By Chris Slee
June 28, 2022 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal — The Russian invasion of Ukraine has intensified a longstanding debate about whether Russia is an imperialist power.
Michael Probsting says that Russia is imperialist, citing its military strength; the fact that the Russian economy is dominated by Russian (not foreign) monopoly capital; significant foreign investment by Russian corporations; and super-exploitation of immigrant workers within Russia. [1]
By contrast, Renfrey Clarke and Roger Annis cite various features of the Russian economy as evidence that Russia is not imperialist: low per capita GDP, limited amount of overseas investment by Russian companies, limited development of finance capital, dependence on raw material exports, etc. They say it is “part of the capitalist semi-periphery”. [2]
It is true that Russia is economically weak compared to imperialist countries such as the United States, Western Europe countries and Japan. But Russia is militarily strong.