Russian 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.

What lessons can we learn from the history of the Chechen wars? How did people fight for their freedom and independence? Activist and researcher Lilia Yuldasheva on colonization of the Northern Caucasus and resistance in the Chechen Republic.