The background of inter-imperialist rivalries
The global capitalist economy is rocked by its structural multi-facet crisis, which, amid temporary anemic phases of recovery, remains unresolved. Τhe world capitalist system has no means to avoid its crises caused by the downward tendency of the average rate of profit, and today, it does not even have any functioning tools to overcome them. By clearing the less productive capital and destroying part of the invested capital, the successive crises (2007-2008, pandemic) certainly created time windows of increasing profitability. However, these time windows constantly narrow, making crises more likely and frequent. The capitalist economy has entered a cannibalistic phase: to build, it must first tear down. Any promise of recovery by merely economic mechanisms is fraudulent. A longer phase of prosperity would require a process of “creative destruction” of productive forces of such great historical proportions as those of WWI & WWII.
Globalization, neoliberal reforms, and local wars, accumulated wealth for a few capitalists in the developed West, but failed to solve the structural problems of the economies in the US and Europe, highlighting strong competitors, especially China, which threatens to take precedence over the USA. However, the multi-polar world envisioned by China and Russia would be, if any, increasingly unstable. Historically, the imperialist system has not tolerated multipolarity. Challenging the imperialist hegemon has always been accompanied by wars, rebellions, and revolutions. The accentuation or inter-imperialist rivalries stems inevitably from these conditions, and does not depend on the will of one or another capitalist government.
This is the background for the rise of Trump and the far right. This is not about an abstract confrontation between democracy and fascism, but about the increasing entropy of a global capitalist economy in a protracted long wave of decline. The far right occasionally feeds on a supposed opposition to the war, but nationalism can only further fuel rivalries. And there is no Chinese wall between commercial and literal wars.
But another objective outcome of the ongoing structural crises is that struggles and revolts are very likely to multiply. Revolutionary organizations must not be afraid of political destabilization, nor defend some bankrupt normality in the face of the threat of fascism and war. We must seize the opportunities to turn revolts into revolutions. For this purpose, independence from reformism and the apparatus of bourgeois states is instrumental. We can’t seize the opportunities in the name of a rotten bourgeois democracy that fuels authoritarianism, austerity, and wars, and nurtures the far right. Threats will only come true if we miss the opportunities.
Just and unjust wars
In this framework, it is as important as ever to discriminate between just and unjust wars.
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We take sides and defend struggles for national liberation, such as in Palestine and Kurdistan. We do not trust that international bodies or laws will resolve the issue. We do not rely on pragmatist policies, as the two-state solution – because no Palestinian state could ever be really independent and safe if the apparatus of the Zionist state remains intact. We only rely on the mobilization of the masses and international working-class solidarity.
We do not align with imperialist governments in demonizing the leadership of the struggles for national liberation – we therefore refuse to characterize Hamas as a terrorist organization. However, we do not refrain from criticizing and politically opposing bourgeois leaderships, in the name of national unity against external oppressors. Neither Hamas nor, even worse, Fatah represents the interests of the working Palestinian people. Popular front strategies compromise those interests. Even if temporary tactical military alliances with Hamas are inevitable, we insist on the total independence of the working class. This in not only because no bourgeois leadership is to be trusted in a struggle for national liberation itself, but also because the strategic aim of revolutionary organizations is not national sovereignty, but to turn the revolt for national liberation into a social revolution, by defeating not only imperialist armies and invaders, but also the domestic bourgeois class. This has to be clear, even if the actual revolutionary forces on the ground are very limited – otherwise, they will never grow further.
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We do not take sides in inter-imperialist conflicts: not the side of the weaker imperialist camp, not the one that seems more advanced in terms of bourgeois democracy. In an inter-imperialist war, all sides are reactionary, regardless of who shot the first bullet. In such circumstances, to even tactically align with bourgeois governments is unacceptable – the duty of revolutionary forces is to fight against “their own” camp, that is, the camp of the domestic ruling class, and help turn the imperialist war into civil war.
In Ukraine, the national issue, albeit real, is not the determining factor. The main aspect of the war is a confrontation between Russian and Western imperialism. This is adequately highlighted by the fact that peace is directly negotiated between the USA and Russia, while the EU is trying to play a more active role in a possible continuation of the war.
Two campist deviations have consumed the majority of international anticapitalist organizations. On one side, there are those who support that a victory of Putin would be a blow to imperialism, either considering Russia a lesser imperialist country or denying its imperialist character altogether. For left organizations in Russia, this means directly supporting Putin’s authoritarian bourgeois government. On the other hand, on the pretext of defending the national rights of the Ukrainian people, a large part of the left in the West has taken a very dangerous social-chauvinist turn: calling for the delivery of arms to the reactionary pro-imperialist bourgeois Zelensky government, encouraging their own imperialist governments to directly intervene in Ukraine, or even declaring the need to defend the security of Europe against Russia.
In total confrontation with such shameful positions, we insist that the foremost task is to highlight the responsibility of “our own” side, and fight against it: Russian comrades against Putin, Western comrades against NATO, EU, and their own states.
The main enemy is at home
If we are serious about our primary task being to expose the role of “our own” bourgeois state and its imperialist aspirations, we have to conclude with a part about Greece, a long-time member of the imperialist EU and a devoted member of NATO since its creation.
The Greco-Turkish regional inter-imperialist rivalry has historically been a dominant political issue. Βoth countries play a regional imperialist, or sub-imperialist, role. The main areas of conflict currently include territorial waters, Exclusive Economic Zones, energy pipelines, Cyprus, and the conditions of the oppressed Turkish minority in North-Eastern Greece. In this context, the Greek state has recently started a partnership with Cyprus, Israel, and Egypt, and a formal alliance with France (2021).
Military spending has always been exorbitant. Even in the years of harsh austerity, they remained steadily above 2% of the GDP, which is the target set for NATO member states. Greece possesses a large army of conscripts, since a non-compensated military service of 9 to 12 months is still mandatory. At the same time, more than 1% of the population is employed in the army, as compared to 0,6% in Turkey, 0,4% in the USA, and 0,2% in Germany. The domestic military industry is weak, but heavy armaments are purchased from the US, France, and other countries. Apart from several NATO bases, there are also two US Army bases in the country.
Greece maintains important forces in Cyprus. Greek troops have been sent to Afghanistan and, on a bigger scale, to Kosovo, to assist stronger imperialist armies. Currently, Greek army officials operate in Saudi Arabia, assisting the regime, while frigates have been sent to the Red Sea against the Huthis. In 2023, five army officers were killed in Libya, revealing involvement in this country, too. Common military exercises with the Israeli army are frequent.
The Greek air force, along with the Italian, is in charge of the airspace of Macedonia and Albania. Under the supposedly left SYRIZA government, Greece has imposed an aggressive agreement on the weaker state of (now, North) Macedonia, to change the name and the constitution of the country, and to cede economic privileges to Greek capitalists.
Last but not least, the Greek government has been one of the first ones to send weapons, albeit outdated, to the Zelensky Government in Ukraine. The Greek Prime Minister, Mitsotakis, remains one of the staunchest advocates of Rearm Europe and the EU’s aid to Ukraine.
Militarization has a very important impact on politics. All governments evoke the supposed threat of Turkey to impose national unity. Almost all parliamentary parties traditionally approve military budgets, with the parliamentary and even parts of the extra-parliamentary left often opposing the government from a dangerous nationalist perspective. Even the Communist Party, while opposing expenses for NATO, calls for sufficient military spending to defend the country against Turkey.
The fight against militarization in the country includes immediate demands such as: cancel military budgets, no troops out of the country, free unionism of conscripts, leave NATO, stop adventurist conflicts with Turkey for the interests of domestic capitalists. But a revolutionary policy cannot stop there. We fight to challenge the monopoly of the capitalist state on violence, for the fraternization of all working classes in the area. The need for an internationalist network against militarization and war is urgent.
