Christopher Helali | American Communist Party (Former International Secretary of the Party of Communists USA)
It is my pleasure and honor to welcome you all to this conference of the World Anti-Imperialist Platform. We are here in the very heart of the empire, just a few blocks away from the centers of power of the imperialist system. We are here because the Nuclear Armed Terrorist Organization (NATO) is meeting here in Washington from July 9-11. This criminal organization is “celebrating” 75 years of wars, coups, and unspeakable crimes.
As the platform, we met in South Korea in 2023 under the banner of “one war, two fronts”, in the midst of the brutal onslaught of the US-EU-NATO imperialist axis on the Russian Federation. We recognized that the imperialist war being fought by the United States, its Western allies, and regional proxies, was taking place on two main fronts.
The first front, the Eastern European front, is centered in Ukraine as the US-EU-NATO axis pours weapons and billions of dollars into its war against Russia.
The second front, the Pacific/East Asian front, is centered on South Korea and Taiwan, regional proxies of the US against China, Russia, and the DPRK. However, recent developments require us to further expand our understanding of the fronts in this imperialist war.
There are now seven major fronts we can identify in the ongoing and expanding US-EU-NATO imperialist war.
First, the Eastern European front centered in Ukraine is deepening and expanding. I have just returned from the Lugansk People’s Republic where I saw, heard, and experienced firsthand the brutality and barbarity of the US led war on the people of the Donbass. Destroyed apartment buildings, schools, factories, roads, and other infrastructure shows how the Ukrainian fascist forces continue to commit egregious war crimes. As I stated at the United Nations last week, this war did not begin with the special military operation in 2022 but in 2014, with the fascist junta taking over in a western backed coup and unleashing war on the people of the Donbass.[1] This war is, as I have said, a struggle between the past, present, and future in the region.
The Russian Federation’s SMO has as its stated goal the denazification of Ukraine. That means, this is not merely a war like others around the world, but an anti-fascist war, a continuation of the Great Patriotic War.[2]
Second, the Pacific/East Asian front centered on South Korea and Taiwan, is slowly heating up. The DPRK and Russia have grown closer in recent months, deepening their bilateral political, economic, and military relations. They have now elevated their relations to the level of “comprehensive strategic” partnership. This is the highest and deepest the bilateral relations have ever been.
Third, the Southwest Asian and North African front, centered from Palestine, Syria, and Iran, to Western Sahara, reveal the ongoing genocidal and settler-colonial policies of the Zionist entity, an outpost of US-EU-NATO imperialism and colonialism in the region, and its regional lackeys including Morocco. The Palestinian people continue to wage a historic struggle against Zionism and their heroic resistance has been a beacon and a banner to unite all working and oppressed peoples. The axis of resistance from the Ansarallah movement in Yemen to Hezbollah to various groups in Iraq and elsewhere continue to wage a historic struggle against the US-EU-NATO imperialists, Zionists, and their regional proxies. The Polisario Front in Western Sahara continues to struggle against the colonial state of Morocco which is backed by the U.S. and Israel.[3] Struggles continue in Libya over the future of the country and Egypt is experiencing a deepening crisis as the genocide in Gaza continues unabated on its border.
Fourth, the Subsaharan African front, centered on anti-imperialist countries like Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, find themselves in the crosshairs of US-EU-NATO imperialism, notably AFRICOM, the U.S. military command that seeks to dominate the African continent. These three nations are prepared to cooperate at the highest levels in a rebuff to the imperialist instrument of ECOWAS. Wars and instability in the DR Congo, Sudan, and the burgeoning revolution in Kenya are critical to understand the situation in the region and its implications around the world.
Fifth, the Latin American front is centered on Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and other anti-imperialist countries like Bolivia. These countries find themselves directly confronting U.S. domination that justifies its ongoing destabilizing and interventionist role in Latin America via the Monroe Doctrine. The upcoming election at the end of July in Venezuela is critical and all eyes are watching as the U.S. and its proxies expand their hybrid war through misinformation and covert operations to overthrow the popular power of the PSUV and the Bolivarian Revolution.
Sixth, the caucuses front centered on Georgia as well as Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the Russian regions of Chechnya, Ingushetia, and Dagestan are in the crosshairs of the US-EU-NATO axis. Using religion and ethnicity, the imperialists seek to replicate their success in Yugoslavia to create instability by fomenting separatism in the Russian Federation. We witnessed very quickly how the “Republic of Artsakh” or Nagarno-Karabakh disappeared overnight with the Azeri military advance. Georgia’s EU and NATO membership have been a goal of the imperialists for many years and we recall the war in 2008 that led to Russian military intervention and the recognition of the Republic of Abkhazia and the Republic of South Ossetia-State of Alania. Today, Georgia finds itself once more in the crosshairs and many believe that it is the next front in the region for the U.S.-EU-NATO axis.
Seven, the Arctic front has become a key battlefield between the U.S.-EU-NATO axis and the Russian Federation and by extension China. At present, eight countries, Denmark; Finland; Iceland; Norway; Russia; Sweden; and the United States, exercise sovereignty over lands within the Arctic Circle. In October 2023, the Chair of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Bauer attended the 10th edition of the Arctic Circle Assembly in Iceland. There, Admiral Bauer shared NATO’s view on the current security environment in the Arctic. He said “The increased competition and militarisation in the Arctic region, especially by Russia and China, is concerning. The melting ice in the Arctic is creating new sea routes that would facilitate the movement of large vessels and shorten navigation times. We cannot be naïve and ignore the potentially nefarious intentions of some actors in the region. We must remain vigilant and prepare for the unexpected.”[4] Admiral Bauer stated “When Sweden joins, following in the footsteps of Finland, seven of the eight members of the Arctic Council will be NATO Allies. We are grateful to our Nordic Allies for their enhanced cooperation, investment and vigilance in the region. The Arctic has always had a strategic importance to NATO, and we must ensure it remains free and navigable”, he added.[5] “In the last decade, the growing importance of the Arctic has been undeniable, especially due to its natural resources, maritime potential and strategic location. However, it is also a fragile ecosystem on the planet and has been suffering from the effects of climate change. Bringing experts from a variety of fields together to share ideas, studies and discuss the varying interests in the region, hopefully, helps leaders make better choices and builds understanding”, underscored the Admiral.[6] It is clear from the words of Admiral Bauer that the Arctic region is a NATO prize worth fighting Russia for.
In all of these fronts the US-EU-NATO imperialist axis uses a wide variety of tools including war, covert operations, sanctions, color revolutions, funding pro-Western NGOs, dissident academics, pro-Western media, and funding and supporting anarchic, “anti-authoritarian”, and nihilistic art and cultural programs to achieve its aims. The arsenal of the Euro-Atlantic imperialist axis uses liberalism, human rights, and democracy promotion as a guise for the ruthless and brutal regime change operations, the aim of which is the complete domination and exploitation of periphery countries. Sovereignty and independence are exchanged for a clientelist and rentier type state where control of their natural resources and economic development are in the hands of multinational corporations in the West. This only proves what V. I. Lenin rightly noted over a century ago, imperialism is the highest stage of capitalism.
The gangsters of empire have brought the world once more to the brink. The bipartisan commitment to full spectrum dominance is paving the way to nuclear confrontation. The U.S.-EU-NATO axis must be stopped. NATO must be abolished if the world is to have peace in our times.
Our historical duty is to unceasingly confront US-EU-NATO imperialism and all of its proxies around the world. This represents the greatest threat to humanity today. Given the terminal decline of the United States and the West, the possibility of war and nuclear confrontation grows day by day. Our collective existence under the sword of Damocles is unsustainable. At some point the thread will give and we will be faced with annihilation. Given the various fronts and lines of demarcation facing the international communist and workers’ movement today, we must sharpen our ideological positions and prepare for a prolonged ideological war with those who choose revisionism, opportunism, and factionalism. Our strategy is to be united in confronting imperialism under the banner of the World Anti-Imperialist Platform. We must continue to provide solidarity to the peoples of the Donbass, of Palestine, Korea, China, Cuba, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Iran, Syria, Western Sahara and all oppressed peoples and nations who struggle for their liberation from imperialism, fascism, and capitalism. We must heighten and deepen our struggle against the US-EU-NATO imperialist axis, the greatest threat to world peace. Only through the final confrontation with Euro-Atlantic imperialism can we open the possibility of constructing socialism-communism and building a lasting world peace for all.
Notes
[1] “Press Briefing: Dan Kovalik, Jackson Hinkle, and Christopher Helali following their recent visit to Donbass and Moscow,” UN Web TV, July 3, 2024. https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k16/k163tkr87w. For my written text see, https://popularresistance.org/united-nations-press-briefing-regarding-factfinding-mission-to-donbass-moscow/.
[2] This is something that I have said as International Secretary of the Party of Communists USA since even before the beginning of Russia’s SMO. Here is the statement I wrote following the SMO on February 25, 2022: https://partyofcommunistsusa.net/february-25th-2022-party-of-communists-usa-statement-on-russian-military-operation-in-ukraine/.
[3] See my recent intervention on behalf of Western Sahara at the United Nations: https://www.spsrasd.info/en/2024/06/15/3902.html.
[4] “‘Arctic remains essential to NATO’s Deterrence and Defence Posture’, says Chair of the NATO Military Committee,” North Atlantic Treaty Organization, October 22, 2023, https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_219529.htm.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.