Russian imperialism: Economic and military aspects

Renfrey Clarke1 cites statistics compiled by two groups of economists (Guglielmo Carchedi and Michael Roberts; Gaston Nievas and Alice Sodano) showing that the United States and a few other rich countries benefit from surplus value created by the labour of workers in a large number of poorer countries.

Clarke writes:

Together, the results reached by these two sets of authors show that the imperialist bloc — roughly, the so-called G7 powers plus less influential but still wealthy states — gains close to 3% of its GDP each year from exploiting the Global South. The net transfer of wealth from poor countries to rich has gouged a huge chunk — far greater than aid donations — out of the ability of the South to improve the well-being of its citizens. Recent years, moreover, have shown a pronounced trend for the scale of this plunder to increase.

Clarke views these figures as a reflection of the “persistent draining of wealth from subject portions of the globe” under imperialism. This is essentially correct. But Clarke draws certain conclusions that are mistaken.

Looking specifically at Russia and China, Clarke notes a net outflow of surplus value from them to countries such as the US. He concludes that Russia and China are therefore not imperialist. However, he does not look in detail at the relations between Russia and China and those countries that are much poorer than them. Russian capital exploits workers in some extremely poor countries, such as Sudan. If surplus value flows from these countries to Russia, how does this affect our analysis of Russia? Is Russia simultaneously a victim of Western imperialism and an exploiter of countries poorer than itself?

Clarke argues that socialists should support Russia and China in any conflict with imperialist countries. He says that, because Ukraine is supported by the US and other imperialist countries, we should support Russia in its war against Ukraine. But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine looks a lot like the actions of an imperialist power. Economic statistics are not the sole basis for deciding if a country is imperialist. We also have to look at factors such as military strength and military interventions abroad.

Tsarist Russia

Vladimir Lenin considered tsarist Russia to be imperialist, even though it was economically backward. It had some modern industry, but much of this was foreign-owned or financed by loans from foreign banks. As Leon Trotsky wrote:

Heavy industry (metal, coal, oil) was almost wholly under the control of foreign finance capital, which had created for itself an auxiliary and intermediate system of banks in Russia....We can say without exaggeration that the controlling shares of stock in the Russian banks, plants and factories were to be found abroad, the amounts held in England, France and Belgium being almost double that in Germany.2 

It is reasonable to assume that there was a net outflow of surplus value from tsarist Russia to the West.

Nevertheless, Lenin considered Russia as imperialist. He said “the epoch of imperialism has turned all the ‘great’ powers into the oppressors of a number of nations…”3 Russia was no exception, even though it was relatively backward economically. Lenin spoke of Russian imperialism as “crude, medieval, economically backward and militarily bureaucratic.”4 

In Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism, Lenin said:

Imperialism is capitalism at that stage of development at which the dominance of monopolies and finance capital is established; in which the export of capital has acquired pronounced importance; in which the division of the world among the international trusts has begun; in which the division of all territories of the globe among the biggest capitalist powers has been completed.5

But in other writings, Lenin made the point that not all imperialist powers display every feature in a fully developed form:

The last third of the nineteenth century saw the transition to the new, imperialist era. Finance capital not of one, but of several, though very few, Great Powers enjoys a monopoly. (In Japan and Russia the monopoly of military power, vast territories, or special facilities for robbing minority nationalities, China, etc., partly supplements, partly takes the place of, the monopoly of modern, up-to-date finance capital.)6 

Russia today

In terms of economic statistics, Russia is an intermediate country located between the world’s richest and poorest nations. Russia is poorer than the US and Western Europe, but richer than most countries. For example, Russia’s per capita GDP in 2022 was fourteen times as high as that of Sudan.7 But in considering whether a country is imperialist, we should not only look at economic statistics. Lenin considered tsarist Russia imperialist due to factors such as its colonial possessions, military strength and domination of oppressed nationalities, among others.

Russia today intervenes militarily in other countries. The invasion of Ukraine is an obvious example, but not the only one. Russia has intervened in other former Soviet Union countries, such as Georgia, and fought two wars to suppress the Chechen independence movement. Russia also intervenes militarily in Syria in support of the extremely repressive Bashar al-Assad regime. Since 2015 Russian planes have bombed rebel-controlled areas in Syria, causing widespread damage and loss of life.

Russia has also intervened militarily in various African countries. The Wagner Private Military Company has played a major role there, with the Russian state’s approval. Wagner PMC exploits the local people where it intervenes. In particular, it profits from gold mining.8 [8] Wagner’s intervention has been particularly disastrous in Sudan, where it helped build up the strength of the Rapid Support Force (RSF). This armed force began as an adjunct to the regular army, helping to violently suppress the democracy movement. Later, due to its leader’s ambitions, the RSF came into conflict with the army, resulting in a devastating civil war. Wagner supplied training and equipment to the RSF, including armoured vehicles and helicopter gunships.

Russia's military interventions far from its borders reflect its nature as an imperialist power. Russia is weaker than the US, both economically and militarily. But unevenness among imperialist powers is normal. Tsarist Russia was much weaker than Germany, but Lenin still considered Russia an imperialist power. 

China presents a mixed picture, combining semi-colonial and imperialist features. On the one hand, much of China’s industry produces goods under contract to US and other Western transnational corporations. In this respect it resembles a semi-colony. On the other hand, China is increasingly investing in Africa and Latin America to obtain raw materials for its industries, a pattern traditionally associated with imperialist powers.

Inter-imperialist rivalry

Imperialism is not static. Imperialist powers can rise and fall. This contributes to inter-imperialist conflict, as rising powers challenge dominant ones. Inter-imperialist conflict can lead to disastrous wars, such as World War I and II. But it can, at times, have positive side-effects. For example, a government or movement fighting against one imperialist power may be able to receive aid from a rival power. During WWI, Germany sent weapons to Irish rebels planning an uprising against British rule. During WWII, the US sent military aid to various resistance movements against German imperialism in Europe and Japanese imperialism in Asia. It even sent aid to the Soviet Union.

Today, Ukraine receives aid from the US and western Europe in its fight against Russian imperialism. Meanwhile Cuba and Venezuela, facing US sanctions that amount to an economic blockade, are able to trade with Russia and China. This trade is crucial in enabling Cuba and Venezuela to defy US imperialism. But the fact that, in some cases, Russia plays a somewhat positive role (for example with Cuba and Venezuela) does not negate its imperialist character.9

• 1

  Renfrey Clarke: "Imperialism: Now we have some numbers" https://links.org.au/imperialism-now-we-have-some-numbers

• 2

  Trotsky, History of the Russian Revolution, vol. 1, p. 27-28, Sphere Books, London, 1965

• 3

  Lenin Collected Works, vol. 22, p. 360

• 4

  LCW, vol. 22, p.359

• 5

  LCW, vol. 22, p. 266-267

• 6

  LCW, vol. 23, p. 115-116

• 7

  According to World Bank figures, the nominal per capita GDP of Russia in the year 2022 was $15,345. In the same year Sudan had a nominal per capita GDP of $1,102.

• 8

  Adam Tooze: "The Sudan Crisis" https://adamtooze.substack.com/p/chartbook-209-the-sudan-crisis-and

• 9

  For more on Russian imperialism, see Chris Slee “Russian imperialism: Economically weak, militarily strong” https://links.org.au/russian-imperialism-economically-weak-militarily-strong