The two world wars determined the affirmation of the superpower of the United States over a large part of the world. In 1944, at Bretton Wood, the States, thanks to the convertibility with gold of their currency, which the other nations were unable to maintain, imposed the dollar as the universal currency in international exchanges and in the reserves of individual countries. Even when Nixon had to abandon convertibility in 1971, the dollar continued to dominate both because it is required by most of the oil-producing nations – the famous petrodollars – and because of the military power of the United States which asserted itself whenever some state showed itself to be recalcitrant. This has so far allowed the US to finance its trade deficits and public debt by printing dollars. It costs just 17 cents to print a $100 bill, but the rest of the world has to produce and export $100 worth of goods to get that bill. The United States thus enjoys exorbitant privileges that allow it to live above productive capacity by pillaging the economies of other nations.
In reality, the Second World War also saw the Soviet power come to the fore which, paying a tribute of over 20 million dead, he was instrumental in the defeat of Nazi-fascism and conquered its own area of influence in Eastern Europe. To counter the “socialist camp” the long cold war took place which ended with the dissolution of that reality and the victory of the United States and its allies. The largest communist party in the West, Italy, did like the rats that flee when the ship sinks and dissolved into a liberal democratic party. But also reformist ambitions saw the door barrednow that capitalism could pull its nails out as it no longer had to compete in terms of social rights with the socialist camp. And indeed Keynes was put in the attic and blood and tears liberal policies were imposed for workers’ rights and welfare. The new Russian confederation, led by a puppet of the United States, Boris Yeltsin, who stubbornly followed those policies, plunged into a terrible crisis that even saw life expectancy drastically reduced. The so-called – according to his self-definition – “free world” seemed to have to assert itself everywhere. Cuba, attacked by a criminal economic blockade, now that it could no longer count on the support of the Soviet Union, seemed bound to fall at any moment.
Every prospect of socialism seemed precluded and Francis Fukuyama came to predict “the end of the story” [1]. But that prediction didn’t take into account the so-called Third World that was pounding and didn’t want to hear about continuing to be subjugated by the imperialist powers. The latter, with the US in the lead, did everything to silence him: more or less bloody coups, terrible wars, color revolutions and terrible sanctions for the insubordinate; however history grinded its steps, being able to count also on the growing economic power of a group of nations, first of all China. So in Latin America, the US backyard, according to the monroe doctrine, some realities freed from North American domination (Venezuela, Bolivia, Brazil) asserted themselves, China and Vietnam, led by the communist party, despite having to compromise with capitalist globalization, grew at a much higher rate than the Western ones and after a inevitable phase of development based on the low cost of labour, they are now able to compete also on the technological field and to pursue objectives of a social and environmental nature. Unique fact in history, in a few years, while absolute poverty was growing everywhere in the world, around 800 million Chinese they got out. Russia itself, after Vladimir Putin came to power, after being refused the request to join the Western club, began to turn to developing countries.
While the United States is trying by all means to militarily and economically encircle Russia and China, considered by now their main enemyare forming aggregations capable of competing with Western economic and financial institutions: Alba, BRICS, Shanghai Cooperation Organization etc. And, while in Latin America, despite some setbacks at the hands of the States, the number of nations that free themselves from neoliberalism and imperialism is growing, twenty-five other nations are applying to join the BRICSincluding five Arab states, and work to establish a new international currency, while still others agree to use currencies other than the dollar in international transactions and set up alternative institutions to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, such as the New Development Bank.
Another Chinese initiative, strongly opposed by the US, is the new silk road which aims to connect a large part of the globe through sea and land transport infrastructures, as well as the Russian gas pipelines which, bypassing Ukraine, made it possible to supply gas to the old continent, have always been opposed, so much so that they were put out of action with a terrorist act.
It is within this framework that one can understand how the United States and its allies have carefully prepared, even before the coup in Ukraine in 2014, the war that today ravages that country. At stake is the will to tighten the links around Russia even more and perhaps to bring about a change of regime, in order to better deal with China later; there is the drawing of break all relations between Europe and Asia to make the Atlantic area central; there is the desperate attempt to stop the liberation processes of many peoples and forcibly reassert the supremacy of the “free world”, read dollar. This design also includes provocations in the Pacific, such as that of recognizing the sovereignty of Taiwan, and the endless sanctions on Russia, China, Cuba, Venezuela, North Korea, Iran in an attempt to even thwart their technological progress, by exercising monopoly power, repressive measures and technological restrictions in high-tech fields, and by monopolizing intellectual property. For example, they have brought forward the TRIPS Agreement, which sets American standards in the protection of intellectual property. From economic warfare to war tout court, the step is short and the secretary general of NATO Jens Stoltenberg stated that World War III is preferable to a Russian victory in Ukraine.
The US is therefore willing to do anything to preserve their unipolar domination, in which only they can be developed in such a way as to exercise their power over the rest of the world and to condition the foreign policy of all countries, to impose neoliberal economic policies , through the control of important institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, to constrain international commodity exchanges and various trade routes and to impose a global financial system. This would undermine the possibilities for economic growth in other regions of the world.
The culture itself, the training system, the artistic currents, etc. in a unipolar world order, they would be heavily conditioned by the hegemonic pole. In practice there would be only one model of civilization, that of the “free countries” e despite the evident unsustainability of capitalism, any path of modal change would be barred.
For these reasons one cannot be neutral in the face of this global confrontation, regardless of the character of the individual regimes which may not please some beautiful souls (but is there really democracy in the West or rather a granite oligarchy? And it should not be underestimated either that in a meeting between the Communist Party Russo and Putin, the latter having stated that a new transition to socialism is also to be considered).
While it is necessary to work for diplomatic solutions that defuse conflicts – in the plural because there is not only the Ukrainian one – it is necessary support the processes of liberation of three quarters of the world’s population from dominant imperialism. This release is the only way to prevent blocking of some ongoing processes – highly differentiated – of transition towards socialism. The victory of these peoples can open up unexplored paths of transformation throughout the globe and therefore also in the West. Supporting the struggles of the new emerging realities therefore does not correspond only to the duty of internationalist solidarity, but also to a precise interest of workers from all over the world.
Note:
[1] F. Fukuyama, The end of history and the last manMilan, Rizzoli, 1992.
05/27/2023 | Copyleft © All material is freely reproducible and only mention of the source is required.
