Oleg Shenin UCP-CPSU

By Oleg Shenin
Chairman of the Soviet of the Union of Communist Parties-CPSU

Report given at the International Communist Seminar in Brussels, Belgium, May 2001

On October 14, 1952 the 19th Congress of the CPSU ended. J.V. Stalin took the floor at the last session for a short statement. Although the report of G. Malenkov asserted that "the contradictions, now tearing apart the imperialist camp, may lead to a war between the imperialist states," Stalin totally discarded the old tenets and described the nature of the new situation at the world level:

"Before the bourgeoisie considered itself as the head of nations, it fought for the rights and independence of nations by putting them above all other considerations. Today, not even a trace has been left of this "national principle." The bourgeoisie seeks the rights and independence of the nations for dollars. The flag of national independence and national sovereignty has been thrown overboard." Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin described the heart of the process, which today is "globalization."

Globalization is a concept with multiple interpretations. Although it emerged quite recently, it has its own history. The emperors of the "Heavenly Empire," the Roman conquerors, and Great Britain "ruling the waves", they all claimed their worldwide status. But the formation of a really global spiritual, economic, social movement, covering practically the whole globe and the most important sectors of human life, was only realized in the 19th Century. During the second half of the past century, this process has undergone essential and specific corrections and additions.

One should recall what J.V. Stalin said during the 1930's: "The more we go forward, the more we will get victories, the more the exploiting classes will become irritated and choose more acute forms of struggle". We must not only remember those words to express our deep regret that we forgot the recommendations of our great leader, but also use the Marxist-Leninist-Stalin approach to find optimism in our assessment of the world situation, in order to condemn globalization from a historical perspective and the way to overcome it.

Symbol of the Union of Communist Parties

In the midst of the 19th century it became obvious that all the major events of world history were taking place in Europe and the United States. "The bourgeoisie, by the way of exploitation of the world markets," as Karl Marx and Frederick Engels stated in the Manifest of the Communist Party, "made the production and consumption of all the countries cosmopolitan... through the fast development of all branches of the production and the endless facilitation of the means of communication attracts all nations into the civilization, even the most barbarian ones."

Particularly at this moment one begins to realize that the highest success in the development of technique, science, productive forces do not correspond with the endeavor of mankind to reach the social ideal, for harmony in all spheres of social life. The great gap in the socio-economic situations between capitalist and wage workers, the sharpening of class resistance in the most developed capitalist countries, lead to the foundation as outlined by Marx and Engels of a scientific based Communist ideology.

A genuine rupture for capitalist globalizing trend was made by the Party of Lenin in October of 1917. This event had a worldwide historical significance. Today we are witnessing the socioeconomic, organizational, ideological and strategic foundations of the policies and politics of imperialist globalization, the ultra-imperialism of the 21st Century.

If we compare the mean factors, aims and values of the American-Zionist world globalization attempts and compare them to the socialist (communist) attempts, then the historical hopelessness of the first one becomes crystal clear.

The entire world is the object of imperialist globalization. Nevertheless, in practice as well as in theory, there is a strong dissociation between "mankind" and the auxiliary non-profitable mankind," the latter constituting two-thirds of the world's population. Tremendous influence is concentrated in the hands of a small group of people and organizations. The concentration in their hands of finances, production and the world economy, all driven by the blind indomitable laws that created the capitalist system, the more these same people accelerate the coming of their own economic crisis.

The rich experience has taught us that opportunist compromises don't resolve anything, and will sooner or later turn against the revolutionary movements and the working people.

Conclusions of the documents that were presented at the International Conference of Communist Parties in 1969 were:

* Imperialism does not have the power to regain the historic initiative that it has lost, to turn back the development of the actual world. The main road of development of mankind is determined by the international socialist system, the international working class, and all of the revolutionary forces.

These parties orientated themselves towards placidity and broadened their social base in an irresponsible way.

Therefore, all of the negative tendencies that took place and are taking place in the communist and labour movements, including on the territory of the Soviet Union have their roots in the near past. The events at the end of 2000 and the beginning of this year, on which we informed our brother parties here, and which were caused by the right-wing opportunists, under the leadership of the greatest Communist (in name only) Party (CPRF) have also their origin from the statement made at the International Communist meeting in 1969.

We would like to draw your attention here to Gennady Zyuganov's CPRF statement at the "plenary" session on January 20, 2001 which the Control Commission of the UCP-CPSU declared illegal: "The social-democrats of Europe have succeeded in integrating themselves during the 1990's from the position of national interests in the global processes, they find the golden happy means that take into account the general human laws of development, including the global processes of the nineties, and the national specifics that could resist the elimination of the national identity." This was said at a time when projectiles, missiles, loaded with uranium, continued to sow death on a scale never seen on the territory of Serbia, Kosovo and Metojia. The social democrats in Europe, who form the kernel of the Socialist International, supported without any restrictions the bombing by NATO. They led the governments of 13 West European states. This is the example by which our "Russian patriots" of the CPRF try to inspire our people.

We will remain firmly in our position as a revolutionary, proletarian class, we will continue to fight in order to attract the masses of workers.

Lenin's formula is still actual: "Opportunism means to sacrifice fundamental interests, in order to obtain specific and temporary advantages. This is the essence of the theoretical definition of opportunism." The recently deceased Gus Hall of the CPUSA years ago wrote: "In the actual situation the excessive emphasizing of the "independence of the parties" can lead to nationalism. The cadres who were educated in the ideas of autonomy and independence tend to follow a policy of narrow nationalism."

Some parties have become huge mass organizations. Although this is positive, the negative aspect is that they have become broad parties of all the people, based on the position of nationalism and the absence of classes. They become mass parties to the detriment of the positions of the proletarian vanguard.

Today we must conclude with utmost clarity. Without victory over opportunism, we shall never ensure the unity of the Communist movement. Without that unity, we shall never win over the mortal threat for the whole of mankind, which today is Imperialist Globalization!

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