Publisher’s Note: Discontent is spreading across the U.S. Unemployment, inflation, racism and social decay plague the communities of the vast majority of people of the country. The fear of a growing arms race and the threat of war mount. But though there is dissatisfaction, and even anger, there is also frustration and un-clarity about the source of these problems and how to struggle against them.
To contribute to the understanding of some of the basic features of the world today, UNITY will carry several major articles over the coming months that will analyze U.S. foreign policy, the domestic economy, and the other imperialist superpower, the Soviet Union.
We hope that these studies will stimulate discussion about our current situation and help define the tasks of the working class and progressives in the struggle against monopoly capitalism. Comments, criticisms and suggestions are encouraged and will be welcomed.
The series on U.S. foreign policy begins this issue. Subsequent installments will cover the U.S. and the Soviet Union, Europe and the third world. The concluding article will be on the U.S. working class and imperialism. The author, Michael Lee, is writing this series on behalf of the U.S. League of Revolutionary Struggle (Marxist-Leninist).
In the two years since Ronald Reagan has been in office, he has pledged an unprecedented $1.8 trillion to the military budget over the next five years, rekindled the arms race with the Soviet Union, threatened to openly intervene in El Salvador, and supported covert operations to topple the government of Nicaragua. In contrast to Jimmy Carter’s much ballyhooed pronouncements about “human rights” guiding American foreign policy, Reagan arrogantly has confirmed U.S. support for the south Korean generals, Israeli expansionism, South African racism, and the repression of the Marcos regime in the Philippines. Washington even has retreated from its overtures to People’s China and is reconstructing its relations with the regime on Taiwan.
Reaganomics, in its efforts to strengthen corporate capitalism at the expense of the people, forms the domestic side of Washington’s attempt to recapture the preeminent power of U.S. imperialism in the world. Reagan is trying for nothing less than reversing the strategic decline of U.S. imperialism.
From the end of World War II to the 1970’s, the U.S. reigned over the most powerful economic and military empire in history. It blatantly intervened in countries ranging from Lebanon in the Middle East, Korea in Asia, the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean, to Chile in Latin America. U.S. corporations dominated the world economy. But the U.S. can no longer throw its weight around as in the past. Reagan would like to return to the old days, but the question is, can he succeed?
The articles which begin in this issue argue that he cannot. U.S. imperialism is in irrevocable decline. It suffers tremendous internal problems, vigorous competition from the other imperialist superpower, the Soviet Union, increasing conflicts with other capitalist countries, and a strengthened and aware third world.Stand of the U.S. working class
The decline of U.S. imperialism internationally helps the working class in the U.S. in its struggle against monopoly capitalism. But Reagan’s attempt to revitalize imperialism also poses dangers to the people. As part of its efforts to shore up imperialism, Washington is promoting an aggressive patriotism – Reagan encourages the lie that the people of the U.S. should unite together with imperialism against a hostile world.
The truth is that the American people have no interest in supporting U.S. imperialism and its desperate attempts to recapture its former position in the world. The source of the problems of workers, oppressed nationalities and the people in general in the U.S. is not foreign, but the U.S. monopoly capitalist class itself. A small fraction of the population benefits from the miseries and crimes of U.S. imperialism.
As part of its struggle against monopoly capitalism, the U.S. working class and progressive people should stand firmly against the foreign policy of imperialism. The inevitable outcome of that policy is war and international tension. The imperialists sooner or later resort to military means to maintain or extend their domination over other lands. The working class should demand international relations based on equality and peace, not oppression and aggression. This is especially important today when the superpowers are engaged in or threatening aggression in every corner of the globe.
The U.S. and U.S.S.R. rival one another for world domination. They try to bully, intimidate, suppress and infiltrate other countries and vie with one another for supremacy, whether it be in sports or in nuclear weapons. This competition threatens to unleash a new world war. All the people of the world have a vital stake in fighting against the superpowers and upholding national sovereignty and non-aggression.
Living in the United States, we have a particular responsibility to try to affect Washington’s foreign policy. U.S. imperialism cannot completely ignore domestic public opinion. Ever since the massive protest against the war in Viet Nam, U.S. imperialism has had to be very careful in trying to hide its acts of intervention and subversion from the American people.
While opposing U.S. imperialism, we also condemn all other imperialism, especially the activities of the Soviets. The Soviet Union is no friend to the people of the world. Those who try to defend and justify Soviet aggression, such as in Poland, Afghanistan and Southeast Asia, actually become agents of imperialism. They are helping the Soviet imperialists carry out their plunder and are aiding the suppression of people’s struggle. Soviet expansion, too, is linked to the contention with the U.S. for world domination and heightens the danger of world war.
Those who uphold democracy, progress and socialism must oppose all imperialism and foreign interference in the internal affairs of other countries.
The struggles of the third world against imperialism are not threats to the people of the U.S., contrary to what Reagan says. Rather, the people of Asia, Africa and Latin America are vital allies in the struggle for socialism in the U.S. The developing countries of the third world are the main force standing up to imperialism and the two superpowers today. Their struggles against imperialist domination, more than any other factor, have changed the face of the globe over the last 30 years and have tremendously weakened imperialism. They will continue to mount as decisive shapers of the international environment.
The struggles of the third world have become a component of the struggle for socialism, and belittling their importance weakens the effort to end the criminal rule of monopoly capitalism. The people of the third world fighting for liberation from U.S. imperialism are struggling against the same enemy the American people face here at home. The U.S. monopoly capitalists both pillage other lands and impoverish the people of the U.S. The same insatiable lust for profits drives these capitalists to plunder third world nations overseas and throw millions of workers jobless into the streets of decaying American cities. The people of the U.S. and the people of the world have a common enemy, and their struggles against U.S. monopoly capitalism objectively help one another. One day their united efforts will topple imperialism from its mantel, smashing it forever.