David North

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2022/04/02/lett-a02.html

For the imperialist powers, and above all the United States, the purpose of this war is a new division of the world. The main targets of this redivision are Russia and China. The United States is determined to 1) end Russia’s existence as an obstacle to its global interests, and 2) obtain direct control over Russia’s immense strategic resources. The realization of these goals requires the breakup of Russia in its existing form. As this struggle unfolds, the United States is pursuing similar objectives in relation to China.

Leon Trotsky, Fourth International World Conference, May, 19-26, 1940: https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/document/fi/1938-1949/emergconf/fi-emerg02.htm

U. S. capitalism is up against the same problems that pushed Germany in 1914 on the path of war. The world is divided? It must be redivided. For Germany it was a question of “organizing Europe.” The United States must “organize” the world. History is bringing humanity face to face with the volcanic eruption of American imperialism.

David North:

But this arsenal does not provide, in the longer term, a viable strategy for the existential struggle that Russia confronts.

However, the Trotskyist movement does not base its strategy on the sort of pragmatic nationally grounded conceptions that determine the policies of the capitalist regime in Russia.

The defense of the Russian masses against imperialism cannot be undertaken on the basis of bourgeois nation-state geopolitics.

Russian Socialist writer: https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2022/04/05/lett-a05.html

“First, the Russian bourgeoisie has no material basis for the expansion of its ’empire.’ (Financial capital of Russia is incredibly weak in comparison with Western financial capital. In fact, the influence of Russian financial capital is fully manifested only in Russia itself, and partially in a number of ‘allied’ countries—Belarus, Syria and others). Second, there is also missing in the psychological character of the Russian bourgeois state (which, of course, results from the material conditions)—it does not seek to defeat its rival imperialists, to take away its markets, to weaken its influence on the world stage. No, it seeks to make a deal with imperialism so that the Russian bourgeoisie, accustomed to its solely privileged parasitic position in a country rich in raw materials, will not be touched.”

Contradicting himself: “Putin wants to keep the world as it has been for the last thirty years, when Russia was “independent” from Western partners. Over the past thirty years, this position has been constantly violated by NATO’s eastward expansion, which is what the Russian bourgeoisie fears, not surprisingly.”

Putin’s “Task”: Putin does not need any expansion for the “Russian world,” as the material conditions for this are totally unsuitable and will not allow him to do so. His main task is not to expand, but to protect a position that will allow the Russian bourgeoisie not to fear a military intervention by NATO. Putin is incapable of destroying NATO (except for nuclear war), so he will reckon with NATO, but by protecting his interests in the border areas of Russia, as he did in 2008, 2014 and this year.

If Putin’s regime were imperialist… “But we don’t see that because there is no real imperialist basis for that, i.e., there is no strong financial capital capable of expanding its interests into weaker countries in order to subjugate them to the center and exploit them for extraction of increased surplus value. In this way, Russia would indeed become imperialist, as pre-Soviet Russia once was.”

Putin’s dance, “feverish… swings from side to side” keeps Russia from turning imperialist: “In principle, the current isolation of Russia could give more influence to this pro-imperialist stratum, but as long as there is a Putin regime engaged in maneuvering, feverish and improvisational swings from side to side, we will not see any imperialist policy from Russia. I hope you agree with my position on this point.”

As long as Putin keeps dancing, Russia will have no problem with imperialism! Putin, through some new personal, political formula, protects Russia from fascism and imperialism!

Fascism cannot arise from a class society: “One further point must be made: the establishment of fascism would require a tremendous militarization, hitherto unprecedented in Russia, to provide some real basis for its expansionary policy. But it is the duty of every revolutionary Marxist to prevent such consequences through socialist revolution. There is no other way to avoid negative consequences in this matter, and it would hardly exist within a class society where the revolutionary class is the proletariat.”