As of the eighth week of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, the world is at a severe point of crisis both objectively—in worsening economic shock; and subjectively—in moral and diplomatic shock. The dynamics are underway for a global depression, with no “if and when” about it, given the chain reactions of shortages of fuel and chemicals, and price hyperinflation. For example, world food shortages are building: The International Grains Council projects a global production decline of millions of tons of “total” grains (wheat, corn and some others) for the current crop year 2026-2027. The only question is how much of a decline. (The IGC, an intergovernmental agency, has kept data since its founding in 1949.)
On the eve of the two-week ceasefire declared by President Donald Trump on April 7, which he shifted today from April 21, to “to Wednesday evening Washington time” April 22, there are no definite arrangements for a second round of talks among the U.S., Iran and mediators.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said today on an X posting: “Deep historical mistrust in Iran toward the U.S. government conduct remains, while unconstructive and contradictory signals from American officials carry a bitter message; they seek Iran’s surrender; Iranians do not submit to force.”
For his part, U.S. President Trump gave a flurry of short statements to multiple media in the past 24 hours, conveying a range of comments, including denouncing any fellow Americans who seek an early end to the conflict. He otherwise declared talks are set, and he is dispatching Vice President JD Vance on April 21 to Pakistan. This frantic pattern is the type of behavior dozens of U.S. mental health professionals are warning of, as constituting a security threat, and grounds for initiating Constitutional measures to stop.
In this dangerous context, the world requires “a breakthrough of reason,” asserted Helga Zepp-LaRouche today, a leader of the Schiller Institute, who founded the International Peace Coalition (IPC) in 2022, as an open platform—meeting weekly by internet—for increasing the unified impact of those working for peace, in particular, through economic development. She called for a rush mobilization immediately “to get more adults in the room” intervening into the world crisis, to shift things away from danger, toward a new framework for security and peace. “The world is hanging by a thin silk thread,” she warned.
Look at some of the extreme features of the immediate situation in the greater Southwest Asia/North Africa region. The United States has a massed force of three aircraft carrier groups and some 50,000 soldiers and sailors in the area. On April 19 a destroyer attached to the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group seized the Iranian cargo ship Touska. Israel is, meantime, continuing military action in Lebanon, where over a million residents have been displaced. In Gaza, the IDF has built up 48 military control sites, including 13 since the October 2025 ceasefire was announced. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in Gaza during the “ceasefire,” and also in the West Bank. There is not even a pretense of a Trump Board of Peace reconstruction program. Throughout the Gulf states, millions of those in the foreign work force—in the range of 24 millions total—are stranded, lacking food and necessities.
Internationally, the economic picture is worsening by the hour. Fuel shortages and rationing are underway, especially in Asia and Africa. Slovenia was the first nation in the European Union to cap daily access to gasoline at 50 liters, the limit now in place in Indonesia and many other nations. Passenger flights are being cut back from Australia to Thailand for lack of jet fuel. Fertilizer shortages, not just sky-high prices, are spreading. For example, Brazil, the agriculture powerhouse, is 85% import-dependent for fertilizer, for which there is no quick fix. India has severe shortages.
In the United States, the Agriculture Secretary told farmers to hang on, the White House will announce a fertilizer-aid program this week. Today the U.S., current chair of the Group of 20, released a “Chair’s Statement” from the Treasury Department, calling on G20 members to stay “agile and flexible” to promote “food security and support market stability,” but do nothing to stop the warfare.
Meantime, U.S. public debt is soaring. It grew by $1 trillion in only the five months through March! At the same time, the buyers for the debt are backing off to the point of Treasury debt “market” failure.
These reports are just the here-and-now updates on a fast-devolving process that, unless stopped, will mean chaos, with needless destruction. The economic degradation, and the suffering and death in Southwest Asia and all the war zones, must be stopped.
A letter from the parents of the 168 children who were killed at the Minab girls school in Iran on Feb. 28, and sent to Pope Leo XIV, goes right to the point. The handwritten text, made public April 19, thanks the Pope for his work promoting peace around the world, and urges him to, “continue to be the voice of the voiceless children.” Peace and tranquility are achieved, “not through force and weapons, but through the path of dialogue and the genuine search for a solution for all.”
There are various voices speaking out the world over, which, if amplified in number and focus of positive initiatives, can change the course of history. In the United States, there is a critical focus on the Constitution-mandated responsibility of the Congress to shape up and act to stop the war madness. On April 22 and April 29 many Americans plan to give Congress direction in person, which—joined by messages from across the country and from around the world, can be a critical intervention of reason. Most efficiently, Congress can cut the funding for war-making, as seen dramatically in 1973, when a bill passed to de-fund the U.S. war on Vietnam.
Make the International Peace Coalition meeting April 24, at 11:00 am (ET) a “break-out” gathering for the force of reason in the world.
