The War in Ukraine is just a Chapter of the Permanent Imperialist War

Introduction Article of I Quaderni dell’Istituto Onorato Damen Nº 1 (April 2022)

“A new dramatic front of the permanent imperialist war has opened in the heart of Europe. At the dawn of February 24, 2022, the Russian armed forces have unleashed their firepower against Ukraine, bombing the main cities of the country and invading the Ukrainian territory from several fronts with hundreds of thousands of soldiers. A war that in the plans of the Russians probably had to last only a few days, given the disparity of the forces in the field, whose prolongation [however] dangerously risks to widen, dragging the whole of Europe into the vortex of the conflict. This is the future that the capitalist system envisages for us, a future made of wars, generalized misery and increasingly precarious living and working conditions.”

‘Controverses’: Internationalist Positions on the War in Ukraine

The following statement of the Forum for the Internationalist Communist Left is completed by an updated review list of internationalist statements and analyses produced both by political groups and individuals from diverse backgrounds and tongues. We recommend readers with a mastery of foreign languages, especially of Spanish and/or French, to consult it, as it provides a somewhat broader scope than the selection we present on this site in English. We also would like to encourage readers with language capabilities to contribute crafting proper English translations of the most interesting texts, that may appear both at Controverses and here.

The editor

On the Russian (and American?) Invasion of Ukraine

I.O.D. on the war in Ukraine and the proletarian perspective (March 4, 2022)

Overcoming their initial surprise by the Russian state’s assault on Ukraine since last Thursday February 24, I.O.D. has resumed their analysis, and has issued a formal statement on the tangle of interests involved in this worsening conflagration. It goes well beyond any rhetoric about the indubitable Russian culprit versus the “reasonable” rest of the “international community” (minus some distinct renegade states), as a perpetual media campaign in the Western hemisphere will have it. Trying to shed light on the questions: who profits from the crime? and: what is the international situation heading towards? it provides a brief balance sheet of the imperialist contentions and shared interests implicated at world level, and formulates the dire stakes this poses, eventually for the survival of humanity.

Secondly, a concise critical assessment of the situation the world proletariat and its political minorities find themselves in, is set forth, issuing a call for their renewal: to go beyond “the same [old] theoretical and organizational framework of the Third International”, by “taking note of the many changes in the organization and in the international division of labor” since the times of the October Revolution of 1917, in order “to proceed to a new systematization of all the elements inherent to the condition of the modern proletariat” in view of “building a new communist party on a world scale.”

Putin’s Assault on Ukraine: Internationalist Statements and Analyses

In this post we list a collection of internationalist statements against the war in Ukraine and analyses of its wider significance and stakes for the working class internationally, notwithstanding their variety and inevitable differences in points of departure or conceptions.

We share the concern voiced at the Forum for the internationalist communist Left: “Given the seriousness of the international situation, the weaknesses and the dispersion of the internationalist-revolutionary milieu, it goes without saying that we will support any common position along the lines of the ones we have listed below. Indeed, if there is a paradox to be underlined on this level, it is that each of the groups below brandishes proletarian internationalism loud and clear – which is excellent … but they are withdrawn into themselves and quite incapable of speaking with one voice!”

As not all texts referenced here are yet available in English, this post is subject to updates  when they become available. Incidentally a translation of ours has been added on a follow-up page. Suggestions and proposals for internationalist statements are welcome.

The editor, March 5, 2022.

(Last updated: April 17, 2022, Listing closed)

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The Redivision of the Capitalist World has Begun…

Pantopolis on the meaning of the war in Ukraine

(February 24, 2022)

Thus, at 4 AM this Thursday, February 24, 2022, Russian troops commanded by the autocrat Vladimir Putin, worthy heir of Tsar Nicholas II and Joseph Stalin, invaded and bombed Ukraine with the aim of annexing it partially or totally. This was a decisive step forward in the field of military conflicts in Europe after the war in the former Yugoslavia. (¹) The bombing of fifteen Ukrainian cities, the beginning of a macabre count of civilian and military deaths, the deployment of the Russian army on three fronts, the occupation of military airfields and the Chernobyl nuclear site, the programmed fall of the Ukrainian government to form a team of puppets under the orders of Moscow, the beginning of a huge emigration to the neighboring countries of the European Union, all this undoubtedly translates into an acceleration of history, which could in the medium and long term – with the involvement of China in the conflict – lead to a third world conflict.

The Ukrainian Powder Factory

I.O.D. on the threat of war looming over Europe (February 3, 2022)

The following article published by the Istituto Onoratio Damen (I.O.D.) presents a brief summary of the escalation of the stand-off over Ukraine and warmongering talk that took place in the course of the last few months, which has come to dominate even the latest issues and squabbles related to the Corona-virus pandemic. It provides a sober evaluation of this conflagration from an internationalist perspective and an answer to the question whether a major war in Europe is on the agenda.

AUKUS: Another Preparation for Imperialist War

Statement and Analysis by the Internationalist Communists Oceania (September 22, 2021)

In the following we adopt the first statement by the ICT’s affiliates in Australia and Oceania on the overturning of imperialist alliances that has recently been manifested by the strategic agreement of the USA, Australia and the UK (dubbed ‘AUKUS’).

This US initiative, coming to the fore only weeks after their rout from Afghanistan, unmistakably steps up war preparations against the Chinese-Russian axis in the Indo-Pacific region (specifically focusing on the Chinese Sea), while keeping out the continental European and Canadian ‘NATO allies’ in the western hemisphere, France in the first place, that saw a substantial military-industrial contract with Australia on the production of submarines go up in smoke.

The exacerbation of inter-imperialist rivalries and conflicts on an ever larger scale puts the question of militarism and war high on the agenda again, and demands a clear and strong response by all groups and individuals defending proletarian internationalism.

The Editor, October 2, 2021.

The US Rout from Afghanistan

Statements and analyses from internationalist sources

The announced withdrawal by the USA and its allies from Afghanistan after 20 years of direct military presence has led to a takeover of the country by the Taliban with unprecedented speed in the last few weeks and days, leading, among others, to dramatic and chaotic scenes of mass flights that are presently reported in the world’s media by the hour. This blog post references and documents (first) statements by internationalist groups and circles on these events and their wider implications and significance. Continue to read an updated list of statements and analyses.

The editor, August 16, 2021.

Last updated: September 9, 2021.

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Appeal to Arab and Jewish workers in Palestine and Israel

Arbeidersstemmen (‘Worker’s Voices’), Amsterdam, May 25, 2021.

With hope and expectation, workers around the world have received the news on the joint demonstrations on bridges and traffic junctions of Arab and Israeli speakers. During the mutual bombings and pogroms back and forth, they protested hand in hand, as neighbors and fellow workers against terror and war.

After the armistice, by their participation in mass peace demonstrations, they expressed the fear that the powers on both sides of the borders speak of peace, but in reality are already preparing the next war. War preparations that require further intensification of the exploitation of all workers: border-crossing labor, digging tunnels, building missiles, surplus labor for the development and purchase of weapons systems. All this in addition to passing the costs of war and reconstruction on to the working and poor. Both the State of Israel, the PLO State in the West Bank and the Hamas State in Gaza feel empowered in their war efforts by the massive support of “their” populations blinded by nationalism. Without exception, these three states will continue to direct the terror of extremist militias and gangs against any resistance to the war preparations and intensified exploitation, even if this resistance invokes the “peace” and the “right of self-determination” as articulated by the leaders of the peace movement.

Meanwhile, at Iran’s backdoor…

About the creation of a Chinese-Russian bloc

The following article attempts to contribute to a discussion on the danger of the present imperialist tensions, conflicts and regional wars escalating into a world war. It criticizes positions taken by some internationalist groups who, while fully acknowledging the historic disintegration of both imperialist blocs of the “Cold War” period, tend to deny the possibility of an effective (counter-) tendency towards the formation of new imperialist blocs in a course towards a third world war, and/or fail to identify the latter.

Against the ICC’s theory of “decomposition, the highest stage of capitalism’s decadence” (1990), the author argues that a tendency towards “re-composition” of imperialist blocs is expressed by the formation of a new anti-US bloc around the axis Moscow-Beijing, strongly involving Iran as a regional power in its stand-off with the USA. It is claimed that this view is compatible with the approach of the question by the ICC’s proclaimed political ancestor, the Gauche Communiste de France (GCF) in 1946.

The article highlights some confusion in the joint declaration recently issued by the GCCF and Internationalist Voice, which has been inspired by the particular theory of capitalism’s “decomposition”. Last but not least, it calls for an open discussion at international meetings among “organizations from the communist Left” that need to be “invited on the basis of clear criteria”.

The Editor

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