Stephen Cho | Coordinator of the Korean International Forum
Today, defining imperialism, fascism, and terrorism is a crucial issue in establishing a scientific and revolutionary strategy and tactics for anti-imperialist, anti-fascist forces.
World War 1 was an inter-imperialist war and World War 2 was an anti-fascist war. In August 1935, on the eve of World War 2, Georgi Dimitrov, the General Secretary of the Comintern, provided a historically significant definition of fascism in his report, “The Fascist Offensive and the Tasks of the Commu-nist International in the Struggle of the Working Class against Fascism”: “Fascism in power is the open terrorist dictatorship of the most reactionary, most chauvinistic and most imperialist elements of finance capital.” This remains highly evaluated to this day as the most classic definition of the essence of fascism based on Marxism-Leninism. Grounded in this scientific definition, the revolutionary strategy of the anti-fascist united front was established, which succeeded in isolating fascism and accelerating the ultimate victory in World War 2.
After World War 2, the imperialist camp fabricated the “Cold War” system to isolate and strangle the socialist and anti-imperialist camps. Since then, the imperialist camp avoided direct conflict with socialist superpowers and instead waged local wars worldwide against weaker socialist nations or national liberation states, turning the “Cold War” system from a mere ideology into reality. Furthermore, they implanted neo-colonial systems in colonies, establishing imperialist proxy regimes and pro-imperialist puppet governments to enforce fascist rule. This means that under the “Cold War” system, fascism manifested itself primarily in developing nations and colonial societies, rather than in advanced capitalist countries or state-monopoly capitalist societies. The Park Chung-hee regime in the ‘Republic of Korea (ROK),’ the Suharto regime in Indonesia, and the Pinochet regime in Chile are prime examples. Consequently, the definition of fascism expanded to encompass not only the terrorist dictatorship of political proxies of domestic finance capital, but also the terrorist dictatorship and oppressive rule of foreign imperialist puppets—chiefly the pro-US lackeys bred by US imperialism.
In the final years of the “Cold War,” US imperialism manipulated and supported anti-Soviet Islamic extremist forces in Afghanistan under “Operation Cyclone” in 1979 and “Al-Qaeda” emerged in 1988, centered around Sunni extremist forces including Osama Bin Laden. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Al-Qaeda carried out terrorist attacks against US imperialism. The fundamental doctrine of US imperialism is to manipulate and support Sunni extremist forces, mobilizing them for its own political interests, and then to wage a “War on Terror” to eliminate them once they break free from its control. This is how the “9/11 attacks” in 2001 and the Iraq War in 2003 broke out. Regarding the “9/11 attacks,” numerous doubts still objectively exist, and the pretexts for the Iraq War—the “possession of weapons of mass destruction” and “links to Al-Qaeda”—were proven to be false. US imperialism subsequently repeated similar operations to topple the Gaddafi regime in Libya and the Assad regime in Syria. In particular, the terrorist activities of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), organized through the manipulation and support of US imperialism after the downfall of the Iraqi Hussein regime, are internationally notorious. It is no coincidence that the current civil wars in Libya and Mali are linked to “Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb” (AQIM). The same is true that the Ukrainian military supports AQIM, while Russia’s Africa Corps supports the anti-imperialist forces in Libya and Mali. Russia’s Africa Corps stands at the very forefront of the struggle against imperialism, fascism, and terrorism in Africa.
In 2014, the “Maidan Coup” and the Donbas Civil War broke out in Ukraine. Orchestrated and driven by Western imperialism led by the United States and Europe, and perpetrated by Ukrainian Neo-Nazis, this fascist act of terror claimed the lives of countless Russian-ethnic Ukrainians. Ultimately, this left Russia with no choice but to launch its Special Military Operation in 2022. The war in Ukraine, which began in 2014 due to the provocations of imperialism and fascism, intensified into a full-scale conflict in 2022. With the escalation of the war in Ukraine in February 2022 and the outbreak of the West Asia war centered around the Palestinian conflict in October 2023, the world entered the tempest of World War 3. The flames of World War 3, ignited by imperialism with fascists at the vanguard, are spreading from Ukraine through West Asia and into East Asia. Between September and November/December 2024, in an attempt to wage an East Asian war centered on the war in the ‘ROK,’ imperialism instigated the fascist Yoon Suk-yeol regime of the ‘ROK’ to provoke a localized war against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and carried out a military coup in the ‘ROK.’ Had it not been for the DPRK’s war deterrence and “strategic patience,” combined with the heroic resistance of the ‘ROK’ people, a war in the ‘ROK’ would have broken out. This would have directly led to a war in Taiwan, expanding into an wider East Asian war. The so-called “Noh Sang-won Notebook” reported by the media at the time contained specific details of post-coup terror planned by the Yoon Suk-yeol fascist forces, including lists and plots for the assassination, poisoning, and bombing of not only the ‘ROK’ communist political forces but also social democratic forces, all social movements, and intellectuals who had stood up in the anti-fascist struggle.
When their plan for an East Asian war centered on the ‘ROK’ failed in late 2024, imperialism frantically shifted its focus to instigating an East Asian war centered around Taiwan instead. Consequently, in February 2026, a West Asian war centered on Iran finally broke out, and as highlighted in numerous reports, it is highly probable that this Iran war will directly lead to a war in Taiwan. For imperialism, an East Asian war is an indispensable process for fully escalating World War 3. Once an East Asian war erupts, the war in Ukraine will inevitably expand into a broader Eastern European war. These three battlegrounds in the Eastern Hemisphere are highly likely to spill over into the Western Hemisphere, expanding into the fourth theater of war in Central America.
Experiencing unprecedented political and economic crisis and stripping themselves of global hegemony, it is a logical conclusion of sorts for the imperialists to delusionally believe they can construct a “New Cold War” system to win through a long-term war as they did in the past, as well as through advanced technologies like AI and an arms race. However, their foolish stratagem to label the four major leading nations of the anti-imperialist camp—Russia, China, the DPRK, and Iran—as the “New Axis of Evil,” and to dismantle Russia and China in a Yugoslav-style dissolution while collapsing the DPRK and Iran through World War 3 and a “New Cold War,” is bound to fail. No amount of propaganda or “fake news” from the imperialist camp, which seeks to demonize and link the anti-imperialist camp to terrorism, can deceive anyone anymore.
As history and reality demonstrate, imperialism is failing to achieve victory in any single theater of war, be it in Ukraine or West Asia. Under such circumstances, how could it possibly triumph across three concurrent theaters, especially when facing both China and the DPRK simultaneously in an East Asian war? Should this happen, the conflict would inevitably expand into the fourth theater in Central America—a war pitting Venezuela and Cuba against the United States—making an imperialist victory all the more elusive. As is well known, Russia, China, and the DPRK are nuclear-missile superpowers armed with hydrogen bombs and hypersonic missiles. These three major anti-imperialist nations possess state-of-the-art weaponry, not only in strategic but also in tactical arms. Furthermore, as demonstrated by the participation of the DPRK military in the Kursk liberation war, the strategic cooperation among these nations has reached the highest level in history. Practical experience has scientifically confirmed that the revolutionary strategy of rallying all forces opposed to imperialism and fascism into a single front—the world anti-imperialist front—is the fundamental strategy that guarantees the victory of the anti-imperialist, anti-fascist forces in World War 3. Beyond differences in ideology, political views, and religion, the world’s anti-imperialist forces must unite, can fully unite, and indeed are already uniting under the banner of anti-imperialism. Since fascists and Zionists are incorporated into the imperialist camp as its lackeys, the cause of anti-imperialism inherently encompasses the elements of anti-fascism and anti-Zionism.
In contrast, the imperialist camp is fractured by overlapping problems, including class contradictions within imperialist states, national contradictions between imperialists and colonies, and inter-imperialist contradictions among the imperialist powers themselves. While the anti-imperialist camp unites under the banner of anti-imperialism and anti-fascism, the imperialist camp is disintegrating due to its internal contradictions. The war in Iran is further accelerating this trend. Within this same context, the Beijing summit follows the exact same trajectory.
Never in human history, neither since the 20th century nor prior, has a terrorist force emerged as the ultimate victor. Humanity, in its pursuit of justice and truth, has thoroughly punished the terrorist forces that threatened civilization from the opposing end. The fate of imperialism and fascism, which are currently drawing their last breaths, and the fate of the most evil terrorist cliques in human history, cannot be any different. The Israeli Zionists, who have reduced the Gaza Strip to ashes through slaughter and atrocities and are now attempting to do the same in Lebanon, along with US imperialism, which joined Israel in bombing Iranian elementary schools, will inevitably cease to exist in human society, together with their universally condemned terrorist crimes.
Against the heinous terror of the imperialist forces that ignited World War 3 and their puppet fascists, the peoples of the world―including Russia and Iran―who are fighting under the banners of anti-imperialism, anti-fascism, and justice, are destined for final victory, which, as history proves, is beyond doubt. Just as fascism was annihilated in World War 2, imperialism and fascism are bound to be destroyed in World War 3. Mirroring the aftermath of World War 2, the anti-imperialist and socialist camps will expand exponentially following World War 3, significantly accelerating the building of a new society centered on the working class and the popular masses.
