.  Don’t
get on the wrong side of it, because really and truly, it’s a
comin’; it’s coming.

OGDEN:  So, “Don’t get on the wrong side of it,” this is a
reality.  And “really and truly, it’s a comin’|”.  I think that
perfectly describes this inexorable irresistibility of the New
Silk Road.  I think it encapsulates the year 2017 in just a few
phrases.  2017 truly was the year that the Silk Road spirit swept
the globe; including the state of West Virginia.  It’s indeed,
the perfect optimism out of the mouth of Governor Jim Justice
there in West Virginia.  It’s the perfect expression of the
sentiment that we, as Americans, should all have as we reflect
back on the year 2017 and look ahead at the year 2018.  Don’t get
on the wrong side of this, because it’s a comin’.
So, to conclude our broadcast, and to conclude this year, I
would like to play a short video message by Helga Zepp-LaRouche,
which is really her end of the year message.  This is her appeal
for the year 2018, which she says must be the year that we see
the end, once and for all, of the idea of geopolitics, and the
consolidation of the “win-win” collaboration of all nations in
this New Paradigm.  So, here’s Helga Zepp-LaRouche’s end of the
year message.

ZEPP-LAROUCHE:  … [T]hat in the almost four and a half
years now that Xi Jinping, the President of China, has put the
Belt and Road Initiative, the New Silk Road on the table, you see
a dynamic which is unbelievable.  First of all, China naturally
is economically exploding with development, with optimism, with
absolute ambitious infrastructure projects — we should talk
about that in detail in a minute — and many other countries, I
think well above 70 countries and 40 international large
associations and institutions are cooperating with the New Silk
Road.  And all of these countries have been gripped by an
enormous sense of optimism, which some people call the “Silk Road
Spirit,” which is the sense of entering a new era of mankind; and
the rest of the Europeans and Americans don’t know it!  The only
people in the United States who have an inkling, are those from
West Virginia and some other states who travelled with President
Trump on his recent trip and came back with enormous deals; like
West Virginia having a deal of $83 billion over the next 10
years.  And people really see that the United States could
absolutely join and be a part of it.
But I think that the key battle in which the world really
is, that you have the old neo-cons, the neo-liberals, who want to
stick, with geopolitics, who want to keep the image of China and
Russia as enemies and want to continue the British Empire game of
divide and conquer, playing one section against another section;
versus what is clearly the winning strategy and that is what Xi
Jinping has put on the agenda, with a “win-win” cooperation of
all nations of the world, and with the idea of a new paradigm, a
“community for a shared future of mankind,” a community of
destiny: The idea that geopolitics can be overcome.  And more and
more countries are joining with this new conception.
So, the battle really is, can we in time, before a new
financial crash comes down on us — you know, it’s hanging over
our heads like a Damocles’ Sword — can we in time get the kinds
of changes in the United States in particular, but also in
Western Europe, to join in this New Paradigm, or will this battle
for civilization be lost?  I’m very optimistic it can be won, but
it requires activity:  We’re not experiencing dialectical
materialism, or historical materialism, where positive events are
just taking on a life of their own; because it is always the
subjective factor which plays a very large role, and one place
you can see this very clearly is in the person of Xi Jinping, who
has really given an already positive Chinese development, a
complete upgrade, and a complete transformation into a New
Paradigm. And we would need such people in the West to do
likewise.
The Schiller Institute is absolutely committed to doing
everything possible that we can get the United States and Europe
to cooperate with the New Silk Road, because that will be the
decisive battle for the coming year….
So this is the perspective that has to happen in the year
2018, because I think the present status quo is not going to
last.  I appeal to all of you, use this New Year to get the
United States and European countries in the New Silk Road Spirit.

OGDEN:  That is the task for the year 2018.  The key battle,
as Helga Zepp-LaRouche said, is that of the old paradigm of
geopolitics versus the New Paradigm of “win-win” collaboration
and this idea of a community of common destiny for all mankind.
We, as we sit now at the threshold of a new year — 2018 — we
find ourselves at the most crucial decisive inflection point in
that battle.  Everything hinges on victory in bringing the United
States into that New Paradigm; victory in instilling the Silk
Road Spirit into our fellow Americans; and finally, decisively,
the United States abandoning geopolitics once and for all, and
joining the New Silk Road.  Joining the One Belt, One Road
Initiative.
So, we have a crucial piece of material for securing that
victory.  This has just been released; just in time for the New
Year.  This is the new pamphlet from LaRouche PAC — “The Four
Economic Laws of Lyndon LaRouche; The Crucial Physical Economic
Principles Needed for the Recovery of the United States.
America’s Future on the New Silk Road.”  You can see on your
screen there, the link that you can obtain the digital copy of
this, and it’s also circulating in the streets of the United
States as we speak in this pamphlet form.  So, what your task is
for the remaining days, the remaining hours of 2017, is to get a
hold of a copy of this pamphlet.  If you have not yet caught the
contagion of the New Silk Road Spirit, that’s your task for the
remaining hours of this year.  And to hit the ground running as
we enter into this New Year — 2018 — which must see, finally
once and for all, the end of geopolitics and the consolidation of
this community of shared destiny for all mankind.
Thank you very much for joining me here today.  We would
like to thank you for being so active over the course of this
past year — 2017 — which has seen many victories and many
advancements towards victory.  But what we have to do now as we
enter into this New Year is to redouble our efforts.  I think the
perfect way of celebrating and observing the 40th wedding
anniversary of Helga Zepp-LaRouche and Lyndon LaRouche, and
honoring the work that the two of them have done over the last 40
years, is to rededicate ourselves to consolidating a victory for
this vision once and for all during the course of the coming
year.  So, Happy New Year to you, and we will see you again as
you tune in next year to larouchepac.com.  Good night.

Video:

Lyd:

Leder fra LaRouche PAC, USA, 20. dec., 2017 – Forsiden af Newsweeks julenummer er en gjaldrende overskrift, over et billede af Vladimir Putin, og som proklamerer: »Putin forbereder sig til Tredje Verdenskrig«, efterfulgt af »Ja, det varsler ballade«. Tysklands Bildzeitung har i dag en lignende fantasi og rapporterer om to unavngivne NATO-folks vurdering af den nyligt afsluttede Zapad 2017-militærøvelse, som Rusland og Belarus har gennemført, som en øvelse af et totalt mobiliseret, russisk angreb på Europa, med 100.000 tropper (der var faktisk tale om en størrelsesorden på 10-20.000), der først skulle besætte de tre baltiske lande og fra luften angribe nøgleinfrastruktur i Tyskland, Sverige og Finland og affyre Iskander-missiler ind i Polen fra Kaliningrad. National Public Radio, finansieret af den amerikanske regering, lavede i dag et interview med den russiske dissident Garry Kasparov, der himlede op om Putin som en diktator uden opbakning fra sin befolkning, og som roste Obamas chef for National Intelligence, James Clapper, for i denne uge at sige, at Putin »ved, hvordan man manøvrerer et aktiv, og det er, hvad han gør med præsidenten«. (Var der nogen, der sagde indblanding i et udenlandsk valg?)

Psykotisk? Paranoidt? Det, der står klart, er, at briterne og deres aktiver i USA og Europa er hysteriske over præsident Trumps fortsatte bestræbelse på at etablere venskaber med Rusland og Kina. For at stoppe ham, træffer de nu forholdsregler for at forberede befolkningerne i Amerika og Europa til krig med Rusland, en krig, der meget vel kunne betyde afslutningen af civilisation, som vi kender den. Det er hele formålet med det igangværende kupforsøg imod præsident Trump fra forrædere, der arbejder på vegne af britisk efterretning gennem Muellers »Russiagate«-heksejagt.

Både russiske og kinesiske regeringsfolk reagerede meget skarpt på den Nationale Sikkerhedsstrategi, som blev offentliggjort af Det Hvide Hus i mandags, og som var udarbejdet af nationale sikkerhedsrådgiver H.R. McMaster og hans team. Talsmand for den russiske præsident, Dmitry Peskov, kaldte det et »imperiedokument«, der hævder, at enhver økonomisk eller militær styrke, som Rusland og/eller Kina viser, er en direkte trussel mod USA. Dokumentets påstand om, at Ruslands eller Kinas fremgang »krænker verdensordenen«, sagde Peskov, »fortolkes selvsagt som en unipolær verden, der er reduceret til udelukkende at være i Amerikas interesse og tjene Amerikas behov«. Talsmand for Kinas Udenrigsministerium, Hua Chunying, sagde, med reference til sikkerhedsdokumentet, at »de udviklingsmæssige præstationer, som Kina har opnået, anerkendes universelt, og det er nytteløst at forsøge at forvrænge kendsgerningerne på vegne af nogen eller af noget land.«

Det var Trump selv, der talte om udgivelsen af den årlige Nationale Sikkerhedsstrategi, snarere end den sædvanlige praksis, hvor det er den nationale sikkerhedsrådgiver, der leder udarbejdelsen af strategien, som introducerer den til pressen. I sin tale afviste Trump at beskrive hverken Kina eller Rusland som fjender eller modstandere (som selve rapporten gør), men blot som konkurrerende »rivaler«, og at han i stedet ville »forsøge at opbygge et godt partnerskab med dem, og andre lande, men på en måde, der altid beskytter vores nationale interesse«. Blot i løbet af den seneste uge har Trump ført to, betydelige telefonsamtaler med Putin, og, som EIR (stort set alene) har rapporteret, så foretog Trump i sidste måned et besøg til Kina, der dannede et nært venskab med Xi Jinping og en voksende, økonomisk forbindelse med Kina og dets Bælte & Vej Initiativ.

Men, som Helga Zepp-LaRouche i dag insisterede, så må Trump gives tilstrækkelig styrke til at gå videre end til »konkurrence«, hinsides det geopolitiske standpunkt, som holder vestlige ledere fanget i nulsums- og vinder-kontra-taber-mentaliteten. Han må gives midlerne til at forstå det Nye Paradigme, der nu spreder sig i hele verden, og som drives frem af Kinas Nye Silkevej, baseret på et win-win syn på internationale relationer og et koncept for menneskehedens fælles mål. Dette er konceptet, som Lyndon og Helga LaRouche skabte efter Sovjetunionens fald, for, én gang for alle, at gøre en ende på imperieopdelingen af verden i krigsførende fraktioner. Lyndon LaRouches igennem halvtreds år kreative forslag om en ny, økonomisk verdensorden, der berører alle hjørner af planeten, er nu ved at blive til virkelighed gennem Bælte & Vej. USA og Europa klamrer sig stædigt til den bankerotte, gamle orden, til myten om det »frie marked«, som Det britiske Imperium nu igennem snart 300 år har faldbudt til verden – på trods af den kendsgerning, at selve den Amerikanske Revolution grundigt besejrede denne imperieorganisation og etablerede et nyt system, baseret på kredit til skabelse af en produktiv fremtid, snarere end på et penge- og gældsdiktatur.

Der er ingen tid at spilde med at omvende Vesten tilbage til dette Amerikanske System, som blev udtænkt af Alexander Hamilton og promoveret af Lyndon LaRouche. Forslaget til en skattelovgivning, der i dag blev vedtaget af Kongressen, skaber ny gæld til halvanden billion dollar, men pumper ganske enkelt disse penge ind i økonomien uden nogen direktiver, og hvor de vil fortsætte med at nære spekulation snarere end at udvide realøkonomien, på samme måde, som den Kvantitative Lempelses pengetrykning har gjort i løbet af de forgangne ti år. Hvis denne samme kredit blev udstedt under et Amerikansk System for dirigeret kreditudvidelse, kunne USA’s økonomi på relativt kort tid blive transformeret. Dette er essensen af LaRouches Fire Love, som det forklares i den nye pamflet, som LaRouche PAC har udgivet i denne uge: »LaRouches Fire Love & Amerikas fremtid på den Nye Silkevej« (udlagt på LaRouche PAC’s webside).[1] Befolkningen er vred og søger direktion. Denne pamflet, sammen med LaRouche PAC’s dossier, der afslører Muellers kupforsøg, udgør midlerne til at give denne direktion og give præsident Trump de midler, han behøver, for at lykkes med sit erklærede mål – at gøre Amerika stort igen.

Foto: December 22, 2017 Cover of Newsweek Magazine (Fair Use)

[1] Se Brochuren med dansk introduktion

og video, ’En Ny Æra for USA: LaRouches Fire Love’;

fuldt dansk udskrift.

Jeg mener, der også er en aftale mellem USA og Rusland om sammen at bygge en rumstation på Månen. Og Trumps beslutning – jeg mener, man kan virkelig se, hvem, der er hvem, når man ser, hvordan folk reagerer til dette. ESA, det Europæiske Rumagentur, var fuldstændig entusiastisk og hilste dette velkomment; den kinesiske regering udtrykte glæde over denne beslutning. Alt imens de europæiske medier dækkede dette, som om Trump var fuldstændig sindssyg for at ville tage tilbage til Månen – dette er virkelig utroligt! Alle mennesker, der har været i rummet, astronauterne, de kommer altid tilbage og siger, dette er en utrolig oplevelse, for i rummet betyder det ingen ting, hvilken nationalitet, man har, for man må stole på hinanden, ellers kan man ikke gennemføre en så ekstremt udfordrende mission. En russisk kosmonaut har netop sagt: Vi bør udvikle en holdning til at løse problemer på Jorden i samme ånd, med hvilken vi samarbejder i rummet.

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Der er intet urealistisk ved det, jeg her fremlægger om Sydvestasien og Afrika. Grunden til, at jeg er forhåbningsfuld, er, at det nye paradigme inden for internationale relationer har fået fodfæste, og den gamle imperieorden blegner. Den anden, mere subjektive grund til at være optimistisk er, at vi vil fortsætte med at kæmpe for at få dette til at ske.

Imperiet lurer stadig farligt, som en såret tiger, og kunne angribe. Imperiets ideologi med dets aksiomer og overbevisninger om forholdet mellem menneske og natur, mellem menneske og menneske og mellem nation og nation, vil fortsat være en kilde til fare for den menneskelige race. For eksempel, den overbevisning, at penge får ting til at ske. Eller miljøforkæmpernes idé om, at menneskelige aktiviteter for at hæve samfundets levestandard altid har en negativ virkning på naturen og miljøet, og at menneskene simpelt hen bør forhindres i at vokse i antal, og i en voksende levestandard.

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I Europa ser det endnu mere dystert ud, for de europæiske nationer befinder sig i en totalt kaotisk tilstand. Der er de øst- og sydeuropæiske nationer, der ønsker at gå sammen med Kina i Bælte & Vej Initiativet; der er et totalt hysteri fra EU’s side og også i vid udstrækning fra den tyske regerings side – hvad der så er tilbage af den – og som siger, »Kina opsplitter Europa«. Hvilket ikke er sandt! Kinesernes svar på denne anklage var, at Kina ikke behøver opsplitte Europa, det har det allerede selv gjort. Men der finder ingen diskussion sted i Europa om bankopdeling. Faktisk traf EU for blot et par uger siden beslutning om nye retningslinjer, der forbyder bankopdeling. De europæiske nationers overlevelse og disse EU-politikker er således uforenelige.

Vi må have en offentlig diskussion i Tyskland om f.eks., at vi må vende tilbage til den form for kreditpolitik, vi havde i perioden efter krigen med Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (Kreditanstalt for genopbygning); men, vi må have finansiering af realøkonomien, og hele denne kasinoøkonomi må lukkes ned.

Jeg mener, at den største fare lige nu består i et ukontrolleret kollaps. Disse advarsler fra Bundesbank og BIS er virkelig en advarsel om, at folk må se at vågne op og ændre politik, før det er for sent: Så gå sammen med os i kampen for at få Glass-Steagall på dagsordenen, også i de europæiske lande.

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Introduction:

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Table of Contents:

Preface
Introduction

A New Global Paradigm 11

China’s Role in the Economic Renaissance of West Asia and Africa 14

What is Win-Win Philosophy? 16

The Age of Mega-Projects Is Back 21

Redefining ‘Sustainable Development’ 22

‘Helping’ or Empowering Africa 24

The African Union Aims High 25

Africa Must Leap Ahead, Not Crawl Forward! 28
Chapter 1: West Asia: The Silk Road’s Crossroads to the Mediterranean and Africa 29

Egypt: A Bridge between Asia, Europe and Africa 30

Chapter 2: The Silk Road Reaches Africa 33

China in Africa: Myths or Facts 36

Europe, not China, Is Engaged in Land Grabbing in Africa 37

Defining an African Future 40

Chapter 3: The Economic Science Behind the World LandBridge 41

What is Infrastructure, Really? 41

Economics: The Ultimate Science 41

Platforms: Artificial Environments 44

Energy Flux Density 45

Power and Energy 45

Promethean ‘Fire’ 46

Aspects of the ‘Synthetic Environment’48

Materials 48

Water 49

Transportation 50

Energy 53

Space 55

A Future Platform: Nuclear Fusion 56

Nuclear Power: Fission and Fusion 56

Benefits of Fusion 58

New, Unique Applications of Fusion 59

Conclusion 60

Chapter 4: Financing Regional and National Infrastructure 63

Money vs. Credit 63

Credit and Productivity 64

Invariance of Historical and Modern Examples 66

President Roosevelt’s RFC 68

A Southwest Asia/Africa Regional Infrastructure Bank 69

Cooperation with International Development Banks  70

Public-Private Partnerships Cannot Substitute 73

Appendix: Egypt: Internal financing of development 74

A National Reconstruction and Development Bank 74

Appendix: “LaRouche on Money vs. Credit” 75

Chapter 5: Demography and Development 77

Case Study: Egypt—Myth of Overpopulation 79

Moving Forward and Outward 80

Egypt Reclaims the Desert 81

The New Nile Valley 82

Chapter 6: Integration of West Asia with the New Silk Road 85

The Bridge Among Continents 85

Completing the Land-Bridge Westward 87

Proposed Corridors Integrating Arab States 90

A Common Enemy: The Desert 91

Attacking the Desert from the Fertile Crescent 91

Petrochemicals: Industry of the Future 99

Plastics 100

Appendix—Case Study: Syria’s Reconstruction Project Phoenix 103

Financing Reconstruction in a Nation Ruined by War? 105

Physical-Economic Development 106

Syria and the New Silk Road 106

Conclusion 108

Chapter 7: Africa — Transport Network Integration 111

Colonial Legacy 113

Dependency on Roads 114

Landlocked Nations 116

Turning a Crisis Into an Opportunity 118

A. The Nile Basin and East Africa  119

Creating a Powerful North-South Axis 119

East Africa’s Economic Corridors 125

B. Southern Africa  134

Roads, Rails and Ports in Southern Africa 134

The South African High-Speed Rail Project 135

Gautrain 137

When Will South Africa Convert to Standard Gauge?138

Africa’s North-South Corridor 138

Africa Tomorrow 142

C. West and Central Africa  142

Fast Track Development Perspective for West and Central Africa 142

Ports Connecting to the BRI 144

Development of West Africa 145

Development of Central Africa 147

Mechanized Agriculture: Africa Can Feed Itself and the Rest of the World 147

D. North Africa 147

Dreams and Setbacks 149

Highway Networks 149

Maghreb Railway Networks 151

Trans-Maghreb High-Speed Rail 152

Morocco Joins the BRI: Tanger-Med Port and Technopolis 154

Algeria Joins, Too156

Bridging the Gap Between Europe and Africa 157

Chapter 8: Africa — Water Resources Development 161

Managing the Water Cycle as a Cycle 163

Category 1: Management of Land Flow 165

Into the Future: How Africa Can Lead the World 169

Category 2: Weather Control 170

Category 3: Desalination of Ocean Water 174

Africa’s Water Future 175

Case study: The Nile Basin 175

The Linear Facts 176

Lost to Evaporation 177

Hydropower, Water Management, Agricultural Development 181

Chapter 9: To Power Africa, Go Nuclear! 185

Energy Requirements 185

An African Visionary: Diop 189

Chapter 10: Africa — Food Security: Realizing Africa’s Vast Agricultural Potential  193

Land and Yield 195

China’s Contributions 197

Lake Chad Basin 198

Sudan 200

Commitment to Transformation 200

Chapter 11: Africa in Space 203

New Space Nations 204

Space as a Driver for Development 205

A World-Class Science Project

206 Case Study — South Africa: Looking to the Heavens to Develop the Continent  208 Scientific Orientation 209

Imagination and Wonder 211

Space Technology Can Support Africa’s Development Goals 212

Working with China and the BRICS 213

Chapter 12: Conclusions and Recommendations 215

The Political and Economic Context 215

Some Necessary Axiomatic Shifts 217

Recommendation: Understanding Physical Economics 218

Recommendation: Financing Infrastructure 219

Recommendation: Science and Technology 220

Recommendation: Transport 220

Recommendation: Power 221

Recommendation: Water 221

Recommendation: Agriculture 222

Chapter 13: Selection of Proposed Mega Projects in Africa 225

Pan-African High-Speed Rail Network 225

Regional and Continental Corridors 227

New Suez Canal and Industrial Zone 229

Transaqua: The Centerpiece of Africa’s Development 231

Grand Inga Dam Project 237

South African Nuclear Program 239

Sicily–Tunis Connector — TUNeIT 242

Gibraltar Euro-African Tunnel 245

The Need for Europe to Cooperate with China in the Industrialization of Africa

Mr. Mehreteab Mulugeta Haile is Consul General of Ethiopia in Frankfurt. This is an edited transcript of his address to the International Schiller Institute conference on “Fulfilling the Dream of Mankind,” Nov. 25-26, 2017, in Bad Soden/ Taunus, Germany. Subtitles have been added.

Transcript

Mrs. Helga Zepp-LaRouche, President and Founder of the Schiller Institute, distinguished participants, ladies and gentlemen, at the outset, allow me to thank and express my appreciation to the Schiller Institute for organizing conferences that help shed light on current political and economic developments in the world. I feel honored and I am thankful to be invited and to make a speech at this august gathering.

Today, I will talk about Ethiopia’s rapid economic development and its involvement in regional cooperation, and contributions made by Europe and China to enhance these developments.

Ethiopia is one of the largest Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a population of about 100 million people. After suffering economic stagnation for decades, its economy began to grow in the mid-1990s after a new administration led by the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) took the helm of government.

For the last 15 years, Ethiopia has become one of the fastest growing economies in the world, with an average Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of about 11% per annum. To continue with this rapid economic growth, the Ethiopian Government rolled out, in 2010, an ambitious five-year Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP) that aims to attain a lower-middle-income status by 2025. Currently the country is implementing the second Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP II), which is built on Sectoral Policies, Strategies & Program and Lessons drawn from the implementation of the first GTP and the post-2015 “sustainable development goals” (SDGs). It has also taken into account global and regional economic situations having direct or indirect bearing on the Ethiopian economy.

GTP II aims, for the coming 8 to 10 years, to continue achieving an annual average real GDP growth rate of 11% within a stable macroeconomic environment, while at the same time pursuing aggressive measures towards rapid industrialization and structural transformation. To this end, concerted and coordinated effort will be made so that equitable economic growth translates into creating job opportunities accompanied by significant poverty reduction. Agriculture will be maintained as a major source of growth, while the development of industries by accelerating industrial development will be supplemented with the promotion of the service sector, so as to enhance growth. To this effect, coordinated and strong forward and backward production linkages will be strengthened. Private sector investment will be promoted through providing the necessary incentives and support, to enhance private sector participation in allowed investment areas.

Expansion of infrastructure development—such as road, railway, dry port, air transport, energy, telecommunications, water, and irrigation schemes—will have special consideration in GTP II.

Industry and Infrastructure Development

During GTP II, industrial development and structural transformation is expected to bring significant growth of the manufacturing industry, so that it plays the leading role in the overall economic development of the country. Implementation strategies mainly focus on implementation of projects and programs which are geared towards attracting quality investment, enhancing production and productivity, boosting export shares, accelerating technological learning, and strengthening the linkage among industries. To this end, establishing 12 industrial parks and clusters has been undertaken in the country, with 7 million square meters of land made available for investors engaged in manufacturing and related sectors. Four agro-industrial parks will also be established which will be linked with millions of smallholder farmers supplying input. Regional administrative areas, cities and towns will get the necessary support to develop standardized industrial clusters and parks for those investors promoting small to medium-size industries, and hence generate employment opportunities.

Expanding the manufacturing sector will focus on identifying new investment areas such as biotechnology, petrochemicals, electricity and electronics, information and communication technologies (hardware and software production industries).

In the infrastructure sector, the overall strategic direction is to ensure the creation of infrastructure that supports rapid economic growth and structural transformation. This direction will create mass employment opportunities, an institution having strong implementation capacity, ensure public participation and benefit, construct decentralized infrastructure development systems, solve financial constraints, ensure fairness and profitability, and ensure integrated planning and administration of infrastructure development.

Within infrastructure overall, rural roads are given high focus—to help reduce poverty by facilitating easy access of agricultural products, at low transportation cost, to the market, improving access to basic socioeconomic services, and strengthening rural-urban linkages.

Thus, the major strategic directions of the road development sector during GTP II will be ensuring the existence and sustainability of road infrastructure network with quality and safety, as well as to improve the provision of road infrastructure, by expanding the road network both in terms of quantity and quality, to sustain and ensure current and future economic growth.

The other area that has been given major emphasis is the energy sector. The main objective of the sector during GTP II is increasing national energy generation, transmission, and distribution capacity to fully satisfy domestic energy demand with production surplus ready for the export market. Implementation strategies are set, to increase electric power generating capacity through initiatives in hydro power, wind power, geothermal power, and solar power.

The other major project in the area of infrastructure building is railway development. The major strategic direction of railways infrastructure development during GTP II is to continue the network expansion started under GTP I, build capacity by establishing a modern railway industry academy, and make it operational; develop various railway industry standards; ensure that railway transport services are in accordance with standards, and conduct problem solving research on railway infrastructure building, operations, and service provision.

The objectives of the construction industry during the GTP II period are to build the capacity of the industry in a sustainable way, ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of construction procurement and contract management, develop internationally competent contractors and design & construction consultants, and improve the availability of construction raw materials and machinery for those engaged in construction and housing development programs.

Regional and International Development

We in Ethiopia believe that economic development in a secluded situation cannot be sustainable and attainable. To this end, Ethiopia, through the Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD), is increasingly collaborating with its neighbors—notably Kenya, Sudan, Djibouti, Sudan, and South Sudan—in the areas of trade, tourism, industry, infrastructure development, and energy, among others. The Ethiopian private sector is increasingly encouraged to invest in those countries and all these countries are thus enhancing their economic cooperation. We in Ethiopia are striving to bring regional economic integration to create a larger regional market for trade and investment and make use of the advantages of efficiency, productivity gains, and competitiveness. In recent years the Ethiopian government has taken steps to enhance non-trade aspects of economic cooperation, which could strengthen economic ties among the countries in the region.

IGAD’s focus on regional economic cooperation and integration is to create an open, unified, regional economic space for the business community—a single market open to competitive entry and well integrated into the continental and global economies. This focus requires both regional infrastructure as well as the gradual harmonization of policies for the removal of barriers to inter-state communications.

The European Union and other development partners are actively supporting and participating in economic development activities in Ethiopia. Through its development cooperation, the EU stands by Ethiopia in addressing its key challenges, such as food insecurity, rapidly growing population, environmental pressures exacerbated by climate change, low industrial output, and a range of governance issues. In recent years, the EU+ group disbursed annually around 1 billion euros in official development assistance (ODA), equivalent to roughly a quarter of the total external aid to Ethiopia, and it may reach up to 10% of the country’s annual federal budget in certain years. In this context, joint programming is not only about aid effectiveness, but most importantly, has a strong political dimension and is one of the instruments in support of the implementation of the wider EU-Ethiopia strategic engagement. The European Union supports the efforts of Ethiopia to eradicate poverty, and to foster inclusive and sustainable economic, social, and environmental development while promoting human rights, democracy, and other elements of good governance.

For the last three years, much focus has been given to the issue of migration and its management by European countries. Ethiopia is a key partner in the stability and management of migratory flows in the region, due to its role in hosting large numbers of refugees from neighboring countries, its proactive policy of fighting traffickers and smugglers, and the interest of Ethiopians in migrating to neighboring countries and regions in search of work. Ethiopia is one of the five priority countries identified in the Communication on Establishing a New Partnership Framework with Third Countries under the European Agenda on Migration. Through the EU Trust Fund for Africa, EU actions address the root causes of irregular migration in the most migrant-prone regions of the country, promoting economic and employment opportunities, particularly for vulnerable people, through vocational training, access to micro-finance, or by creating industrial parks. Actions also aim to strengthen resilience and combat the drivers of instability, to improve long-term development and protection needs of refugees and their host communities, and to better manage migration at regional level.

When we look at the role Germany is playing in the relationship of African countries with EU countries, in general, and Ethiopia in particular, we find that Germany has made cooperation with Africa a core element of its G-20 Presidency. The German government advocates for a G-20 Africa Partnership and has put in place the G-20 Compact with Africa, which aims to promote private investment, sustainable infrastructure, and job creation in African countries. Germany’s Minister of Finance describes the Compact with Africa as a “long-term, demand-driven process” in which “African countries will determine what they want to do to improve conditions for private investment, with whom they want to cooperate, and in what form.”

China and Africa

Last year, during its G-20 Presidency, China made Africa a prominent part of the G-20 agenda, with an unprecedented number of African leaders participating in the G-20 Summit in Hangzhou and with commitments to support industrialization and the proliferation of renewable energy in African countries.

According to data from China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), the stock of Chinese direct investment in Africa was $32 billion at the end of 2014. Of course, direct investment is not the only form of foreign financing. The Export-Import Bank of China and China Development Bank have made large loans in Africa, mostly to fund infrastructure projects. In recent years, China has provided about one-sixth of the external infrastructure financing for Africa. In short, Chinese financing is substantial enough to contribute meaningfully to African investment and growth. However, the notion that China has provided an overwhelming amount of finance and is buying up the whole continent is inaccurate.

If we take my country, Ethiopia, as an example of Chinese cooperation and involvement in Africa, we find that what has been said above is false. According to the Ethiopian Investment Commission, Chinese companies, with close to 379 projects that were either operational or under implementation in the 2012-2017 period, are on top of Ethiopia’s investment landscape, both in number and financial capital. Among these companies, 279 were operational with projects that are worth over 13.16 billion Ethiopian birr (over 572 million U.S. dollars) during the reported period, while the remaining 100 are under implementation.

In terms of employment creation, Chinese companies have created more than 28,300 jobs in various sectors in Ethiopia during the reported period, of which over 19,000 were created in Ethiopia’s manufacturing, as it is the leading sector in attracting companies from China. China brings not only investment, knowhow, and transfer of technology, but also skills and entrepreneurship.

At this point, I would like to mention the initiative taken by His Excellency President Xi Jinping in 2013, the “One Belt, One Road” (OBOR) Initiative. This is President Xi’s “project of the century.” It is based on the legendary Silk Road, which connected Europe and China for one and a half millennia. The aim of China’s OBOR project is to open up and expand old Silk Road trade routes through Central Asia and on to Europe, as well as Southeast Asian maritime links through the Strait of Malacca and around India to the Middle East. Xi’s ambitious goals do sound inspiring indeed: “We should build the Belt and Road into a road of peace . .. of prosperity … of opening up .. . of innovation . .. connecting civilizations,” he said. The total trade between China and other Belt and Road countries has exceeded $3 trillion. China’s investment has surpassed $50 billion. Chinese companies have created almost 200,000 jobs and over $1 billion of tax revenue. China is generating mutual benefits by creating jobs and supporting the domestic economy of those countries in which it is investing.

The Jamestown Foundation’s China Brief stated this month (paraphrase):

OBOR will bring a greater effect on local and regional integration along the way, especially for Ethiopia and other countries in the region. The Maritime Silk Road will have a significant impact both because of economic integration on a local level, and by forging connections between East Africa and neighboring regions. It also connects regional centers to each other. OBOR could partly ease a problem that has bedeviled African development since the end of the colonial era. It also has the potential to facilitate trade and shared manufacturing between different East African economies. In this sense, the OBOR initiative has the potential to achieve a certain amount of regional integration—a long-held ideal of African development. OBOR presents an intriguing perspective on the sometimes highly unequal nature of south-south cooperation, and raises questions about the nature of African agency in the 21st Century.

German-Chinese-African Development

It is estimated that Africa needs to create about 20 million jobs per year to employ its expanding workforce. Africa’s demographics present both an opportunity and a challenge to the rest of the world. It is unrealistic to expect Europe or China to tackle the problems of African countries alone and bring a change overnight. Nor would it be reasonable to expect large volumes of Chinese or European manufacturing to move to the continent in the near future. Therefore, it is useful to have a long-term vision of economic relationship that very much centers on the utilization of natural resources of Africa and the shift over time to a greater focus on human resources development by creating jobs. To this end, trilateral cooperation would provide an ideal opportunity for Germany and China, as the current and previous G-20 Presidencies, to jointly demonstrate their commitments under the G-20 to increase support for African countries. This form of cooperation complements and brings together the traditional NorthSouth and South-South cooperation models. In line with the Compact with Africa, such cooperation needs to be guided by the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and African countries’ national development plans in order to be successful.

The launch of the Sino-German Center for Sustainable Development in Beijing in May is a promising step in this direction, as the center plans to support sustainable infrastructure development in African countries. This can, indeed, be an area in which African countries can benefit from joint cooperation between Germany and China. China has a comparative advantage in the provision of cost-effective infrastructure development, while the sustainability of such projects can be ensured by making use of Germany’s expertise in project management, social and environmental impact assessments, and quality assurance.

Germany and China should also foster trilateral cooperation with African countries on industrialization and renewable energy. The joint establishment of special economic zones (SEZs) in African countries would be a good starting point. SEZs were a key component of China’s economic development and are also starting to play an important role for industrialization in African countries such as Ethiopia. A trilateral SEZ project should utilize China’s profound experience in financing, developing, and managing SEZs, while Germany would contribute its expertise in preparing and delivering tailored technical vocational education and training programs for different sectors. Germany’s understanding of social and environmental standards and its international marketing insights would also help ensure that SEZs are attractive for investors and suitable for global supply chains.

There is also a huge potential for effective trilateral cooperation between Germany, China, and African countries on the proliferation of renewable energy in Africa. The African Union’s recently launched Africa Renewable Energy Initiative (AREI) provides a possible entry point, as both China and Germany have individually pledged their support for the initiative. Both countries are global leaders in renewable energy policy and technology, and have considerable experience working with African countries bilaterally in these areas. A trilateral project should focus on a so far overlooked, but crucial component in the establishment of the Africa Renewable Energy Institute, namely, to serve as the initiative’s backbone for research and training. Germany and China could build on the experiences from the establishment and operation of similar institutes in China, such as the China-EU Institute for Clean and Renewable Energy, and engage these institutes and their networks to build new partnerships.

Thank you.

Italy-China Alliance for Transaqua

This is an edited transcript of a presentation by Franco Persio Bocchetto describing the Transaqua project to the Nov. 25-26 Schiller Institute Conference.

Transcript

Good afternoon to everybody, and to Ladies and Gentleman. I’m very glad to be here at this very interesting conference. I was really amazed listening this morning, especially to the speeches of Schiller Institute President Helga Zepp-LaRouche, and the one of the enthusiastic Professor He Wenping. And also I was interested in hearing the speech of Professor Askary, who introduced the Transaqua project that I would like to show and present here.

The Transaqua Project

The Transaqua project is perfectly in line with the vision of this conference, which is “To Fulfill the Dream of Mankind.” Transaqua, as maybe you know, was conceived more or less about 30 years ago, by our firm Bonifica. Perhaps at that time, it was too innovative; maybe in that time nobody was really interested in developing Africa. But nowadays conditions are really different and maybe this is the time to revive the project: Maybe we can call it “Transaqua 2.0” in order to start the development of this great dream for Africa.

Maybe most people think Transaqua is only a problem of transferring water from the Congo Basin to Lake Chad, but this is not the vision of Transaqua. First of all, everything starts from the problems that are related to Lake Chad. We are going to show you the actual situation of Lake Chad.

Lake Chad was one of the largest endorheic lakes in the world, and maybe the largest in Africa. The lake is situated in the Sahel region, at the crossing of the borders of four countries: Niger, Chad, Nigeria, and Cameroon. The total catchment area of Lake Chad is very huge: 2,434,000 sq km. Eight countries, including Algeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Libya, Niger, Nigeria, and Sudan are using the water resources from Lake Chad. The main inflows of Lake Chad are from the Chari River, and Chari and Longone River, and the main outflows are evaporation and infiltration. For this reason, it’s an endorheic lake, because it does not drain to the sea.

The Chari River and Longone River flow from south to north, and this is the actual Lake Chad. The lake basin has a very unstable equilibrium as there is no surplus water flowing to the sea. The only outflows are infiltration and evaporation. If water is used upstream, the lake cannot but shrink.

Lake Chad always had great oscillations, due to natural climatic fluctuations. Now, especially in this period of climate change, we must follow very closely what will be the future of Lake Chad. Lake Chad is suffering from the increase in population and subsequent water consumption, mainly for irrigation, and in addition, the decrease of rainfall. Lake Chad’s surface in 1973 was more or less 25,000 sq. km. As you see, in 2015, it decreased to 2,500 sq. km, while the population within the basin has grown from 8 million to 30 million people, more or less.

As a consequence of this drought and drying up of the lake, agriculture development increases pollution, ecological destruction, and extinction of rare species. The economy of the surrounding countries and region is severely threatened by reduction of the lake’s surface levels and volumes. Average food production and household purchasing power have been continuously reduced since the 1980s. Humanitarian, ecological, and economic crises are developing rapidly as the volume and surface of Lake Chad are drastically reduced at an alarming and accelerated pace.

Also, it’s important to show the evidence that in this region, the consequences of this are also all the problems related to Boko Haram, which is really active in this region due to the poverty of this region.

How to mitigate the Lake Chad drought: Well, thinking of the problems of Lake Chad, we have to think about the future. And the future in 30 to 50 years will be very, very dramatic for Africa in a certain way. As you see, it is forecast that real growth of the population, between today and the year 2200, will grow by 400%. So the problem is, what will happen when, within 30-40 years you will have the doubling of the population in Africa, and also in those Sahel regions.

We heard today in the earlier speeches, about the New Deal and the optimistic vision of Chinese President Xi Jinping, and we really hope that, due to the positive strength of China, they will really succeed in helping the world help to develop, and that these regions will have help from the Chinese for development. There are a lot of projects that are going on as Mr. Askary has showed us in the context for all of Africa. But, it is important, also to set up and improve the Transaqua project in Central Africa, in the middle of Africa, the part which is poorest and where the desert is continuing to make inroads.

The consequence of not doing this is a huge migration into the rich countries, and of course, Italy and Europe are suffering from these consequences. Most of the people come from the Sahel region, so I think that Europe has to help to improve the Transaqua project, in order to develop all these countries, and bring food, agriculture, and fisheries as a way to eliminate poverty in this region.

Over the years, the Lake Chad Basin Commission, created by the states around Lake Chad has really done great work in facing up to the shrinking of the lake, and for the realization of numerous national and transnational projects, to optimize the use of water resources and mitigate possible disputes between the states.

What to do next? What will the next challenges be for the Lake Chad Basin Commission? First of all, in the medium term, there are projects that are going on to mitigate the Lake Chad drought, of course, projects that tend to sustain the existence of people, improve the efficiency of water use, through new research, innovative organization, based on the use of smart technologies to improve the efficiency of system coordination and control. First of all, a very big monitoring system should be set up in order to control the consequences of climate change, control all the problems related to agricultural use, and control the consequences of national and transnational projects that are being done in this region.

We can be very optimistic, but due to the growth of the population, the long-term measures cannot be other than to think how to transfer large volumes of water from the Congo River Basin to Lake Chad.

Well, water transfer to drying up endorheic lakes is not merely a “nature conservation measure.” Environment and wildlife deserve to be protected—human beings, too. A drying endorheic lake is proof that the water resources in its catchment area are overexploited with respect to incoming run-off. Transfering water from adjacent river basins that have surplus water flowing into the sea, is a way of increasing water availability, especially for agriculture, in the context of the increasing population and declining rainfall, and to restore wildlife.

When water is in short supply in a given place, either you bring it there, or people will migrate elsewhere.

Near Lake Chad, there is an immense, scarcely populated river basin, which discharges into the Atlantic Ocean an average of 40,000 cubic meters/second—the equivalent to 1,250 billion m3 /year. That discharge is 200 times the discharge of the Main River [in Germany], or 14 times that of the Rhine at its mouth. How much of this volume could be possibly and safely diverted into Lake Chad has yet to be studied.

Can we think of a “win-win” project, where all countries involved have their advantages, which is perhaps, one of the basic conditions for developing this project?

Bringing water from the Congo River Basin to the thirsty Chad region and increasing irrigated agriculture, restoring the lake, producing hydropower and improving inter-African transport and commerce, is the vision of this Transaqua Project.

A canal would have to intercept part of the discharge of the right-hand tributaries of the Congo River, and convey them across the watershed between the Congo Basin and the Chari Basin. The diverted flow would reach Lake Chad through one of the Chari tributaries, properly reshaped. A very preliminary estimate gives an amount up to 100 billion m3 /year could be diverted. That this less than 8% of the Congo discharge, ensuring thus the restoration of Lake Chad and irrigation of up to 3 million hectares.

In its fall toward Chad, the diverted flow could be used for hydropower production. Along the canal, a road should be built which would become the backbone of inter-African land transport. The hypothesis that the canal could also be suitable for navigation has been made. Those ideas stemming from the early 1920s, have been studied by Bonifica, and are presently being considered by the Lake Chad Basin Commission as a possible project for the future.

The idea of Bonifica is to transfer about 100 million cubic meters of water per year from the Congo River Basin to the Lake Chad and Sahel district. This is the Congo Basin as you can see in red, which is the alignment more or less of the canal. You cross the watershed and you go into the water catchment area of the River Chari.

What is important to note is that the Transaqua formula is not simply to replenish Lake Chad, but to give access to drinking water, revive agricultural activity, irrigation, fish farming, a navigable waterway, trade, transport, regulate flows, produce electric power, river ports, commerce, and road connections—thus creating an economic development system along the Transaqua waterway.

With the regeneration of Lake Chad’s natural resources, we can show the shape of the lake in 2087. Characteristic of this project is that navigable infrastructure systems can be realized through modules. We don’t need to realize the whole project at the same time, so we start from the part which is most near to the watershed, and the development of the first 500 km of the canal.

The Transaqua water project is a combination of situations. In order to produce hydropower, we will construct small dams along the tributaries of the river, in order to catch some part of the water for the Transaqua canal. By connecting different lakes with canals, we can realize a waterway which will have a maximum extent of up to 2,400 km, reaching Lake Tanganyika on the east side of Africa.

Road connection: As you can see, the Transaqua corridor intersects the Lagos-Mombasa Road, which is one of the principal roads that was shown by Professor Askary in his speech. And as you can see, in the Mombasa-Nairobi link, it is one of the hubs of the One Belt, One Road project.

It is very interesting to think that this Transaqua Project can become one of the projects that can be developed within the One Belt, One Road project.

Some final considerations: Having for years pursued a dream, now is the time to take action. From this point of view, what is interesting and new is the fact that the Chinese have begun to get interested in the project. Last year, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between the Lake Chad Basin Commission, and ChinaPower, which is one of the big infrastructure companies of China. The scope of the MOU was to start the feasibility study of the water transfer project, by trying to construct one of the first elements of the project, which is the CIMA Project. I don’t have time now to explain this CIMA project, but it is certainly one of the modules of Transaqua, although it is only part of it, because the CIMA project, developed by the Canadian CIMA company, is a project to pump water from the Ubangi River over the watershed into the Chari River, which is a different vision from Transaqua, which is to construct a corridor crossing Africa, and bringing development to all the regions that are crossed by the project.

It is important at this point to show that Bonifica, in the context of the signing of this MOU, decided to go to China and to speak to ChinaPower, in order to offer the collaboration of Europeans, of Italians, to jointly develop the feasibility study. We found a great interest from the Chinese, so we signed an MOU and now we are taking action in order to jointly develop this feasibility project together with the Chinese. This may be the first break in the construction of this important infrastructure in the center of Africa.

Thank you. [applause]

»Jeg mener, at den Nye Silkevej er et typisk eksempel på en idé, hvis tid er kommet; og når en idé på denne måde først er ved at blive en materialistisk virkelighed, bliver den til en fysisk kraft i universet. Jeg har personligt haft mulighed for at se udviklingen af denne idé, der på mange måder reelt set begyndte med dette store menneske – min ægtemand, Lyndon LaRouche; der, for mange årtier siden – for næsten et halvt århundrede siden – fik ideen om en ny, retfærdig, økonomisk verdensorden. Dette blev dernæst mere manifest i 1970’erne, ’80erne og især i 1991, da Sovjetunionen opløstes, og hvor denne idé om at skabe en ny, retfærdig, økonomisk verdensorden blev meget fremtrædende.«

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