• Cowbee [he/they]@lemmy.ml
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    3 days ago

    This is why Marxists always and without fail return to imperialism as the primary contradiction in the world at the present moment, between the old and falling unipolar world and the rising multipolar world and the end of imperialism. Capitalism, when it reaches a certain level of development, has a compulsion towards outside expansion, which creates its own antagonism from countries that wish to remain sovereign.

    Right now, the US Empire is the dying hegemonic power. There are no competing empires, just an international imperialist alliance that formed after World War II, when the US Empire vassalized the other imperialist powers. Iran and Russia are sovereign countries, and as such have been butting heads with the west, which wishes to imperialize them. Ukraine and Israel are so close together because they share a similar geopolitical position, as attack dogs for the US Empire against their adversaries.

    Without an understanding of how capitalism turns to imperialism, under what conditions, and how this can itself be negated, then it’s understandable that it would be difficult to understand the world. I really recommend reading Lenin’s Imperialism, the Current Highest Stage of Capitalism. Imperialism has evolved since his time, namely from competing imperialist powers into a single imperial hegemon and vassalized imperialist powers, but the basis is still correct and necessary for understanding the modern era.