Russian imperialism

John Smith, author of "Imperialism in the Twenty-First Century: Globalization, Super-Exploitation, and Capitalism’s Final Crisis", discusses the realities of imperialism today and what it means for those fighting for a socialist future.

Renfrey Clarke — If Russia is to be described as practising “sub-imperialism” with relation to Central Asia and Ukraine, this will have to emerge from a more detailed study of Russian dealings over the years with the parts of the world concerned.

Murray Smith — The war in Ukraine has cast a harsh light on the radical left in Europe, revealing the best and the worst.

Michael Pröbsting — Resistance Books, an Australian based non-profit, progressive book publisher, has published a new book dealing with the Ukraine War: the single most important event in the current conjuncture of world politics.

Ilya Matveev — Russian imperialism does have its own logic that is not reducible to the interests of the ruling class. The appearance of the non-economic roots of Russia’s aggressive expansionism since 2014 raises questions about the contemporary validity of classical theories of imperialism.

Volodymyr Ishchenko — By understanding the Russian ruling class' material interests, we can move beyond flimsy explanations that take rulers’ claims at face value, toward a more coherent picture of how the war is rooted in the economic and political vacuum opened up by the Soviet collapse in 1991.

Chris Slee responds to "Setting the record straight: Ukraine, Russia & imperialism", outlining the increasingly evident imperialist role Russia plays in the world today and argues that a defeat for Putin would create opportunities for the Russian left.

Carl Mirra — A careful evaluation of recent history illustrates that the claim that US and NATO expansion threatens Moscow’s existence is an exaggeration. That Russia would inflate fears of NATO to pursue its global aspirations is understandable. What is less comprehensible is the degree to which influential Western thinkers, particularly on the anti-imperial US left, have promoted this narrative.

Michael Pröbsting — Relations between Great Powers cannot be understood in isolation but rather have to be viewed in the context of fundamental class contradictions within a given historical stage of a mode of production.

Howie Hawkins, a retired Teamsters union warehouse worker, former US Green Party presidential candidate and ecosocialist, discusses the formation of the Ukraine Solidarity Network (US) and the challenges of building solidarity with Ukraine while opposing US imperialism.

Polish left-wing party Razem (Together) International Office member Zofia Malisz speaks to Federico Fuentes about the party’s history, Polish politics and Razem’s views on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Gilbert Achcar, Zofia Malisz and Ilya Matveev - What comparative-historical parallels can help to understand the dynamics of the Russian-Ukrainian war and its consequences? What should be the anti-imperialist position in such conditions? Does the left have anything to say about the security situation in the world in the medium term? A roundtable discussion.