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Schiller Institute forum warns of global nuclear war, urges new security architecture

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The Executive Intelligence Review (EIR) and the Schiller Institute convened an emergency international online forum on Tuesday, titled “Epstein and the bottomless depravity of the elites: Urgent need for a cultural renaissance.” Bringing together a diverse panel of international scholars, former legislators, and analysts, the event painted a stark portrait of a global order allegedly on the precipice of thermonuclear conflict, driven by what speakers characterized as the moral and institutional bankruptcy of Western political elites.

The forum, moderated by representatives of the EIR, opened with an urgent assessment that the current global crisis must be comprehended through the lens of long-term historical processes rather than fleeting “current events.” Central to the discussion was the recent military escalation involving the US, Israel, and Iran, which participants described as a catalyst for a potential third world war.

The specter of war and the LaRouche legacy

The forum opened with a retrospective on the geopolitical strategies established nearly two decades ago. Organizers invoked the 2007 disclosure by American General Wesley Clark, who claimed that in the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the US military had adopted an objective to “take out seven countries in five years”—a list that included Iraq, Lebanon, Somalia, Sudan, Libya, Syria, and Iran.

Attendees were played a 2007 speech by the late economist and statesman Lyndon LaRouche, who warned at the time: “The time has come to make some history, to make a turning point in history because there is no alternative.” LaRouche cautioned then that the world monetary financial system was in the process of disintegrating and that war with Iran would represent a “different form of World War II,” asserting that the prevailing US political institutions were incompetent to manage the unfolding collapse.

Helga Zepp-LaRouche, founder and chairwoman of the International Schiller Institute and editor-in-chief of Executive Intelligence Review, opened the panel by warning that “it is more than likely that World War III has already begun.”

“With the unprovoked attack by the United States on the Republic of Iran, we have entered now a spiral of escalation which could escalate within a short period of time to a global nuclear war,” Zepp-LaRouche stated. She cited reports indicating that the Pentagon had informed the US Congress prior to the attack that there was no evidence Iran intended to strike the US first.

Zepp-LaRouche drew parallels to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, arguing that the recent hostilities were based on fabricated intelligence regarding Iran’s nuclear capabilities. “The US attack on Iran is a repetition of the US attack on Iraq in 2003, where it is now 100% documented by the testimony of active participants in the process that all relevant US responsibles knew ahead of time that neither did Saddam Hussein possess weapons of mass destruction, nor was there any threat from Iraq to other countries,” she argued.

Institutional degeneration and the ‘law of the jungle’

Professor Zhang Weiwei, Director of the China Institute at Fudan University in Shanghai, argued that current global crises—ranging from the conflicts in the Middle East to the Epstein files and domestic social divisions—are fundamentally interconnected.

“To my mind, they are in fact deeply interconnected,” Zhang stated. “They have challenged the bottom line of human conscience, the foundations of peace and justice, international law, and basic human rights.”

Zhang posited that these crises are the “inevitable outcome” of the alienation of power from the people, the practice of the “law of the jungle,” and widespread moral depravity among Western elites. “The Western democratic model as practiced in the US and in many other countries is trapped in a deep structural crisis—a crisis of institutional degeneration and governance failure, marked by poor leadership, governance incompetence, and moral collapse,” he said.

Regional perspectives: Brazil, India, and the Global South

Professor Beatrice Bisio of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro emphasized the gravity of the situation for Latin America and the BRICS nations. She characterized the aggression against Iran as an attack on the entire BRICS bloc.

“The truth of the matter is that the aggression against Iran—and we have to understand this—this has been an aggression against the BRICS nation,” Bisio said. She noted the severe consequences of this regional instability, arguing that the “current version of the Monroe Doctrine… finds echoes here within our area.” She called for a massive mobilization of civil society to demand a return to diplomacy.

Professor B.R. Deepak, former Director of the Center of Chinese and Southeast Asian Studies at JNU, New Delhi, focused on the necessity of a “dialogue of civilizations.” He rejected the “clash of civilizations” thesis proposed by Samuel Huntington, noting that history proves civilizations prosper through mutual learning rather than isolation.

“At a time when geopolitical tension threatens international stability, the example of past civilizational dialogue reminds us that cooperation across cultures is not only possible, it is essential,” Deepak asserted.

The US legislative and economic crisis

Former US Congressman Dennis Kucinich, who served from 1997 to 2013, offered a sharp critique of American foreign policy, framing the conflict as a “war of choice.”

“This is a further expression of a long-standing colonial mindset and one that is now tethered to a type of megalomania that is obsessing some of our leaders in the US,” Kucinich stated. He urged the US Congress to utilize the War Powers Resolution or proceed with impeachment to halt the executive branch’s unchecked military actions. “The US Congress must go forward not just with the War Powers Resolution, but this is certainly a cause for impeachment,” he added.

Professor Ding Yifan of the Institute of Global Governance and Development at Renmin University, Beijing, shifted the focus to the economic repercussions of current US policy. Ding argued that the US is risking an economic collapse comparable to, or worse than, the 2008 financial crisis.

“The US economy is on the verge of a crisis… because the New York stock market was relying heavily on these AI companies,” Ding explained. He warned that diverting funds into military actions would “poke the bubble,” forcing an economic contraction. He further noted that protectionist tariffs implemented by the Trump administration had failed to protect domestic manufacturing, instead causing widespread bankruptcies among small and medium-sized businesses by raising costs across global supply chains.

The Epstein nexus and the decline of the West

Namit Verma, an Indian author and security analyst, addressed the panel’s titular theme—the “Epstein” scandal—framing it not merely as a criminal case, but as a mechanism for elite blackmail and the subversion of international governance.

“The Epstein scandal… is representative of the decline of American governance,” Verma contended. He alleged that the scandal was inextricably linked to the manipulation of the United Nations and the erosion of diplomatic independence. “The individual corruption of all who are plenipotentiaries and other significant representatives of participating nations is today a tool which the CIA is a master of,” Verma asserted.

The forum also heard from youth and security representatives from Africa. Timothy Nimsilma, a 25-year-old from Uganda, spoke of the dangers of oligarchic control. “If power is overconcentrated in the hands of the few, the system ends up decaying,” he stated. Kwame Amua, a security expert from South Africa, emphasized the “descent of leadership” and the lack of a moral compass in global governance.

A call for a new paradigm

The forum concluded with a plea for an immediate shift in the global paradigm. Father Harry Bury, a 96-year-old Catholic priest and anti-war activist based in Minnesota, delivered an impassioned argument for “active nonviolence” and development-oriented peace-building.

“The way to have peace is for all nations to be able to equally get what they need,” Bury argued, advocating for the “Oasis Plan,” which seeks to foster peace through the mutual development of infrastructure and resources across the Middle East. “We need to put it in operation right away. It’s about thinking differently.”

In her closing remarks, Helga Zepp-LaRouche issued a final call to action, urging the formation of an “international movement of citizens” that prioritizes the interests of humanity as a whole over narrow geopolitical or nationalistic ambitions.

“If the governments fail, if the establishments turn out to be too corrupt to address the urgent self-interest of humanity as a whole, then our response is that we need an international movement of citizens,” Zepp-LaRouche declared. She advocated for the implementation of a “new security and development architecture,” urging a departure from the “might makes right” doctrine that she and her fellow panelists argued has brought civilization to the brink of annihilation.

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Anthropic uncovers Claude use by Iranian, Houthi, and Russian units

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11/09/2026

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Artificial intelligence company Anthropic has disclosed attempted “abuses” of its Claude AI model ranging from conventional weapons to biological research by state-linked entities, foreign intelligence services, and cybercrime networks, publishing the findings in a detailed threat intelligence report.

A significant portion of the report comprised the development of guided missile software by the Houthis in northern Yemen and the conversion of the model into a military reconnaissance tool by Iran-linked actors seeking to target US naval assets in the Middle East.

Covering the period between December 2025 and August 2026, the report shared details of activities detected across seven primary areas: cyberattacks, influence operations, mass surveillance, conventional weapons development, biological risks, and unauthorised model distillation.

The company announced that it had terminated all accounts violating its rules and shared the resulting data with relevant international counterparts.

According to findings by Anthropic’s Threat Intelligence unit, a weapons cell based in northern Yemen, where the Houthis operate, substituted human software engineers with the Claude Code system across three distinct missile development programmes.

These efforts comprised a tactical rocket equipped with a terminal guidance system powered by a commercial smartphone processor, a multi-stage ballistic missile with a target range exceeding 2,000 kilometres, and missile designs carrying a hypersonic glide vehicle.

The cell utilised the artificial intelligence to adapt open-source autopilot software to the smartphone processor, optimize flight control algorithms, and compile firmware.

Structuring their Claude accounts like a virtual engineering team, the Houthis assigned one account to write code, another to conduct research, and a third to review and audit the written code.

The report noted that the group conducted an actual test launch with a guided rocket in the Yemeni theatre.

Immediately following the failure of the live-fire test, the actors were documented returning to the Claude platform within hours to upload telemetry data and diagnose the cause of the malfunction.

The cell was observed successfully compiling offline simulation tools capable of operating independently even if access to Claude were severed.

Iran tracked US warships and personnel

Another military case detailed in the report involved attempts by Iran-linked cyber actors to target US naval forces in the Middle East.

These actors were found to have scraped open-source military data to draft operational targeting manuals directed against American warships and personnel.

Iran extracted name rosters of American military personnel from the captions of publicly accessible military photographs, monitored vessel and aircraft transponder data, authored code to scan commercial satellite imagery, and mapped vulnerabilities in maritime satellite communication terminals.

Other networks linked to the Tehran government were determined to have developed domestic and regional surveillance systems. A Qom-based unit produced a malicious web browser extension disguised as a prayer-time application to harvest credentials from social network users, funneling the data into a central case management system designated “Arman”.

Additionally, official Iranian institutions reportedly cloned authors’ voices using AI and operated multilingual disinformation networks to lay the groundwork for the supreme leadership succession.

Russia also used it for an autonomous kamikaze drone swarm

The report stated that an independent Russia-based software team developed fully autonomous kamikaze uncrewed aerial vehicle swarm software dubbed “DronDoc” or “Serafim”.

Affiliated with a university connected to the Russian Academy of Sciences, the team was said to have trained the artificial intelligence to distinguish between friendly and hostile elements using footage retrieved from the Ukrainian battlefield.

The developed system was designed with the capability to select targets, execute live human classification, and issue detonation commands without requiring human intervention, with simulations run directly against coordinates in the Donetsk region.

Meanwhile, the Russian-origin “Midnight Blizzard” group targeted the Ukrainian drone supply chain and staged attacks aimed at foreign officials and drone engineers by compromising hotel Wi-Fi networks.

A procurement manager stationed at a design bureau in Moscow was also discovered drafting plans via Claude to circumvent European sanctions. The individual was recorded assembling fraudulent tender and logistics correspondence to transport German-made magnetometers, space-grade photovoltaic sheets, and military aviation oxygen systems into Russia through intermediary firms based in China and Hong Kong.

Biological threats and pathogen engineering

The report disclosed five concrete cases regarding the deployment of artificial intelligence in hazardous biological research. Virologists attached to a military research institute were documented using AI for gain-of-function research aimed at enhancing the transmissibility and immune-evasion capabilities of the mosquito-borne Chikungunya virus.

Similarly, experimental designs were prepared to adapt the H5 avian influenza variant, which carries a 50% mortality rate in humans, to mammals and confer airborne transmission capabilities, while immune-evasion mechanisms of pathogens from the smallpox virus family were modelled.

The identities of paralytic neurotoxins subject to export control lists and haemorrhagic fever virus proteins featured on the World Health Organization’s priority epidemic list were deliberately masked and submitted to the AI for analysis.

In addition, a consultant working on behalf of the Malian State Intelligence Service designed a mass surveillance platform designated “Lakana 360” with the assistance of Claude.

The system was designed to monitor approximately 25 million SIM cards registered across three mobile operators in the country without requiring court orders, intercept audio recordings, and cross-reference records with biometric databases.

Separately, leading Chinese artificial intelligence firms including Alibaba, Moonshot, DeepSeek, Zhipu, and Xiaomi were alleged to have initiated hundreds of millions of unauthorised sessions to extract the logical reasoning chains of Claude models. Moonshot and DeepSeek platforms reportedly routed their own users’ queries secretly through Claude, in the process exposing Chinese police surveillance feeds from hundreds of cameras covering military facilities in Chengdu, internal credentials of Chinese state-owned enterprises, and live database access codes connected to the Russian Defence Ministry to third parties.

Türkiye detail in the report

The report also detailed cases involving the abuse of the Claude AI model, incorporating findings concerning an Istanbul-based technology firm.

In case GTG-84005 of the intelligence report, an operation aimed at commercial election manipulation targeting voters in Malaysia was intercepted.

According to the findings, the operation operated under the guise of a startup providing cyber intelligence and counter-disinformation tools. Anthropic determined that Istanbul-based BBS Bilisim Teknolojileri was behind the infrastructure.

According to documents, the company marketed the architecture as a paid influence operation service styled as a “military-grade, AI-powered, real-time political operations ecosystem”.

Managing roughly 1,000 synthetic X accounts, the system processed demographic and electoral data across 222 parliamentary constituencies in Malaysia, calibrating targeting around sensitive social fault lines including ethnicity, religion, and the monarchy.

The network also circulated content from Russian and Chinese state media masquerading as independent Malaysian news via an artificial media outlet designated “Malaysia Pulse”, while manufacturing fraudulent intelligence dossiers targeting an opposition politician and civil society organisations.

Anthropic reported that the network received a request to generate 1 million artificial impressions in support of the Malaysian Prime Minister and sought to secure a contract with the country’s national communications regulatory authority.

While no evidence emerged that the undertaking succeeded, the associated user accounts were closed and operational digital indicators were shared.

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EU pursues closer ties with Israel on space and air defence

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09/09/2026

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The EU is turning to Israel to bolster its new initiatives in high-tech air defence and space capabilities.

Shimrit Maman, head of the Israel Space Agency, travelled to Brussels this week and met on Tuesday with European Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation Ekaterina Zaharieva to discuss key sectors, including artificial intelligence and robotics.

The visit took place ahead of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s first major speech on space, scheduled for Thursday at a summit in Paris.

In the speech, Von der Leyen is expected to warn against mounting hostilities and emphasise the necessity of strengthening Europe’s presence in space.

“It’s very hard to do everything by yourself,” Maman told Politico, adding that the militarization of space is “already happening, it’s just we are not aware of the extent,” and noting that allies are showing growing interest in “dual-use” technologies intended for both civilian and defence purposes:

“One thing we’re working on is early-warning systems. For example, during the last wave [of missile attacks] with Iran, we saw this very clearly. How we were getting the alerts to all the civilians in Israel, and that made the casualties so low. This is part of the system. We’re working on a very holistic view, where you can alert in advance, the system alerts the citizens.”

Following several years of effective disengagement caused by political tensions surrounding the invasion of Gaza, the EU has recently begun forging closer military and technological ties with Israel through a series of agreements.

Competition from Washington and strategic rivalry with Moscow and Beijing have nevertheless underlined the requirement for allies possessing sophisticated industrial capacity.

In 2024, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen backed calls by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to create an EU-funded air defence shield.

Three senior officials involved in the discussions said, however, that the plans stalled after officials in the Commission and several national capitals concluded that the project would require reliance on Israeli air defence technology, which was considered too sensitive one year into the Gaza conflict.

Yet Israel’s Rafael, which is expanding its European operations significantly, has now confirmed that it will open a factory to manufacture the Iron Dome air defence system at a former Volkswagen plant in Germany.

One week ago, Greece signed a 3 billion euro agreement with the Israel Ministry of Defense.

The deal provides for the establishment of a new multi-layered air defence network designed to shoot down drones, hostile jets, and rockets.

“We see everything integrating into this multi-layer defence approach,” Maman said, highlighting satellite imagery and artificial intelligence modelling as primary focal points for joint development efforts:

“I’m not only seeing defence as ballistic missiles from Iran… think about a fire, a flash flood or even a long drought… we have a proven track record, and we’re getting really good results.”

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UK reassures US that new Israeli settlement sanctions are symbolic

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08/09/2026

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The UK has reportedly engaged in behind-the-scenes talks to avoid a backlash from the US over anti-Israel sanctions scheduled for announcement today.

According to a report by Bloomberg, Andy Burnham’s government is expected to ban trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank today.

Burnham is seeking to pursue a firmer stance on an issue of high importance to the governing Labour Party, though one that risks angering US President Donald Trump.

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband will unveil a new sanctions regime targeting Israel but limited to Jewish settlements in the West Bank, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Burnham and Trump spoke by telephone on Monday, the Prime Minister’s Office said. A statement noted that the two leaders discussed a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinian territories.

The discussion suggests that Burnham used the call to notify Trump that sanctions against Israel were imminent.

The proposals under review included a new sanctions regime with measures to block the exchange of goods and services with Israeli settlements.

Miliband also evaluated expanding existing human rights sanctions to encompass the blocking of aid, which has drawn criticism for exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

The Foreign Secretary further considered explicitly endorsing the International Court of Justice’s non-binding 2024 opinion that declared Israel’s occupation of territory currently recognised by the UK as the State of Palestine to be unlawful.

Even so, UK officials fear the announcement could cause an early setback in Burnham’s relationship with Trump.

To defuse a backlash from the Trump administration, British diplomats privately informed the US that the sanctions are largely symbolic and will have no tangible impact on the UK’s broader trade or security ties with Israel, according to sources familiar with the discussions.

The proposals were drawn up after Israel decided to issue tenders for the construction of 1,200 settlement housing units in an area of the West Bank.

Disputes between Israeli settlers and Palestinians have intensified in recent months as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a difficult battle to retain his seat in a general election scheduled for 27 October.

Burnham joined the leaders of Canada and five European governments, including France, Germany, and Italy, in signing a statement that condemned the housing plan as “unacceptable” and urged Netanyahu to withdraw the tender.

In a separate statement, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz condemned a call by Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir for “nightly assassinations” in Gaza.

Burnham is eager to demonstrate early to the Labour Party that he is adopting a more critical approach toward Israel than his predecessor, Keir Starmer.

Although Starmer hardened his stance against Israel during his two years in office, including by formally recognising the State of Palestine, his initial refusal to demand that Netanyahu halt military operations in Gaza divided the party.

This division led to a decline in Labour’s poll ratings and boosted electoral gains for the Green Party across the country.

Burnham’s return to Parliament last month led to Starmer’s resignation. Burnham apologised for Labour’s handling of Israel’s military operation in Gaza under his predecessor, stating that the party “did not adopt the right stance”.

Last month, Burnham’s new Defence Secretary, Wes Streeting, who faced intense competition from a Muslim independent candidate in his northeast London constituency at the last general election, stated that Israel had fallen “short” of international standards.

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told the BBC’s “Newsday” programme that there would “undoubtedly” be a US response.

Accusing the Labour Party of “discriminating against the Israeli government”, Huckabee said: “It is like throwing a rock and not knowing where it lands. The UK is a sovereign country and can do as it pleases, but so is the US.”

Republican Florida Congressman Randy Fine also warned that British firms would be barred from doing business with local governments in the state if sanctions were imposed.

In a post on X, Fine said: “Florida has made its stance clear. Any company—or country—that boycotts Israel will be boycotted by Florida.”

Labour MPs and Jewish groups have warned the government that any sanctions against the settlements could amount to a “de facto boycott” of Israeli goods and compromise the safety of British Jews.

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