Party of Communists USA | Christopher J. Helali
Distinguished comrades, delegates, and guests,
On behalf of the Party of Communists USA, I bring the warmest greetings, solidarity, and best wishes for the success of this conference of the World Anti-imperialist Platform in Seoul, South Korea. We salute you!
I want to take a moment to remember and honor all the Korean people who have struggled against imperialism, colonialism, and fascism for over a century. From imprisonment and torture to martyrdom, the Korean people have heroically struggled against Japanese imperialism, US imperialism and its allies during the Fatherland Liberation War, and against fascist military dictatorships imposed on the Korean people. We honor their memory as we collectively struggle to end imperialism and reunify the Korean people and homeland.
On May 9th we commemorated the 78th anniversary of the heroic anti-fascist victory of the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany. Over 27 million people in the Soviet Union were killed, the largest death toll of any nation in World War II. Communist partisans resisted the fascists in every corner of the world, bringing liberation to the oppressed masses who had suffered so brutally under fascist rule. This year’s commemoration is all the more poignant given the ongoing denazification operation and war of liberation being waged by the Russian Federation in Ukraine.
As we stand on Korean soil, we must recognize not only the history of imperialist aggression and brutality, but the active nature of this battlefield. Like Ukraine, the Korean peninsula is in the crosshairs of US-EU-NATO imperialism. With the support of its regional allies, the United States continues its aggressive, brutal, and illegal sanctions against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). The United States continues to escalate tensions on the Korean peninsula, notably through its large joint military exercises and drills. These actions continue to pose a clear and present danger to the DPRK and ultimately threaten peace and stability in the region and around the world.
The ongoing regional battlefields are no doubt part of a much larger war. Some have argued that we are already in the beginning stages of World War III. This argument analyzes the international dimensions of ongoing regime change operations like those in Syria, categorizing them as proxy wars comprising much larger Euro-Atlantic imperialist aggression and confrontation.
For our purposes, it would be accurate to understand these battlefields, in particular Ukraine, the Korean peninsula, and Taiwan, as comprising a much larger imperialist front in a war for global hegemony and Euro-Atlantic supremacy. To confront this imperialist front, we must unite and form a single anti-imperialist front that can meet this unprecedented challenge. That is our historic duty. It cannot be understated how close we are to annihilation. The death cult that is the US-EU-NATO axis have brought the world to the brink of nuclear confrontation in Ukraine and seek to do the same in Taiwan and in Korea. With their goal of weakening and balkanizing Russia and China, the United States and its allies continue to pursue a reckless foreign policy. Rather than heeding the goodwill shown by the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China over the past decades, the United States seeks to prevent the emergence of a multipolar world-system that challenges its hegemony at all costs.
The United States continues to stoke fear and anxiety about Russia and China amongst its people. This fearmongering is purely for domestic consumption and aims to bolster support for US imperial aims. Russia, especially under the Trump administration, was accused by some sections of the ruling class of election interference and meddling in US internal affairs. Hurling outrageous and unsubstantiated claims, the United States resurrected Cold War fears and anxieties. We know this to be pure projection. It is the United States that meddles in elections abroad and overthrows regimes who do not submit to its rule. Yet, the US and its allies have now achieved their mission of bringing war to Russia vis-à-vis Ukraine. Like the sacrificial lamb in ancient times, the United States has prepared its blood sacrifice, offering the people and nation of Ukraine on the altar of war.
The age-old question once again echoes in our ears and in our movement. What is to be done? Before we rush to answer that question, we must first understand the nature of contemporary imperialism. This, I would argue, is the most important ideological question of our time. It should come as no surprise to those of us assembled here that a profound ideological crisis plagues the international communist movement. The divisions have become all the more acute following the Special Military Operation launched by the Russian Federation in 2022. This was apparent when two conflicting statements emerged from the International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties in Havana, Cuba in October 2022.
The division can be summarized as follows: one pole of the international communist movement, led by the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), sees the ongoing war in Ukraine as an inter- imperialist war, that is to say, a war between two imperialist blocs. This viewpoint sees Russia as indistinguishable from the US-EU-NATO axis. That is, both the United States and Russia are imperialist powers. The other pole, led by communist parties like the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF) and many, if not all of us assembled here, see this war as a confrontation between US-EU-NATO imperialism and Russia. This pole, which our party is firmly supportive of, sees this war as an act of imperialist expansion, provocation, and escalation on the part of the US-EU-NATO against the Russian Federation. We do not see Russia as an imperialist power that is equal to the United States.
What this division ultimately reveals is the failure to grasp imperialism in our times. Not only is there a poor ideological understanding of imperialism, but also a failure to grasp and analyze international relations through a realistic version of Marxism-Leninism. I would argue that we as Communists must understand how imperialism functions and the difference between core, semi- periphery, and periphery countries. The characterization of Russia as imperialist fails to account for the enormous differences that exist between the United States and Russia. Russia has a much smaller economy than the United States and would not be economically characterized as a core country. At best, one might argue that it is a core country in the region but on the whole, Russia is economically many times smaller than the United States. Even worse, the belief that Russia is no different than the United States only supports US-EU-NATO propaganda, feeding the reactionary and fascist ideologies that are behind NATO and EU expansion. It is a strange and disturbing historical twist that so many communist parties reject the denazification of a country whose Western backed coup brought into power neo-Nazi and Banderite forces.
V. I. Lenin’s theoretical contribution to the study of imperialism included an understanding that imperialism was the highest stage of capitalism. This stage of capitalism is characterized by an intensification of the competition between monopolies, increased financialization, and the ever- expanding drive to partition the world for capital. The struggle between the imperialist core and those developing or underdeveloped countries reveals the contradictions of the capitalist world- system. This uneven development clearly indicates the power of the imperialist core to not only control economies, markets, and political developments, but to maintain its hegemony in the semi-periphery and periphery.
This pursuit and struggle to maintain global domination is at the very core of US imperialism. One need only analyze foreign military bases to understand the true scope and dimensions of contemporary imperialism. The United States has over 800 foreign military. Some estimates put that number at nearly 1000 bases to account for all the CIA and covert sites. In stark contrast, Russia has less than 20 foreign military bases with China coming in at 2.
From these military bases, the United States and its allies are able to control important trade routes, protect vital interests in raw materials like petroleum, and exploit nations who have the resources the imperial core needs. While some hurl accusations of China and Russia being imperialist, nothing can be farther from the truth. Both use win-win diplomacy and a people- centered philosophy to guide their international relations and dealings with foreign nations. Socialism with Chinese Characteristics has lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty and contributed to the well-being of all the people in China.
How often do we hear criticisms of China in Africa? Does China do what King Leopold did in the Congo or what the British, French, Germans, and other European powers did? Does China have an AFRICOM like the United States does, basing and launching operations throughout the continent? The answer is a resounding “no.” China has poured trillions of yuan to develop many African nations, even cancelling debt and agreeing to generous terms. The United States on the other hand has had a major role in destabilizing the continent and overthrowing governments like Qaddafi’s in Libya.
The ongoing US-China escalations will have major consequences for all of us. War is coming to East Asia. As we stand here in Korea, we must understand that the US presence here puts the Korean people in jeopardy. If need be, the Korean people and the people on Taiwan will be sacrificed for the aims of US-EU-NATO imperialism. We must understand this and we have a sacred obligation to fight against any imperialist aggression and war.
Our tasks moving forward require all of us to continue to investigate and understand the contemporary nature of imperialism. We must be united and we must challenge the ultra-left, revisionist, and reactionary poles that have taken hold in the international communist movement. We must oppose opportunism and factionalism at all costs. This will require ideological warfare and polemics to take shape within the international communist movement. Our strategy must be to confront imperialism and to unite revolutionary and anti-imperialist forces under one banner. The tactics will be different for all of us given our particular contexts but the strategy remains the same. The stakes are too high for us to sit idly by as the flames of war are kindled around the world.
We in the United States, recognizing that we live in the imperial core, understand our obligation and responsibilities to confront US imperialism at home and abroad. As anti-imperialists, we recognize the nature of the struggle of the people in the Donbass, of the Korean people, of the Chinese people, of the Palestinians, Saharawis, Cubans, Venezuelans, and of all the people around the world who struggle for an end to imperialism, for an end to capitalism, and for their national liberation.
We will continue to struggle against US-EU-NATO imperialism as we continue on the path to construct socialism-communism. We will continue to strengthen our ties, to build our anti- imperialist movement, and to unite our forces to defeat imperialism once and for all.
DOWN WITH IMPERIALISM, COLONIALISM, AND ZIONISM!
DOWN WITH THE US-EU-NATO AXIS!
LONG LIVE PROLETARIAN INTERNATIONALISM!
VICTORY TO THE ANTI-IMPERIALIST STRUGGLES AROUND THE WORLD!
