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france / belgique / luxembourg / impérialisme / guerre / communiqué de presse Friday March 11, 2022 04:37 byUnion Communiste Libertaire

Depuis le 24 février, début de l’intervention militaire russe en Ukraine, les témoignages de solidarité se multiplient à travers le monde envers les réfugié·es ukrainien·nes. Comme toujours, la guerre amène avec elle son cortège macabre de mort·es et de populations obligé·es de fuir les bombes, les exactions et les carnages. La guerre impérialiste de l’État russe n’y fait pas exception.

A la différence des autres guerres, les États d’Europe, et surtout les pays limitrophes, ouvrent leurs frontières pour accueillir celles et ceux qui par centaines de milliers fuient les villes ukrainiennes bombardées par l’armée russe. Mais le discours dominant français dans les médias nous rappelle qu’il existe « des bons et des mauvais·es réfugié·es ». Notre révulsion est totale quand un journaliste de BFMTV se permet de dire « On ne parle pas là de Syriens qui fuient les bombardements du régime (…). On parle d’Européens qui partent dans leurs voitures qui ressemblent à nos voitures et qui essaient juste de sauver leur vie ». ou quand Jean-Louis Bourlanges, président de la Commission des affaires étrangères à l’Assemblée nationale, se réjouit avec une condescendance raciste que la France accueille « une immigration de grande qualité, dont on pourra tirer profit ».

Une solidarité à deux vitesses

Nous sommes révolté.es par le cynisme des pouvoirs publics qui se mobilisent comme jamais ils ne l’ont fait, promettent ouverture de lieux d’accueil, prise en charge et gratuité des transports pour les réfugié·es ukrainien·es, alors que ces mesures sont réclamées depuis des décennies par l’ensemble des associations, organisations politiques et syndicats se plaçant dans le camp de la solidarité sans conditions auprès des personnes sans papiers et réfugiées, d’où qu’elles viennent. Ce deux poids, deux mesures, on le voit sans surprise également porté par la mairesse de Calais qui accueille à bras ouverts les ukrainien·nes, tout en soutenant une politique impitoyable envers les migrant·es qui cherchent à gagner la Grande-Bretagne (quelques semaines auparavant un squat ouvert pour mettre à l’abri les réfugié·es était évacué par le RAID).

Cette solidarité à géométrie variable illustre le racisme systémique et la mentalité coloniale bien ancré·es chez celles et ceux qui osent prétendre représenter des valeurs humanistes. Une partie du champ médiatique et politique ne se cache même plus derrière un quelconque discours pseudo économique préférant clairement ces réfugié·es perçu.es comme « blanc·hes ».

L’expression d’un racisme d’État

Ces prises de décisions cherchent aussi à faire oublier un quinquennat de mépris et de racisme toujours plus fort exercé à l’encontre des populations migrantes. À peine 20% des demandes d’asiles reçoivent une réponse positive et des réfugié·es afghan·es se voient encore maintenu·es en rétention en CRA (Ehsan, jeune Afghan et demandeur d’asile, placé en rétention "en toute illégalité" - InfoMigrants) .

Si la guerre de l’État russe en Ukraine est bien une guerre impérialiste menée par un pouvoir mafieux, nationaliste et raciste, nous ne devons pas pour autant fermer les yeux sur la réalité des démocraties libérales. Ces dernières multiplient des mesures antisociales et criminalisent les immigrant·es en usant d’une rhétorique d’extrême droite, et ce à l’échelle européenne.

Pour l’accueil inconditionnel de toustes les réfugié·es

Pour nous, Union communiste libertaire, l’accueil inconditionnel des réfugié·es d’Ukraine ne saurait être différent de celui que nous réclamons pour l’ensemble des personnes migrantes résidant sur le territoire français. Il est impératif de mettre à l’ordre du jour cet accueil inconditionnel et sans distinction, et de mettre en place des structures d’accueil pérennes, facilitant la vie quotidienne à l’image de la gratuité des transports en commun pour tous. tes les réfugié·es exigée par nos camarades des syndicats de cheminots. Il est également impératif de dénoncer la situation des personnes non blanches souhaitant fuir l’Ukraine, actuellement retenues aux frontières et dont l’avenir est tout aussi incertain, les politiques européennes antimigrant·es, nous faisant craindre le pire. La solidarité entre l’ensemble des exploité·es subissant les guerres doit être notre seule et unique boussole, ici comme ailleurs. C’est pourquoi nous affirmons que nous sommes :

☆ Pour l’abrogation des lois et réglementations restreignant le droit au séjour au niveau européen ;
☆ Pour l’abolition des frontières meurtrières ;
☆ Contre la guerre et ses conséquences ;
☆ Pour la solidarité internationale et sans frontières ;
☆ Pour le respect et la mise en œuvre effective du droit d’asile ;
☆ Pour la régularisation de toustes les sans-papiers et pour un accueil digne et sans condition de l’ensemble des réfugié·es ici comme ailleurs.

Union communiste libertaire, le 6 mars 2022.

international / imperialism / war / opinion / analysis Friday March 04, 2022 21:23 byBatur Ozdinc

A group of Ukrainian anarchists living in Kyiv declared that they have joined popular resistance against Russian invasion and organized their own group- leading to many debates among anarchist circles. As long as we do not exactly know their own circumstances, one might think that they are purely pro-NATO people, confused nationalist-anarchists or even neo-Nazi supporters. Actually, they are not! According to their declarations before and during the war, they do exactly know what NATO, capitalism, nationalism and imperialism is; and they are against all of them. For me, they are just a group of comrades who found themselves in the middle of a war and trying to find out a way to defend their own lives and their own ideas.

A group of Ukrainian anarchists living in Kyiv declared that they have joined popular resistance against Russian invasion and organized their own group- leading to many debates among anarchist circles. As long as we do not exactly know their own circumstances, one might think that they are purely pro-NATO people, confused nationalist-anarchists or even neo-Nazi supporters. Actually, they are not! According to their declarations before and during the war, they do exactly know what NATO, capitalism, nationalism and imperialism is; and they are against all of them. For me, they are just a group of comrades who found themselves in the middle of a war and trying to find out a way to defend their own lives and their own ideas.

Personally, (perhaps as many anarchists) I think the “Russian state” (apart from Donbass or whatever) does not have any “right” to invade Ukraine as a whole under the excuse of defending itself against NATO. In this sense, the resistance of local (civil) people in Ukraine (not the Ukrainian army though) might be seen as a “right”. However, the war has two opponents; both are pro-capitalist, although one might seem to be more oppressive and imperialist. In addition to this, it is the state and capitalist mechanism provoking civil people against each other and imposing nationalist ideas- in some cases leading to massacres or genocide; as it did in the late Ottoman period against Armenians and in Nazi Germany against Jews and Romani people. Therefore, although at first look it may seem “innocent”, the “civil resistance” may lead to lynches, massacres against other nations and opponents or end up with establishing a new “nationalist” state.

Supporting Ukrainian “side” is not the same as anarchists did in the past during the 1936 revolution in Catalonia (so-called the civil war in Spain) in which both capitalist, religious and statist institutions were questioned nor it has something to do with the things going on in Rojava (North Syria) which is highly influenced by the ideas of Bookchin. Ukraine may be more “democratic” and an open society in the liberal sense (than Russia), but it is still a capitalist state.

On the other hand, the anti-Russian atmosphere, led by the Western media is somehow transforming itself into a kind of racism, a hostility against Russian people and culture as a whole – not just Putin, Russian state or imperialism at all. I believe, this is something, which -as anarchists- we should stand against as long as emphasizing that NATO is as bad as (maybe in some cases even worse than) Russian imperialism.

Anarchism and “war” are two different concepts, which do fully disagree. Many of us still use the term “class war” in some cases but what we mean is not the same as the supporters of states do. We do not defend the idea of a group of “permanent armed people” organized to defend a country (an organized army) or even (as most of anarchists) we do not support any “army” at all. In general, we are fond of libertarian guerilla struggle; which either aims for a social revolution or self-defense (or both). In some cases, although we found ourselves in cooperation with different (capitalist, statist or even imperialist) forces, as Durruti said “No government in the world fights Fascism to the death.” and we should know that such a cooperation is temporary and something which we are not so fond of.

For many of us, it is easy to say “No to War and No to both NATO and Russian imperialism”. In Turkish, we say “Davulun sesi uzaktan hos gelir” (“The drum sounds nice from a distance”-“The grass looks greener on the other side”). On the other hand, I have read many things about the repression on Belarusian anarchists who were forced to flee (to Ukraine and Poland mostly); also, I can just imagine how hard it is to live and survive in a country which is invaded by an imperialist state as Ukrainian comrades do. So, I can only guess how they do suffer from the oppressors in Belarus and Russia; in this sense I try to understand their rage against Russian imperialism.

In the final analysis, although (as anarchists) our actions and expressions may differ depending on time and space, we are all against state, capitalism and imperialism. In these circumstances, while as an exception we might cooperate with non-anarchist forces, we should not forget that whom we fight on the same side might be our enemy in the near future. Our main aim should be developing international solidarity among our comrades and working class; and carry on anti-war struggle.
russia / ukraine / belarus / imperialism / war / opinion/analysis Thursday March 03, 2022 19:47 byRazne anarhističke organizacije

Proklamacija ruskog predsjednika, Vladimira Putina dala je zeleno svjetlo za rusku vojnu invaziju na Ukrajinu. Putin tvrdi da je rusko ratno djelovanje protiv Ukrajine usmjereno potpori ruskom okupiranom području Krima i Donjecke Narodne Republike i Luganske Narodne Republike, u Ukrajini koja koketira s članstvom u NATO-u na poticaj Zapada.

U utorak, 22. veljače, Rusija je priznala neovisnost svojih neformalnih protektorata u Donbasu, time pogoršavajući postojeće napetosti s euroatlantskim savezom koji pruža podršku ukrajinskom režimu. Ne smije se zaboraviti da građanski rat niskog intenziteta traje u Ukrajini od 2014. godine, kada je tada pro-ruska vlada predsjednika Janukoviča bila svrgnuta od strane „Narančaste revolucije” koja je dovela na vlast pro-zapadni režim željan priklanjanju euroatlantskom savezu. Euromajdan, od kojeg zapadni imperijalistički blok ima koristi, uzeo je Ukrajinu iz ruske sfere utjecaja. Također je ojačala ukrajinska desnica, koja je stekla mjesta u parlamentu te razvila paravojne jedinice koje su počinile stravične zločine protiv stanovnika koji su govornici ruskog jezika i članova radničkih sindikata.

Rusija, s druge strane, nije bila spremna od samog početka da izgubi imperijalistički uporište u Ukrajini, a posebno u krimskoj regiji, bez obzira na volju ukrajinskog naroda. Iako je euromajdanski ustanak rezultirao neokonzervativnim režimom s kojim su završili, nitko nije pod iluzijom da je neprihvaćanje tog režima proizašlo iz „antifašističkog” sentimenta Rusije ili njihove „potrebe za obranom ruskih građana”. Uostalom, Putinov autoritarni režim u Rusiji nagrađivao je naciste i fašiste unutar zemlje sa zatvaranjem i ubijanjem antifašista, dok brojnim intervencijama ruskog imperijalizma u područjima bivšeg USSR-a ni nisu bila potrebna takva opravdanja. Rusija je htjela i još uvijek želi jednu stvar: nametnuti svoja uvjetovanja u rastućim imperijalističkim antagonizmima. Neće tolerirati vojnu okruženost na koju tvrdi da ju podvrgava NATO, instalaciju nuklearnog oružja na njezinom pragu, poticanje Zapada da se Ukrajina pridruži NATO-u, pokušaj energetske blokade njezine plinske opskrbe zemljama EU-a i smanjenje kontrole nad bivšom sovjetskom periferijom. Drugi čimbenik je očigledan nacionalizam unutar ruske vladajuće klase – u Ukrajini se nalazi početak ruske države (Kijevska Rus’) i istočni dio Ukrajine je naseljen od strane Ukrajinaca koji govore ruski jezik. To jest, ako se kroz iredentističku doktrinu sveruske nacije, Ukrajinci (zajedno s Bjelorusima) ne sagledavaju kao dio ruske nacije.

S druge strane, američki i euroatlantski kamp, gdje se ističe Velika Britanija, gura, kroz kršenje međunarodnih sporazuma za istočnu ekspanziju NATO-a, proširenje pritisaka na rusku ekonomiju i energetike u korist američkog ukapljenog prirodnog plina (LNG) te kontrolu arktičkog trgovačkog puta koji se otvara s topljenjem leda zbog destruktivnog učinka kapitalizma na prirodni okoliš i ekosustav. I Rusija i SAD pokušavaju preseliti svoje unutarnje krize u inozemstvo, dok istovremeno pokušavaju izazvati promjene u globalnoj imperijalističkoj hijerarhiji.

Rusija je skupila oko 200.000 vojnika na granici s Ukrajinom. Ruska vojska udara cijeli ukrajinski teritorij bombardiranjem. U vrijeme pisanja ove izjave, napada uglavnom iz Krima, Luganska i Harkiva. Prve žrtve imperijalističkog rata su postale činjenica. Već postoje civilne žrtve. Ukrajinska vlada, koja je, nemojmo zaboraviti, spoj neoliberala i neokonzervativaca, proglasila je ratno stanje u cijeloj zemlji. Na početku smo ratnih užasa.

Jedini gubitnik u ratu mora biti svjetska radnička klasa, posebice proleteri Ukrajine i Rusije. Njima je suđeno da budu topovsko meso država i kapitalista.

Imperijalistički rat se vodi za podjelu sfera utjecaja, energetskih puteva i preraspodjelu geopolitičke moći. Nemamo interesa boriti se za interese moćnika, za interese kapitala. Štoviše, očekuje se da će izbijanje rata donijeti sa sobom daljnje povećanje cijena te inflaciju u energeticima i osnovnim namirnicama, stavljajući još više opterećenja na džepove onih koji već sada ne mogu zadovoljiti svoje osnovne potrebe. Ne smijemo zaboraviti da je rat rješenje kapitala kako da prevlada strukturne krize, pretjerane akumulacije kapitala kojim je kapitalizam povremeno pogođen. Uništavanje fiksnog (sredstva za proizvodnju) i varijabilnog kapitala (radne snage, odnosno doslovno ljudskih života) utire put za kapitalističku rekonstrukciju i razvoj.

Naša revolucionarna i klasna dužnost diktira organizaciju i jačanje internacionalističkog, anti-ratnog i protu-imperijalističkog pokreta radničke klase. Logika agresivnijeg ili progresivnijeg imperijalizma jest logika koja dovodi do poraza radničke klase. Ne može biti imperijalističkog puta u službi naroda. Interesi radničke klase ne mogu se identificirati s kapitalističkim i imperijalističkim. Sabotaža ratnog stroja, organizacija klase i internacionalističkog anti-ratnog pokreta te jačanje društvenih i klasnih borbi u smjeru svjetske socijalne revolucije za izgradnju slobodarskog komunističkog društva, hitni te povijesni su zadaci potlačenih i izrabljenih ljudi svugdje. Ne možemo i ne smijemo biti zadovoljni s osrednjim i štetnim aranžmanima.

Radnici, nezaposleni i mladi nemaju razloga za odlazak u rat za interese vladajuće klase. Budimo svjesni našeg društvenog položaja i naših klasnih interesa. Neka to budu pokazatelji našeg stava i djelovanja, a ne ratoborne, uštogljene i nacionalističke retorike koju promoviraju šefovi i propagandni mediji koje oni kontroliraju. Nećemo platiti krizu kapitalističkog sustava s našom krvlju. Nećemo se ubijati sa sirotinjom drugih zemalja. Naprotiv, naša je dužnost blokirati ratni stroj te obnoviti društveni i klasni otpor, s promoviranjem klasnih interesa i materijalnih potreba društvene baze koje uzimamo kao naša načela vodilje. Organizirati se u društvene i klasne formacije radništva, organizirajući protu-napad naše klase u masovnom i militantnom smislu. Ovaj sistem rađa ratove i odgovoran je za siromaštvo, nepravdu, eksploataciju i ugnjetavanje. Stoga je vrijeme da mu se suprotstavimo na organizirani i dinamičan način, organizirajući njegovo rušenje na međunarodnoj razini.

NE SVAKOM RATU OSIM KLASNOM RATU!
NI S NATO-OM, NI S MOSKVOM!
ZA KLASNU I INTERNACIONALISTIČKU SABOTAŽU RATNOG STROJA!
PROTIV MILITARIZMA I RATA: ZA SAMOORGANIZIRANU BORBU I SOCIJALNU REVOLUCIJU!

☆ Alternativa Libertaria (AL/FdCA) – Italija
☆ Anarchist Communist Group (ACG) – Velika Britanija
☆ Anarhistička federacija – Grčka
☆ Aotearoa Workers Solidarity Movement (AWSM) – Aotearoa/Novi Zeland
☆ Coordenação Anarquista Brasileira (CAB) – Brazil
☆ Federación Anarquista de Rosario (FAR) – Argentina
☆ Federación Anarquista Uruguaya (FAU) – Urugvaj
☆ Embat, Organització Llibertària de Catalunya – Katalonija, Španjolska
☆ Libertäre Aktion (LA) – Švicarska
☆ Melbourne Anarchist Communist Group (MACG) – Australija
☆ Mreža anarhista (MASA-FAO) – Hrvatska
☆ Organización Anarquista de Córdoba (OAC) – Argentina
☆ Organización Anarquista de Santa Cruz (OASC) – Argentina
☆ Organización Anarquista de Tucuméan (OAT) – Argentina
☆ Organisation Socialiste Libertaire (OSL) – Švicarska
☆ Tekoşina Anarşist (TA) – Rožava
☆ Roja y Negra – Anarchist Organisation (Buenos Aires) – Argentina
☆ Union Communiste Libertaire (UCL) – Francuska, Belgija i Švicarska
☆ Grupo Libertario Vía Libre – Kolumbija

russie / ukraine / biélorussie / impérialisme / guerre / communiqué de presse Thursday March 03, 2022 16:10 byDiverses organisations anarchistes

Déclaration anarchiste internationale contre la guerre impérialiste et l'invasion russe en Ukraine, datée du 25/02/2022. Également disponible sur ce site en anglais, castillan, italien et portugais.

Une proclamation du président russe Vladimir Poutine a donné le feu vert à l’invasion militaire de l’Ukraine par la Russie. Les seuls perdants de la guerre seront la classe ouvrière mondiale, en particulier les prolétaires d’Ukraine et de Russie. Ce sont eux qui sont destinés à servir de chair à canon aux États et aux capitalistes. Il est de notre devoir de bloquer la machine de guerre et de reconstruire les résistances sociales et de classe, avec pour principe directeur la promotion des intérêts et des besoins matériels de notre classe.

Une proclamation du président russe Vladimir Poutine a donné le feu vert à l’invasion militaire de l’Ukraine par la Russie. Poutine affirme que l’acte de guerre de la Russie vise à soutenir la Crimée qu’elle occupe par la Russie et les « républiques populaires » de Donetsk et de Lougansk en Ukraine, face à l’adhésion potentielle de l’Ukraine à l’OTAN, à l’instigation de l’Occident. Mardi 22 février, la Russie a reconnu l’indépendance de ses protectorats informels dans le Donbass, exacerbant les tensions existantes avec l’axe euro-atlantique qui soutient le régime ukrainien.

Il ne faut pas oublier qu’une guerre civile de faible intensité se déroule en Ukraine depuis 2014, lorsque le gouvernement alors pro-russe du président Ianoukovitch a été renversé par une « révolution orange » qui a porté au pouvoir un régime pro-occidental désireux de se ranger du côté de l’axe euro-atlantique. Le soulèvement de Maidan, dont le bloc impérialiste euro-Atlantique a tiré profit, a sorti l’Ukraine de la sphère d’influence de la Russie. Il a également renforcé l’extrême-droite ukrainienne, qui a obtenu des sièges au parlement et développé des unités paramilitaires qui ont commis des atrocités contre les russophones et les membres des syndicats. Ce régime est reconnu et soutenu financièrement et militairement par les États appartenant à l’Union européenne et à l’OTAN, qui cherchent désormais des solutions diplomatiques pour la prévalence des « valeurs démocratiques occidentales », alors même que des images de croix gammées sur des bâtiments publics ont été divulguées sur les médias sociaux.

La Russie, quant à elle, n’était pas prête dès le départ à perdre son ancrage impérialiste en Ukraine et surtout dans la région de Crimée, quelle que soit la volonté du peuple ukrainien. Le soulèvement de l’Euromaïdan a peut-être débouché sur le régime néoconservateur auquel il a abouti, mais personne ne se fait d’illusion sur le fait que la non-acceptation de ce régime est née du sentiment « antifasciste » de la Russie ou de son « besoin de protéger les citoyens russes ».

Après tout, le régime autoritaire de Poutine en Russie a récompensé les nazis et les fascistes à l’intérieur de son propre pays en emprisonnant et en tuant des antifascistes, alors que les nombreuses interventions de l’impérialisme russe dans les régions de l’ex-URSS n’avaient pas besoin d’une telle justification. La Russie voulait et veut toujours une chose : imposer ses propres conditions dans les antagonismes impérialistes. Elle ne tolérera pas l’encerclement militaire qu’elle prétend subir de la part de l’OTAN, l’installation d’armes nucléaires à ses portes, l’incitation auprès de l’Ukraine par les puissances occidentales à rejoindre l’OTAN, et la réduction de son contrôle sur l’ancienne périphérie soviétique. Un autre facteur est le nationalisme flagrant au sein de la classe dirigeante russe – l’Ukraine est le pays d’origine de l’État russe (la Rus de Kiev) et la partie orientale de l’Ukraine est habitée par des Ukrainiens russophones.

De l’autre côté, les États-Unis et le camp euro-Atlantique, avec le Royaume-Uni en tête, poussent, en violation des accords internationaux, à l’expansion orientale de l’OTAN, à l’exercice d’une pression économique et énergétique sur la Russie en faveur du gaz naturel liquéfié (GNL) américain et au contrôle de la route commerciale arctique, qui s’ouvre avec la fonte des glaces due à l’effet destructeur du capitalisme sur l’environnement naturel et l’écosystème. Tant la Russie que les États-Unis tentent d’exporter leur crise interne à l’étranger, tout en essayant de provoquer des changements dans la hiérarchie impérialiste mondiale.

La Russie a rassemblé quelques 200 000 soldats à la frontière avec l’Ukraine. L’armée russe pilonne l’ensemble du territoire ukrainien avec des bombardements. Au moment de la rédaction de cette déclaration, elle attaque principalement depuis la Crimée, Lugansk et Kharkiv. Les premières victimes de la guerre impérialiste sont un fait. On parle déjà de victimes civiles. Le gouvernement ukrainien, qui, ne l’oublions pas, est un amalgame de néolibéraux et de néoconservateurs, a déclaré la loi martiale dans tout le pays. Nous n’en sommes qu’au début des horreurs de la guerre…

Les seuls perdant·es de la guerre seront la classe ouvrière mondiale, en particulier les prolétaires d’Ukraine et de Russie. Ce sont elles et eux qui sont destiné·es à servir de chair à canon aux États et aux capitalistes.

La guerre impérialiste est menée pour le partage des sphères d’influence, des routes énergétiques et le réarrangement du pouvoir géopolitique. Nous n’avons aucun intérêt à nous battre pour les intérêts des puissants, pour les intérêts du capital. De plus, le déclenchement de la guerre devrait entraîner de nouvelles augmentations de prix et une inflation tant pour l’énergie que pour les produits de base, mettant encore plus à mal les poches de ceux qui sont déjà incapables de satisfaire leurs besoins fondamentaux. Nous ne devons pas oublier que la guerre est une solution du capital pour surmonter les crises structurelles de suraccumulation dont le capitalisme est périodiquement affligé. La destruction du capital fixe (moyens de production) et variable (force de travail) ouvre la voie à la reconstruction et au développement du capitalisme.

Notre devoir révolutionnaire et de classe dicte l’organisation et le renforcement du mouvement internationaliste, anti-guerre et anti-impérialiste de la classe ouvrière. La logique d’un impérialisme plus agressif ou plus progressiste est une logique qui mène à la défaite de la classe ouvrière. Il ne peut y avoir de voie impérialiste favorable au peuple. Les intérêts de la classe ouvrière ne peuvent être identifiés à ceux des capitalistes et des puissances impérialistes. Le sabotage de la machine de guerre, l’organisation du mouvement anti-guerre de classe et internationaliste et le renforcement des luttes sociales et de classes dans la direction de la révolution sociale mondiale pour la construction d’une société communiste libertaire sont les tâches urgentes et historiques des opprimé·es et des exploité·es partout. Nous ne pouvons et ne devons pas nous contenter d’arrangements médiocres et préjudiciables.

Les travailleur·es, les chômeur·es et les jeunes n’ont aucune raison de partir en guerre pour les intérêts de la classe dominante. Soyons conscient·es de notre position sociale et de nos intérêts de classe. Que ceux-ci soient les indicateurs de notre attitude et de notre action et non la rhétorique belliqueuse, ordonnée et nationaliste promue par les patrons et les médias de propagande qu’ils contrôlent. Nous ne paierons pas de notre sang la crise du système capitaliste. Nous ne nous entre-tuerons pas avec les pauvres diables des autres pays.

Au contraire, il est de notre devoir de bloquer la machine de guerre et de reconstruire les résistances sociales et de classe, avec pour principe directeur la promotion des intérêts et des besoins matériels de notre classe. Nous organiser massivement dans les formations sociales et militantes de notre classe vers la contre-attaque. Ce système engendre les guerres et est responsable de la pauvreté, de l’injustice, de l’exploitation et de l’oppression. Il est donc temps de le défier de manière organisée et dynamique, en organisant son renversement à l’échelle internationale.

PAS DE GUERRE MAIS UNE GUERRE DE CLASSE !
NI OTAN NI MOSCOU !
BLOCUS DE CLASSE ET INTERNATIONALISTE DE LA MACHINE DE GUERRE
CONTRE LE MILITARISME ET LA GUERRE : POUR LA LUTTE AUTO-ORGANISÉE ET LA RÉVOLUTION SOCIALE !


Le 25 février 2022,

☆ Alternativa Libertaria (AL/FdCA) – Italie
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☆ Federación Anarquista Uruguaya (FAU) – Uruguay
☆ Embat, Organització Llibertària de Catalunya – Catalogne
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☆ Organización Anarquista de Tucuman (OAT) – Argentine
☆ Organisation Socialiste Libertaire (OSL) – Suisse
☆ Union Communiste Libertaire (UCL) – France, Belgique, Suisse

russia / ukraine / belarus / imperialism / war / opinion / analysis Tuesday March 01, 2022 09:18 byWayne Price

Anti-war activists, anti-imperialists, and radicals need to be in solidarity with the Ukrainian people, against Russian aggression, while opposing both U.S. and Russian imperialism.

The Ukrainian crisis may be seen as two intersecting and overlapping conflicts. One is the underlying competition between the U.S. imperial state and the Russian imperial state (and the allies of each). The other is between the Russian imperial state and the weaker, oppressed, nation of Ukraine.

The traditions of revolutionary anarchism and left-Marxism have opposed all imperialist states in their inter-imperialist conflict, rejecting all sides. Also they have generally opposed the oppression and exploitation of weaker countries by stronger, imperial, states. The question of “who is the aggressor?” (or “who fired the first shot?”) is not central, compared to the dynamics of oppression and domination.

U.S. and Russian Imperialisms

Both the U.S.A. and Russia are capitalist states which throw their weight around internationally. Together they have 90% of the world’s nuclear bombs—which risks exterminating humanity and other species. They supply a large proportion of the world’s oil and gas, setting the stage for global climate catastrophe. The U.S. is the biggest, wealthiest, state with the biggest armed forces and most foreign bases in the world, even if it is in decline. Russia is much weaker and less economically significant but still a large militarized state. The US state wants to counter its own international decay, especially in comparison to its allies in Europe and to its other main competitor, China. The Russian state, under its authoritarian ruler Vladimir Putin, wants to expand politically, economically, and militarily, to make up for the collapse of the empire of the Soviet Union.

The U.S. laid the basis for the current crisis. In 1991, the U.S. and the Soviet Union agreed to end the Cold War. Russia agreed to let Germany be reunited. The U.S. government promised to not expand NATO’s military alliance further to the east, “not one inch.” However, the U.S. did not keep its promise. It incorporated 14 more countries into NATO, coming up to Russia’s borders. It provided military supplies and bases for these countries, which included Poland. This went along with the eastward expansion of the European Union. (A few far-sighted politicians and military people warned of the dangers of U.S. policy but they were ignored.) The Russians were not directly or immediately threatened, but—by the logic of national states—this inevitably put pressure on them to push back. The expansion of NATO may have been a reason for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or it may only have served as an excuse—but either way it destabilized the region.

There are many on the left who see the U.S. as the only danger and therefore support any anti-U,S. force, no matter how oppressive or undemocratic (this is “campism”). But U.S. imperialism is not the only imperialism, just as imperialism is not the only capitalist evil (as is demonstrated by the repressive dictatorships among the poorer nations).

In this case, Ukraine has been oppressed by Russia for centuries. It was ruled by the Czarist empire and then by the Stalinist-Communist dictatorship. Now the present authoritarian Russian state wants to dominate it again. Unlike many U.S. leftists, every Ukrainian is aware of this history.

While opposing the imperialism of the various great powers, revolutionary socialists defend the self-determination of oppressed nations. That does not require endorsing the governments or leaderships of these nations. It means being in solidarity with the people (who are mostly workers, peasants, local merchants, and the poor). It means supporting these nations' independence, self-organization, choice of social, economic, and political system, etc. Anarchists may not agree with the political and economic opinions of the majority of the people (who usually want their own national state). But revolutionary libertarian socialists are in solidarity with the people and their right to make their own choices—including their right to learn from their own mistakes.

The United States government makes a big show of supporting Ukraine’s national self-determination. Before the Russian invasion, the U.S. insisted that Ukraine had the right to join NATO. The Russians had asked that the U.S. promise that Ukraine would never join the Western military alliance. In fact it was well-known that Ukraine was not going to be allowed into NATO in any foreseeable future. But the U.S. state insisted piously that it could not provide Russia with a guarantee on this, because every sovereign state had the right to chose whatever alliance it wanted to join. While abstractly true, this assertion by the U.S. deserved a horselaugh. Consider the reaction of the U.S. when Cuba allied with the Soviet Union: boycotts and quarantines, attempts to assassinate President Castro, organizing the Bay of Pigs invasion by Cuban exiles, etc Then when Castro and Russia’s Khrushchev put nuclear-armed missiles in Cuba, the U.S. blockaded the island militarily and risked a nuclear world war. (I am not supporting the reckless decision of the Cuban and Russian states to install these nuclear missiles.)

Imagine today the U.S. reaction if Mexico were to announce a military accord with China, with Chinese missile bases on the U.S. border!

Right now the U.S. is militarily supporting monarchist Saudi Arabia, in its war in Yemen, with horrible consequences for the Yemeni people. And the U.S. is continuing its large-scale support for Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people, denying them any sort of national self-determination.

The hypocrisy is so obvious that even an intelligent (“Never Trump”) conservative, Bret Stephens, could write:

Who are we, with our long history of invasions and interventions, to lecture Vladimir Putin about respecting national sovereignty and international law? Who are we, with our domestic record of slavery and discrimination, our foreign record of supporting friendly dictators, … after 198 years of the Monroe Doctrine, to try to stop Russia from delineating its own sphere of influence?” (Stephens 2022; A22)

Being a bourgeois pundit, he concludes that the U.S. should still intervene in the Ukraine vs. Russia conflict, asking, “Who but us?” (The working people of Ukraine and Russia?)

Russian Aggression

The Russian government is more ambiguous in its justification of its war on Ukraine. Vladimir Putin denies that Ukraine is a country or that Ukrainians are a people He has repeatedly asserted that they are merely a part of Russia and always have been. In a conversation with George Wl Bush, he said, “Ukraine is not even a State.” Putin blamed Lenin and the Bolsheviks for regarding the Ukrainians as a people who needed their own republic when the USSR was established. Since, he claims, Ukraine is not a nation, it can have no national self-determination.

Instead, Putin’s regime has worked up a bunch of other reasons to justify its war on the Ukrainians. He claims that their state is Nazi, for example, and promises to "de-nazify" Ukraine. It is true that neo-Nazi and ultra-nationalist far-right trends have grown in Ukraine, feeding off the reaction against Russian imperialism. Ukrainian anarchists and others have opposed them. But such groupings do not, by any means, control the government. They have almost no representatives in parliament and the president, Volodymyr Zelensky, is a Jew. In any case, the cruel dictatorship of Saddam Hussein did not justify the U.S. invasion of Iraq nor the mysogyny of the Taliban the U.S. war on the Afghanistani people.

Putin and his minions have a nerve denouncing supposedly fascist governments. Putin has allied himself with neo-Nazi and far-right forces in Russia and internationally. He has built up an undemocratic ultra-nationalist bourgeois regime, tied to the Russian Orthodox Church. He has whipped up rage against LGBT people as "Western" threats to Russia. In the U.S., Putin and the far-right Donald Trump have long had a lovefest, recently demonstrated in Trump’s praise of Putin’s actions in Ukraine. Who is the fascist? (Further, speaking of mass-murdering totalitarians, any process of Russian “de-Stalinization,” rooting out those who made the Soviet Union so oppressive, would surely include punishment for officers of the KGB police, such as Vladimir Putin!)

Putin also charges that the Ukrainian government has been committing “genocide” against the Russian-speaking minority in eastern Ukraine (the Donbas), which is a lie. For eight years Russian forces have supported two breakaway states in eastern Ukraine, in a secessionist war with the majority of the country. Most of the Russian-speakers there had voted for an independent whole Ukraine in 1991. What they want now, under the conditions of authoritarian pro-Russian rule and civil war is anyone’s guess. The Ukrainian regime has not handled this well, removing Russian from being an official language and not providing autonomy for the eastern Russian-speakers. Whatever the failures of Ukraine in its treatment of its Russian-speakers, they hardly justify Russia invading and taking over the country,

The same point can be made in relation to Putin’s other complaints. The Ukrainian government asked to join NATO (but was rejected). It might someday set up nuclear missiles (but in 1994 it got rid of the nuclear missiles it inherited from the Soviet Union, sending many to Russia). The government is corrupt and undemocratic (this from Putin!). And so on, none of which remotely justifies a Russian invasion.

Some on the libertarian left argue that anarchists do not support national liberation, and therefore should not take sides in the Russian war on the Ukrainians. Some ignorant anarchists think that “national self-determination” was invented by Lenin. Actually it has long been part of the program of bourgeois-democracy and classical liberalism, along with freedom of speech and association, freedom of religion, land to the farmers who use it, the right to bear arms, the election of officials, equality of races, genders, and nationalities, trial by jury, and so on. (The bourgeoisie has always failed to consistently carry out its democratic program.)

The revolutionary anarchist Michael Bakunin wrote, “Nationality, like individuality, is a natural fact. It denotes the inalienable right of individuals, groups, associations, and regions to their own way of life. And this way of life is the product of a long historical development [a confluence of human beings with a common history, language, and a common cultural background]. And this is why I will always champion the cause of oppressed nationalities struggling to liberate themselves….” (Dolgoff, 1980, p. 401) By “nationality...is a natural fact,” he meant, not that nationality is a biological fact, but that it is created mostly by unplanned, unpurposive, social history.

As Peter Kropotkin wrote, “True internationalism will never be obtained except by the independence of each nationality, little or large, compact or disunited--just as [the essence of] anarchy is in the independence of each individual. If we say, no government of man over man, how can [we] permit the government of conquered nationalities by the conquering nationalities?” (quoted in Miller, 1976, p. 231)
The basic principles of the situation should be clear: support for the Ukrainians against the Russian invaders. Oppose both Russian and U.S. imperialism. It is a tactical question to decide how to implement these principles. In Russia there has developed an antiwar movement, whose main demand is peace and the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine. In Ukraine, they certainly want Russian troops to withdraw, but a call for “peace” is probably mistaken. Rather they have to fight against the invaders. In the U.S. radicals should stay clear from endorsing the government’s policies, and should call for the withdrawal and dismemberment of NATO.

However, it would be a mistake to oppose the U.S. sending arms to the Ukrainian army or people. The Ukrainian people are literally under the gun. It is up to them how to fight and from whom to get arms. They should not be criticized for taking weapons from the U..S. or elsewhere—although they should be warned not to trust the U.S. or NATO.

The same point applies to Ukrainian anarchists.Should they form guerrilla groups to resist the Russians? Join various volunteer organizations to aid the fight? Join the official army? These are issues best left to those on the ground, facing the enemy (or enemies). But wherever possible, they should try to promote political independence of the majority of people, the working class and oppressed, from the national state, the capitalist rulers, and U.S. imperialism—and promote a reliance on their own forces.

The U.S. Left

The U.S. Left has fractured over the Ukrainian-Russian war. By and large, most liberals have accepted the administration’s views uncritically. They ignore what the U.S. and NATO have done to prepare the conflict and their hypocrisy in opposing Russian aggression.

Many radicals and far-leftists have been on the side of Russia, finding excuses for the invasion. They have learned so well to oppose U.S. imperialism that they can only see the world through anti-U.S. lenses, ignoring the complexity of reality.They care nothing at all about the self-determination of Ukraine, so long as there is peace between Russia and the U.S. We can expect a similar non-reaction if China were to attack Taiwan—looking at every aspect of the issue except what the people of Taiwan want.

But there is a part of the radical left which opposes both U.S. and Russian imperialisms. Sometimes this minority has little to say about defending Ukrainians. But often it also calls for the self-determination of Ukraine, including its right to self-defense. It looks for splits in ruling classes and those behind them.

Popularly, in Russia there have been demonstrations against the war in over 50 cities so far—bravely done, since so many demonstrators were arrested. Also, the Confederation of Labor of Russia [KTR], with more than 20 unions and about 2 million members, denounced the war and called for a negotiated peace. These reflect discontent among Russia’s working classes and oppressed people, a discontent which may lead anywhere.

The people of Ukraine have risen to the challenge of the invasion, and shown a remarkable degree of courage and determination. Both the official army and the volunteer forces have heroically fought back against better armed and larger military forces How this will play out, cannot be presently known, but the Russians will pay a far greater price than they expected to.

The world is in a dangerous place. The deadly pandemic is far from under control—and there will be more plagues. The international economy, while back from the brink of collapse, remains unstable and vulnerable, with a vast expansion of economic inequality. The global climate continues to come unstuck, devolving toward a climate catastrophe, along with cataclysms in every aspect of the ecology. Despite the end of the Cold War, the great powers have never been able to disarm their nuclear bombs. Political democracy (however limited under capitalist states) has been under attack wherever it exists.

It is in this context that a major imperial state has invaded another, relatively developed, country. This has put the invader, Russia, in confrontation with the U.S.—a confrontation of two nuclear-armed states.

The international capitalist class, with its states and world corporate market, is not capable of maintaining society. It cannot be depended on to keep the peace, provide ecologically balanced prosperity for everyone, and develop a self-governing radically democratic, cooperative society the world around. Working people and the oppressed of all lands must work together and replace these rulers with freedom, equality, and full democracy. This can begin by being in solidarity with the Ukrainians, against both Russian and U.S. imperialism.

References

Dolgoff, Sam (ed. and trans.). (1980). Bakunin on Anarchism. Montreal: Black Rose Books.


Miller, Martin (1976). Kropotkin. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press.

Stephens, Bret (2/23/2022). “Ukraine and America’s Self-Belief” NY Times. A22.

*
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