Action socialiste de libération nationale (Quebec)
Despite the great sacrifices made in many places, starting with those still being made by the Palestinian people in Gaza and all the other territories occupied by the State of Israel, it’s clear that the forces of imperialism – first and foremost American imperialism – seem to be in increasing difficulty in all four corners of the globe.
People are rising up and refusing to accept the same old diktats, as we have seen in Africa. Attempted coups d’état driven by Yankee imperialism, most recently in Bolivia, are being thwarted.
In Ukraine, NATO has sent billions of dollars in aid to the corrupt, fascist Zelensky regime, but to no avail. On the battlefield, the Ukrainian regime continues to accumulate defeat after defeat, while the front line is constantly being pushed back deeper and deeper into the territories that the Ukrainian army was previously able to control, increasingly to the advantage of Russian forces.
What we note are the many initiatives to strengthen collaboration and coordination between the various forces currently engaged in the fight for the entire future of mankind.
This collaboration is becoming ever closer between the resistance movements themselves, as in Palestine. In this respect, we can only welcome all the efforts made in this direction, including the meetings held first in Moscow, then in Beijing.
This strengthened cooperation and collaboration can also be seen in the growing number of meetings between the Chinese and North Korean authorities, and more recently between Russia and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
All this deeply shocks the imperialist forces grouped within NATO. It also shows the extent to which they themselves are beginning to feel the situation heating up for them.
This ever-increasing cooperation is also manifesting itself in various initiatives, at the level of communist and workers’ parties and movements, such as the World Anti-Imperialist Platform, which is growing in size and presence.
It is also evident at state level, between governments that would have been separated 10 or 20 years ago. And despite this, certain rapprochements are beginning to occur, via vehicles such as the BRICS.
Speaking of the BRICS, they are certainly not a panacea that will solve all problems. Nevertheless, by stepping up the pressure for the establishment of a multipolar world, the BRICS are obviously playing a positive role.
The fact that Cuba, Bolivia and Venezuela are talking about joining this grouping in their turn, would at the same time encourage a more left-wing refocusing of the BRICS and could also, in time, help to counterbalance the recent addition of various countries positioned to the right on a political level.
What we at ASLN see as equally positive is the growing recognition, even within another grouping, the Sao Paulo Social Forum, of the importance of national liberation struggles, for the effective recognition of the right to self-determination, and for the application of this right, until the achievement of their independence for peoples still subject to the diktat of great powers such as the United States or France. We refer in particular to the struggle still being waged by the people of Puerto Rico for their own independence.
Of course, we in Quebec see our own struggle to free ourselves from the shackles of Canada and the domination of American imperialism as an integral part of these struggles.
Some might think that recent developments in the international situation, notably on the battlefields of Ukraine, but also around Taiwan, as well as the rising tensions on the Korean peninsula, would make the situation increasingly dangerous.
To a large extent, this is true. Except that those who say this, and they often say it to imply that Russia, China and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea should not act as they do, because that would only add fuel to the fire, are overlooking several crucial elements in their own analytical scheme.
The same kind of comments could just as easily apply to Iran, the Middle East, Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bolivia or Honduras.
The first of these elements is the fact that if the same countries at the heart of the present movement against imperialism, along with the Palestinian, African and Latin American peoples, were to decide instead to multiply their compromises with these same forces of imperialism, there would be no real reduction in tensions.
On the contrary, the United States, in concert with all its strongest allies, will step up its attacks and provocations even further.
Because the forces of imperialism have no use for peace, justice and respect for peoples. When they finally accept peace, it’s usually because they’ve been forced to do so, because they no longer have a choice.
Standing up to imperialist forces, and at the same time working to build a broad anti-imperialist united front, is not a self-destructive strategy. On the contrary, it’s the only realistic approach suited to the situation we now find ourselves in. It’s the only approach that can save us from total destruction, just as the international communist movement once advocated a worldwide anti-fascist coalition, which in the Second World War helped not only to crush fascist vermin, but to save humanity in the process.
Some will retort: but what about a possible spillover of all current conflicts, towards a possible all-out nuclear war that could wipe us all out?
What those who talk like this forget is that the current united front includes in its core 3 countries which do indeed have nuclear weapons, but that it is at the same time the fact that they are more united than ever that will make American imperialism think twice before taking the risk of using its nuclear weapons.
If these 3 countries, namely Russia, China and the DPRK, weren’t so united, if they didn’t demonstrate an increasingly remarkable ability to stand their ground, then perhaps the U.S. would think it had more room to manoeuvre than it does at present.
But the United States knows that any frontal attack against one or other of these 3 countries will automatically provoke a response from the other 2.
We all still remember what Donald Trump was quick to say, namely that we could simply wipe the entire Korean peninsula off the map with a few atomic bombs.
In the early 50s, American General McArthur had also made similar remarks against the Korean people. But the American authorities never implemented these measures. Why not? Precisely because of the presence of the USSR and China, who were then united behind the DPRK, just as Russia and China may be again today.
Yes, the danger of a possible world war is always there, in front of us. In some respects, it has already begun. Not in the form of a so-called war between imperialists, but rather a war between, on the one hand, the peoples of the world, who increasingly wish to rid themselves of oppression and injustice, and, on the other, those who would like to maintain this same system of oppression by force.
A broad anti-imperialist united front is being built across the globe, and this is in line with what the Global Anti-Imperialist Platform aims to promote. This can only help us in the longer term in the face of all the current tensions, which are bound to grow, not diminish.
The more the already broad global support movement for the Palestinian people continues to grow, the more it will help strengthen the anti-imperialist united front.
A major awareness-raising and propaganda campaign to better explain what’s at stake in the Ukraine and Russia, as well as the Taiwan question and what’s happening on the Korean peninsula, would be just as important. The confusion that still exists in many people’s minds on these issues can only hinder efforts to further consolidate this great anti-imperialist united front.
A better understanding of the potential of the various struggles being waged by different peoples, in all 4 corners of the globe, to gain recognition of their own right to self-determination, would help just as much, because this is also an essential aspect of the current upsurge in struggles around the world.