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| Vic Ratsma |
The United States, in its euphoria and arrogance of being the sole superpower in the world has designated the 21st century as the "American Century". It is its stated intention to maintain this position as far into the future as possible and to prevent the rise of any challenger on the world scene. It intends to ensure this position of power by means of military forces deployed throughout the world, by economic pressures and threats against uncooperative nations and, through bribes masked as economic aid to reluctant allies.
In the military sense there can be no doubt about the might of the USA. A very recent report in the "New Internationalist", issue 351, Nov.2002, in data obtained from the "The Center for Defense Information, Military Almanac 2002-2002"(1) it is shown that the U.S. spends more on its armed forces than the rest of the world put together. Its projected expenditure for the war 2002 is $343 billion. The combined 2000 military expenditures for NATO, Australia, Japan and South Korea total is $212.6 billion. Russia is at $56 billion, China is at $39.5 billion and the so-0called "rogue states" of Cuba, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan and Syria spend a combined total of only $14.4 billion.
Opposition to the American plans for world domination however is steadily growing. I am not referring here to only the anti-globalization movement, the peace movement or any anti-capitalist groupings, but rather to the moves among other capitalist nations opposing another group of capitalist nations who are all competitors, to confront total U.S. hegemony. As socialists and communists, we may not see much benefit or progress in one group of capitalist nations opposing another group of capitalist nations, but in the context of today’s complex international political relations, it may be a shift with great potential consequences for the working people of the world.
Writing in the "Asia Times on-line,"(2) Pepi Escobar writes that the way the world now views the U.S. and the way they view Russia is a virtual reversal of the past. "No one could imagine that from Europe to Latin America, from Asia to Africa the perceived notion of the USA relationship to the world would switch from protection to virtual aggression, while perception of Russia’s relationship to the world would switch from aggression to a possibility of protection." According to Mr. Escobar, President Putin of Russia is trying to convince Europe that it "is the only way Europe can be an independent world power lies in closer relations with Russia, by associating with a Russia, full of human, territorial and natural resources, and full of economic, cultural and defense potential."
In "Euroasia Insight" December 2, 2002,(3) Sergei Blagov argues that Putin, while on a mission to China and India, sought to bolster multilateral organizations in Central Asia, to help balance the influence of Western nations, especially the USA in the region. In particular Mr. Putin is touting the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as a viable vehicle to promote regional security.
The SCO includes China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgizstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Putin also wants India to join the SCO. Meanwhile, Putin is working on arms deals with both China and India, and has deployed military aircraft to Kyrgizstan not far from the U.S. airbase in that country. He also signed an agreement with Kyrgizstan to defense cooperation.
All this represents a setback for U.S. ambitions in the region. Should Putin succeed in building such an alliance, it would economically be stronger than that of the U.S., and not be dependent on foreign resources such as oil and gas. Russia would once again become the main obstacle to American objectives.
But, while such counterforce to the USA may limit U.S. expansionism, it will not be of any benefit to the working class of the world. Without a socialist power to oppose the imperialist aggression, the existence of two capitalist super powers will only increase the already fierce competition between them, resulting in even greater pressures to reduce the wages of the workers, destruction of social programs and democratic decision-making. So long as the Soviet Union provided the counterbalance to capitalist countries in raising the living standard of the working class, Social Democratic parties operating in the political middle, succeeded in many capitalist countries in raising the living standards of the working class and building a social safety net. Now that the USSR is no longer there, social democracy is also under attack as never before and the hard-won gains of the working people are being undermined and reduced day by day. Capitalism today is returning to its predatory 19th century methods of unbridled exploitation and of oppression. It’s time to re-read the Communist Manifesto of Marx and Engels and realize that socialism i.e. public ownership and control of the means of production, distribution and exchange, offers the only real alternative and hope to the people of our world. And, once again, as in 1917, Russia shapes up as the key player.
(1) Website www.cdi.org
(2) www.atimes.com
(3) www.eurasianet.org/deprtments/insight/articles/eav120402a.shtml
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