The EIR weekly out today, has its cover story under the headline, “No Development, No Peace: Start with Afghanistan,” which message applies very strongly to the intense negotiations underway this week in Doha, and for which there is only a limited window of opportunity. Events are happening rapidly. Central to the Doha talks, which have taken place Aug. 10 through today, is the Troika-Plus—China, Russia, the United States, plus Pakistan, as well as the representatives of Afghanistan and the Taliban, added to which are sessions involving other nations, in differing configurations.

Meantime, within Afghanistan, the Taliban as of today claims control over the capital cities of 10 of the nation’s 34 provinces, the latest of which is Ghazni, known as the “Gateway to Kabul,” for being 130 km southwest of the capital. The Pentagon announced this afternoon that it will send in thousands of additional forces to assist in evacuating the U.S. Kabul embassy and other sites.

The preliminary reports from the Doha talks show little to no result, but the process itself counts greatly. China’s special representative on Afghanistan, Yue Xiaoyong, made the point to Doha News yesterday, that this is only the beginning, and the process must have different countries working together. The Russian envoy, Zamir Kabulov, is reported to have made a three-point proposal: 1) respect a ceasefire; 2) commit to an inclusive, intra-Afghanistan dialogue; and 3) establish an interim, shared power government, with elections to occur in two years. The Afghanistan government proposal, unconfirmed but widely reported as of this briefing, is for creating a shared power government.

Among the participants in today’s talks, in addition to the Troika-Plus, are representatives from India, Turkey, and Indonesia. Also on hand are Norway and the UK, and the Organization of Islamic Countries. On Tuesday in Doha, envoys met from the EU, UK, and the United States.

The only concept to make any plan work, is for a perspective, and action, on development, and agreement among major powers to make it happen. A variation on this truth that, without development, there can be no peace, is the added truth, that there can be no future at all without development.

The process of reverse development—namely “green” destruction of the living conditions which people need to exist and be creative, the basis for advances in continuing productivity—is seen in another classic case of electricity black-out, like the February Texas Freeze, or the January European Near-Crash of the electric grid. This time, it was Down Under.

On Aug. 9, thousands of people in New Zealand suddenly were in the dark, when the national electricity generation capacity could not meet demand, and the load-shedding system led to sudden, chaotic outages. Power is back on for most consumers, but politicians are shrieking about whom to blame. In fact, New Zealand was regarded as world leader in low-CO₂ emissions, because of having over 80 percent of its electricity supply from “renewables,” which meant mostly hydro-power for its small population of 4.8 million people. But when the green smarties started adding wind, reaching 6 percent share of national supply from 17 installations, plus adding a spot market for wholesale electricity speculation, and other hallmark green swindles, the stage was set for black outs.

In Germany this week, it is notable that two major media are writing warnings against going too far, and too fast, with greenism. Die Zeit called for extending the life of the remaining four German nuclear power reactors. Today, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung lists ways the Green Party plans are unworkable to shunt electricity from Northern Baltic wind parks, to consumers cross country, because green lifestylers potentially en route, refuse to have the lines near their homes, etc.

These are only rearguard quibbles, but indicative that reality is finally beginning to set in.

This Saturday is the opportunity to go to core principles about what defines a successful economic approach, as presented so powerfully and historically by statesman-economist Lyndon LaRouche, in particular, 50 years ago, at the turning point time of August 15, 1971, when the Nixon Administration initiated floating currencies. The Aug. 14 conference, sponsored by the LaRouche Legacy Foundation, is titled, “So, Are You Finally Willing to Learn Economics?” Helga Zepp-LaRouche announced yesterday, “This will be an Earth-shattering event, and I’m not promising too much!”