International Peace Coalition: As of the eighth week of the US-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, global food shortages are building: The International Grains Council (IGC) projects a global production decline of millions of tonnes of total grains (wheat, corn and some others) for the current crop year (2026-27). 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 US President Donald John Trump on April 7, 2026, which he shifted from April 21 to April 22, there are no definite arrangements for a second round of talks among the US, Iran and mediators.

On April 21, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on an X posting: “Deep historical mistrust in Iran toward the US 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, President Trump gave a flurry of short statements to multiple media outlets 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 were set, and he was dispatching Vice President James David Vance to Pakistan on April 21. This frantic pattern is the type of behaviour dozens of US 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, the founder of the Schiller Institute and the International Peace Coalition (IPC) in 2022, during an open meeting in order to increase the unified impact of those working for peace, in particular, through economic development. She called for a rush mobilisation immediately “to get more adults in the room” intervening into the global 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 US has amassed a force of three aircraft carrier groups, some 50,000 soldiers and sailors in the area. Early on April 22 morning, 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 and also in the West Bank during the ceasefire. There is not even a pretense of President Trump’s Board of Peace reconstruction programme. Throughout the Gulf states, millions of those in the foreign workforce – in the range of 24 million in total – are stranded, lacking food and necessities.

Internationally, the economic scenario 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 (EU) to cap daily access to gasoline at 50 litres, 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. Fertiliser shortages, not just sky-high prices, are spreading. For example, Brazil, the agriculture powerhouse, is 85% import-dependent for fertiliser, for which there is no quick fix. India has severe shortages.

In the US, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told farmers to hang on, as the White House would announce a fertiliser-aid programme this week. Today, the US, the current chair of the Group of 20, released a Chair’s Statement through the Treasury Department, calling on G20 members to stay “agile and flexible” in order to promote “food security and support market stability”, but do nothing to stop the warfare.

Meanwhile, US public debt is soaring. It grew by USD 1 trillion in only 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.

The parents of the 168 children who were killed at a girls’ primary school in Minab, Iran on February 28, 2026 sent a letter to Pope Leo XIV and it goes right to the point. The handwritten text, made public on 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 tranquillity 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 across the globe, which, if amplified in number and focus of positive initiatives, can change the course of history. In the US, 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 the 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, the US Congress can cut the funding for war-making, as seen dramatically in 1973, when a bill passed to de-fund the US war on Vietnam.

Boundless Ocean of Politics received this article from the International Peace Coalition (IPC) on April 22, 2026.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das