The Imperialist Pyramid, The stance of the communists towards the imperialist war in Ukraine

그리스공산당의 제국주의피라미드 이론의 핵심은 그리스, 터키, 이스라엘처럼 <종속적인 제국주의>가 가능하다는 것입니다. 노동자연대의 아류제국주의에 따르면 한국도 아류제국주의입니다. 우크라이나 전쟁은 미국과 러시아 간의 제국주의 전쟁이므로 양비론을 취해야 한다는 것입니다. 

제국주의 피라미드(imperialist pyramid) Programme-of-the-KKE

The tendency for important changes in the correlation of forces among the capitalist states became more apparent with the deep crisis of capital over-accumulation in 2008-2009 which in several capitalist economies has in reality not been overcome. This process occurs under the impact of the law of uneven capitalist development. This tendency concerns the higher levels of the imperialist pyramid as well.


자본주의 피라미드 모방(parody of Pyramid_of_Capitalist_System)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramid_of_Capitalist_System#/media/File:Anti-capitalism_color%E2%80%94_Restored.png


제국주의 중심축들(imperialist centres)

Today the number of imperialist centres has increased, while new forms of alliance have also emerged such as the alliance centred on Russia, the alliance of Shanghai, the alliance of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (BRICS), the alliance of the countries of Latin America ALBA , MERCOSUR etc.


제국주의 연합(imperialist unions)

In all its statements, the identification of the concept of imperialism with the strongest power of the international imperialist system to date, i.e. the USA, is characteristic. Even when reference is made to other imperialist unions, such as the EU, NATO, the IMF, the World Bank, etc.,


터키의 제국주의 속성과 종속성(the nature of Turkey and dependence)

The capitalist countries at the summit are not the only ones that implement an imperialist political line, the ones at the lower levels also do, even those which have strong dependencies on the stronger powers as regional and local powers. For example, Turkey is such a power in our region today, as well as Israel, Arab states and such forces through which monopoly capital acquires new terrain in Africa, Asia, Latin America, as a consequence we have the phenomenon of dependency and inter-dependency.


그리스의 제국주의 속성과 종속성(the nature of Greece and dependence)

Capitalism in Greece is in the imperialist stage of its development, in an intermediate position in the international imperialist system, with strong uneven dependencies on the USA and the EU. The participation of Greece in NATO, the economic-political and political-military dependencies on the EU and the USA limit the room of the Greek bourgeoisie to manoeuvre independently, as all the alliance relations of capital are governed by competition, unevenness and consequently the advantageous position of the strongest; they are formed as relations of uneven interdependence.


중국과 러시아의 제국주의 속성(the nature of China and Russia)

Chinese and Russian monopolies export capital to other countries, aiming for the profit that comes from exploiting the labour power not only of the workers of their own country, but also of many other countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, America, wherever their monopolies develop. the Russian “Wagner” private army is deployed in Africa for to defend the interests of the Russian monopolies operating there. China is moving in a similar direction to safeguard the Belt and Road Initiative by military means. It is notable that this initiative includes the small but very important in geographical terms state of Djibouti —whose debt to China amounts to 43% of its Gross National Income— where China’s first military base outside its borders was inaugurated in 2017.


우크라이나에서 제국주의전쟁(imperialist war in Ukraine)


the war in Ukraine is “focused on the division of mineral wealth, energy, territories and labour force, pipelines and commodity transport networks, geopolitical pillars, market shares” and is being waged by the bourgeois classes of Ukraine, in alliance with the US and NATO, and of Russia and its allies. 

USA is using Ukraine as a spearhead against capitalist Russia, encircling it with the enlargement of NATO, new military bases and weapons. 

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, launched for the interests and strategic plans of the Russian bourgeoisie. an imperialist power, Russia is also an enemy of the people's interests.


그리스공산당 강령(2013)

https://inter.kke.gr/en/articles/Programme-of-the-KKE/


The tendency for important changes in the correlation of forces among the capitalist states became more apparent with the deep crisis of capital over-accumulation in 2008-2009 which in several capitalist economies has in reality not been overcome. This process occurs under the impact of the law of uneven capitalist development. This tendency concerns the higher levels of the imperialist pyramid as well.


Capitalism in Greece is in the imperialist stage of its development, in an intermediate position in the international imperialist system, with strong uneven dependencies on the USA and the EU.


The participation of Greece in NATO, the economic-political and political-military dependencies on the EU and the USA limit the room of the Greek bourgeoisie to manoeuvre independently, as all the alliance relations of capital are governed by competition, unevenness and consequently the advantageous position of the strongest; they are formed as relations of uneven interdependence.


The Greek capitalist state was more organically integrated into the international imperialist system, through its participation in the restructuring of the EU and NATO and other imperialist inter-state alliances.


After the outbreak of the crisis, the position of Greek capitalist economy deteriorated in the framework of the Eurozone and the EU and the international imperialist pyramid in general, something which does not negate the fact that the accession of Greece to the EEC-EU served the most dynamic sections of domestic monopoly capital and contributed to the buttressing of its political power.


The pre-conditions for the socialist revolution to come onto the agenda do not mature simultaneously at a global level. The imperialist chain will break at its weakest link.


The economic crisis and the imperialist wars are common threats for the working class and popular strata of every capitalist society. This constitutes the objective potential for the revolutionary movement in one country to be supported by the activity of the revolutionary movement in another country, especially in neighboring ones, in the wider region. At the same time, the course of the class struggle in each country will have an influence on the international framework, as well as a more general impact at a regional and international level. What flows from this is the need for planned and coordinated joint action against every imperialist alliance which aims to suppress the revolution in one country, as well as the potential to form the conditions for the victory of socialism in a group of countries.


The socialist state will seek cooperation with states and peoples who objectively have a direct interest in resisting the economic, political and military centres of imperialism, first and foremost with the peoples who are constructing socialism in their countries. It will seek to utilize every available breach which might occur in the imperialist "front" due to inter-imperialist contradictions, in order to defend and strengthen the revolution and socialism. A socialist Greece, loyal to the principles of proletarian internationalism, will be, to the extent of its capabilities, a bulwark for the world anti-imperialist, revolutionary and communist movement.



https://inter.kke.gr/de/articles/On-Imperialism-The-Imperialist-Pyramid/



그리스 공산당에 따르면 세계를 제국주의 체제로 보고 있으며, 그 체제 안에는 제국주의 국가 이외의 국가들도 서로 상호작용하고 있다. 미국은 최상위, 중러, 유럽 역시 제국주의이다. 심지어 터키와 같은 나라도 자기 조건에서 제국주의적 정책을 추구한다. 이들 제국주의 국가들은 상호의존돼 있다. 우크라이나 전쟁은 러시아 제국주의와 미국 중심 제국주의 간의 전쟁이다. 

쟁점은 레닌의 5개 표지 독점체, 금융과두제, 자본수출, 세계시장 분할, 영토분할 중 일부만 해당될 때 제국주의적 성격은 있으나 제국주의국가라고 규정할 수 있냐의 문제이다. 러시아는 자본주의이고 일부 제국주의적 성격을 지니고 있으나 제국주의 국가 자체라고 볼 수 없다. 중국은 더 복잡한 성격을 지니고 있다. 영토분할은 정치적 지배로 현대적으로 해석할 수 있다. 하지만 금융과두가 정치경제를 지배하는 특징은 중러에서 보이지 않는다. 


레닌의 제국주의론에 대한 평가

Opportunism, reformism is repeating the most old, aged and outdated position as if it is something innovative namely that imperialism is identified with the military aggression against a country, with the policy of military interventions, blockades, with the effort to revive the old colonial policy. 

They use arbitrarily the assessment of Lenin in his well-known work IMPERIALISM THE HIGHEST STAGE OF CAPITALISM that a handful, a very small number of states plunder the vast majority of the states across the globe. As a consequence imperialism is being identified with a very small number of countries, which can be counted in the fingers of one hand while all the others are subordinate, oppressed, colonies, occupied due to their subservience to the liberal viewpoint.

When Lenin spoke about a handful of countries that plunder a large number of countries, he was highlighting with many examples and details, a variety of forms of looting regarding colonial, semi-colonial and non-colonial countries. A small number of countries are found at the summit of the pyramid, as finance capital (one of the 5 basic characteristics of capitalism in its imperialist stage as the merger of banking and industrial capital) spreads its tentacles to every country in the world.


제국주의 피라미드

At the end of the 20th century there were three imperialist centres as they were formed after the World War, the European Economic Community which later became the European Union, the USA and Japan. Today the number of imperialist centres has increased, while new forms of alliance have also emerged such as the alliance centred on Russia, the alliance of Shanghai, the alliance of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (BRICS), the alliance of the countries of Latin America ALBA , MERCOSUR etc.


The capitalist countries at the summit are not the only ones that implement an imperialist political line, the ones at the lower levels also do, even those which have strong dependencies on the stronger powers as regional and local powers. For example, Turkey is such a power in our region today, as well as Israel, Arab states and such forces through which monopoly capital acquires new terrain in Africa, Asia, Latin America, as a consequence we have the phenomenon of dependency and inter-dependency.


States, which are not incorporated into the imperialist inter-state unions, took part in these wars, proof that the imperialist exists as a global system, and all the capitalist countries are incorporated in it, even countries with elements of backwardness and remnants of pre-capitalist economic forms. The leading powers are at its summit, there is a tough competition between them and whatever agreements they come to have a temporary character.

Their persistence in denying the existence of the imperialist pyramid namely the existence of international imperialist system (talking about a very small number of countries which can be characterized imperialist mainly due to their hegemonic position and their ability to decide on the launching of a local or general war) is not at all accidental or a product of a mistaken view but conscious. 

The position regarding a “handful of countries” defines various forms of relations between the capitalist countries which are characterised by unevenness, this is what the pyramid describes in order to illustrate the global capitalist economy.

Today there are few countries which are at the summit , in the first positions of the international imperialist system (it is illustrated with the schema of a pyramid in order to show the various levels occupied by the capitalist countries) a handful of countries one could say according to the Leninist expression.

Indeed Lenin stressed that the colonial political line also existed in pre-capitalist societies, but that what distinguishes the capitalist colonial policy is that it is based on the monopoly. He underlined that the variety of relations between the capitalists states in the period of imperialism become a general syste

The capitalist countries at the summit are not the only ones that implement an imperialist political line, the ones at the lower levels also do, even those which have strong dependencies on the stronger powers as regional and local powers. For example, Turkey is such a power in our region today, as well asIsrael, Arab states and such forces through which monopoly capital acquires new terrain in Africa, Asia, Latin America, as a consequence we have the phenomenon of dependency and inter-dependency.

And even if one or several countries are at the highest level and are the leaders in capitalist internationalization, in the re-division of markets, they do not cease to exist in a regime of interdependence on other countries. The course of the US economy is dependent on China to a great extent as well as on the opposed interests in the EU. The battle of the dollar, euro and yen is visible.


중러 등 제국주의 국가의 증가와 러우 전쟁

Today the number of imperialist centres has increased, while new forms of alliance have also emerged such as the alliance centred on Russia, the alliance of Shanghai, the alliance of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (BRICS), the alliance of the countries of Latin America ALBA , MERCOSUR etc.

The number of states is increasing which are regional powers, satellites of strong imperialist powers, countries which play a particular role in the alliance and partnership policy of the various powers in the pyramid. The inter-imperialist contradictions are in effect in every form of alliance, and all these multi-facetted relations, which embrace every capitalist country in the world without exception, constitute the imperialist pyramid.

We always highlight that inside the imperialist system, which we liken to a pyramid, strong contradictions continue to develop and manifest themselves between the imperialist states, the monopolies for the control of raw materials, the transport routes, the market shares etc. 

The above contribute to the “birth” of anti-dialectical, opportunistic narratives about “good” and “bad” imperialists, about “anti-imperialist” blocs with China and Russia as leaders, about the “democratization of international relations”, etc, ending up calling the working class to mobilize under flags foreign to its interests, under various pretexts (e.g. “protection/liberation of the people of Donbass, “de-nazification/demilitarization of Ukraine”, etc).

Disappointing – but expected based on its political course – is the stance of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) on the issue of the Ukraine war. Instead of taking a stance against the imperialist war waged by the Russian bourgeois class, the CPRF chose to side by President Putin, something that is reflected in its recent declarations, as well as in statements by Chairman Gennady Zyuganov, which adopt almost entirely the narrative of the Russian government (2) .

Contrary to the CPRF, the Russian Communist Workers' Party (RCWP) issued a statement acknowledging that Kremlin's actual goals is to strengthen the position of imperialist Russia in the international political scene, noting that the source of the war lies in the “inter-imperialist contradictions”. The RCWP hails the recognition of the “People's Republics” of Donbass by President Putin but, at the same time, points out: “Not the masters but the workers will die on both sides. To die for class brothers is worthy, but to die and kill for the interests of the masters is stupid, criminal and unacceptable” (3).

The perception of “supporting the least aggressive imperialist” is totally anti-Leninist and against the popular interests. Yes, of course NATO is the most criminal, the most barbaric imperialist alliance since the Second World War with dozens of bloody interventions in the Middle East, the Balkans and North Africa. Yes, the U.S governments, with the complicity of the EU, have been and remain the number one enemy for human peace. Yes, the struggle against the imperialist alliances of NATO and the EU is more timely and necessary than ever. But all these do not negate the objective role of capitalist Russia as a powerful imperialist power that competes with the Euro-Atlantic bloc. And as such, an imperialist power, Russia is also an enemy of the people's interests.




In all its statements, the identification of the concept of imperialism with the strongest power of the international imperialist system to date, i.e. the USA, is characteristic. Even when reference is made to other imperialist unions, such as the EU, NATO, the IMF, the World Bank, etc.,

What is the nature of China and Russia?

 It is as if the Chinese and Russian monopolies do not export capital to other countries, aiming for the profit that comes from exploiting the labour power not only of the workers of their own country, but also of many other countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, America, wherever their monopolies develop.

 It is as if the Russian “Wagner” private army is deployed in Africa for charitable reasons and not to defend the interests of the Russian monopolies operating there. 

It is as if China is no longer moving in a similar direction to safeguard the Belt and Road Initiative by military means. It is notable that this initiative includes the small but very important in geographical terms state of Djibouti —whose debt to China amounts to 43% of its Gross National Income— where China’s first military base outside its borders was inaugurated in 2017.

US proxy war in Ukraine or imperialist war?

The WAP’s selective approach that the war in Ukraine is “Nato’s provocation of a proxy war against Russia on the territory of Ukraine” first of all tries to divert attention from the main issue: that this war is “focused on the division of mineral wealth, energy, territories and labour force, pipelines and commodity transport networks, geopolitical pillars, market shares14” and is being waged by the bourgeois classes of Ukraine, in alliance with the US and NATO, and of Russia and its allies. These are the basic criteria that verify that the character of the war is imperialist and is being waged for interests alien to those of the peoples.

Of course, the fact that the USA is using Ukraine as a spearhead against capitalist Russia, encircling it with the enlargement of NATO, new military bases and weapons is undeniable today. The KKE has struggled against all this, has voted against it in the Greek and the European Parliament. It was the communists who, upon the completion of one year since the imperialist war broke out, have organized hundreds of protests in ports, outside bases, on the streets and at railways against the USA-NATO-EU and their aggressive imperialist plans, against the involvement of Greece in the war. Members of the CC of the KKE and the CC of KNE were the ones who were arrested and faced trial by the Greek bourgeoisie and its state for their anti-NATO demonstrations and not members of the non-existent organizations with fancy names, which from Greece participate in the WAP.

Just as it is also true that Russia’s unacceptable military invasion of Ukraine, launched for the interests and strategic plans of the Russian bourgeoisie that the KKE has also unequivocally condemned, objectively functions as a cushion for China in its major conflict with the USA for the reins of the world imperialist system.

The political forces of each country are not divided, as the WAP claims, into those who are “pro-Russian” and those who are “pro-US” on grounds of the imperialist war. This is a false distinction, which is not only made by the WAP. It was earlier made by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF)15 regarding the resolutions in the 22nd IMCWP, and, of course, by the side of the supporters of Euro-Atlantic imperialism. Thus, at the same time that the WAP and the CPRF accuse the KKE of “anti-Russian sentiment”, the informal EU newspaper, euobserver, accuses the KKE of “Russophilia” based on the votes that took place in the European Parliament16.

The truth is that the KKE firmly stands with the camp of the working class and the peoples and against the camp of the bourgeois classes, the states and their governments. This is a bitter pill for the WAP to swallow, which by its existence confirms our recent remarks that the international communist movement is subject to pressures linked to state-geopolitical interests17 alien to the ideological and political principles of the revolutionary communist movement. In this regard, not only a hollow “anti-imperialism” is being exploited, but also a phony and toothless “anti-fascism”, which detaches fascism from capitalism that gives rise to it. This approach supports the pretextual exploitation by bourgeois classes to serve their anti-popular interests in the imperialist war in Ukraine.

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