Internationalism & Imperialism

Submitted by Juan Conatz on February 21, 2015

Imperialism is a system where the state and elite classes of some countries use their superior economic and military power to dominate and exploit the people and resources of other countries. The imperialist powers drain wealth from less powerful countries through debt, corporate investment, unequal power in trade, and military intervention. And while most of the world is nominally free from direct rule by imperialist nations, much of the same relations exist as neo-colonial relationships which are masked by local rule, as expressed by international domination implemented by local bourgeoisie to their benefit.

We support popular struggles against military, economic and cultural expressions of imperialism.

Today, modern warfare, combined with modern science, is used to pursue ever increasing means of torment for humanity. War is increasingly waged, not merely on bodies, but on the minds, hearts, and land of dominated people. Torture, rape, genocide, poisoning and destroying of land are the mark of our time. Only through eradicating the root cause which drives countries to imperialist aggression, will we see an end to limitless war.

Our fight is both internal and external. Internally we fight the foundations of the imperialist economy and state which provides the basis for imperialism. Externally we seek to build concrete unity, through action and solidarity with movements that struggle to end imperialism and capitalism. In countries with peoples resisting invasion or domination by the major capitalist powers, we support movements of the oppressed classes in these countries, not their local states or local elites. We don’t support the national bourgeoisie and bureaucracies in their bid for power in these struggles. The history of the completed revolutions throughout Latin America, Africa, and the globe demonstrate the peril and vital mistake in supporting these forces.

In situations where a “national liberation movement” aims to oust a pro-imperialist leadership in a country or fight an occupation, we support movements of workers, peasants, and others of the popular classes in their struggle against imperialism, but not the state-building project of a “national liberation” political party. Self-determination requires the autonomy of the popular organizations from the ruling classes and party bureaucracies. Any liberation of a region must be based on the class struggle of the popular classes against capitalism itself, and not a recomposition of the ruling class within a territorial nation.

Imperialism can only be brought to an end by a social and economic transformation throughout the planet, which eliminates the system of competing states and exploitative class systems. Humanity needs to develop a new form of world association that respects the autonomy and differences of all communities or ethnic groups while allowing for democratic decision-making, rooted in grassroots institutions such as delegate congresses, to resolve global problems.

Economic interdependence and global capitalist power means that working people need solidarity across borders. A revolution that can liberate the working class from capitalist oppression needs to spread across national boundaries.

We develop and maintain international relationships, solidarity, and discussions to build a united revolutionary movement.

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