That does not change the fact that they are fulfilling an anti-imperialist role in the world today. Yes Russia has serious internal contradictions, ones that will have to be resolved, but they are secondary to the global contradiction between the imperialist core and the rest of the world which is the primary contradiction of our time. Imperialism is the main obstacle to socialism everywhere. It is not the Russian bourgeoisie.
Is is also not a question of “supporting Russia”, rather supporting what they are doing in specific contexts, such as their anti-fascist intervention in Ukraine, or their pivotal role on the global stage in challenging US hegemony, frustrating the imperialists’ plans as they did in Syria, and working alongside China to turn from a unipolar US hegemony to a multipolar world that will allow the global south room to breathe and develop without the crushing weight of neo-colonialism.
This approach is well supported by Marxist-Leninist theory, i would refer you specifically to the sixth chapter of “The Foundations of Leninism” where it is explicitly stated that bourgeois or even monarchist forces can fulfil a progressive and revolutionary role under the right conditions, namely when their actions serve to undermine the global system of imperialism. In this chapter dealing with the National Question the context is that of national liberation and anti-colonialism, but the argument is just as well applicable to the global situation of today.
And on a smaller scale the struggle of the people of the Donbass to free and defend themselves from the fascist US proxy regime in Kiev can be understood as a struggle of national liberation… Not only that but the toppling of this regime would also represent the broader liberation of the people of Ukraine from what is essentially a colonial comprador government that has been selling out their country to Western corporate and financial interests.
Whether Russia can or wants to achieve all that remains to be seen but even just the fact that they launched this operation has already changed the world in fundamental ways and accelerated the demise of global US hegemony. If Russia loses, all of that risks being undone and imperialism being strengthened again, setting the global struggle back decades. It is in the interest of all communists, and more broadly speaking all progressive forces, that NATO and its proxies do not win.
“ultra-left”
no, it’s called anti-imperialism, russia is not “anti-imperialist” no matter how many maupinites and Z-posters want to say it is. As a Marxist, you should be against both Zelensky and Putin and have a neutral position on this war.
It’s not anti-imperialist in ideology, but it is in practice, regardless of the intentions of the current government. There’s a reason why China has a pragmatic stance on capitalist countries with extreme geopolitical importance, including Russia, India, etc.
both Zelensky and Putin
I don’t like either of them as individuals, but that’s more or less irrelevant to their countries’ actions outside of liberal attempts at analysis
Indeed we should be against both Zelensky and Putin, but they are not the same and we cannot and should not have a neutral position on this war because it is the pivot upon which the world is turning from US unipolar hegemony to multipolarity. Moreover it is a just struggle against NATO imperialist encroachment and for the liberation of an oppressed people from genocidal fascism.
There is a reason why the Russian communists overwhelmingly support the intervention in Ukraine and why they pushed for it more than almost any other group years before the bourgeois liberal government of Putin finally was forced to launch it. There is a reason why so much of the global south either explicitly or tacitly supports Russia in this conflict.
I understand that for those unfamiliar with the full context of the situation and looking only superficially at it seeing two bourgeois states fighting it may not seem like something that communists should support. But if you look both at the bigger picture AND at what has been happening locally in Ukraine and specifically in the Donbass since 2014, you will see it in a totally different light.
Listen to or read some interviews with people on the ground from the Donbass republics who were bombed for eight years, or with the Ukrainian communists who have been severely persecuted and seen their comrades arrested, imprisoned, tortured and murdered, then reconsider whether you really think that Russia should not have intervened to put an end to this fascist regime.
I uphold the referendums and I believe that Doneck, Lugansk, and Zaporožie are a rightful part of Russia, but I don’t support the Russian government or military.
That is a somewhat contradictory position, no? Who else if not the Russian military is going to ensure that those regions are fully liberated and integrated into Russia? Was it not this government under which the regions were formally re-incorporated?
As i said you needn’t have a blanket support of the Russian government, i don’t either, as no communist should. But we can support individual actions and policies while opposing others. Critical support in certain contexts while remaining aware of the nature of this government and that we ultimately would like to see it replaced with a progressive and socialist one.
ok so i have attracted the ire of 5 z-posters
not really, “they’re both bad” is just an ultra-left stance lacking a lot of nuance
Calling a world power “bad” and leaving it at that is moralistic and anti-materialist.
OK, Why do I not support Russia?
Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
I support the territorial claims of Russia, but that doesn’t mean I support Z, I want this war to be over as soon as possible
That does not change the fact that they are fulfilling an anti-imperialist role in the world today. Yes Russia has serious internal contradictions, ones that will have to be resolved, but they are secondary to the global contradiction between the imperialist core and the rest of the world which is the primary contradiction of our time. Imperialism is the main obstacle to socialism everywhere. It is not the Russian bourgeoisie.
Is is also not a question of “supporting Russia”, rather supporting what they are doing in specific contexts, such as their anti-fascist intervention in Ukraine, or their pivotal role on the global stage in challenging US hegemony, frustrating the imperialists’ plans as they did in Syria, and working alongside China to turn from a unipolar US hegemony to a multipolar world that will allow the global south room to breathe and develop without the crushing weight of neo-colonialism.
This approach is well supported by Marxist-Leninist theory, i would refer you specifically to the sixth chapter of “The Foundations of Leninism” where it is explicitly stated that bourgeois or even monarchist forces can fulfil a progressive and revolutionary role under the right conditions, namely when their actions serve to undermine the global system of imperialism. In this chapter dealing with the National Question the context is that of national liberation and anti-colonialism, but the argument is just as well applicable to the global situation of today.
And on a smaller scale the struggle of the people of the Donbass to free and defend themselves from the fascist US proxy regime in Kiev can be understood as a struggle of national liberation… Not only that but the toppling of this regime would also represent the broader liberation of the people of Ukraine from what is essentially a colonial comprador government that has been selling out their country to Western corporate and financial interests.
Whether Russia can or wants to achieve all that remains to be seen but even just the fact that they launched this operation has already changed the world in fundamental ways and accelerated the demise of global US hegemony. If Russia loses, all of that risks being undone and imperialism being strengthened again, setting the global struggle back decades. It is in the interest of all communists, and more broadly speaking all progressive forces, that NATO and its proxies do not win.
“ultra-left”
no, it’s called anti-imperialism, russia is not “anti-imperialist” no matter how many maupinites and Z-posters want to say it is. As a Marxist, you should be against both Zelensky and Putin and have a neutral position on this war.
It’s not anti-imperialist in ideology, but it is in practice, regardless of the intentions of the current government. There’s a reason why China has a pragmatic stance on capitalist countries with extreme geopolitical importance, including Russia, India, etc.
I don’t like either of them as individuals, but that’s more or less irrelevant to their countries’ actions outside of liberal attempts at analysis
Indeed we should be against both Zelensky and Putin, but they are not the same and we cannot and should not have a neutral position on this war because it is the pivot upon which the world is turning from US unipolar hegemony to multipolarity. Moreover it is a just struggle against NATO imperialist encroachment and for the liberation of an oppressed people from genocidal fascism.
There is a reason why the Russian communists overwhelmingly support the intervention in Ukraine and why they pushed for it more than almost any other group years before the bourgeois liberal government of Putin finally was forced to launch it. There is a reason why so much of the global south either explicitly or tacitly supports Russia in this conflict.
I understand that for those unfamiliar with the full context of the situation and looking only superficially at it seeing two bourgeois states fighting it may not seem like something that communists should support. But if you look both at the bigger picture AND at what has been happening locally in Ukraine and specifically in the Donbass since 2014, you will see it in a totally different light.
Listen to or read some interviews with people on the ground from the Donbass republics who were bombed for eight years, or with the Ukrainian communists who have been severely persecuted and seen their comrades arrested, imprisoned, tortured and murdered, then reconsider whether you really think that Russia should not have intervened to put an end to this fascist regime.
I uphold the referendums and I believe that Doneck, Lugansk, and Zaporožie are a rightful part of Russia, but I don’t support the Russian government or military.
That is a somewhat contradictory position, no? Who else if not the Russian military is going to ensure that those regions are fully liberated and integrated into Russia? Was it not this government under which the regions were formally re-incorporated?
As i said you needn’t have a blanket support of the Russian government, i don’t either, as no communist should. But we can support individual actions and policies while opposing others. Critical support in certain contexts while remaining aware of the nature of this government and that we ultimately would like to see it replaced with a progressive and socialist one.