Christopher Helali | American Communist Party (ACP)
Comrades,
The world is on the verge of a third world war. The ongoing genocide in Gaza, the brutal assault on Lebanon, and the US-EU-NATO imperialist war on Russia have destabilized the world, bringing it ever closer to nuclear confrontation, and ultimately, annihilation. Mirroring this geopolitical crisis is the ongoing struggle and split in the international communist movement over Russia’s Special Military Operation, the role of China, the genocide in Gaza, the anti-imperialist movement (including Venezuela and Iran), and the emergence of a multipolar world. Ideologically led by the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), some parties centered mostly in the West, have an interpretation of the current geopolitical climate as being one of a rivalry between imperialist powers. This so-called “inter-imperialist” war confuses the masses and tries to take a dogmatic and unscientific approach under the banner “neither Washington, nor Moscow and Beijing.” However, it is clear that international developments have indicated that a new, more progressive world order is on the horizon.
In Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism, Lenin outlines the main economic aspects of imperialism. It is important to identify them so that they help make informed ideological positions about our contemporary situation. This is ultimately the scientific outlook that we must stress. The five main economic traits of imperialism are as follows:
1. The concentration of production and capital reach heights that give rise to monopolies, which play a decisive and outsized role in economic life.
2. The fusion of banking and industrial capital gives rise to finance capital and the financial oligarchy.
3. The export of capital, unlike the export of goods, acquires special importance.
4. International monopoly groups are formed that divide up the world among themselves.
5. The world is divided and distributed among the major capitalist powers.
We must then juxtapose this definition with the so-called illustration of the “imperialist pyramid” that was presented by the former General Secretary of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), Aleka Papariga. She writes,
Today there are few countries which are at the summit, in the first positions of the international imperialist system (it is illustrated with the schema of a pyramid in order to show the various levels occupied by the capitalist countries) a handful of countries one could say according to the Leninist expression. But this does not mean that all the other capitalist countries are victims of the powerful capitalist states, that the bourgeois class of most countries has submitted to the pressure, despite its general interest that it has been corrupted. It does not mean that the struggle of the peoples must be directed against Germany in Europe while in the American continent it must have a direction merely against the US. It is not a coincidence that the opportunists in Greece present Brazil and Argentina as positive examples for the overcoming of the crisis, that they extol the policy of Obama.
Their persistence in denying the existence of the imperialist pyramid namely the existence of international imperialist system (talking about a very small number of countries which can be characterized imperialist mainly due to their hegemonic position and their ability to decide on the launching of a local or general war) is not at all accidental or a product of a mistaken view but conscious. Their willingness to undertake responsibilities in a bourgeois government to manage the crisis arises from this.[1]
This definition seeks to expand Lenin’s definition of imperialism, conflating it with merely having a capitalist mode of production or, in the case of socialist countries, having any economic relations with a capitalist country.
The number of states is increasing which are regional powers, satellites of strong imperialist powers, countries which play a particular role in the alliance and partnership policy of the various powers in the pyramid. The inter-imperialist contradictions are in effect in every form of alliance, and all these multi-facetted relations, which embrace every capitalist country in the world without exception, constitute the imperialist pyramid.[2]
The KKE is effectively saying that every country in the world “constitute the imperialist pyramid.” It is clear that some powers are greater imperialist powers according to the pyramid. However, no exception is made for those countries which are socialist or those that are fighting against Western hegemony. Aleka Papariga says, “Today the number of imperialist centres has increased, while new forms of alliance have also emerged such as the alliance centred on Russia, the alliance of Shanghai, the alliance of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (BRICS), the alliance of the countries of Latin America ALBA, MERCOSUR etc.” This idea that somehow all of these countries are imperialist compared to the USA and the European Union, even economically speaking, is categorically wrong.
A true Marxist-Leninist perspective on the emerging multipolar world should be centered on the progressive nature of this new world order. The American Communist Party does not see multipolarity as the solution itself but as a progressive and strategic step for the peoples of the world to have more freedom than under the unipolar world of US-EU-NATO hegemony. It is this freedom and space that will allow social movements to thrive and develop new economic forms as we are already seeing in different countries around the world. The American Communist Party rejects the theory of the so-called “imperialist pyramid” and sees this as an attempt to obfuscate the theory of imperialism. The American Communist Party recognizes the progressive role played by Russia, China, DPRK, Iran, Yemen, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba, and other socialist and anti-imperialist countries in the world today.
Comrades,
Russia today defends itself against the full weight of the US-EU-NATO imperialist axis. The Axis of Resistance in West Asia resists the onslaught by the Zionists backed by the Western imperialists. The DPRK and China resist the aggression of the United States and its regional allies and puppets in East Asia and the Pacific. The peoples of Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua continue to struggle for their people against brutal sanctions and blockades. African nations including Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger are rising up against their neo-colonial rulers and pursuing a new path of development.
In my speech this summer at the World Anti-Imperialist Platform meeting in Washington, D.C. during the protests against NATO’s 75th Anniversary, I identified and outlined seven major fronts in the ongoing and expanding US-EU-NATO imperialist war.
First, the Eastern European front centered in Ukraine is deepening and expanding. My fact-finding mission to the Lugansk People’s Republic revealed the brutality and barbarity of the US led war on the people of the Donbass. Destroyed apartment buildings, schools, factories, roads, and other infrastructure shows how the Ukrainian fascist forces continue to commit egregious war crimes. As I stated at the United Nations this summer, this war did not begin with the special military operation in 2022 but in 2014, with the western backed fascist junta that unleashed a brutal war on the people of the Donbass.[3] This war is, as I have said, a struggle between the past, present, and future in the region. The Russian Federation’s SMO has as its stated goal the denazification of Ukraine. That means, this is not merely a war like others around the world, but an anti-fascist war, a continuation of the Great Patriotic War.[4]
Second, the Pacific/East Asian front centered on South Korea and Taiwan, is heating up. The DPRK and Russia have grown closer in recent months, deepening their bilateral political, economic, and military relations. They have now elevated their relations to the level of “comprehensive strategic” partnership. This is the highest and deepest the bilateral relations have ever been. The US continues to pursue an aggressive policy towards China, especially towards territorial disputes in the South China Sea and the situation in Taiwan.
Third, the Southwest Asian and North African front, centered from Palestine, Syria, and Iran, to Western Sahara, reveal the ongoing genocidal policies of the Zionist entity, an outpost of US-EU-NATO imperialism and colonialism in the region, and its regional lackeys. The Palestinian people continue to wage a historic struggle against Zionism and their heroic resistance has been a beacon and a banner to unite all working and oppressed peoples. The axis of resistance from the AnsarAllah movement in Yemen to Hezbollah to various groups in Iraq and elsewhere continue to wage a historic struggle against the US-EU-NATO imperialists, Zionists, and their regional proxies. The Polisario Front in Western Sahara continues to struggle against the colonial state of Morocco which is backed by the US and Israel.[5] Struggles continue in Libya over the future of the country and Egypt is experiencing a deepening crisis as the genocide in Gaza continues unabated on its border.
Fourth, the Sub-Saharan African front, centered on anti-imperialist countries like Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, find themselves in the crosshairs of US-EU-NATO imperialism, notably AFRICOM, the US military command that seeks to dominate the African continent. These three nations are prepared to cooperate at the highest levels in a rebuff to the imperialist instrument of ECOWAS. Wars and instability in the DR Congo, Sudan, and Kenya are critical to understand the situation in the region and its implications around the world.
Fifth, the Latin American front is centered on Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and other anti-imperialist countries like Bolivia. These countries find themselves directly confronting US domination that justifies its ongoing destabilizing and interventionist role in Latin America via the Monroe Doctrine. The upcoming election at the end of July in Venezuela is critical and all eyes are watching as the US and its proxies expand their hybrid war through misinformation and covert operations to overthrow the popular power of the PSUV and the Bolivarian Revolution.
Sixth, the caucuses front centered on Georgia as well as Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the Russian regions of Chechnya, Ingushetia, and Dagestan are in the crosshairs of the US-EU-NATO axis. Using religion and ethnicity, the imperialists seek to replicate their success in Yugoslavia to create instability by fomenting separatism in the Russian Federation. We witnessed very quickly how the “Republic of Artsakh” or Nagarno-Karabakh disappeared overnight with the Azeri military advance. Georgia’s EU and NATO membership have been a goal of the imperialists for many years and we recall the war in 2008 that led to Russian military intervention and the recognition of the Republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Today, Georgia finds itself once more in the crosshairs and many believe that it is the next front in the region for the US-EU-NATO imperialist axis.
Seven, the Arctic front has become a key battlefield between the US-EU-NATO axis and the Russian Federation and by extension China. At present, eight countries, Denmark; Finland; Iceland; Norway; Russia; Sweden; and the United States, exercise sovereignty over lands within the Arctic Circle. In October 2023, the Chair of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Bauer attended the 10th edition of the Arctic Circle Assembly in Iceland. There, Admiral Bauer shared NATO’s view on the current security environment in the Arctic. He said “The increased competition and militarization in the Arctic region, especially by Russia and China, is concerning. The melting ice in the Arctic is creating new sea routes that would facilitate the movement of large vessels and shorten navigation times. We cannot be naïve and ignore the potentially nefarious intentions of some actors in the region. We must remain vigilant and prepare for the unexpected.”[6]Admiral Bauer stated “When Sweden joins, following in the footsteps of Finland, seven of the eight members of the Arctic Council will be NATO Allies. We are grateful to our Nordic Allies for their enhanced cooperation, investment and vigilance in the region. The Arctic has always had a strategic importance to NATO, and we must ensure it remains free and navigable”, he added.[7] It is clear from the words of Admiral Bauer that the Arctic region is a NATO prize worth fighting Russia for.
In all of these fronts the US-EU-NATO imperialist axis uses a wide variety of tools including war, covert operations, sanctions, color revolutions, funding pro-Western NGOs, dissident academics, pro-Western media, and funding and supporting anarchic, “anti-authoritarian”, and nihilistic art and cultural programs to achieve its aims. The arsenal of the Euro-Atlantic imperialist axis uses liberalism, human rights, and democracy promotion as a guise for the ruthless and brutal domination and exploitation of periphery countries.
The gangsters of empire have brought the world once more to the brink. The bipartisan commitment to full spectrum dominance is paving the way to nuclear confrontation. The US-EU-NATO axis must be stopped. NATO must be abolished if the world is to have peace in our times.
Comrades,
The American Communist Party, true to the historical legacy of Marxism-Leninism, understands the importance of uniting forces that are dedicated to anti-imperialism. Our historical duty is to unceasingly confront US-EU-NATO imperialism and all of its proxies around the world. This represents the greatest threat to humanity today. Given the various fronts and lines of demarcation facing the international communist and workers’ movement today, we must sharpen our ideological positions and prepare for a prolonged ideological war with those who choose revisionism, opportunism, and factionalism. Our strategy is to be united in confronting imperialism under the banner of anti-imperialism. Today, the World Anti-Imperialist Platform is greatest force capable of uniting the forces of anti-imperialism. We must heighten and deepen our collective struggle against the US-EU-NATO imperialist axis, the greatest threat to world peace. Only through the final confrontation with Euro-Atlantic imperialism can we open the possibility of constructing socialism-communism and building a lasting world peace for all.
Death to Imperialism, Fascism, and Zionism!
Long Live International Solidarity!
Victory to the Anti-Imperialist Resistance!
Notes
[1] Aleka Papariga, “On Imperialism-The Imperialist Pyramid,” https://inter.kke.gr/en/articles/On-Imperialism-The-Imperialist-Pyramid/.
[2] International Relations Section of the CC of the KKE, “The Leninist approach of the KKE on imperialism and imperialist pyramid,” https://inter.kke.gr/en/articles/The-Leninist-approach-of-the-KKE-on-imperialism-and-imperialist-pyramid/.
[3] “Press Briefing: Dan Kovalik, Jackson Hinkle, and Christopher Helali following their recent visit to Donbass and Moscow,” UN Web TV, July 3, 2024. https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k16/k163tkr87w. For my written text see, https://popularresistance.org/united-nations-press-briefing-regarding-factfinding-mission-to-donbass-moscow/.
[4] This is something that I have said when I was International Secretary of the Party of Communists USA since even before the beginning of Russia’s SMO. Here is the statement I wrote following the SMO on February 25, 2022: https://partyofcommunistsusa.net/february-25th-2022-party-of-communists-usa-statement-on-russian-military-operation-in-ukraine/.
[5] See my recent intervention on behalf of Western Sahara at the United Nations: https://www.spsrasd.info/en/2024/06/15/3902.html.
[6] “‘Arctic remains essential to NATO’s Deterrence and Defence Posture’, says Chair of the NATO Military Committee,” North Atlantic Treaty Organization, October 22, 2023, https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_219529.htm.
[7] Ibid.
