The Drama Unfolding at the UN General Assembly

Sept. 23, 2026 (EIRNS)—“According to the original doctrine of the beast-man developed by Martinists such as Joseph de Maistre, fear of such predatory tyrants is not the fear of the power they are believed to represent, but the kind of wild irrationality associated with Roman Caesars such as Caligula or Nero; or that image of the Spanish Inquisition which the Martinists admired.”

So wrote Lyndon LaRouche on Oct. 4, 2003, in a short piece Hitler and Schwarzenegger As Beast-Men exposing the whys and wherefores of the combination of frenzied support and wild fear generated by figures such as then-California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Adolf Hitler.

“The relevant lesson to be learned from the current situation in Iraq,” LaRouche continued, “is that neo-conservatives such as the fascists Vice-President Cheney, Richard Perle, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, and so on and so on, are not exactly geniuses. Their power lies not in the development of their mental powers, but in their lack of morals or rationality. Their power lies in their disposition to act in ways no sane and moral person would do. Their appeal lies entirely in the fear they instill because of the part they are disposed to play, in whatever roles, on- or off-stage, they are cast.”

Fast forward to today, and the drama now unfolding in New York City at the General Assembly High-Level Week from Sept. 22-28, where nearly 130 heads of state and government are scheduled to speak. Schiller Institute founder Helga Zepp-LaRouche had issued an open letter to the assembling delegates urging them to rise to the occasion. “We are experiencing at the same time the end of the epoch of five hundred years of colonialism. If we, as the human species, want to prevent this tumultuous transition period from ending up in a new world war, we have to replace geopolitical confrontation with a completely new paradigm, the vision of ONE humanity,” Zepp-LaRouche stated. "We must establish an entirely new paradigm: The idea of the one humanity first, must be put above all particular interests.

“This U.N. General Assembly is the place to put the concept of a ‘New Security and Development Architecture’ on the agenda, which must take into account the interests of every single country on the planet.”

The first head of state to address the UNGA, as is traditional, was the President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. “Leading is to reconcile the interests of the nation with those of humanity,” he stated. “This General Assembly… needs to focus on issues crucial for the future of humanity. We are called to choose between multilateralism or unilateralism, democracy or extremism, sovereignty or subordination.”

Lula was followed by President Donald Trump, who put on a studied, beast-man performance in which he threatened to “annihilate” Iran—and implicitly any country that dares challenge the U.S. Speaking deliberately, with chosen words that have been widely reported in the international media, Trump stated:

“Will a deal be made with Iran… or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again? Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations?”

Trump had issued similar blood-curdling threats against Iran on April 1, 2026, when he said he would “bring them back to the Stone Age, where they belong,” and again a week later, on April 7, 2026, writing on Truth Social: “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back.”

But because Trump’s latest Sept. 22 speech was delivered at the center of the world stage, at the High-Level UNGA meeting, it carried far greater weight—and is far more dangerous as a statement of his administration’s policy—than his earlier, similar threats.

Timed for effect, Trump personally signed the U.S.-Greenland deal on the sidelines of the UNGA right after his speech, a deal which gives the U.S. “permanent control over security and all other needs on that territory,” he pronounced. The so-called “missile defense” Golden Dome is at the center of that deal, whose real purpose is primarily offensive, not defensive—since it has no way of stopping Russian Sarmat ICBMs and Avangard hypersonic glide missiles, which can fly a trajectory over the South Pole to strike the U.S.

Add to that: 1) the pre-UNGA official announcement by the U.S. that it is unilaterally placing weapons in space; 2) Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby’s making it clear that his nuclear policy review favoring the use of tactical nuclear weapons would not be subjected to public scrutiny, including his arrogant refusal to even brief the congressional committees that are Constitutionally mandated to conduct oversight; and 3) rapidly escalating European preparations for war against Russia in the short term.

And so, as the drama unfolds at the United Nations, the big picture, strategically, is that the trans-Atlantic financial establishment has charted a course leading to thermonuclear confrontation with Russia and China in the short term, and to Schachtian looting of the global economy to make that war drive possible.

On Sept. 24, Trump will meet with China’s President Xi Jinping, who will assuredly be working at changing that trajectory, as the Global Majority systematically builds a world based on radically different principles of cooperation and respect for sovereignty.

Shall we, or our friends and neighbors, be like the terrorized followers of Schwarzenegger and the man with the moustache? Or will we assist in deflecting the U.S. and Europe off the current trajectory and into cooperation with the Global Majority?