Originally Posted on July 15, 2013
Imperialism
I still find compelling the main points about modern imperialism articulated by Lenin in his famous essay on the subject. Reflecting on the transformations of capitalism from its early manufacturing days until the twentieth century he argued that economic concentration had replaced a multiplicity of semi-independent economic actors, manufacturing capital had merged with financial institutions creating a system of monopoly finance capital, and as a consequence the export of capital--what we would call today foreign investment, financial speculation, and the debt system--would replace the export of commodities as the dominant form of economic exchange on a global basis. During some periods capitalist states would divide up the world each extracting wealth of all kinds from its own sphere of influence and during other periods they would engage in competition and even war to pursue profits. Lenin could not foresee a time, from the mid-20th century until now, when resistance would come not only from competing and militarized capitalist states but from masses of people in colonized, neocolonial, and dependent societies.
The Cold War and
Post-Cold War International Systems
The latest phase of the system Lenin described was constructed
at the end of World War II. The United States emerged from the war as the most
powerful nation and used military, economic, political, and cultural tools to
enshrine its dominance. This meant building a system to crush the emerging
Socialist Bloc, controlling the drive toward independence of former colonies,
and shaping the politics of lesser but significant capitalist states. To
achieve these difficult goals, the United States began to construct a
“permanent war economy.”
By the 1960s, the United States capacity to control the economic
and military destiny of the world was severely challenged. The Tet Offensive of January, 1968 represented a metaphoric great
divide as U.S. presumptions of hegemony were sorely challenged by a poor but
passionate Vietnamese people’s army. From the late 1960s onward the U.S.
was challenged not only on the battlefield but in the global economy. Rates of
profit of U.S. corporations declined. Industrialization had led to
overproduction. Working classes in the United States and other capitalist
countries had gained more rights and privileges. Socialist countries were
experiencing significant growth spurts. Countries of the Global South began to
demand a New International Economic Order that regulated the way global
capitalism worked. In addition, inter-capitalist rivalry grew. On top of all
this the price of oil increased markedly.
The response of the global capitalist powers (the G7 countries)
to the crisis of capitalism was a dramatic shift in the pursuit of profit from
the production of goods and services to what became known as financialization,
or financial speculation. The banks Lenin talked about became instrumental.
With rising oil prices, oil rich countries awash in new profits, and banks
swelling with petrodollars, nations were enticed and forced to borrow to pay
for the oil that cost many times more than it had in the recent past. The
global debt system was launched. When the United States freed the dollar from
the gold standard, currencies themselves became a source of speculation.
The debt system gave international financial institutions and
banks the power to impose demands on countries that required loans. Thus, the
IMF, the World Bank, regional international banks, and private institutions
demanded that the world’s countries open their doors to foreign investors, cut
their government programs, privatize their economies, and shift to exporting
commodities to earn the cash to pay back the bankers. The era of neoliberalism was
advanced by globalization, the scientific, technological, and cultural capacity
to traverse the globe. No geographic space could maintain autonomy from global
capitalism. So a Cold War that was launched by creating a permanent war economy
was transformed by financialization, neoliberalism, and globalization. With the
shift of work from higher wage capitalist centers to low wage peripheries,
deindustrialization became a common feature of the economic landscape.
By the 21st century the system of neoliberal globalization was facilitated by new techniques of empire. Wars which traditionally had been fought between states were now fought within states. The United States established a military presence virtually all across the globe with an estimated 700 to 1,000 military installations in at least 40 countries. Major functions of the globalization of military operations had become privatized so massive U.S. corporations gained even more profits from war-making than they had during the days of the Cold War. The military—public and private—began to engage in assassinations and covert “humanitarian interventions.” And, aided by new technologies, the United States and other capitalist countries, using unmanned aerial vehicles or drones, could make war on enemies without “boots on the ground.” As we have learned, intelligence gathering, spying on people, has immeasurably advanced as well.
To put it succinctly, while imperialism remains generically as
it has been throughout history today:
-Imperialism has become truly global.
-The military continues to be big business, sucking up at least
half of the federal budget.
-The United States has developed the capacity to fight wars
without soldiers on the ground.
-Empires, particularly the United States empire, kill with impunity.
-The connections between economic interest and militarism remain
central.
-Ideologies defending 21st century military interventions vary from those neoconservatives who argue that the United States must use its power to maximize our global position to the humanitarian interventionists who claim that the United States acts in the world for good.
Resistance
This narrative is not unfamiliar to us. What is less familiar is
the idea that throughout history the forces of domination have been challenged
by resistance, sometimes successfully, sometimes less so. It is important to
note that the drive for U.S. hegemony, for example, has been affected by
resistance. A recent articulation of this narrative appears in the writings of
Vijay Prashad, who has described the efforts of the newly independent nations
of the Global South to achieve political and economic sovereignty. Many of
these efforts from the 1950s to the 1970s faltered at the steps of the debt
system and neoliberal globalization. But the struggle has continued. In
addition, there have been examples of people such as the Cubans and the
Vietnamese who, with much pain and suffering, were able to achieve some measure
of economic sovereignty and political independence.
21st century movements for change are varied and
complicate the efforts of imperialism to achieve its goals. Resistance includes
the following:
-Mercosur, a trade organization that includes Argentina, Brazil,
Uruguay, Venezuela, Chile, and others waiting for admittance constitutes the
third largest trading bloc in the world.
-The development of collaborative relationships among powerful
Global South nations. For example, representatives from the BRICS (Brazil,
Russia, India, China, and South Africa) recently met to chart an independent
agenda in global affairs.
-The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA)
consists of ten Latin American/Caribbean countries which are launching a
program of economic integration and political cooperation.
-The Community of Latin America and Caribbean States (CELAC) is
a new grouping of some 33 Western Hemisphere nations, minus the United States
and Canada, which will seek to expand regional collaboration.
-Individual nations, based on their historic resistance to
imperialism, such as Cuba, Vietnam, Venezuela, and Bolivia, continue to inspire
activists.
-The United Nations system, considerably weakened from the days
of the Cold War, still engages in global mobilizations through its conferences,
support for some progressive NGOs, and projects involving education,
development, and peacekeeping. Affiliated organized such as the International
Labor Organization pursue goals that are sometimes independent of imperial
agendas.
-Global anti-capitalist mobilizations, such as the World Social
Forum, have brought together thousands of activists largely from the Global
South to discuss the problems faced by workers, women, indigenous people,
environmental activists, and others.
-Perhaps most important at this time is the grassroots
mobilizations of millions of people all across the globe demanding economic
justice, worker rights, gender equality, environmental justice, and
peace. Such mobilizations, while stimulated by local issues, are defined as
part of a global movement such as “From Tahrir Square to Madison, Wisconsin.”
People worldwide, particularly the young, workers, and women are seeing the
common dimensions of struggle against imperialism.
Where Do Left and
Progressive Forces Fit?
First, we on the left need to “bring imperialism back in;” that
is socialist organizations can through education revisit and revise the theory
of imperialism so that it is more serviceable for 21st century
socialist movements.
Second, progressives should link war/peace issues to
environmental issues, to gender issues, to class issues, and race issues. As
Martin Luther King declared in 1967: “I speak of the poor of America who are
paying the double price of smashed hopes at home, and death and corruption in
Vietnam.”
Third, every socialist and progressive organization should
challenge the permanent war economy. Andrew Bacevich pointed out that the
framers of the permanent war economy in the 1940s believed that the role of the
citizenry was to remain quiescent, pliant, and supportive of the decisions made
by the foreign policy establishment. That assumption must be resisted.
Fourth, local and national work should link economic justice,
environmental preservation, and peace. These issues are inextricably connected.
Finally, left and progressive groups should respond to specific
imperial transgressions by:
-working to cut military budgets
-opposing drone warfare
-saying no to US military aid to Syrian rebels
-supporting the just demands of the Palestinian people
-challenging the construction of military bases in Asia
-demanding an end to subversion in Latin America
-insisting
on the end of the Cuban blockade.
