Problems of the international anti-imperialist struggle and the tasks of the communists
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Paper of MLCP presented to the Anti-imperialist International Conference in Calcutta on November 27-29, 2007

 

27 November 2007 /Paper to the Anti-imperialist International Conference

 

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Revisionist Bloc, there have been very important changes in the world's political geography. Beside the countries that have liberated themselves from the Soviet domination and have achieved their formal independence, some countries have been divided as a result of the imperialist provocations. Right in this period, the US imperialism, which was in the position of being the only super-power, began to speak of establishing a new world order. This world would be organised in accordance with the interests of the US imperialism. But this did not and would not be able to happen. Although the US imperialism was the most powerful imperialist country, especially in terms of military power, there were also other countries which were able to compete with it, to make geo-politics and to be effective in the struggle of re-division of the world. The EU (and especially Germany and France in this integration), Russia, China, Japan, India as a potential power, are the countries who are powerful enough to be effective in the competition among the imperialist forces. According to some evaluations, the world was unipolar; in reality, never. On the contrary, it was always multipolar. Today, we have been living on a world where unequal imperialist forces compete against each other for the re-division of the world.

Another phenomenon that accompanied the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Revisionist Bloc is "globalisation". The ideologists of imperialism and some petty-bourgeois circles influenced by them, as a chorus, try to make the humanity accept that the imperialist era has been left behind, we have been passing through a new era and this era is the era of globalisation. They began to present globalisation, in other words, the internalisation of the capital and production, which was already defined in the Communist Manifest by Marx and Engels, as a new development.
The dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Revisionist Bloc was accompanied by an intense anti-communist propaganda. They said that socialism had died; the world of the theories had been left behind. Capitalism had announced its final victory. They went so far that some of them, such as Fukuyama, did not hesitate to bring the end of the history. This intense anti-communist propaganda did show its effects in a short time. Many turned their back to Marxism-Leninism; many lost their hopes; and indeed, numerous organisations that claimed to be communist or revolutionary dissolved. The international communist movement, which was already deprived of organisational unity, entered into an ideological and organisational crisis.
In the process of imperialist globalisation, neoliberal attacks that were imposed to society almost in every country caused an inevitable development of a movement against this imposition. At the same time, the bellicism of the US imperialism and its attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq gave birth to a movement against the war.
The organisation of capital and production by the monopolies within the national borders was in general replaced with the international organisation after the 2nd World War. This was a natural result of the development of the action of capital. Considering the data of 2005, 69.727 monopolies, together with 690.391 enterprises bound to them, determines the direction of the world economy. The struggle against these monopolies, which are the motor of the imperialist globalisation and the struggle against the imperialist war, have brought to the development of the "anti-globalisation" movement.
There is no doubt that this movement has an international character. But the movement itself does not have an organisational structure, except the organisation based on certain dates, such as the World Social Forum, European Social Forum and the social forums of each country. But each organisation and political current that forms the movement are organised on their own. As it is understood from its components, this movement neither forms an ideological whole. Under the leadership of reformist and pacifist forces, a wide diversity, including religious institutions, social democrats, defenders of the "social state", anarchist groups, feminists, Trotskyites, up to revolutionaries and communists -even they are very weak-, take part in the actions of this movement. This movement is quite complex also in terms of its class composition: Defenders of the "social state" of the monopolist capital, such as ATTAC from Germany and France, social democrats, peasants, workers, youth and etc. form the social components of this movement. This movement is a real "Rainbow" both in terms of organisation and politics, and in terms of ideology and class composition.
This movement does not have an understanding of struggle against the capitalist system and imperialism, imperialist war, occupation and threat in general. This movement rather limits the struggle against imperialism with the struggle against the international monopolies and against the US imperialism also taking the EU into consideration; and the struggle against imperialist war, occupation and threat with the struggle against the US imperialism. There is no doubt that the struggle against the international monopolies and the US imperialism carries a progressive character. However, the problem is that the anti-imperialist struggle cannot be limited with the struggle against these. It is no business of the revolutionaries and communists to stand on the side of the defenders of the "social state" and of the Keynesians who struggle against the "extremist aspects" of capitalism and imperialism and who supposedly retreats "fighting" and to contribute to their struggle for the stabilisation of the capitalist system. Undoubtedly, it is necessary to participate in the actions and forums of this international movement, even these are organised only on certain dates, to make the propaganda of the revolution and socialism and to expose what a real anti-imperialist struggle means and what the class structure and ideological structure of those who organise these forums is. Thus, we do so.
The fact that the international communist movement is in an ideological and organisational crisis and is deprived of an international organisation weakens it. This situation must at any rate be overcome; and to overcome this situation, it is necessary for the communist organisations and parties to get to know each other, to come together continuously, to discuss and to stand together in action; in practice. There is no doubt that this situation of the international communist movement inevitably has a very negative effect on the anti-imperialist struggle.
Today, the anti-imperialist struggle does not continue under the leadership and influence of the communist forces. Let away with today, this is the same beginning from the second half of the 1950s, that is to say, from the seize of the political power by the Khrushchevist modern revisionists in the socialist country of Lenin and Stalin at the 20th Congress of the CPSU. In all parts of the world, masses of peasants, workers and youth struggle against neoliberal attacks, impositions, privatizations, patent "rights" of the international monopolies and imperialists. The peoples of Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan resist against Zionism, imperialist war and occupation. The task of the communists is not only to express that they are on the side of this struggle against imperialist globalisation, international monopolies and so, imperialism. A permanent, effective and result-achieving anti-imperialist struggle can only be given under the leadership of communist and revolutionary forces. This struggle can be carried to peak by achieving the organisational unity of the anti-imperialist forces on the international level. We have to give long-term and hard struggles for this.
The developments on the international area show that the struggle of the working class, labourers and the oppressed nations for democracy, freedom and socialism has continued uninterruptedly on the world level despite all the attacks, occupations and threats of occupation by imperialism, fascism and reaction and despite ideological, political and organisational liquidationism.
The internalisation of capital and production with all its elements such as exploitation, plunder, war and occupation, in other words globalisation, creates even more favourable material conditions for the struggle of the world's working class, labourers and oppressed nations for socialist revolution and anti-imperialist democratic revolution. The objective reality orientates the revolutionary and communist organisations to act in common; to unite their forces, in their struggles for democratic and socialist revolutions against the capital and imperialism. Beyond this, it is again necessary for the revolutionary and communist forces to act in common in order to increase the fraternity of the peoples and their common cause against the intents of the imperialist and native collaborationist bourgeoisies to provoke the peoples against each other. We have to respond the attacks pf the capital and imperialism in all fields by organising us in all fields. How can such an organisation be possible? Undoubtedly, there are many ways for this. First of all, regional organisation, that is to say, regional federations and coordinations are necessary for the organisation of revolutionary and communist forces, anti-fascist and anti-imperialist forces, the forces of anti-imperialist democratic revolution without separating whether their national or democratic character is dominant, the forces of the socialist revolution, under the same international body. This step must be taken, first of all, in the regions where the contradictions among the imperialist forces are sharpened. Such organisations are even more necessary in the Middle East, the Balkans and the Caucasus, where the imperialist aggression and wars are much more intensified. Defending a revolutionary federation of our people in our region, our party takes parts of the anti-imperialist struggle coordinations in the Middle East and in the Balkans and struggles for the foundation of a similar coordination also in the Caucasus/Caspian Sea.
Undoubtedly, the conditions become ever more favorable for the working class, labouring masses and the oppressed nations to organise themselves on the international level and to struggle against the capital and imperialism in an internationally organised manner. However, the reality is that the revolutions will not take place in all countries simultaneously; this is a result of the law of unequal development, as long as capitalism remains as capitalism. We reject the understandings that regard this point and prepare themselves for the world revolution; that, in this sense, refuse that the conditions for a revolution do not develop simultaneously in all countries. We express that the revolutions will develop in an unequal manner even while the conditions for an internationally organised struggle become ever more favorable. Our party puts forward the federative union of the peoples as a programme before the revolutions of the region's peoples, which would reach the victory non-simultaneously; and tries to achieve this very possible goal.
We also have to struggle against the illusions that have their root in imperialist bourgeoisie in the anti-imperialist struggle. This is a question of the anti-imperialists struggle. Speaking of the "Clash of Civilisations", the ideologists of imperialism divide the humanity into two categories. While those from the West have the capacity to survive and develop, the rest, especially the Muslim peoples, have no chance to live as humans. Just as Hitler's fascism that saw the non-German, oppressed nations and Bolsheviks as "sub-humans".
The struggle of the Muslim peoples against imperialism are not supported by some anti-imperialist forces, especially those supposedly anti-.imperialists of the West Europe. But today, the struggles that cause great troubles for imperialism are given by these peoples.
We, by no means, support the ideas and the philosophy of Taleban. But we support the struggle against occupation in Afghanistan.
We neither support the philosophy of the fundamentalists nor the Baathists in Iraq, but we are in favour of the Iraqi resistance.
Likewise, we never support the ideas of Hamas in Palestine; but we stand against the division of the Palestinian resistance by the US imperialism and Zionism; we believe unshakeablely that the oppressed Palestinian people will overcome this imperialist-Zionist trick and they will establish the independent Palestine through new intifadas. We stand in favour of this struggle.
Arrogant Western ideologists; the so-called writers of the imperialist bourgeoisie should know that the peoples of Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine defend their own motherland against imperialist and Zionist occupation. Even while it expresses itself by religious motives, the resistance in Afghanistan and Iraq is a resistance against imperialism, and above all, against US imperialism.
The peoples of Afghanistan, Iraq and Palestine resist also in or name; this is a resistance in the name of the world working class, oppressed peoples and nations. This resistance limits and even hinders the aggression of the USA and the other imperialists; it weakens imperialism and plays a deterrent role in their hegemony and aggression.
It is the same for Latin America and the other regions of the world: Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina, Peru, Mexico, Sri Lanka and Nepal are only a few of the countries where the struggle sharpens against imperialism and their native collaborationists. The resistance in these countries is a resistance in the name of the world working class, oppressed peoples and nations, too.
Not only do the oppressed peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America struggle against imperialism. Beyond this, the working class and the labouring masses are in mobilisation at the imperialist centres, as the anti-war movement and the movement against globalisation show. Millions of people all over the world protest against the neoliberal attacks and express that they want a new world.
Millions of workers and labourers take the streets all over the world. These masses search for an alternative, because they have lost their hopes in the bourgeois system and they see that the bourgeois parties are not alternatives for them. They do not trust them any more. These masses are ready to struggle. What is important is to organise them.
Today, the international workers' movement is deprived of a communist vanguard organised on the international level, which could lead it in the direction of proletarian dictatorship and socialism. This is an obstacle for the development of the communist movement in each country as well as it weakens its organisation and organised action on the international level.
The international communist movement do have the task of leading the struggle of the working class and labouring masses against imperialism, fascism and reaction for freedom, democracy and socialism, on the national and the international level; it has to build up and develop further its international organisational unity by and while fulfilling this task.
For this reason, our party takes it as a fundamental and unpostponable task of it and of every single communist party to build up and develop further the international action and ideological and organisational unity of the international communist movement.
The fact that the international communist movement suffers from an ideological and organisational crisis lays on the shoulders of the communist parties the urgent task of contributing to the Marxist-Leninist formation of the revolutionary organisations and groups which are Marxist-Leninist or are open to Marxism-Leninism and to their development as communist parties. Undoubtedly, the final organisational goal is to build up the Communist International. We will reach our goal through every single step that we take today and through every effort of the communist forces to get closer to each other, to try to get to know each other without any biases, to test each other in struggle, in practice, to discuss on the questions of the theory and to find common solutions by discussing on the problems that life brings. We have a long, rough and hard way to go, but we are sure that we will reach our goal. We are determined.
As we have already expressed above, the problem does not only consist of struggling for the organisational unity of the international communist movement. Beside the struggle for the organisational unity of the international communist movement, communist parties, groups and circles do have the task of establishing contacts with all parties, organisations and movements in this character, with revolutionary organisations, and also with writers, journalists, intellectuals and scientists who have a consistent and stable posture against imperialism and fascism, in order to found an international anti-fascist, anti-imperialist front or a unity of struggle. As the examples of anti-imperialist struggle co-ordinations that have already been formed in the Middle East, in the Balkans and it some other parts of the world show, regional organisations are the most convenient organisations to reach our goal.

For this reason;

1. First of all, we must found regional coordinations of united anti-imperialist struggle together with all forces that can be united against imperialism and fascism, with progressive, anti-imperialist, anti-fascist, revolutionary and communist forces, in those regions where the contradictions among imperialists are most sharpened; and then, we must unite these coordinations on the international level.
2. Despite the fact that the need for the formation of regional coordinations is most strongly felt in the regions such as the Middle East, the Balkans, the Caucasus as well as Latin America, where the contradictions among imperialists are most sharpened, however, such kind of organisations are necessary in almost all parts of the world.
3. Being a region where the exploitation of cheap labour power and the neoliberal destruction attacks are wildly carried out, various countries of the region have the desire of becoming imperialist states, and there exist various biases and conflicts among the peoples of the region parallel to the contradictions among the imperialists, in South Asia as well, the steps that would be taken by progressive, revolutionary and communist organisations in this way would also be extremely valuable.
4. AIAIF, which is an iniciative in the way for the coordination and organisation of the anti-imperialist forces in India on the national level, is a meaningful and valuable iniciative not only for the national coordination but also for the regional coordination. Form it is a force that could also play a role in the regional coordination of the anti-imperialist struggle.

Long live proletarian internationalism!
Long live Marxism-Leninism!

MLCP
Turkey/Northern Kurdistan
International Bureau