On Wednesday morning, Joe Biden and his wife will depart for his first travel abroad as President, an eight-day trip for three summits—the Group of Seven, June 11-13 in Cornwall, England; the NATO heads of state meeting, June 14 in Brussels; and the June 16 Summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva. The principle of leaders of major nations meeting for collaboration is sorely needed in today’s world of crises—the continuing pandemic, famine, and confrontation to the point of the danger of all-out war.

However, the counter-forces to potential collaboration, and even to the principle involved of serving the public good, are in high gear to either sabotage the Biden-Putin Summit happening at all, or, in some fantasy-ridden way, to try to dominate the events to steer whole nations into a doomsday course of green de-construction and conflict. It was announced yesterday that Secretary of State Antony Blinken will be alongside Biden when he meets with Putin. Not surprising, but not propitious.

As it happens, Blinken was the witness at marathon, day-long Congressional hearings of Appropriations and Foreign Relations Committees, in the House of Representatives all day Monday, and in the Senate today. The recurring theme, expressed with smarmy bi-partisanship, was that Russia and China are U.S. enemies; they oppose U.S. “values,” and so on and on. For example, Rep. Gerald Connelly (D-VA) asserted that NATO must no longer be only a defense organization, in the military sense in which it was founded, but now be active “for democracy,” against malign leaders. “It must be an antidote to Putin and Xi…. Democracy must be built into the architecture of NATO” itself, for “democratic resilience.” Blinken assured him, it will be. He said that in 2010—the last year of NATO’s formal “conceptual” mandate— Russia was referred to as a “partner,” and China hardly mentioned at all. Now, preserving democracy against these nations must be NATO’s official conceptual charter. There were dozens of such exchanges and kindergarten-level jingoism. As NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said this past week: NATO is no longer just a military alliance, but a “military-political” alliance, and “global,” not just in the “Atlantic” as the name may mistakenly imply.

In line with all this, Biden’s first stop tomorrow will be to Mildenhall, England, to the Royal Air Force base, where the U.S. Air Force 100th Air Refueling Wing is located, the only permanent U.S. refueling site in the European theatre. He will address American personnel. Thursday, he will meet with Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in what media itineraries describe as an occasion to stress the special U.S.-UK relationship. Sunday, the Bidens will go to Windsor Castle to meet with the Queen.

This political alignment is as venal as it is dangerous, but it also is delusional. The monetarist financial system associated with the U.S.-U.K. special financial relationship of Wall Street and the City of London, is now in the terminal phase. It cannot continue. Look at today’s hyperinflation, worsening by the hour. There will either be a break-forward into a new paradigm of economic policy, and foreign relations, favoring peoples and nations, or there will be chaos and misery, with the likelihood of war. Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Schiller Institute Chairwoman, is stressing this forcefully in recent communications, warning that the hyperinflation shows that a major phase-change is in store. “It is not endless…not a bad infinity.”

One manifestation of the end-phase is that people cannot afford to eat. International prices of basic foods—taken as a group—in May are up 38 percent over their level in May, 2020, measured and weighted by different categories. This is the latest report from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s Food Price Index, a monthly tracking survey, issued on June 1. The FAO gives details—e.g., corn (maize) prices are up 89 percent over that period; dairy products prices are up 28 percent, etc.

Look at COVID-19, now raging in the Southern Hemisphere, as well as in India and at points in Southeast Asia. The Pan American Health Organization’s latest survey reports surges from Chile to the Caribbean.

Amidst this terrible picture, there are instances which stand out, of the opposite paradigm of compassion, sanity, and sound policy. On the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum last week, President Putin met with representatives of many pharmaceutical companies, investors, and nations, on plans to rapidly establish Sputnik V vaccine production facilities in many places. So far 25 firms and 14 nations are involved, plus 30 investors from 17 nations. Among the heads of state in the meeting (virtually) were those of Argentina and Serbia. Nations participating in setting up vaccine facilities include Mexico, Germany, Italy, Belarus, China, Kazakhstan, and more.

This exemplifies the spirit to be addressed everywhere, in mobilizing for a new paradigm for mankind. The theme of the upcoming, two-day Schiller Institute international (virtual) online conference: “For the Common Good of All People, Not Rules Benefiting the Few!”