30-10-2023: The planet is careering towards World War III at breakneck speed. Driving with its foot flat on the accelerator towards this catastrophe are the declining Western imperialist powers based in Washington, London and Brussels. Working people the world over have the power to stop and reverse this course, provided they can assemble a political leadership which corresponds to the dire need to end capitalism and establish socialism. The October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel – which are likely to have been orchestrated by the security services of the imperialist powers – have provided a pretext for the US state to launch a three-front war against Iran, Russia and China. The West has proven itself unable to wage war against Russia using Nazis in Ukraine as proxies. It has already demonstrated that it does not have the military or industrial capacity to produce weapons and ammunition for a prolonged war, whereas the Russian Federation does, even on its own. And this is without direct assistance from Russia’s ally, the vast manufacturing power of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
BRICS 11
It is not just for US President Biden’s re-election fortunes that Washington is facilitating a world war. Imperialism is well aware that its time is limited, if not already passed. From 1 January 2024, the BRICS alliance (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) will be expanded to include Saudi Arabia, Iran, Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates. This “BRICS 11” will represent almost half of the world’s population and almost half of the world’s oil production. There are more than 30 countries, all from the “Global South” who are just waiting to be invited to join. The mainstay and backbone of the BRICS is the PRC, with its vast and powerful economy and its unique advantages in the development of science and technology. The PRC leads the world in high-speed rail, it has the world’s largest banks, it has the best infrastructure and the ability to expand it, and it is the largest trading partner of the majority of the world’s countries. It is the second largest economy by nominal GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and the largest by GDP PPP (Purchasing Power Parity).
None of this would be possible without its epic revolution in 1949, from which emerged a workers’ state, albeit one with significant deformations. The land, the major and strategic means of production, banking, finance, steel production, shipping, aviation and much more are all state-owned or majority state owned. Combined with a planned economy, the PRC has stunned the world with its achievements, due to giant strides taken towards socialism. Certainly, a conservative bureaucracy holds political power in Beijing, but nevertheless the PRC combined with its BRICS allies forms a formidable non-imperialist bloc. It is no coincidence that while the West was igniting its latest war in the Middle East, the international Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) conference was taking place in Beijing.
The West, mired in an ongoing and deepening economic crisis which is sinking many workers deeper into poverty, is being eclipsed just by the PRC alone. Combined with the BRICS 11 expansion, stumbling US and European capitalism has little chance of ever regaining the pre-eminent position it has held for centuries. This is the root source of the potential World War now being unleashed by Washington and its Western satraps. Private property in the means of production and the nation state are the ultimate barriers to the expansion of capitalism. This is a major reason why imperialism must overthrow governments, plot colour revolutions and wage war seemingly regardless of consequences.
Against suicidal war
Biden’s $105 billion weapons package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan is a virtual suicide pact, with potentially millions included against their will. The clear target is not Hamas or even Hezbollah necessarily, but the Islamic Republic of Iran, the longtime foe of Washington and London. This is the reason for the US sailing four aircraft carrier strike groups to the Middle East. While Russia and China remain the ultimate targets for regime change, currently they are too large and powerful to take on. Iran is a smaller target, but even it is going to prove too powerful if it unleashes its formidable conventional missile stocks alongside animating any number of Shia resistance allies in the region, from Hezbollah in Lebanon to the Popular Mobilisation Units in Iraq to the Ansar Allah in Yemen. The PRC has also currently six warships in the Middle East which are visiting BRI partners Oman and Kuwait. In addition, Russian MiG-31 jets armed with Kinzhal hypersonic missiles – with a range of 1000 kilometres – are now on patrol in the Black Sea. This means the Middle East is well within range.
Working people have a side in calling for the military defence of the BRICS bloc countries, specifically Iran, Russia and China, but also the DPRK (“North Korea”) which is not currently a BRICS member. Yet the politics of an urgent anti-war movement is something that workers have more influence over and may be decisive in affecting the actions of governments. Yes, Palestine has the right to defend itself, and even wage an armed struggle. However, the leaderships of the current “Free Palestine” rallies (at least in the West) have not distanced themselves from the criminal terrorism of Hamas, which is ultimately a Western proxy force as much as ISIS, Al Qaeda or the Israeli state itself. Indeed, Hamas was created and funded by the Israeli state as a bulwark against secular nationalism. These liberal led leaderships are also essentially pro “UkroNazi” against Russia, for ultra-violent regime change in Iran, and for the counter-revolutionary overthrow of the People’s Republic of China.
Needless to say, this needs to change, and fast. It is certainly possible, as the overwhelming number of working people rallying in defence of Palestine in the West and elsewhere are not in favour of more war, let alone a regional war, to say nothing of a world war. The vast majority also understand that while self-defence is a right, indiscriminate terrorism is counter-productive and only aids the Israeli state and its Western sponsors – who can then in turn “justify” more repression, invasions and wars. In fact, it only creates more Israeli nationalists and Zionists, which makes the problem worse. For 75 years, bolstering Palestinian nationalism in opposition to Israeli nationalism has achieved virtually nothing, and has made things much worse. The only way forward is for the Palestinian and Israeli working classes to join forces against capitalism, and for revolution. There is no other way to undermine nationalism and Zionism, and no other option for a genuine defence of Palestine.
What is more, the potential world war is but an extension of the two years of Covid repression and the skyrocketing cost of living for working people, ecological collapse and many other serious problems. The anti-war movement should seek to block all weapons shipments to not only Israel, but Ukraine and Taiwan. The BRICS bloc governments will not lead a struggle for socialism, but the road to socialism – via the forging of Marxist vanguard parties – must proceed through the non-imperialist BRICS allies.
WORKERS LEAGUE
E: workersleague@protonmail.com
Red Fire 