Comrades,
First we would like to thank the organizers for invitation to that important event. We would like to express our solidarity with a communist and anti-imperialist struggle on all continents. It is no coincidence that this meeting takes place in Belgrade, a capital of a country that has fallen victim to an armed attack by NATO imperialism. The situation in the World is entering the new era, when serious changes of the contemporary system are imminent. The threat of a large scale military conflict is materializing before our eyes. In the information space, especially in the West, the information war is already taking place which makes it difficult to understand the essence of the current events. The task of the international communist movement in this situation is to find the answer to these questions on the basis of the analysis of real material conditions of contemporary imperialism.
We understand imperialism as a type of socio-economic formation. It is a global system of interconnected and mutually interdependent institutions: private monopolies, companies, financial institutions, states, international bodies, political organisations and networks which secure the interests of big capital and the bourgeoisie. The economic essence of imperialism is a monopoly and its features, with appropriation of resources and export of capital at its core.
The term “monopoly” refers to entities and trusts which share the control over whole sectors of economy on the global scale. Although regional and local monopolies also exist, they do not represent the highest stage of development of capitalism – i.e. imperialism and therefore they will not be discussed here. Importantly, global monopolies have transcended the borders of national states and subordinated political and financial institutions to their interests. Their mutual interdependence constitute global imperialist system or imperialism in short.
Two types of contemporary global monopolies are of a particular importance: financial and technological monopoly.
Financial monopoly is exerted by the US / EU / UK / Japan axis by the issuance of the main currencies in international settlements and the creation of the financial trading system. Over 90% of all currency reserves in the world are held in US dollars, euro, British pounds or Japanese yen. Countries which issue these currencies have power over the global currency system. This power is used to issue currency in volumes which far exceed their own production in order to obtain extra profits. Other states whose main exports are their natural resources are therefore forced to subsidize imperialism. The control over the issuance of the reserve currency is therefore the imperialist and monopolistic practice of robbing other countries by issuing excess money.
Second aspect of financial monopoly is its control over cash flows. Technological standards of payments: VISA, SWIFT, Mastercard etc. has become widespread on the global scale as a monopoly, which is maintained by intimidation. Attempts to introduce other, independent payment standards face open threats of sanctions and aggressions.
The West also maintains a technological monopoly. This does not only relate to objective state of technological and scientific knowledge, but also to the enforcing of proprietary standards. These standards are used to strengthen control over whole sectors of world’s economy. This is most evident in the digital industry, where monopolization has reached its highest, near absolute stage. The key hardware standards (semiconductors) and operating systems are completely controlled by US monopolies. In this way, the technical knowledge and work of people around the world is appropriated by few private multinationals.
Monopolies not only ensure profits, but also carry out political tasks in the framework of imperialism. Entire state institutions are becoming dependent on monopolists. So called “digital transformations” are presented as benevolent, but technological dependences create a threat to the national security of many countries. In the event of a threat to monopolistic interests – they apply economic sanctions through their political arms. The Russian company, T-platform, for example, has been sanctioned for posing a threat to the American technological monopoly. This was in 2013, before the Russian annexation of Crimea.
Imperialism, as a global system based on monopolies, hinders the development of the productive forces and creates the barrier for historical growth of peoples all over the world. This is why in many places monopolies have been challenged. China and Russia, for example, are attempting to defy Western financial monopoly by setting up the BRICS “New Development Bank” (2014) that could enable trade bypassing the monopolist-controlled currency system. Russia and China have also decided to bypass Western technological monopolies by developing their own high-tech industries.
Imperialists are well aware of the possibility of losing their monopoly position. The West has begun to lose ground. It has reacted by accelerating the pace of political and military confrontations using NATO as its armed wing and by pushing for regime changes in countries which challenge their monopolies.
The dismantling of the post war international legal system lies at the core of the confrontational policies of imperialism. In place of UN Charter, the US has started to promote the so called “rules based order”, which is essentially the unilateral imposition of the interests of their monopolies. The US and the EU now regard their domestic laws as superior to international law. They apply their own laws outside the territories of their own countries. This is particularly evident in case of seizure of the Iranian tanker “Grace”, which was based on a warrant issued by a US court. Under international law, this is an act of war.
In order to defend against imperialism and to restore the rule of international law, 19 countries have formed an organization called the Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations. Among them are the socialist nations of Cuba, China and DPRK. Many other countries have not complied with imperialist threats and have rejected the pressure to join the US / EU bloc on sanctions against Russia and have instead insisted on pursuing their own sovereign foreign policies. This constitutes an unprecedented challenge to imperialist domination, a new “spring of nations”.
In the struggle against imperialism, a multipolar world is born. Regional blocs in Latin America, Asia, the Arab world and Africa are being formed, united by a common will to break free from monopolistic influence. This is a historic opportunity for nations to regain their sovereignty and exercise their right to self-determination, but it is also a chance to demolish the political foundations of capitalism in these countries. Disconnection from world markets will mean the necessity of applying the principles of a planned economy and planned development of their own productive forces. It is a chance to enter the path of building a new economic model, with socialism being the most attractive. The task of the communists under these conditions is to fight for the construction of a socialist system. Consequently, these developments have the potential to weaken the imperialist centers by taking away their income from and influence over their former colonies. The barrier to the development of humanity will eventually be broken and the development of socialist formations towards the new world will be made possible. Socialism is the future!
