On the IMT/RCI’s “campaign to fight militarism and imperialism”

 

By Michael Pröbsting, Revolutionary Communist International Tendency (RCIT), 18 September 2024, www.thecommunists.net

 

 

 

The “International Marxist Tendency” which recently renamed itself to “Revolutionary Communist International” has published a statement which calls for an “international campaign to fight militarism and imperialism”. [1] In addition, Alan Woods, its long-time leader, has published an essay which outlines the group’s arguments for such a campaign. [2]

 

The IMT/RCI’s statement and Woods’ article denounce imperialism and its wars – in particular those in Ukraine and Gaza –, they warn against World War III, call for the expropriation of the bourgeoisie and an end of capitalism. Sure, imperialism is bad, and socialism is the solution. But the call reveals that the IMT/RCI is still trapped in its long-time opportunist method which it currently deploys to reach out to sectors of Stalinism (like the Greek KKE).

 

 

 

Not taking the side of the oppressed peoples

 

 

 

While the statement, and Woods’ article, condemn the imperialist wars in Ukraine and Gaza, they do not utter a single word that these are wars of imperialist powers against oppressed peoples and that it is the duty of communists to take the side of the latter! They call for: “Stop supporting Israel and Ukraine! Immediate cessation of all aid and weapons to the reactionary warmongers Netanyahu and Zelensky!” But they don’t call for support of the liberation struggles of the oppressed peoples.

 

The war in Gaza is a colonial war of the imperialist settler state Israel. The Palestinians have been expelled and oppressed since 1948, facing a series of wars. [3] The task of communists is to support the resistance of the Palestinian people, even if it is led by non-revolutionary forces (like Hamas). Our tendency – the Revolutionary Communist International Tendency (RCIT) and our comrades in Israel / Occupied Palestine – has advocated in all wars the victory of the Palestinian resistance and the defeat of Israel. We play an active role in the global solidarity movement and call for “aid and arms for the resistance”. Likewise, we urge the international workers movement to organise actions for the boycott of Israel. [4] As a result, the author of these lines got a 6 months suspended prison sentence for alleged “support of terrorism” – in fact, for expressing solidarity with the Palestinian resistance in a video statement. [5]

 

In contrast, the IMT/RCI fails to openly side with the Palestinian resistance or with the struggles of other peoples against Israel and U.S. imperialism. [6] In fact, such failure to openly support anti-imperialist struggles of the oppressed peoples has been a hallmark of the IMT/RCI and its predecessor since its very beginning in the 1960s. [7]

 

Such an approach has nothing to do with the tradition of authentic communism. Both the call as well as Woods’ article – despite the length of several thousand words each – don’t mention a single time what is essential for Marxists: not to talk about wars in general but to differentiate between just and unjust wars, between wars of oppression and wars of liberation. In contrast, the RCIT has based its whole program for wars – and for the wars in Gaza and Ukraine in particular – on such an approach as it was outlined by Trotsky.

 

“We Bolshevik-Leninists absolutely reject and denounce the deceptive differentiation between a ‘defensive’ and an ‘offensive’ war. In a war between the capitalist states such a differentiation represents only a diplomatic cover to deceive the people. (…) The revolutionary proletariat distinguishes only between wars of oppression and wars of liberation. The character of a war is defined, not by diplomatic falsifications, but by the class which conducts the war and the objective aims it pursues in that war. The wars of the imperialist states, apart from the pretexts and political rhetoric, are of an oppressive character, reactionary and inimical to the people. Only the wars of the proletariat and of the oppressed nations can be characterized as wars of liberation. After its victory the armed insurrection of the proletariat against its oppressors is inevitably transformed into a revolutionary war of the proletarian state for the consolidation and extension of its victory. The policy of socialism does not and cannot have a purely ‘defensive’ character. It is the task of socialism to conquer the world.“ ^[8]

 

Since the IMT/RCI ignores this fundamental truth, it does not go beyond the denunciation of imperialist wars instead of supporting the struggle of the oppressed peoples against such wars. They might proclaim themselves as “Revolutionary Communist International“ but in the authentic Communist International of Lenin and Trotsky there would have been no place for Woods and his kind. One of the preconditions for admission was unconditional support for liberation struggles against the imperialist exploiters.

 

“A particularly marked and clear attitude on the question of the colonies and oppressed nations is necessary on the part of the communist parties of those countries whose bourgeoisies are in possession of colonies and oppress other nations. Every party that wishes to belong to the Communist International has the obligation of exposing the dodges of its ‘own’ imperialists in the colonies, of supporting every liberation movement in the colonies not only in words but in deeds, of demanding that their imperialist compatriots should be thrown out of the colonies, of cultivating in the hearts of the workers in their own country a truly fraternal relationship to the working population in the colonies and to the oppressed nations, and of carrying out systematic propaganda among their own country’s troops against any oppression of colonial peoples.“ ^[9]

 

Likewise, Trotsky’s Fourth International stressed that it is impossible to fight against war and imperialism without actively supporting the struggle of the oppressed peoples.

 

"The struggle against war and its social source, capitalism, presupposes direct, active, unequivocal support to the oppressed colonial peoples in their struggles and wars against imperialism. A ‘neutral’ position is tantamount to support of imperialism." ^[10]

 

 

 

What’s about the struggle against Russian imperialism?

 

 

 

Another remarkable feature of the IMT/RCI’s statement and Woods’ article is that they are completely one-sided. Both documents denounce in length U.S., British and Western imperialism. But they don’t mention a single time the very fact that Russia is also an imperialist power! All their slogans are exclusively directed against the Western imperialists but don’t mention their Eastern rivals. “Smash NATO and other imperialist treaties and organisations!”, “Down with NATO and American imperialism, the principal cause of wars and instability in the world today!” (What’s about Russia’s CSTO, what’s about BRICS, …?); “The real escalation, as usual, is coming from NATO and the Americans.” (It seems that Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine was no “real escalation”!)

 

How is this possible?! Has the IMT/RCI leadership not heard about the fact that Russia has waged two wars in Chechnya, invaded Georgia in 2008, sent troops to Syria in 2015 in order to slaughter the popular uprising against the tyranny of Assad, sent troops to Kazakhstan in January 2022 to keep the dictatorship in in power and, finally, invaded the Ukraine and occupies parts of its territory since then?! It seems that the comrades have still not understood that Russia is an imperialist power! [11]

 

As our Russian comrades of the RCIT have pointed out several times, the IMT/RCI has consistently failed to defend the Ukraine against Putin’s invasion. ^[12] It is true that Western imperialists try to exploit this conflict for their own purpose. But this doesn’t remove the fact that Russia has waged war against a capitalist semi-colonial country [13] - and that the Ukrainian people are defending their homeland against an imperialist intruder. Consequently, our comrades in Russia and Ukraine are advocating the defence of the Ukraine and the defeat of Russian imperialism – without lending political support to the bourgeois Zelensky regime and without supporting sanctions. [14]

 

 

 

Opportunist adaption to Stalinism

 

 

 

Why does the IMT/RCI refuse to support liberation wars of oppressed peoples and why does it exclusively focus on NATO imperialism but is it silent about Russian imperialism? As we mentioned above, the Grantite tradition – to which the IMT/RCI belongs like the CWI, the ISA and various smaller groups – has a long record of opposing to support anti-imperialist struggles.

 

However, this is not the sole reason. Since a number of years, Alan Woods and the IMT’s leadership follow a strategic orientation to the Stalinist milieu. As we did show on various occasions, the Russian section of the IMT/RCI has systematically collaborated with the KPRF of Gennady Zyuganov – the largest Stalinist party in Russia. It even stood candidates on their list for the Moscow municipal elections in September 2022. The KPRF is – and has always been – a Great Russian social-imperialist party which wholeheartedly supported Putin’s war in the Ukraine. [15]

 

Furthermore, as we noted in our critique of the RCI Manifesto, Woods & Co. hope to build links with the KKE – the Stalinist party in Greece. In contrast to the KPRF, this party does not openly embrace Russian imperialism. However, the KKE is a social-chauvinist party in its own country. It preaches “the struggle for the defence of the borders and for the sovereign rights of Greece” – against the supposed threats by Türkiye and Macedonia. It even promises to “annihilate any foreign intruder who dares to attack Greece”! ^[16]

 

In summary, the IMT/RCI appears to have made a sharp turn to the left. Gone are the decades where they crawled within social democratic and bourgeois-populist parties and aspired to get one or the other leadership position in such parties. Today, the proclaim “Revolutionary Communist Parties” (without having any significant roots in the working class). However, the essence of their opportunist policy has not changed. Its program against imperialism and militarism is vulgar pacifism – not anti-imperialism!

 

If the comrades of the RCI want to fight against imperialism and militarism, they need to oppose not only NATO but all Great Powers (U.S., China, Russia, Western Europe and Japan). Likewise, they should not only oppose imperialist wars but also side with the liberation struggles of the oppressed peoples. The RCIT would strongly welcome to collaborate with these comrades in these struggles!