1. The origin and the nature of this war: a US-led aggressive, imperialist war.
Today, from US-imperialism (directed by a small group of people, the Military-Industrial Complex of the USA) the actual war is one global, worldwide, coherent, imperialist, aggressive US-led war. The main frontlines in this one war are today in China, Korea, Middle East Asia and Ukraine.
About Ukraine, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, DPRK has taken a clear position in this US-led imperialist war:
“The US is gathering together its allies to dispatch a large number of mercenaries to Ukraine and is providing Ukraine with huge military equipment. Its purpose is to weaken Russia and realize its strategy for world hegemony by driving Ukraine to a fight with Russia. The international society, witnessing the grave situation resulted from the US clearly understands who is the main culprit and the peace wrecker disturbing stability and causing wars all over the world. (March 23rd, 2022)”.
As formulated by US-presidential advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski in the year 1997:
“The US policy goal: to perpetuate America’s own dominant position, to exercise America’s global primacy, to be the first, and the only global superpower, and to remain as the last global superpower”. Given the central position of Eurasia (Europe and Asia): “To prevent the emergence of a dominant and antagonistic Eurasian power─challenging America─remains central to America’s capacity to exercise global primacy”. “Potentially, the most dangerous scenario would be a grand coalition of China, Russia, and perhaps Iran, an “anti-hegemonic” coalition.
On the international scene we observe the existence of two military alliances.
On one hand, there is the aggressive, imperialist alliance led by US imperialism, containing 30 NATO countries and armies, and in East Asia also Japan, South Korea and Australia.
Against this alliance, on the other hand, a de facto, factual, military alliance of China, Russia, DPR of Korea, Iran, Syria, Belarus was formed, and reinforced after the US sanctions against Russia and China were installed. In the year 2001, June 15th, already, the Shanghai Co-operation Organization was founded with then China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan as members. Their first joint military exercises were held in 2003. On May 24th, 2022, an air task force composed of Russian Tu-95MS and Chinese H-6K strategic bombers conducted a joint air patrol over the waters of the Sea of Japan (the East Sea) and the East China Sea.
The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) was founded May 15th, 1992. Since 1994 the members are Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. From January 5th to 11th 2022, CSTO-armies were deployed to Kazakhstan in response to attempts to overthrow the Kazakh government.
The military alliance between China and the DPRK exists already from the start of the existence of the DPRK in 1945. It was reinforced by the visit of President Xi Jinping on June 20th and 21st in the DPRK. After the military operations in Ukraine started in February 2022, the DPRK launched a ballistic missile off its east coast into the sea on 4 March 2022.
The alliance between Russia and the DPRK has historical roots in the Soviet military contribution in the liberation war of Korea and the liberation of Korea in 1945. To this contribution was referred by president Putin, during the visit of DPRK leader Kim Jong Un in Vladivostok in April 2019.
Besides this close military alliance against US imperialism, a worldwide alliance is formed. It appeared clearly on March 2nd, 2022, in the UN General Assembly vote on a resolution condemning Russia and demanding withdrawal of Russia military forces from Ukraine. 214 countries sustained the resolution, amongst which the USA and its allies of NATO, and Japan, Australia and South Korea. Five countries voted against: Russia, Belarus, Syria, the socialist Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and Eritrea. 52 countries expressed their resistance by abstaining or not taking part in the vote. Amongst them are all the socialist countries, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos and China. Remarkable is the huge number of African states, that expressed their disagreement by abstention: Algeria, Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Congo, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Morocco. From Latin America the Alba Countries as Venezuela, Nicaragua, El Salvador. In Asia the abstentions of Iran, India, Pakistan and even Iraq are remarkable.
In China the national liberation war, started by Mao Zedong, liberated the mainland of China of the occupation by Japanese imperialism October 1st, 1949, and started the socialist revolution and transformation of the country into a socialist country. From the side of China this actual war, aiming at the reunification of the country, is a just, legitimate, defensive, progressive war,
In the Middle East Asia, the US invaded and bombed Afghanistan in 2001, Iraq in 2003, Libya in 1986 and 2011, Syria in 2021 The people in the Middle-East Asia wage a defensive, just, resistance, national liberation war against US imperialism.
In Donbas, Donetsk and Luhansk, the people struggle in a just, defensive, liberating, legitimate, progressive war. The intervention of Russia is positive insofar Russia sustains on the territory of Donbas this national liberation war. Without the help of Russia, the Donbas republics would have been cruelly repressed by the murderous fascist regime of president Zelensky.
2. The Poroshenko – Zelensky regime in Kiev is a fascist regime
“Fascism is an open terrorist dictatorship of the most reactionary, most chauvinistic, most imperialist elements of finance capital”.
The actual Zelensky regime in Ukraine meets all the criteria of a fascist regime.
After the overthrow of the Soviet Union in 1991, the US promoted conflicts and wars between the former Soviet republics, such as Russia and Ukraine. The US acted to keep the newborn Russian capitalist state weak. In November 2013 the US financed and organized in Kiev the Maidan pro-fascist revolt against the pro-Russia Yanukovych government. The US mobilized therefore the most reactionary nationalist forces, adepts of Nazi collaborator in WWII, Stepan Bandera. In February 2014 these gangs destroyed government buildings, offices of communist and workers’ movement organizations, monuments of Lenin and remembering the Soviet Union, and overthrew the government. The new installed regime was fascist in its essence, Ukrainian in its forms, and American in its goals and policy. Especially in the East of Ukraine (Donbas, Mariupol, Odessa) the resistance grew and was met violently by Poroshenko, who became president May 25th. On May 2nd, 2014, fascist gangs burnt 40 people alive in the Trade Union building in Odessa. In Donbas a people’s revolt, led by the working class, especially miners and metal workers, chased the fascist representatives, took the arms in police stations and army barracks, built barricades around the government buildings they occupied. Poroshenko started a military campaign against Donbas, bombed there schools, hospitals, houses, electricity plants, which from 2014 to 2022 killed 14000 people. But nor he, nor the later president Zelynski were capable to take the capitals Donetsk and Luhansk from the Donbas people, who struggle in a just, defensive, liberating, legitimate, progressive war. The intervention of Russia is positive insofar Russia sustains this liberation war on the territory of Donbas.
3. The right of the people’s of self-determination
Already in March 16th, 2014, the people of the Crimea decided in a referendum to separate from fascist Ukraine and for reunification with Russia. On May 11th, 2014, in referenda 89% of the people of Donetsk and 96% of the people of Luhansk voted to found the independent People’s Republic of Donetsk and the People’s Republic of Luhansk. In September 2022, in referenda 98% in Luhansk, 99% in Donetsk, 93 in Zaporiza and 87 in Cherson voted for becoming the territory of Russia. Chapter 1, Article 1, part 2 of the UN Charter states: ” the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples”.
My country Belgium was until 1830 a part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. In 1830, by a revolution, Belgium separated from the Kingdom of the Netherlands and became an independent state and was world-wide recognized. The United States of America were founded by separating from the British Empire. Hawaii officially became the fiftieth state of the USA on August 21, 1959. Obviously the USA recognizes the right of self-determination and separation, and the right to accept new territories in the state, ─only for themselves.
Lenin, in his book “About the right of the nations of self-determination” concluded that the right of self-determination of all nations contains the right to separate and to exist as a separate independent national state. He quoted Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, who from the 1840’s supported the demand of independence of Poland, and in 1869 the struggle of Ireland for independence from England. Lenin approved the people of Norway, who in 1905 after an overwhelming majority in a referendum, separated from Sweden. Lenin had a great estimation for Rosa Luxemburg. But in a sharp and deep polemic Lenin condemned her policy, that did not recognize the principle of the right of self-determination and secession of the nations. Rosa Luxemburg rejected for instance the independence of Norway as “just another form of monarchism and reaction.” Lenin called this “nonsense and denial of the historic concrete presentation of the question.”
We find an echo of these positions of Rosa Luxemburg even with some communist parties, who refuse to support the national liberation war in Donbas, with the argument that it is all “an inter-imperialist conflict, in which the working class has no interests and must take no sides”.
4. To create an international front of nations and the working class to resist the US-led imperialist war
The first responsibility of all the peoples in the world and the international working class is to build a world-wide alliance, to resist the US-led imperialist war and to eliminate USA imperialism and NATO. The participants of this alliance should develop in their own countries broad front organizations and concrete, practical mass actions against US and NATO.
From the side of the DPRK and China and Donbas, this is a just, anti-imperialist, national liberation war.
This will open the perspective of a world of lasting, durable peace, which is only possible when revolutions and socialism will have eliminated the source of war: capitalism and imperialism.
On May 21, 2022, the ministers of foreign affairs of the People’s Republic of Donetsk, Natalia Nikonorova, and of the People’s Republic of Luhansk, Vladislav Deynega, met the ambassador of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Sin Hong-chol, in his embassy in the Mosfilmovskaya street 72 in Moscow. They agreed to continue working contacts and their strategic policy of resistance to world imperialism and the ideals of struggle of the free peoples for real independence. See photo 1 (http://www.apn-spb.ru/news/article35173.htm).
What is the context of this meeting? What is the nature of the actual global war today, May 28, 2022?
The main competitor of the US dominating position is China. On the east China is countered by the military alliance of the USA, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. See photo nr 2, the black line. This alliance permits the USA to encircle and attack China from Taiwan and from South Korea (the THAAD-missiles that can reach targets 2000km deep in Chinese territory). It also permits to cut China’s import (of petrol) and export to the west, without which the Chinese economy cannot survive.
China would likely be the leader and Russia the follower. Averting this contingency will require a display of U.S. geostrategic skill on the western, eastern, and southern perimeters of Eurasia simultaneously.”
From the West of China, it’s main partner Russia has to be weakened. Therefore: “Europe also serves as the springboard for the progressive expansion”. It is “America’s essential geopolitical bridgehead on the Eurasian continent”. “Expansion of NATO to include Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary, Baltic republics, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria, and Slovakia. Then: also, Sweden and Finland also. Eventually, Ukraine: somewhere between 2005 and 2010, Ukraine will gradually be drawn into the special Franco-German-Polish relationship. See photo nr 3. America’s central geostrategic goal in Europe: to consolidate the U.S. bridgehead on the Eurasian continent so that an enlarging Europe can become a more viable springboard into Eurasia.
America’s central geostrategic goal in Europe: to consolidate the U.S. bridgehead on the Eurasian continent so that an enlarging Europe can become a more viable springboard into Eurasia.
This whole strategy, formulated already in 1997, was executed, carried out, step by step. Today it is still being carried out by US imperialism in one global, worldwide, coherent, imperialist, aggressive US-led war.
What is the nature of this actual war?
In “War and Revolution” (May 14, 1917) Lenin wrote “There are wars and wars. … We must be clear as to what historical conditions have given rise to the war. … A key issue is the class character of the war. … What classes are waging that war, what historical-economic conditions gave rise to it.”
Lenin wrote in “Socialism and war” (1915) that “war cannot be abolished unless classes are abolished and Socialism is created…
We study each war separately. In history there have been numerous wars which, in spite of all the horrors, atrocities, distress and suffering that inevitably accompany all wars, were progressive, i.e., benefited the development of mankind by helping to destroy the exceptionally harmful and reactionary institutions (for example, autocracy or serfdom), the most barbarous despotisms in Europe (Turkish and Russian). Therefore, it is necessary to examine the historically specific features of precisely the present war.
One of the types of wars were wars of a bourgeois-progressive, national-liberating character. In other words, the chief content and historical significance of these wars were the overthrow of absolutism and feudalism, the undermining of these institutions, the overthrow of alien oppression. Therefore, those were progressive wars, and during such wars, all honest, revolutionary democrats, and also all Socialists, always sympathised with the success of that country (i.e., with that bourgeoisie), which had helped to overthrow, or sap, the most dangerous foundation of feudalism, absolutism and the oppression of other nations.
The Difference Between Aggressive and Defensive War… By “defensive” war Socialists always meant a “just” war in this sense… Socialists regarded, and now regard, wars “for the defence of the fatherland,” or “defensive” wars, as legitimate, progressive and just.”
In 1915 Lenin characterized “the present war as an imperialist war. The Anglo-French bourgeoisie is waging war for the retaining of the colonies they have inordinately grabbed… Germany is fighting not for the liberation but for the oppression of nations”. During such a war the working class on both sides should not support “its own” bourgeoisie, but overthrow it by revolution and start a socialist society.
In Korea the aggression war (1950-1953) of the US, who killed 4 million people, is still going on, as the US signed only a truce, and not a peace agreement. On May 21st Biden and South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol agreed “to initiate discussions to expand the scope and scale of combined military exercises and training on and around the Korean peninsula”.
In the Middle-East Asia, the US invaded and bombed Afghanistan in 2001, Iraq in 2003, Libya in 1986 and 2011, Syria in 2021. US occupation troops retired from Afghanistan (but US private “security” companies stay) and remain in Iraq. The US continues to threaten Iraq. The US transferred troops from Middle to East Asia and concentrate their war preparations against China and Korea. The people in the Middle-East Asia wage a defensive, just, resistance war against US imperialism.
At the same time, to contribute to the antifascist struggle in Ukraine demands the recognition of the 70 years history (1921-1991) of the Socialist Soviet Republic of Ukraine, of the Ukrainian culture and nation, and to abstain from conquering territory in the interest of oligarchs.
