Imperialism: Enemy of Peoples and States!

a) Independence and National Sovereignty

Freedom in its basic sense is nothing but the liberation of human beings from the constraints of nature and society. Freedom is achievable only when human beings are capable of gaining knowledge about nature and society and about the objective laws governing them and are willing to change them; in other words, to have desire to gain freedom.

In the social scene, the achieving freedom, as in nature, always requires constant and continuous struggle. But, unlike nature, it accompanies the denial or limiting freedom of one section of the society that has gained its freedom through the oppression of others. For example, the freedom of women weakens the sovereignty of men and all forces that are involved in the oppression of women, and the struggle of nations for independence makes the sphere of influence and power of the colonists smaller and weaker. In other words, human societies are the battleground of various classes and forces which have different and even conflicting interests and goals and are constantly struggling to achieve these interests and gain "freedom". The struggle for freedom and denial of freedom constitutes the broadest and most fundamental part of human activity in existing social issues as well as in nature.

Independence is basically a sort of freedom, one that guarantees the possibility of non-compliance as well as obedience. This independence for a country is nothing but the liberation from subordination to the influence and dictation of others. Sovereignty is the result and effect of national independence and the guarantee of its preservation. Sovereignty means the complete independence of a state to solve its internal and external problems. Any interference, assigning order, pressure, and exerting force—let alone military intervention—against a state threatens its sovereignty, independence, and freedom. Sovereignty and independence is the tower within which the peoples and nations of the world will be able to create their own state, society, culture, and future without being imposed by a state or a power. Any restriction and denial of one country's sovereignty and independence by others means suppressing the freedom of the country for the benefit of others. Violating the right to sovereignty of others under various deceptive excuses such as defending human rights, democracy, etc., means others deemed to be incapable of determining their own destiny.

The view that recognizes national independence and sovereignty for some and voids for others, is an integral part of the ideology of the bourgeoisie and of imperialism. The more expansion there is of the capitalist economies, of capitalist-driven politics, of the spheres of influence of imperialism, and the gaining of special military-political-economic privileges, the more the other countries' freedom and independence will be seriously threatened. Imperialism is by nature oppressive and invasive. Its power lies in the perceived or relative weakness of others. Imperialism does not recognize or accept equality and justice. The rule of capital, and particularly of imperialist capital, threatens equality and social justice. The colorful U.S. and European imperialism's claim of the necessity of a war against Yugoslavia for the sake of defending the Kosovo people was no more than an old lie.This was not the first time that world imperialism has violated the sovereignty and independence of a weaker state by its aggressive military invasion. What distinguishes the imperialist NATO attack on Yugoslavia from other imperialist aggressions is not that it undermines and discredits the rights, sovereignty, and independence of others at the global level, but that it explicitly declares these issues to be "obsolete" in order to start up a new era of imperialist wars to crush the resistance of so-called "rouge" nations and states in order to maintain the "New World Order". And all these are done under the banner of "defending democracy and human rights”!

In other words, imperialism, and in particular the U.S. imperialism, seems has become so distressed and uneasy and has suffered so much from the absence of democracy and the violation of human rights in many other countries that it has ultimately sacrificed the rights of nations and their sovereignty and invaded and destroyed other countries in order to bring to them the “gift” of human and democratic rights!

b) The aggressive war and the defensive war of independence

It can be said that the first victim of any aggression is the truth. In fact due to reaching a dead end in their policies, all aggressors and warlords are forced to pursue war as the last weapon in order to develop and achieve their economic and strategic interests. But these wars have always used an excuse to mobilize and attract people. In other words, they simply lie to the people to win the war. Europe's savage onslaught of Indians following the discovery of the American continent and the killing of the "savage Indians" and the annihilation of the indigenous peoples of Australia and New Zealand are some of the examples. Most of the times, the lies are accompanied by justifications; such as "responding to enemy attacks" as in the case of Gulf of Tonkin in August 1964 at the start of Vietnam war. The Bush war against Iraq was launched under the banner "Attack on United States of America” in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centers. The attack on Yugoslavia was justified under the pretense of “preventing the killing of the nation’s people.” Aggressive wars in Libya and Syria and Yemen were carried out under the banner of humanity and saving civilian lives. Predatory and aggressive wars always require "humanitarian" cover to deceive public opinion.

The very nature of war is determined by policies that have ultimately made war historically necessary. The imperialists' invasion of Yugoslavia in 1999 was in fact a continuation of the policy of disintegration and the weakening of the united Yugoslavia. The fragmentation of Yugoslavia was possible only in the face of a war. The war began with the "goal" of creating a "peaceful region" without "violence and tyranny of the Serbs". Using these lies, the imperialists attacked the national sovereignty and independence of Yugoslavia.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, with the goal of colonial domination on the continent of Asia and Africa, the novel European bourgeoisie introduced the theory of "cosmopolitanism," which Kant, Schiller, and Goethe worked on with a good intention against the prevailing chauvinism at the time. They made it their motto to discredit the borders of the countries of these regions. In the early 1990s, on the basis of the globalization of capital and production and under the new conditions of the collapse of the social imperialist system that the U.S. became an undisputed power, the borders of countries were declared invalid again under the cover of “historical necessity” and “creating a world market”. And interestingly, those boundaries lost the necessity of their preservation where general imperialist interest necessitated. The "New World Order" meant the unipolar imperialist world, the successor to the former capitalist and socialist bipolar world (or Eastern bloc).

The relationship of imperialist countries with weak countries (read: the "New Order") is the essence of all politics that has been implemented the world over since the 1990s. This is a policy of aggression and colonial dominance, all under the cover of modern globalized imperialism. Imperialism has become the most savage and anti-civilization force in human history today. The U.S., driven by capital and with the world’s largest military force at its disposal, considers its borders so sacred—unlike the borders of Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, etc.—that they feel compelled to undertake a brutal and endless war in the Middle East in the name of “fighting terrorism”. And now the same policy of aggression is being implemented in Syria and Yemen.

The reality is that globalization is not a denial of national independence. The political fate of a country should be determined by its people in accordance with international law. A state that makes decisions, not on the basis of imperialist interests but on the basis of national interests, guarantees the preservation of that country's political independence. If the outcome is not favored by the imperialists (as in all former socialist countries, and even now in North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela, etc.) or if it causes dissatisfaction among its people through oppressive policies and the use of force and authoritarianism, it is up to its people to change the situation. It is up to the people to determine the scope of the non-antagonistic contradictions during an imperialist invasion. It is up to the people to determine how to conduct their struggle. It is up to the people to determine how best to confront authoritarian tyranny after the elimination of imperialist aggression and sanctions and the change of reconcilable conflicts to antagonistic conflicts. It is up to the people alone to overthrow tyranny and replace the old rule with the new one.

Invasive wars of imperialism and the occupation of countries ruled by tyrannical governments (such as Iraq and Libya) cause disorder and chaotic situations for the people. Such wars create discord and social and political tensions, intensify the conflicts within the societies, and generate crisis. Replacing Assad or Gaddafi or the Islamic Republic of Iran with a regime that implements imperialist programs and policies, though under the pretense of democracy, is not a forward development; instead, it represents multiple steps backward accompanied by inextricable entanglement in a web of dependency.

The forward development of a society means replacing its tyrannical and corrupt government with an independent and popular government. Positive development means the rejection of Gaddafi's despotism and authoritarianism in Libya, the rejection of the Islamic Republic in Iran, and the preservation of the positive factor of independence in both of them.

c) “Sanctions and economic boycott”: the 21st century language of colonial aggression

The economic sanction and blockade of a country is a direct violation of the UN Charter, and it means the violation of the rights of that nation. One cannot oppose the violation of the rights of the Iranian nation but support the reactionary policy of economic sanctions as "positive", as "revolutionary", or as a "harbinger of socialism" for Iran.

The nations of the world, regardless of their sizes and religions such as Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, etc., regardless of their economic power, political influence, and military power, all have equal rights and should enjoy mutual respect. Through the use of threats and defamation, the aggressive powers attack the weaker nations of the world, humiliate them, and create a special status for themselves. To respect the rights of the nations is to believe in the principle of democracy. To reject those rights is to accept and embrace the most vile and inhumane elements of colonial tyranny.

The tragic fate of the Iraqi national chauvinist Kurds contains many lessons from which we can learn. The national chauvinist Kurds were in favor of the economic siege of Iraq that killed 700,000 Iraqi Arab children. The Kurds supported the invasion of Iraq by the U.S. imperialists and their allies with the vain hope that they might benefit from the bloody aftermath. Today, they have become a base of the Zionist presence in the region. The fact that the invasion was a violation of human rights and of the rights of Iraq was of little importance to them. Kurdish national chauvinists naively hoped for freedom and “independence” under the U.S. occupation of Iraq. And now they are witnessing the Turkish government invasion of Syria with the aim of violating the rights of the Kurdish people and consequently punishing the Kurdish chauvinists who are in opposition to the pan-Ottoman and pan-Turkish policies of Recep Erdogan. Today, they are forced to condemn Turkish aggression against Syria. Taking an opportunistic stand instead of a principled one will lead to disaster. Every democratic country condemns such aggression, regardless of who the perpetrator is.

Even under the pretext of "progressive" intentions, one cannot violate the democratic rights of a sovereign nation. The grand teacher of Marxism condemns pushing socialist revolution onto other countries because this “good intent” has not come out of the very heart of society or from its need for growth. It is, instead, a provocative and mechanical act. Invasion of nations and violations of the rights of nations cannot be justified by the nature of the heads of state. Those who advocate for the invasion of a given country by using the argument that a tyrannical government is at work and is violating the human rights have always wound up siding with the self-serving cruelty of imperialism and colonialism.

d) Dominance of the Dollar: another tool of suppression

Current developments tell us that U.S. imperialism tries to preserve the dominance of the U.S. dollar as the default form of currency exchange in the world. As the most powerful economic and military country after the Second World War, the United States of America replaced the British Pound with the U.S. dollar as a means of cementing its hold over global exchange. The U.S. dollar was originally guaranteed to be backed by gold. The U.S. government voided this guarantee as a consequence of waging costly wars in Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, covering the expense of these wars with the printing of extra dollars that no longer had gold backing. To save the central bank that had gold reserves, Nixon separated the dollar from gold and let supply and demand in the competitive market determine its value. The exchange of oil and other goods in terms of dollars and the emphasis on the U.S. dollar as the only valid and stable exchange of global trade gave the United States of America the power to seize control over the global banking and financial systems.

The Euro, emerging as a competitor to the dollar, lacks the leverage the U.S. holds to maintain its economic dominance. When Muammar Gaddafi and Saddam Hussein decided to sell their oil in Euros, the U.S. imperialists prepared to invade their countries. Eventually, Iraq and Libya were destroyed by wars of aggression. The occupation of these countries actually preserved the dominance of the dollar in the world. The Islamic Republic of Iran also decided to sell Iranian oil in both dollars and in Euros. This incensed the U.S. as the dual-currency policy not only increased the credibility of the Euro, it also shook the dominance of the dollar, the world's most powerful currency. Along with this Iranian move on the dollar, global resistance by the Chinese Republic, in cooperation with the Russian Federation, India, South Africa, Brazil, and other countries in the world including Latin America, emerged to end the dominance of dollar, which had been systematically destroying the foreign exchange reserves of many countries. Conducting barter transactions, exchanging Chinese currency that has become a member of the global currency basket, establishing the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, establishing a free trade zone between the Eurasian Economic Union and establishing a BRICS group of emerging economic powers (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) are among the tools the Chinese government has set up to counter the power of the dollar. This move has been backed by many countries.

U.S. imperialism, which has lagged behind in many economic arenas and tries to boost its economy by violating the “respectable rules” of the World Trade Organization and abolishing the “respected and sanctified” neoliberal economic policies for its own country, has to draw a wall around itself and support its domestic production. In such circumstances, it is imperative for the United States of America to rely on both military aggression and sanctions that are, themselves, the basis for military aggression in order to maintain the domination of the dollar.

Aggressive U.S. policy toward the Middle East and Iran is part of this vital, general, and strategic policy and should be politically evaluated in the context of this dominance. The United States is witnessing that China's Silk Road bypasses all U.S. dominance of the seas and straits, and Chinese and East Asian goods arrive at European markets about ten days earlier than they do through the U.S.-controlled seas. The U.S is a staunch enemy of the Silk Road and does not tolerate its extension towards Europe. Since Iran is a country that is adjacent to fifteen other countries and because it connects the Caspian Sea with the Persian Gulf, surrounds more than 2,000 kilometers of Silk Road, and monitors Middle East oil and gas, it threatens the hegemony of the dollar by announcing its readiness to trade in Euros. The U.S. hostility towards the Iranian people is strategic and has nothing to do with the polite or impolite conduct of this or that Iranian government agent. The United States of America seeks only a puppet Iran that dances to its tune.

In the present world, an important front has been formed. In order to maintain their independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty, and in order to prevent their destruction and to preserve their prosperity, nations must unite to end the global dominance of the dollar.

The United States of America has established military bases everywhere it could to protect the empire of the dollar and has deployed troops in oil-rich areas of the world it does not intend to leave. Their wishful presence in Iran also comes with the intention of maintaining the domination of the dollar and destroying our country. The Iraqi people today are demanding that the occupiers leave Iraq, but the United States is saying that it will not leave Iraq. The reality is that the United States is in critical need of Iran as a springboard to preserve its empire of the dollar, to monitor the Strait of Hormuz and protect Saudi Arabia, to restrict the activities of China and Russia, and to enslave the countries of the region.

Those sellouts that ally themselves with the U.S. in imposing sanctions on the Iranian people and in overthrowing the Islamic Republic ignore the role of the masses in the struggle against the capitalist regime of the Islamic Republic. They know that when the struggle rises in Iran, the people will tie the struggle against the Islamic regime with the struggle against imperialism and Zionism in the region and will stand with Arab and Turkish nations to expel those imperialists and Zionists from the region.

The Party of Labour of Iran (Toufan)

March 2020