In June of this year, organizations from Brazil, Turkey, Ecuador and Mexico (1) published a call (ail-red.com) for the foundation of the "Anti-Imperialist League" (AIL), a "united international organization of struggle against imperialism". These four forces, which see themselves as revolutionary and democratic organizations, joined to form a coordinating committee, which initiated a process of preparing the foundation of the AIL on the basis of a published program, certain substantive principles and an organizational concept. This initiative has already found its first echo in many regions and countries around the world (e.g. also in Austria on Volksstimmefest 2024 - Volksstimmefest 2024: Freiheit für Palästina!), accompanied by political actions and calls for support for the current struggles in Palestine, India and the Philippines.
"Our world is in a time of turmoil, deep unrest and change", is one of the opening sentences of the call for the foundation of the AIL. This sums up the current period, which is also reflected in the bourgeois media apparatus - with increasing despair - in the face of the loss of "political stability". Increased attacks on the social and economic interests of the workers and masses, new wars of aggression against the peoples (such as in Ukraine or the genocide in Palestine), rearmament and general preparations for war, or the profound skepticism and rejection of large sections of the population against their "political representatives", characterize the picture of political conditions. Not only the recent wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Mali or Syria have left impressive memories of the effects of US imperialist interventions abroad, but also the corona regime and the inflation that has persisted for years under the cloak of "necessity" in the sanctions war against Russia have undoubtedly caused the image of "Western liberal democracy" to crumble. The world system of imperialism is in one of its deepest economic and political crises since the end of the Second World War. And despite the fact that the current declining tendencies of US imperialism are giving greater importance to other imperialist countries such as Russia, Britain, Germany, France, etc. or social-imperialist China, "US imperialism is still at the center of the imperialist system and is the main actor of all kinds of exploitation, plunder, unjust wars and occupations in the world," according to the AIL founding committee.
In the political principles, the coordinating committee defines imperialism as "the highest stage of capitalism, a monopolistic, decaying, dying system of exploitation and plunder, existing with contradictions that inevitably prepare its own end". This definition, which is based on the theories of the Russian revolutionary leader Lenin, sets out the connection between capitalism and imperialism. These are not described as two different systems, but as different stages of a particular economic system. Imperialism is defined as the current stage of capitalism, which differs from early capitalism in that it became a world system and enforced the domination of monopolies (the fusion of industry and banking) over "free competition", as well as the domination of a few imperialist countries over the majority of oppressed peoples and nations. These monopolies do not act independently and autonomously, but have firmly merged with the imperialist state apparatus and made it their "instrument". If we take a look at today's car industry, for example, which is very much characterized by the current crisis, we see not only the aspect of the "oppressed countries", through the outsourcing of production to so-called low-wage countries, but also the direct cooperation with the state apparatus through billions in investments for the largest corporations to promote "new technologies", or through sanctions against other imperialist competitors (as is currently being discussed with China). A successful struggle against these monopolies without a simultaneous struggle against the imperialist state apparatus is therefore - rightly - hardly conceivable.
Following this understanding of imperialism, the anti-imperialist struggle, according to the founding program, must also go beyond the rejection of individual imperialist states: "To limit anti-imperialism to opposing an imperialist country in the colonies and semi-colonies means to be against an invasion or against this or that imperialist power, but it is not synonymous with being anti-imperialist on a complete and consistent basis." This statement is important today because it allows a deeper understanding of anti-imperialism, which is undoubtedly necessary in the face of all kinds of attempts at confusion by the monopoly media as well as revisionist and opportunist forces. The example of Ukraine in particular creates all kinds of confusion with the concept of imperialism and anti-imperialism. The so-called "West", above all the USA, which has been invading and destroying one country after another for decades, now accuses Russia of "imperialism", while Russia legitimizes its intervention in the name of "anti-imperialism". However, the oppressed peoples have no interest whatsoever in allowing themselves to become the plaything of one imperialist or another on the path to their independence and national liberation, which is why the understanding of imperialism as a monopolistic stage of capitalism that determines the social situation of all countries is of crucial importance.
"Despite all its contradictions and depravity, the imperialist system will not disappear by itself," is another key position in the AIL's appeal for foundation. It is therefore not enough to merely support the current efforts and struggles, which exist in many different forms and on different concrete occasions, but an organized form of international cooperation is needed, which has the task of developing these struggles and uniting them against the main opponent, imperialism. The proletariat, i.e. the core strata of the working class, is defined as the most consistent force in the struggle against imperialism. However, anti-imperialism unites many more sections of the people, according to the understanding of the AIL, which is in the process of being founded: "We demand the founding of an anti-imperialist international organization (Anti-Imperialist League), which unites the broad masses of the people under the leadership of the proletariat against imperialism and all forms of reaction, (...) in order to form an anti-imperialist world front." and "The line advocated by the AIL represents the just and legitimate demands of the workers, toilers, poor and landless peasants, oppressed peoples and nations throughout the world." The AIL thus sets itself the task of uniting different classes and strata in a common organization.
The fact that such an international alliance is urgently needed today is also shown by the current struggles and movements, which have had a significant impact on the political situation in Austria in recent years, and which are looking for international allies and coordination, sometimes spontaneously and "derived from the situation". We see this international aspect most clearly in the current solidarity movement for Palestine, where the struggle is not only to establish stronger cooperation between the different regions of the country, but also to learn from and coordinate with other countries, and to organize international events and conferences for this purpose. However, we also see this urge in the trade union movement and workers' struggles. The struggle against the closure of MAN Steyr already found allies in 2021, for example in Germany, where workers were confronted with similar waves of layoffs. Today, this question of international cooperation is once again acute, where the VW Group (which also included the Steyr plants taken over by Wolf at the time) is preparing plant closures on a scale unprecedented in recent history.
All those readers of the 'Rote Fahne' who have studied the history of anti-imperialism will certainly remember many historical examples and attempts by anti-imperialist alliances and organizations. One example that is instructive in certain respects is probably the "League Against Imperialism", which was founded largely on the initiative of the Communist International (ComIntern) in the 1920s. It contributed to linking the struggles of the peoples in the colonies (at that time, for example, with the "Hands off China" campaign) with the struggles of the workers and the masses in the imperialist countries, which was seen as an important prerequisite for the development of the revolutionary world movement. In the post-war period, there are also several examples of such anti-imperialist alliances, which were founded, for example, in the course of the Vietnam War or the Cuban Revolution, but were also characterized by strong internal struggles of different parts of the movement, whose lessons are certainly also of decisive importance for today's process of founding the Anti-Imperialist League.
Finally, the founding committee addresses all interested parties with the appeal: "With this perspective, we invite all anti-imperialist forces to organize and fight in the AIL." As 'Rote Fahne' so far we consider the publications of the coordinating committee for the AIL as a positive step and therefore want to continue to accompany the founding process journalistically and keep our readers up to date.
Source: ail-red.com
(1) Coordinating Committee of the Anti-Imperialist League (AIL):PARTİZAN (TURKEY)REVOLUTIONARY FRONT FOR THE DEFENSE OF PEOPLE'S RIGHTS (BRAZIL)FRONT FOR THE DEFENSE OF PEOPLE'S FIGHTS (ECUADOR)POPULAR STORM - RED SUN (MEXICO)
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