Another American century?

May 8, 2002
Issue 

REVIEW BY JONATHAN STRAUSS

Links #21
New Course Publishers
Sydney 2002
128 pages, $8 each or $39 for six issues
Order at <links@dsp.org.au>
Available form Resistance Bookshops (see page 2) or visit <http://www.resistancebooks.com>

In April, the urban masses of Venezuela defeated a US-backed coup against President Hugo Chavez. This should sound an alarm against believing that another "American century" is inevitable. In terms of capital and arms, US imperialism overwhelmingly dominates all other nations and states, but the power of masses of people acting in their own interests can be an impressive counterweight in the class struggle.

The May-August 2002 issue of Links, the international journal of socialist renewal published in Australia, asks: after September 11 and the US invasion of Afghanistan, has the world entered "another American century" in which the US will dominate in a way that Washington unsuccessfully attempted to achieve after World War II?

The issue's lead article, "Imperialism in the 21st century" by Australian Democratic Socialist Party (DSP) national executive member Doug Lorimer, outlines how the US became the "indispensable nation" of the world imperialist system. Around the US, using the words of former US national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski, are "vassals" — smaller imperialist powers that render general support to it — and pliant "tributaries" — semi-colonial capitalist regimes under whose rule Third World peoples are exploited for super-profits. And then there are the "barbarians", the oppressed and exploited mass of humanity, whom the imperialists strive to keep from coming together.

Lorimer argues that the situation today does not resemble the early Cold War period, but has more in common with the international political developments that began with the first world war. At that time, the instability of workers' lives in a time of imperialist wars abroad and impoverishment at home was the key revolutionary factor, creating a base of support for radical opponents of imperialism.

Executive director of the Resource Centre for People's Development in Manila, Francisco Pascual, continues the survey the features of "globalisation" by emphasising how it is underpinned by militarism. The exposure of US militarism in particular is a key task of the movement against imperialist globalisation.

The imperialist states continue to fight for the control of the world's markets, in which to invest capital and sell commodities. In the 1990, imperialism had bright hopes for the restoration of capitalism in Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union and China.

Yet, as Russian socialist Boris Kagarlitsky and the Hong Kong-based Liu Yufan both write, this process has had its complications. In Russia, a "political capitalism" that structurally integrates corruption and organised crime has developed. In China, the basis for political instability is being laid.

Lisa Macdonald, a leading member of the DSP and the Socialist Alliance in Australia, contributes an extensive discussion of the relationship between imperialism and the rise of reactionary political Islamic movements. After outlining the theological and historical origins of Islam, Macdonald notes its political revival in response to the conquest and transformation of Asia and North Africa by capitalist Europe.

This has given political Islam two faces: it has acted in concert with imperialism and local ruling classes to crush nationalist and left forces and it provided an outlet for political protest and opposition.

Following the Cold War, reactionary Islamic political movements which had been fostered by imperialism turned on their masters. However, the experience of Afghanistan shows that such movements cannot offer an alternative political road for the Third World.

The renewal of militant, anti-imperialist working-class politics in the Muslim countries is the real alternative to "Islamic fundamentalism", Macdonald writes. The hope for this lies in the emergence of parties like the Labour Party Pakistan and Peoples Democratic Party in Indonesia.

Links also surveys the perspectives of left organisations around the world on the growing movement against corporate globalisation. The views of the US International Socialist Organization's perspectives on the Bush administration's war offensive after September 11 are presented.

Murray Smith, international officer for the Scottish Socialist Party, argues that Marxist internationalism demands participation in the movement, the development of international links among parties sharing an anti-capitalist perspective, democratic discussion and a constant development of Marxist theory.

Finally, this issue presents important statements from recent international conferences.

From Green Left Weekly, May 8, 2002.
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