Situation in the World
Capitalism is leading Humanity and the Planet to Destruction
This assessment of “The Situation in the World” was made at the 3rd meeting of the Communist Party of Türkiye – Marxist Leninist Central Committee. It was published in Communist, the central organ of the TKP-ML, issue 76 of May 2022.
The worldwide economic crisis brings the deepening of contradictions between imperialists and the redistribution of markets to the agenda. And this is the cause of imperialist wars. The imperialist-capitalist system is not able to achieve stability in the economic and political spheres. The current system is unable to radically intervene in the destruction of capitalism and the ball of problems. On the other hand, although wars of occupation are waged as a solution to the crisis, each war of occupation creates new problems and deepens the existing ones.
While the international market competition, hegemony and geopolitical struggle between the imperialist states and monopolies is escalating, the process of redistribution of markets is making the polarisation between the imperialists clearer. And all this, at the same time, constitutes a threat and an element of attack for the peoples of the world. They are being targeted; they are being charged with the bill. The peoples are billed for the imperialists’ infighting…
Today’s conjuncture has pitted the imperialists of the USA and Europe against the imperialists of China and Russia, who emerged on the stage of history after them, as adversaries. So much so that the struggle for interests and influence between these powers has escalated to the highest levels. As a result, they have entered a period in which military elements are more prominent against each other. When the US threatened that it would militarily take Ukraine under its command – along with its political and economic dependence – and extend NATO borders right under Russia’s nose, Russia launched an invasion attack against Ukraine. In other words, Russia responded to this attempt by the US, which did not want Russia to open to other markets and wanted it to remain in a narrow area, with an imperialist invasion.
Thus, once again, the price of the international struggle for markets and hegemony was imposed on the peoples. As a result of this attack, tens of thousands of Ukrainians and Russians were killed and wounded, their homes were burned, millions of Ukrainians were forced to migrate.
All this is the result of the increasingly escalating struggle between the international monopolies, banks, and states to establish geo-political supremacy, plunder, pillage and plunder. Therefore, this invasion and aggression cannot be dealt with in isolation from the escalating international redistribution of markets. Otherwise, the ideologues of the imperialists serve to conceal the realities. The existing international system that has brought the world to this state is camouflaged.
However, the dialectical materialist point of view clearly shows the naked truth. The virtual realm put on the market by the western imperialists, led by the USA, under the labels of “globalisation”, “neo- liberalism”, “unipolar world”, “new world order”, etc., is bankrupt. The contradictions, problems and destructions of international capitalism have become more aggressive. The ball of problems has grown, class contradictions and political pressure and sanctions have reached the highest level.
Before starting this topic, it would be useful to touch upon the recent history of Ukraine, which is geo- strategically and geo-politically prominent for the imperialist powers. We will see how the two countries, which were once part of the Soviet Union established by the October Revolution led by the proletariat, became opposites when they came under the hegemony of capitalism.
As is well known, like other Soviet republics, the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic joined the Soviet Union in 1921. It continued to exist as a socialist republic within the socialist Soviet Union until 1956. After that date, the bureaucratic state capitalism, marked by modern revisionism, which the Soviet Union evolved into, became dominant in Ukraine. And after 1989-91, it gave way to the capitalism of a handful of oligarch bourgeoisie who seized the wealth, opportunities, and possibilities of the previous order in mafia-like ways. And we have come to today…
The Reorganisation of Russian Imperialism
As we mentioned above, after the collapse of bureaucrat state capitalism, it was replaced by capitalism marked by private property. Forced and imposed by historical evolution and existing conditions, the previous bureaucrat capitalism was forced to make such a change in its internal structure. The lack of open private property vis-à-vis other classical capitalists, the emergence of contradictions between private property and state property, the deepening of the contradiction between bureaucrat state property and surplus-value exploitation, the further destruction of the system by the contradiction created by state capitalism vis-à-vis classical capitalism based on the private sector, the increase in bribery, corruption and bureaucratic relations, and the contradictions and problems that emerged between the official bureaucrat new bourgeoisie and the working class as a result of these, brought about the blockage of the functioning of state capitalism in its internal structure and its collapse.
Indeed, the states that corresponded to state capitalism in the Soviet Union, China, Eastern Europe, and the Balkans were replaced by western countries marked by private property with the collapse of 1989-91. As a result, separate states were formed. The Warsaw Pact, which was established against NATO, was also disbanded on 1 July 1991. With the dissolution of the military pact, which included Ukraine, the US intervened in the economic, political, and military vacuum in its favour. Thus, the countries of the Balkans and Eastern Europe immediately came under the rule of the European imperialists and the USA. Russia, which was destroyed from within, could not prevent the oligarch bourgeoisie of these countries from becoming dependent on the western imperialists. More precisely, the US and Europe took under their economic and political hegemony the markets lost to rival social imperialism in the struggle for markets. Although Russia had stipulated that the states in Eastern Europe and the Balkans should not be admitted to NATO, the US and Western European states “accepted” this, but later they did not comply with it. They extended their military borders right under Russia’s nose by making Eastern European and Balkan countries members of NATO.
However, in contrast to the Eastern European and Balkan states, a significant part of the former Soviet societies did not immediately enter the magnetic field of the Western powers because of their ties to the past. First, they joined the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The CIS was formed on 8 December 1991 as a result of an agreement first signed between Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. With the formation of the CIS, the Soviet Union “officially” collapsed. Later, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Lithuania, and the former Soviet countries except Georgia also signed this agreement on 21 December 1991. Georgia signed the treaty in 1993. Thus, in 1993, 12 of the 15 republics of the former Soviet Union became part of the CIS. However, Turkmenistan left full membership in 2005, Georgia in 2009 and Ukraine in 2014. In Georgia, a coup d’état dubbed the “Rose Revolution” in November 2003 brought pro-US Mikheil Saakashvilli to power. And at the insistence of the US, he wanted to join NATO. Russia did not accept this situation and did not accept Georgia’s troop landing in South Ossetia, which declared independence on 8 August 2008, breaking the ceasefire agreement signed in 1994. Russian troops entered the region in response to Georgian troops. After eight days of fighting, a ceasefire agreement was signed. Russia was the first country to recognise the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia on 26 August 2008. It even established military bases there. It also rejected Georgia’s membership of NATO and the EU. Then, on 17 August 2009, the Georgian parliament voted to leave the CIS.
Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, which are not part of the CIS, were included in the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CSBSS) established on 5-6 March 1992. Apart from them, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Iceland, Germany, Poland, and Russia are also members of the BRSA. As can be seen, after the legal dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Baltic states, which are members of the BRSA, took the first and most open attitude towards Russia. Although Russia is part of this Council, it is essentially the backbone of the CIS.
In the post-“Cold War” era, the purpose of the Council was to respond to post-war geo-political developments and build inter-state relations.
As can be seen, the latest geo-political position and the change in the international conjuncture have led to changes in the economic, political, and military relations between states and the ties they form. As a result, just as the relations of states such as the USA, Britain, Germany, and France are shaped according to the new international position, states such as China and Russia are also developing a new network of relations in line with their own interests in the new process. As a matter of fact, the period in which inter- imperialist relations are being redesigned has entered, and the steps of opposing poles, new alliances and new ties have been taken.
The Last Scene of the Inter-Imperialist Contradiction: Ukraine
Ukraine, which had good relations with Russia until 2014, experienced sudden and rapid developments. Between 18 February and 23 February 2014, a coup ousted the pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych. Over a hundred people lost their lives in the week-long clashes.
The backdrop of these conflicts, as mentioned above, was the struggle for hegemony between the western imperialists and the alliance of Russia and China. This struggle, which is becoming more and more sharpened, has escalated to the highest levels over Ukraine. The result was a confrontation between the pro- Russian Ukrainian President Yanukovych and those supported by the US and Europe. This is the result of the Ukrainian government’s refusal to sign the IMF policies and the Ukraine-European Union Association Agreement imposed by the pro-Western side, preferring instead to rapprochement with Russia and the Eurasian Economic Union. Indeed, this situation triggered the conflict further. The Yevromeydan (Independence Square) protests, which began in November 2013 with the support of Western states, spread across the country.
The neo-Nazi groups that emerged from these movements came to the fore. They toppled the statue of Lenin in Kiev. They chanted “Ukraine is Europe”. Neo-Nazi groups took the lead with their slogans, the banners they carried, the way they dressed, the fires they lit, their attacks, their threats, their racist attitudes. Bigoted and racist politicians, journalists, TV personalities and celebrities also took part in this movement that spread across the country. Television, press and all media were mobilised, and mass rallies took place,
There were marches and demonstrations. Flags of European states and the US were waved during the marches and there were speeches of admiration for the West. In short, all the populist figures were fanned.
Yanukovych’s convoy was fired upon on his way to Kharkov. He was overthrown by the attack. Yanukovych then fled to Crimea and then to Russia, supported by Russian official forces. Along with him, other officials were purged. He was temporarily replaced by Oleksandr Turchinov. On 25 May 2014, Petro Poroshenko, an oligarch, won the unilateral elections and was inaugurated on 7 June 2014.
All these developments were organised by the US and its foreign organisation CIA, as well as Britain, France, and Germany. Thus, Ukraine, which was under the guidance of Russia, has been drawn to their side by the Western states.
Following a referendum held in the Crimean Peninsula, the Crimean Peninsula seceded from Ukraine on 18 March 2014 and was annexed to Russia.
These developments led to the introduction of repression and privileges for Ukrainian citizens of Russian ethnic origin in the eastern provinces of Ukraine. Russian was banned. Racism against the Russian nationality was fanned. The Law on Regional Languages was repealed. Especially the people living in the Donbas and Lugansk regions, where the majority are of Russian origin, took a stand for the abolition of this law and against racism. Uprisings broke out in the provinces of this region against the fomenting of racism through the CIA-backed administration. Donetsk and Luhansk, as well as Kharkov, Kherson, Nikolayev, Odessa were the scene of demonstrations and uprisings. As a result, especially in Donetsk and Luhansk, government buildings were seized, and Russian flags were raised instead of Ukrainian flags.
As a result of these conflicts and developments, the Donetsk People’s Republic was established on 7 April 2014 and the Lugansk People’s Republic was proclaimed on 27 April. And because of their decisions, 49 representatives, 21 from Donetsk and 28 from Lugansk, were accepted as deputies at a meeting. The Donetsk and Lugansk republics merged on 26 June 2014 to form the “People’s Union Republic”. Oleg Tsarev was appointed Speaker of the Parliament. Russia took them under its protection but accepted their request for independence on 21 February 2022, just after the start of the Ukrainian War. The war between Ukraine and Donetsk and Lugansk has continued to this day.
On 20 May 2019, Zelensky officially became President of Ukraine and has maintained relations with the US and European states and has acted in their interests. He sided with the US and European states in the war that began at the instigation of the US and the invasion of Russia. However, the civil war in Donets and Lugansk has now turned into an international war between Ukraine and Russia, which is dominated by the western imperialists.
Status of Donetsk and Lugansk and the Right to Secede
We touched on the war between Ukraine and Donetsk and Lugansk, highlighting their historical background, the relations between them and the origins of the current conflicts.
A related point is that the Ukrainian bourgeoisie, which seized power in the 2016 coup, banned the languages of Donetsk and Lugansk, prevented their schools and education, denied their national existence, and subjected them to assimilation and repression.
The MLM point of view opposes and takes a stand against the attacks, massacres, oppression, and prohibitions carried out by the Ukrainian bourgeoisie and state dependent on US imperialism on Donetsk and Luganska. Because these oppressions and attacks deny the nation’s right to free secession and self- determination, subject it to assimilation and fascist domination. It is these attacks and oppressions that are opposed, and the attitude taken.
The right to free secession of the Donets People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic, which fought against the fascist rule of Ukraine and declared their autonomous regions, must be respected. It is one thing for these autonomous republics to be pro-Russian, to want to join Russian imperialism, and quite another to defend the principle of the right of free secession. The “use” of these republics in the interests of Russian imperialism should not be confused with the uncompromising defence of the principle of the Right to Separate Freely. In this context, one should not back up the occupying policies of Russian imperialism. The Right of Free Separation of these autonomous republics must be defended, and Russia’s imperialist occupation and annexation aggression must be openly condemned.
Lenin stressed that in such a situation the people would either consent to live under this reactionary regime, under the rule of the bourgeois government, or they would revolt and start a new revolution.
However, this should not mean that we should ignore the fact that the US and European states are also directing the Zelensky government in line with their own interests. In any case, the invasion of Ukraine and the war is not an internal problem, but a war of division and hegemony between international imperialists. An objective stance cannot be taken without seeing the content of this war. However, as in every national question, Donetsk and Lugansk have the right to secede freely and this right is unconditionally defended. Those who do not unconditionally defend this right are acting along the line of oppressor nation’s nationalism. To deny the right to secede freely and establish a separate state is to fall into social chauvinism. It means ignoring the national aggression and occupation attempts. In short, Russians in Ukraine have the “right to secede freely”, just like every other nation.
As we mentioned above, Donetsk and Lugansk regions have exercised their right to secede and decided to establish a separate state. However, this decision was taken under conditions marked by the conflict of interests between imperialists. Therefore, Donetsk and Lugansk could not act independently under these conditions and acted under the guidance of the occupying Russia. Therefore, their decision of “independence” is in fact an “independence” that involves dependence on Russian imperialism. In any case, without subjective conditions – or with a weak leadership – the national question cannot be resolved in an independent manner. Such a conjuncture brings these problems into the vortex of imperialist states. This is the situation in Ukraine and Donetsk and Lugansk.
But in the end, the right of Donetsk and Lugansk, whose national status is unrecognised, denied and attacked, to secede freely must be unconditionally defended. Without the recognition of the right of free secession, the unity of nationalities is a forced unity.
NATO’s Expansion is an Inter-Imperialist Struggle for Market and Hegemony
The previous international geo-political situation, referred to by bourgeois ideologists as the “Cold War”, resulted in the superiority of the USA over Russian Social Imperialism. The US supremacy, which was presented to the public with formulations such as “unipolar world”, “globalisation”, “new world order”, continued for some time. With this move, from the 1990s to 2005, the US acted as the “superpower” that acted alone in international politics. However, it was not possible for this period to continue to the end. International markets were fixed, and the export of capital necessitated the redistribution of fixed markets. This market struggle was inevitable. Therefore, it was not possible for the imperialist states to take part in the continuous compromise phase and the “unipolar” conjuncture. Because the imperialist system’s struggle for markets and hegemony would eventually impose itself.
Indeed, the defeat of Russian Social Imperialism in the struggle for markets tied the markets in Eastern Europe and the Balkans to Europe and the USA. In addition, the Russian-led military Warsaw Pact was dissolved. As a result, the US took advantage of this vacuum and established NATO bases in these countries, expanding NATO’s borders eastwards and towards Russia, now going as far as Ukraine. The US thus intended to squeeze Russia through NATO and prevent it from expanding into wider areas. As a result, the states that in the past were part of the Warsaw Pact of Russian Social Imperialism are now part of the US-led NATO headquarters. The Eastern European states of the Warsaw Pact, which was formed in opposition to the US-created NATO, have now switched sides.
Having failed to prevent Russia’s growing assertiveness under Obama and Trump, the US is now once again attempting to do so under Biden, with the Ukraine-Russia war…
Despite all these attempts by the US, the contradictions and rifts between the imperialists could not be prevented. So much so that the contradictions have gradually developed and today have reached an extreme level. China and Russia have gradually come to the fore in this competition. By turning to the market areas of imperialist states such as the USA and Britain, Germany, France and Japan, they have put the world into a process in which the struggle for markets and redistribution has gained momentum. So much so that with the One Belt, One Road Project prepared by China, it started to open up to the continents of Asia, Africa and Europe. China has also opened up to the Latin-American continent, which has particularly disturbed US imperialism. This discomfort has gradually driven a wedge between the US and China, and today, as this fight for markets develops, the contradiction between the imperialist camp led by the US and the other imperialist camp formed by China and Russia has escalated to sharp dimensions.
As a result, US imperialism threatened Russia by including Ukraine, which it had made dependent on itself with its coup in 2016, into NATO. In particular, the last US President Joe Biden brought the NATO membership of Ukraine, which is next to Russia, to the forefront and put Ukraine at the centre of the international agenda. Thus, Ukraine’s situation became strategic. And finally, Russia launched a war of aggression against Ukraine and entered a hot war. As a result, in this political atmosphere, the European capitalist-imperialist states, under the leadership of the US, embraced NATO again with the mood of the “Cold War” period.
The other plan of the US is to wear down Russia, which is engaged in a war, and to weaken its relations with China. Their aim is to disrupt this move by China and Russia, which they cannot prevent from opening up market areas. For this, they want the occupation of Ukraine to last longer. The background of this attack is to use the war in Ukraine as an element of pressure on Russia, to weaken its influence and to break its ties with China. In this way, they plan to isolate China, or at least weaken its relations.
Then, in the Great China Sea (Pacific Ocean), islands, straits, straits, land, bringing up the Taiwan issue, Hong Kong, etc., creating new problems and wearing China down to the point of excluding it from its global hegemony… To confine its rivals to a narrow space… Thus, with the conjuncture
To block, undermine and eliminate China’s One Road, One Belt Project in the fight for markets… To dominate their own projects instead…
These are the imperialist aims of the US. Therefore, on 16 September 2021, Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States formed a military pact against China in the Asia-Pacific. This military pact, named AUKUS after the abbreviation of the names of the three countries, was needed as a kind of NATO. The aim of this pact is to curb China in the Asia-Pacific and render it ineffective in the struggle for hegemony. For this purpose, it is to weaken the alliance of China and Russia, the rivals of the US, to weaken their relations with each other, to render them ineffective, to narrow their room for manoeuvre, and to prevent them from opening large market areas and geo-political spaces. This is the goal behind the Russia-Ukraine war. To wear Russia down by keeping it at war and to weaken its ties with China… And then to drag China into a war in the Asia-Pacific and wear it down through the problems it creates… As a matter of fact, the attempt to gradually bring up the Taiwan and Hong Kong issues is the result of these proposals!…
Thus, the number of NATO member states has increased from 16 at the beginning to 30 after the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact. The expansion of its own military composition is a consequence of this.
The US and Britain played a provocative role in destroying “world peace” before the invasion
The contradictions between imperialists are deepening in every field today. Especially in the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific Ocean, the US and EU imperialists are planning political and military operations against China and Russia and trying to put these plans into practice. After invading Syria with the Greater Middle East Project (BOP), the US imperialists’ plans to seize Iran’s natural gas and oil, and then the Kazakh, Turkmen and Azeri oil and natural gas after the invasion of Syria were thwarted when Russia joined the war on the side of the Syrian state against the US and Turkish jihadists.
Moreover, with the US imperialists losing their influence over the countries of the Arab Islamic Union to Russia, it paved the way for Russian companies to dominate the markets in the Arab Islamic Union countries in the Middle East. And since the EU countries had not yet formed their own military forces (the European army), they did not have the opportunity to realize these plans due to the statements of the then US President D. Trump on the “unnecessity of NATO” against the efforts to position NATO against Russia in Eastern Europe.
In January 2021, the new President of the United States, J. Biden, who took office in January, attended the meeting of NATO member states in Brussels in June with great importance and preparation, acting on the necessity of taking NATO, more precisely NATO member countries – especially with the UK – with him before the economic and military attacks against China and Russia, contrary to what was done before – during the Trump era. This meeting produced a report entitled “NATO 2030; Unity for a New Era”. At this meeting, under the leadership of the US imperialists headed by J.Biden, it was decided to launch an economic war against China and a war against Russia, in which military attacks can be launched alongside the economic war. China and Russia were identified as the target countries.
“Our main concerns are Russia, China and Terrorism…” reads the NATO declaration issued at the end of the NATO summit in Brussels. The US imperialism’s strategy of “encircling Russia with NATO member states” has been turned into a NATO strategy through the strengthening of NATO military structure in Eastern Europe.
The declaration of China and Russia as enemies and the decisions to surround Russia from the east with NATO member states in the final declarations of the G7, NATO and EU meetings are also NATO’s strategy document.
The US and NATO have been deploying missiles on Russia’s borders for many years. They carry out large-scale manoeuvres in these areas. They fly bombers carrying nuclear weapons over Russia’s borders.
Most importantly, in 2014, the US and NATO jointly staged a coup in Ukraine – the Maidan coup – to oust the pro-Russian president and government and install a pro-Russian government. And since then, the forces in Ukraine have been equipped with modern weapons and trained for a possible war with Russia, and not only that, pro-Nazi forces from Europe and America have been trained in Ukraine and included in the Azov Battalions formed by the Nazis there. All this preparation is part of the process leading up to the war in Ukraine.
The US Seeks to Restore Its Declining Status
The US imperialists are very disturbed by China’s economic development, its seizure of a large part of the African markets, its turning from Asia to Europe and the Middle East markets with the “One Road” project. At the same time, due to Russia’s coming to the forefront in market sharing as an economic and military power and upsetting the plans of the US imperialists in Syria, the US imperialists took action to squeeze China and Russia by first taking Britain and then NATO with them in order to reverse this situation and to ensure its dominance in the world markets by mobilising its military and economic power as in the past.
The US imperialists, through the G7, NATO and EU meetings, and especially by taking NATO and EU countries along with them, want to provoke Ukraine against Russia and bring it to war in order to push Russia back militarily and economically. For this reason, they are providing Ukraine with all kinds of heavy weapons and supplies and serious economic support. According to US statements, the US has provided $800 million in gratuitous aid for armaments alone. Military experts and intelligence officers of NATO and US are providing all-round support to Ukraine’s military forces in the field. We can say that the US imperialists are waging a proxy war through Ukraine.
The Ukraine War is a War of Imperialist Sharing between the US-EU and Russia
Starting from history, it will be easier to understand the present.
“The real policy of the two giant capitalist groups – Britain and Germany, which, together with their allies, are in competition with each other – in the years preceding the war must be studied and fully grasped,” Lenin said.
“This policy shows us only one thing, the constant capitalist rivalry between the two largest giants in the world, the two capitalist economies. On the one hand, there is England, which owns the greater part of the earth’s surface, which is first in wealth, which has acquired this wealth not through the labour of its own workers but through the exploitation of its countless colonies, which controls billions of rubles through three or four English banks, which have taken over all the other banks, and which, in doing so, makes us say, without exaggeration, that there is not a single country on the face of the earth which does not have this fist of capital on it, and that there is not an inch of land on the face of the earth which has not fallen into the net of English capital.”…
“In 1871 a new robber, a new economic power emerged. This power developed much more rapidly than in England. This rapid development of capitalism in Germany was like a young and powerful robber coming to the League of European States and saying: ‘You have ruined Holland, you have defeated France, you have devoured half the world; now please let us have our share.'” (V.I.Lenin, National Liberation Movements in the East, p. 276, Yöntem Publishing)
“The German imperialists told the British imperialists that enough of exploiting the world! We want to get a share from here too, and they started the war for the redistribution of the colonies.” (The Outbreak of the First Imperialist Sharing War)
China and Russia, who stand up to the US and EU imperialists today, are the young, powerful robbers who stood up to Britain years ago. They are imposing on the US and the EU that we too must have our share of the world markets.
War is the continuation of politics by other means. When the struggles between the oppressor and oppressed classes sharpen, the classes are forced to carry out their politics with weapons. Every war has a class content. Therefore, as long as there is oppressor and exploiting classes and oppressed and exploited classes on earth, wars will exist.
“Only if we overthrow and defeat the bourgeoisie, not in one country, but all over the world, and take away their property, wars will become impossible.” (Socialism and War, Lenin)
All the wars we have seen and will see in history are wars of classes. They are fought either between the oppressor classes for their share of exploitation or between the oppressed class and the oppressor class, on the one hand as a continuation of the oppressor class’s politics of exploitation and oppression, and on the other hand as a continuation of the oppressed classes’ politics of destroying the existing regime of exploitation and oppression.
Wars cannot be prevented by mere wishes and dry slogans such as “Down with war”. There are concrete reasons that lead to wars. Unless these causes are eliminated, wars will not be eliminated. Lenin says the following about the elimination of wars; “What is necessary is not to prevent war, but to take advantage of the crisis created by war to accelerate the overthrow of the bourgeoisie. “ (On Imperialist War, p. 9)
The main problem in the debates that socialists will engage in on the attitude to be adopted against the war is: Why is the war being fought? Which classes are the ones who are orchestrating and directing the war? That is to say, the socialists must explain to the masses that the only way out is to overthrow “their” government and that for this purpose they must take advantage of the difficulties their government is facing in this war. (age)
In a reactionary war, a revolutionary class cannot but wish for the defeat of its government, nor can it ignore the fact that the possibilities of overthrowing it are increased by the military failures of the government.
It’s clear that the aim of this war between the US, UK and EU imperialists and the Russian imperialists, over Ukraine is clearly to dominate the region and control the markets. Therefore, the invading and annexationist attempts and attacks of the US, UK, and EU imperialists on the one hand and the Russian imperialists on the other must be opposed.
What is happening is a reactionary and unjust war. It is the Ukraine people and the other countries peoples who will be most affected by these conflicts between the two imperialist camps.
The correct solution to such wars between imperialists is for the international proletariat and the oppressed peoples of the world to organise and fight against imperialism and the rulers of their own countries.
Communists face the task of imposing just wars against those who impose unjust war, occupation, and annexation on the oppressed people. It is the duty of communists to raise the flag of just wars against unjust wars.
Controversies and Hopes pinned on Russia
The debate over Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is remarkable. Many parties, groups and circles that find expression in anti-US sentiments have sided with Russia and justify Putin’s attack on Ukraine. They sided with Russia, arguing that only “Russia can stop” the US warmongering and expansionist policy and that the invasion of Ukraine was a response to the US and European imperialists. Another justification of these circles is based on the thesis that Russia has been encircled by the inclusion of Ukraine in NATO and that Russia has a “survival problem” against this and that it is legitimate to wage war against Ukraine in order not to endanger its own future.
On the contrary, the correct position is that Russia is an occupying power and there is no justification for its attack on Ukraine. It is true that at NATO and G7 summits the US, UK and European imperialists see Russia as an enemy and make plans to neutralise it. China must also be added to this. For the US, Britain and the European imperialists, Russia, and China, as the two great enemies, are seen as the biggest obstacles to the redistribution of markets.
The contradictions within the imperialist system are becoming increasingly acute. The fact that it finds its expression today in Ukraine does not mean that everything is hunky-dory in other parts of the world. In all geographies of the world, the contradictions between the imperialists continue to fight for the market, sometimes with conflicts, sometimes with occupations and coups. Ukraine has emerged as the weakest link in this process. The process, combined with the US warmongering, resulted in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
As long as the imperialist system exists, the contradictions between the imperialists will persist. The economic and political reasons for this are expressed by Stalin in an article in which he draws attention to the danger of war, saying: “What is most characteristic of this growth of the production and trade of world capitalism is the uneven development. Development does not take place in the form of a quiet and steady advance of the capitalist countries one after the other, without disturbing and crushing each other, but on the contrary – through the repulsion and collapse of some countries, through the replacement and rise of others – as a life-and-death struggle for market domination between continents and countries. This is the basis of the growing irreconcilable contradictions of modern capitalism. This contradiction between the growth of production possibilities and the relative constancy of markets is why the question of markets is now the central problem of capitalism. The sharpening of the question of the markets of production in general, and the sharpening of the question of foreign markets in particular, and the sharpening of the question of markets for the export of capital in particular – this is the present state of capitalism. ” (Stalin, vol. 10, pp. 234-35)
This observation, expressed by Stalin in the preliminary years of the Second Imperialist War, is still valid today. With the war in Ukraine, the contradictions between the imperialists have increased and the process continues with mutual confrontations.
The Communist position on this war is clear. Russia must immediately withdraw from Ukraine as an occupying power. This war benefits neither the Ukrainian people nor the Russian people. The struggle of the Ukrainian people against the Russian occupation is legitimate. The problem here is that the Ukrainian ruling classes leading this war are pawns of US and EU imperialism. This objective situation constitutes the most strategic and weakest point of the Ukrainian people’s defence of the homeland.
Fascist Parties and Groups Driven to War in Ukraine
Fascist groups, parties and circles have always been a reserve force of the imperialists and their lackey governments. The use of the Taliban against Russia in Afghanistan and the use of ISIS against Assad in Syria are still memorable examples. As a constant in civil wars and uprisings, fascist parties have always been used as a reserve force. There are only quantitative differences between fascist parties being legal, taking part in parliament or operating underground. The bourgeoisie has always used these hordes, whose
tasks do not change when the time comes, as a reserve force to the front or as a paramilitary force in civil wars. It is no secret how reactionary and fascist groups were used by the US during the uprisings in Tunisia and the Arab Spring.
Another force used against the Russian imperialist power in the Ukrainian war has been fascist groups and parties. These groups, which call themselves neo-Nazis, are actively fighting against Russia. By sending neo-Nazi gangs to Ukraine, where it cannot send troops directly and openly, NATO is trying to make up for the shortage of troops, albeit partially, through these fascist gangs. These fascist groups from Germany, Britain, France, Hungary, and Poland have committed countless massacres in Ukraine.
In the EU countries, the neo-Nazi movement has a strength beyond what is known. It is also known that these groups are in international cooperation and solidarity with each other. From time to time, these fascist groups come together, hold meetings, organise marches and intimidate the public.
There is a serious fascist force in the EU countries. It is known that governments are behind this fascist movement, which is getting stronger and stronger, especially in Germany, but also in other countries. The power behind the failure to shut down the NPD (National Democratic Party), which has been repeatedly demanded to be shut down in Germany, is the German state itself. The main problem behind the failure to shut down this fascist party, which has carried out hundreds of actions and murdered dozens of immigrants, is that the German state uses these fascist groups when the time and place comes.
Many legal fascist parties are now in government in EU countries. All these fascist parties are also being used against the increasing influx of migrants. Intelligence agencies are behind the actions of these parties against migrants and the murder of migrants. The main reason why the NSU (National Socialist Underground) in Germany, after some of its members were caught years after the murder of 10 migrants, was given a confidentiality order in the trial was the fear that the role of the German state would be revealed. During the war in Ukraine, Germany sent thousands of neo-Nazis to Ukraine and deployed these fascist groups on the war front. The same applies to other EU countries. It is the same for Britain, France, Poland, Greece, Hungary, etc. All these countries have opened their doors to the neo-Nazi groups and have freely and without any legal binding, led them to war in Ukraine.
Zelenskiy, the spokesperson of the Ukrainian ruling classes, who is fighting for the interests of the US and EU imperialists in Ukraine today, has been closely involved with the fascist gangs in Ukraine since 2019. He has provided great opportunities to the fascist movement. He removed all legal obstacles to their organisation.
The largest of these fascist movements is Azov/Azak. This fascist movement, which also has a military wing, is known to be effective within the Ukrainian army. This fascist group, also known as the Azov Battalion, openly defends Hitler and uses Nazi symbols on their uniforms and flags. This fascist group has been supported by groups from France, Belarus, Canada, Slovenia, Italy and Sweden. With 20,000 members, this group was actively used against Russia during the war in Ukraine.
Another is the Swobida movement. The Swobida Movement, which calls itself the “Freedom Movement”, has been active since 1991. Until 2014, this fascist movement was represented in the parliament with 37 deputies and worked under Zelenskiy as a paramilitary force against Russia during the Ukrainian war. The fascist organisation Prawyj Sector was also active mainly during the “Maidan Protests”. It is one of the most active groups fighting against Russia.
Since the beginning of the war, all Ukrainian embassies in Europe have been turned into recruitment centres. Many European neo-Nazi groups applied to Ukrainian embassies for volunteers to fight. Those who were approved were transported to Ukraine under EU supervision. It is estimated that about 20,000 Neo- Nazis from all European countries arrived in Ukraine, 10,000 of them were German Nazis. The most active of the German Nazi groups is the NPD.
Ukrainian neo-Nazis have always been active since the Second Imperialist Partition War. In fact, these fascist groups, who sided with Hitler during WWII, are responsible for the massacre of hundreds of thousands of Jews in Ukraine.
After the independence of Donetsk and Luganks in 2014, fascist groups in Ukraine massacred thousands of Russians in this region. After the Donbas region declared its independence from Ukraine, Ukraine signed the Minsk Agreement to negotiate the status of this region, but Ukraine did not abide by this agreement and sent neo-Nazi groups to attack and massacre Donbas. A total of 14,000 people were killed in these massacres.
The US and Western imperialist powers supported these fascist movements before the war. In 2014, when the Maidan events broke out, the US again supported these fascist movements. Many leaders of fascist groups were hosted in the US. During the uprising in 2014, these groups, with the support of the US, overthrew President Viktor Yanukovych and replaced him with Oleksander Turchenov.
All over the world, the bourgeoisie has always kept fascist movements as a reserve force. Where the bourgeoisie could not suppress the developing social movements, it activated the fascist movement. Through these gangs, it has tried to suppress social movements by committing massacres, trying to intimidate the people, and carrying out extrajudicial executions. In Italy, Mussolini’s Black Shirts massacred thousands of resistance fighters and brought Mussolini to power.
In Turkey, the MHP has always been a reserve militarist force of the state. Before 1980, the MHP was used to suppress and destroy the developing revolutionary movement. Maraş, Çorum, Sivas massacres were committed by the MHP. The MHP was also used in the suppression of the Kurdish national liberation struggle. All of the special operations forces were formed from the MHP members. This paramilitary force is responsible for the murder and torture of thousands of Kurds. During the Armenia-Azerbaijan war, civil fascists from the MHP were sent to the war front to fight against the Armenians and massacred hundreds of Armenians. Likewise, in the cross-border operations of the Turkish state and in Syria, MHP members were sent to fight against the Kurds. Today, with a different mission, the MHP is ruling the state together with the AKP.
How Close is the Third World War?
Another debate that started with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is that the Third Imperialist World War is becoming a concrete fact. Against the theses of some circles that “there is already a third world war going on“, it is another fact that there is a considerable number of people who argue that war is becoming the main trend. Against this, there are those who argue that while revolution is the main trend, the danger of war is increasing.
The thesis that wars are inevitable as long as imperialism exists is still valid. Against those who claimed that imperialist wars had become impossible at the end of World War II, Stalin cited Lenin’s statement and said that such an idea was anti-Leninist. Indeed, imperialist wars are a product of monopoly capitalism. They arise out of inter-monopoly competition and are a phenomenon independent of the will of the monopolies. To argue that imperialist wars in general will disappear without destroying imperialism is to revise Lenin’s basic thesis on this issue. “And this balance sheet shows that as long as private property in the means of production exists, on this economic basis, imperialist wars will be absolutely inevitable.”
The two great wars of division are sufficient proof of this. The changing situation in the world after the Second Imperialist Division War played an important role in postponing imperialist wars. The Soviet Union’s burial of Hitler’s fascism in the dustbin of history, the establishment of a series of people’s republics in Eastern European countries, the triumph of the Chinese Revolution, the youth movement of 1968, social liberation movements, the defeat of the US in Vietnam and popular movements around the world were developments that set imperialism back. When Stalin said, “If it were not for the communist parties waging a determined struggle against imperialist wars, the imperialists would have been at each other’s throats by now, and if it were not for the USSR, which with its peaceful policy was a great obstacle to the provocation of a new war, the imperialists would not be afraid to weaken each other and facilitate the rupture of the imperialist front again” (Stalin, vol. 9, p. 255), he was underlining a fact in bold lines. To all this, we can say that the increase in nuclear weapons has had a partial effect in postponing the war.
The world today is different from it was in the years after the Second Imperialist War. The absence of a socialist state and a socialist bloc provides the imperialists with great opportunities for them to play around. Under the Soviet Union, the policy of “peace” and calls for “disarmament” were strategically important to corner the imperialists. Today there is neither a socialist world nor socialist countries to defend, even individually. This shows that there is no “world in which we can live in peace” either. The strategic task today is to wage an all-out struggle against imperialism.
An imperialist world war is not impossible as long as imperialism exists. The fight for markets is a strategic issue that the imperialists can never give up. The constant increase in production and the inability to find a market for the goods produced is the cause of inter-imperialist wars.
The economic crisis that has been raging around the world for the last two decades has still not been fully overcome. This is the biggest dilemma of the imperialist system. In 2008, the housing crisis that started in the US turned into a global economic crisis in a noticeably brief time, affecting the whole world. This was followed by the crises of 2009 and beyond. With the pandemic, the looming crisis brought a series of crises around the world. Increasing unemployment, food crisis, health crisis continues to trigger each other. With the pandemic, although the imperialist countries tried to prevent the bankruptcy of the imperialist monopolies by allocating billions of dollars from their central budgets, the crisis has not been overcome as a whole.
The imperialist system as a whole and the imperialist countries as individual parts of this system continue to struggle for the redistribution of existing markets to overcome the crisis. The conflicts between the imperialists continue today mainly through regional wars. The recent history of the invasion of Iraq, the Syrian civil war, the invasion of Libya and today’s war in Ukraine should be read in this way.
What distinguishes the Ukrainian war from other regional wars is that it is taking place on European soil. The fact that other regional wars have developed outside Europe has not made the process so controversial. The reason those who are not so interested in a war far away from them, those who close their eyes to the massacres, looting and massacres in the occupied countries, are so interested in Ukraine today is that the war is taking place “on their doorstep”. Despite the occupations and massacres of the USA in Iraq, Syria and Libya, the massacres committed by Germany, France and Britain in Afghanistan, the fact that they all swarmed into Libya together, shared these countries among themselves and compromised without touching each other, the Ukrainian war is read by the USA and the Western imperialist powers as Russia’s coveting its own markets.
Another factor in the growing danger of a war is the changing world balance. Panicking in the face of rising Chinese imperialism, the US, British and European imperialists are constantly developing strategies to curb China. It cannot be said that they are completely successful in this. We are confronted with a world reality where the balances are changing with the cooperation of China and Russia. With the war in Ukraine, the alignments between the imperialists have become clearer. With J. Biden, the US has acted to re- establish its “leadership”, which has declined on a world scale. Putting China and Russia at its centre, the US publicly announced its new strategic goals of encircling and neutralising Russia and China in 2030, which were adopted at NATO and G7 meetings before the Ukraine war.
Having played a provocative role in the run-up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the US, backed by NATO, has taken a crucial step towards reasserting its “world leadership”, which is gradually eroding and eroding, by drawing the European imperialists to its side. Despite the fact that all the imperialist powers taking a position against Russia are acting as a bloc, China and Russia are confronting each other as another imperialist bloc.
Another key phenomenon in increasing the danger of war is the increase in war budgets. It should not be underestimated that all countries allocated billions of dollars for armaments in the immediate aftermath of the Ukraine war. Armaments alone are not enough to start a war. The internal fascistisation in Europe, the fascist parties becoming governments and this gradually increasing, the enactment of new police laws, the development of strategies to secure the front lines, and accordingly the redesign of semi-colonies, the change of governments through coups can be interpreted as preparations for war. Although war is not the main trend now, it is a fact that the danger of a third war of division is closer than ever.
“Either Revolutions Prevent War or Wars Lead to Revolutions!”
Therefore, the only force that can prevent wars is revolution. Peace tactics to maintain relative peace may postpone or even prevent this or that war, but they cannot destroy imperialist war, since imperialism cannot destroy the source of war.
The slogan of the “World Peace Front” policy is clear for communists. When we establish that war has become the main current, the tasks and tactics of the proletariat undergo significant changes. Before the outbreak of the war, the strategic task of the communist parties in all countries was to fight against the imperialist war. At this point the dual task of the communist parties emerges; in the imperialist countries to turn the war into a civil war and defend the revolution; in the semi-colonies, if the bourgeoisie of the country participates in the war, to turn the war into a civil war and aim for revolution.
Today the slogan “defence of world peace” is not wrong, but it is only a tactical policy. It should not be interpreted, that our strategic goal, the destruction of imperialism, has become secondary. World peace must be defended in conditions when the proletariat needs to prepare for war, to organise, to gather forces for the establishment of anti-imperialist unions/fronts around the world. “We must not forget Lenin’s statement that as regards our work of construction very much depends upon whether we succeed in postponing war with the capitalist world, which is inevitable, but which can be postponed either until the moment when the proletarian revolution in Europe matures, or until the moment when the colonial revolutions have fully matured, or, lastly, until the moment when the capitalists come to blows over the division of the colonies. Therefore, the maintenance of peaceful relations with the capitalist countries is an obligatory task for us. ” (Stalin, vol. 10, p. 247).
In the face of all these developments, the communist movement remains fragmented. There is no common unity on what kind of strategy and tactics to follow worldwide against the threat of war. While the statements of individual communist parties are important, we are faced with the task of uniting all these correct positions on a common ground and presenting them as a perspective to the oppressed peoples of the world.
While it is important for individual communist parties to meet and exchange ideas, the main task is for the scattered forces to form a new international. With this formation, after reaching a consensus on basic ideological issues, we can move forward step by step. Decentralisation seems more realistic at the moment. From there, a more centralised formation (international) can be formed.
With this task, the conditions for the establishment of anti-imperialist fronts against imperialism and the danger of war in every geography stand on a much stronger ground. Although for the time being the war on Europe’s doorstep is limiting the masses to taking a stand against Russia, the more the danger develops, the greater will be the reversal. This cannot be expected to happen spontaneously. It is among the duties of revolutionary, progressive organisations and parties to explain to the masses the destruction, poverty, hunger, and massacres brought about by the war.
Let us conclude our assessment by mentioning an important detail. The Russian imperialism’s invasion of Ukraine has led to a surge in anti-Soviet and anti-communist propaganda. At the current stage, it is known that Russia has no resemblance to the Soviet Union and that Putin himself has insulted the Bolsheviks in the person of Lenin. Putin does not represent the Soviets, but “Tsarism”!
Despite this, why do the US and EU imperialists resort to anti-Soviet and anti-communist propaganda? The reason is the class interests of the US and EU imperialists. Although the contradiction between the US- EU imperialists and the Russia-China imperialists has hardened and turned into a hot war in Ukraine, the imperialist-capitalists are aware that the real danger is communism. This is the reason for this counter-revolutionary propaganda.