{"id":841,"date":"2024-01-11T07:22:18","date_gmt":"2024-01-11T07:22:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cipoml.net\/en\/?p=841"},"modified":"2024-01-11T07:22:23","modified_gmt":"2024-01-11T07:22:23","slug":"international-situation-and-our-tasks-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cipoml.net\/en\/international-situation-and-our-tasks-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"International situation and our tasks – 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

1.<\/strong> Since our last Conference, the world economy has been confronted with serious problems, such as high inflation rates, particularly food prices, and a decline in the rate of growth of industrial and agricultural production and trade volumes, which have slowed the overall rate of economic growth. Some of the measures governments have tried to deal with the financial problems, such as raising the interest rates, have exacerbated and deepened existing problems and created new ones, while at the same time worsening the working and living conditions of the working class and the peoples of the world, whose real incomes have been declining and millions are suffering from unemployment and underemployment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have also witnessed the political events triggered by the war in Ukraine and other ongoing events preceding it. These can be categorised into two groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2.<\/strong> In all capitalist countries, the attacks of capital and governments on the working class and working people in general are on the rise, and, apart from showcase supports in European countries, all the impasses and problems in the economy are burdened on the peoples. An example is France, where a serious attack has been launched to raise the retirement age and the number of days to pay contributions. Working people are now forced to get a second job but still heat less, eat less and get food aid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The approaches and practices of capital and governments to worsen the working and living conditions of workers and labourers are much harsher in the dependent countries, and life in these countries is becoming more and more difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, under the pretext of \u201cfighting inflation<\/em>\u201d, the reactionary bourgeoise in almost every country has resorted to tight monetary policy and cut spending on everything except armaments, and some showcase support for the public in energy. The cuts have peaked in municipal services, health and education, as well as in the energy sector in European countries, notably Germany which limited its purchase of Russian gas initially and later stopped it completely. Heaters in state institutions are set at 19 degrees Celsius and to be turned off at night. In the public sector, wage freezes or small increases when necessary have become common practice. In Europe, strikes have become widespread because demands for wage increases have not been accepted, and despite prolonged strikes, governments insist on low rises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3<\/strong>. Democracy and freedoms have become increasingly restricted in the advanced capitalist countries, including those dubbed as \u201ccradle of democracy<\/em>\u201d. This reactionary tendency is the general tendency of monopolies and imperialism, but today, as the ruling bourgeoisie finds it difficult to govern, it is happening on a remarkable scale. In 2019, the then UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson tried to temporarily suspend parliament before the elections, but this was overturned by the Supreme Court. Recently Macron did something similar in France, to force through the pensions bill bypassing the parliament. The power of governments to rule by decree, which has been enshrined in the law in countries like Turkey and Hungary, and which is wanted to be implemented in Ecuador, tends to spread into capitalist countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reactionary tendency is also reflected in the nature of the laws passed. Racist anti-immigrant laws are becoming more common. The same is true for the laws to increase police powers in terms of preventive detentions and intervention in demonstrations. Britain, France and Germany have already taken steps in this direction. In the face of the widespread strikes in Britain, the government has prioritised legislation to restrict further the already limited right to strike. Nationalist, racist and fascist movements are getting stronger across the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4.<\/strong> A direct consequence of the deterioration in the economy and the attacks on the working people has been the mobilisation of the masses of workers and labourers in almost all countries, some of them with a tendency to turn into uprisings and the emergence and spread of prolonged strikes and demonstrations in which the workers of the developed countries have come to the fore after many years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We live in a period when the struggle between labour and capital, between the working class which is still unorganised and has a low level of consciousness, and the fully organised bourgeoisie, which sets its goals ever higher and strives to achieve them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

INTER-IMPERIALIST STRUGGLE INTENSIFIES<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

5.<\/strong> Our last conference was convened in the aftermath of Russia\u2019s attack on Ukraine and its partial occupation in February 2022, which was followed by the imposition of multilateral sanctions on Russia by the US and its allies. The prolonged war in Europe is a consequence of and a clear indication of the significant hardening of the inter-imperialist contradictions, and a sign that it should not be expected to subside. Also, the sanctions imposed in the aftermath of the war, which shook the Russian economy and pushed that country towards China \u2013to the extent that the US and allied imperialists would not actually prefer\u2013 and solidified the alliance between the two countries, together with the formalisation of the targeting of China at NATO\u2019s Madrid Summit, showed that a d\u00e9tente between rival alliances, which are getting even more tightly clustered, cannot be expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the last year, inter-imperialist relations have become even more fierce. Moreover, the contradictions and conflicts between the imperialists, including the relations of the dependent countries with imperialism, are intensifying along with the intensification of the contradictions and conflicts between the imperialists and the oppressed peoples of the world and between the international bourgeoisie and the world proletariat. Altogether, they are signs that the general crisis of capitalism is building up, and they give a panorama of the destabilisation of the world by capitalism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6.<\/strong> One consequence of the war in Ukraine was that while the China-Russia alliance consolidated, the US, which had instigated the war together with the UK, was able to increase its control over the EU by drawing the European imperialists to its side and making them more dependent on US energy. The US, in close cooperation with NATO and the EU Military Union, is developing its military infrastructure from the Arctic to the Black Sea by establishing new US and NATO military bases. NATO continues to expand with new member states in Europe, up to the Russian borders. The latest examples are Finland and Sweden. At the same time, the EU is expanding with new member states in order to secure its economic and military power and influence in the region. Ukraine is a target for both NATO and the EU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This, surely, does not mean that contradictions and conflicts of interest no longer exist between the US and the European imperialists and the EU, between European monopoly groups and between EU countries. Such contradictions and conflicts also remain between China, Russia and the other member states and monopoly groups of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. But despite the contradictions between them, the imperialists form blocs in two rival alliances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7.<\/strong> NATO (and through it the US) tries to increase its political role and influence in various multilateral organisations and in the EU, both at regional and international levels. It is increasingly demanding that member states coordinate their foreign policies and develop a global focus, and we are seeing the results of this in the war in Ukraine. As an international organisation, NATO wants its members to discuss and unite on important strategic and political issues. It is also described as a security issue that if the political and technical solutions envisaged by member states and the supplies for their trade do not come from allies and \u201cfriends<\/em>\u201d, or are not demanded by them, they will pose a common threat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The assessment of Russia and China as a \u201cthreat<\/em>\u201d, which was enshrined in NATO\u2019s Strategic Concept for 2022 and reinforced at the NATO summit in Vilnius in July 2023, has been given the mantle of an ideological struggle between the \u201cfree Western<\/em>\u201d world and authoritarian regimes labelled as rivals. At the last G7 summit in Hiroshima, the same problem was raised and it was decided to \u201cde-risk<\/em>\u201d international relations. This \u201cde-risking<\/em>\u201d means that the G7 will toughen diplomacy, diversify their sources of trade and protect their trade and technology. It also means that the US ban on chips and chip technology targeting China could also be extended to the export of technology that could be used for military purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8.<\/strong> On the other hand, European imperialists have begun to militarise and arm their countries and the EU, making use of the war. The European imperialists have redefined, ambitiously and greedily, the EU\u2019s strategy and power of action through the common security and defence policy \u2013the \u201cstrategic compass<\/em>\u201d and \u201cstrategic autonomy<\/em>\u201d\u2013 and are rapidly building up the EU military union. The EU wants to strengthen its ability to cooperate militarily with other powers to protect its strategic independence and the interests of the European monopolies. The war in Ukraine has been used as a pretext for the militarisation and rearmament of individual countries and the EU. The military budgets of all EU\/NATO countries, especially Germany and France, are doubling and even tripling to finance the demands of both NATO and the EU. This is accompanied by heavy war propaganda based on fear, anti-communism and uncertainty about the future. Under the same cover, the police state and fascism are being strengthened in almost all European countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite this political and ideological offensive, the working class in European countries oppose in greater numbers the war policy and the militarisation which seriously aggravates their living conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The extension of imperialist ambitions to the military sphere is not limited to the old continent and is reflected, above all, in France\u2019s long-standing aggression in Africa. With no history of colonial practices in this continent, while China skilfully uses the hatred of colonialism to pursue rapid economic expansion, Russia is on a political-military offensive as was showcased in July when it hosted a meeting with the continent’s leaders in St Petersburg and promised grain aid to food-strapped countries; France faces problems in Africa. It was forced to withdraw its troops from Mali with the European Task Force Takuba in July 2022, from the Central African Republic in December 2022, from Burkina Faso early this year, and then from Niger following the military coups. Yet another coup took place in the former French colony of Gabon, and these coups have close links with Russia which has Wagner missionaries in many countries. Despite its exclusion from these countries, France has not given up its plundering and aggression on this continent, still has troops in Chad, for example, and is active in the entire Sahel region under the pretext of the Islamist \u201cBoko Haram terror<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9.<\/strong> The US imperialism\u2019s position in the world is clear enough with its incitement to war with the propaganda \u201cRussia is about to attack<\/em>\u201d, which it started months before the invasion, as well as the provocation of NATO\u2019s eastward expansion and its encouragement of Ukraine to become a member, despite Russia\u2019s declaration of it being its \u201cred line<\/em>\u201d. US imperialism, even if it still uses a \u201cproxy<\/em>\u201d (Ukraine), is an aggressive power that wants to put its rivals on the back foot through war, which it has not hesitated to provoke in Europe. This does not mean that its rivals, for example, Russia, which has proven its aggression with its invasion of Ukraine, are not aggressive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10.<\/strong> While it is Russia that has resorted to war, the main opponent of the United States is China, whose industry has developed rapidly in recent years on the basis of a new and technologically advanced technical base. China, which has almost caught up with the US in terms of GDP, is still far behind US imperialism in terms of its military-industrial complex and armament capacity. China is trying to overcome this deficit, temporarily by strengthening its alliance with Russia. Realizing that it will not be able to cope with China in the not-too-distant future, the US, on the other hand, is trying to leave China without support by putting pressure on Russia through Ukraine, in an effort to collapse this country or at least weaken it, and in the meantime hinder China\u2019s economic development through trade wars and industrial wars. It seems that it is entirely unsuccessful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11.<\/strong> The war in Ukraine has been a turning point and a means of renewing the relationship between the imperialists, going as far as the talk of the use of nuclear weapons \u2013even if only as a bluff\u2013 for the first time in many years. In this context, the following can be said in addition:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1) Apparently, Russia is fighting Ukraine, not NATO, but the situation is different from Syria, for example. Russia has clearly turned against NATO \u2013 the US and its allies, and NATO is virtually fighting, with the support of technology, information from space, laser guidance, advanced weaponry and training, and this war is taking place amid Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2) One symptom of the multi-faceted sharpening of inter-imperialist rivalry \u2013economically, politically, militarily, etc.\u2013 by the Ukrainian war is that the US and its allies have imposed the harshest economic and financial sanctions to date aiming to cripple the Russian economy, while European countries, especially Germany, which have been forced to switch energy sources, are suffering serious damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3) The war in Ukraine led to a repositioning of the European bourgeoisie, especially Germany. While the US rallied the European imperialists around itself, the tendency of German imperialism, represented by Schr\u00f6der, to adopt a policy of closer relations with Russia has been seriously weakened and the relations between the two countries have been severed abruptly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4) With the war in Ukraine, the changes in the international transport routes and supply chains have become clearer; these changes have been initiated in particular by the US and the EU has invested 300 billion Euros; and the American bourgeoisie, seeking to drag the bourgeoisies of the European countries behind it, has hardened its position on China. In this context, certain American investments have begun to withdraw from China, while the Europeans are still maintaining their economic relations with China, including their investments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5) India, though keeping close to the US, has strong economic and military ties with Russia, thus it refuses to support the sanctions and develops its relations with the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation after the difficulties it has had in adapting to the new positioning; and this is an important element of the impact of the war that has led to the renewal of relations between the imperialists. India is in a different position today than it was two years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

12.<\/strong> No imperialist country has as many military bases spread all over the world or as much capacity for surveillance and intervention as the US. And it alone spends more on armaments than the next 10 countries put together. Total global arms spending is alarming, rising 13% to a total of $2.240 trillion in 2022. However, compared to a decade ago, defence spending in China (63%) and India (47%) is up sharply, and these countries are making up for their shortfalls. The top four countries that spent the most on arms in 2022 are the United States with $877 billion, up 0.7% from the previous year, China with $292 billion, up 4.2%, Russia with $86.4 billion, up 9.2%, and India with $81.4 billion, up 6%. While the US seems to be able to maintain and even increase its arms spending, which is 3.4% of its GDP, Russia, which allocates almost 5% of its GDP to arms and implements war economy while being challenged by sanctions, may find it difficult to maintain this level of armament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

13.<\/strong> American imperialism pursues its strategy of forcing its rivals into an early showdown or bringing them to their knees, not only by provoking Russia into war, turning Europe into a battlefield and forcing the European imperialists to unite with it. It is also expanding its trade war with China, which it has been waging for several years \u2013initially with Trump, with Europe as a secondary target\u2013 to include the industrial sector. The policy of weakening Chinese industry, especially by excluding it from chip production, has had a certain impact on the Chinese economy, along with the alteration of transportation and supply routes. The then US Congress Speaker Pelosi\u2019s visit to Taiwan was not only about chip production, but also about encouraging its allies in the Asia Pacific countries as well as Taiwan, which US imperialism has patted on the back, and inviting those that have taken undecided\/neutral positions under its umbrella.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By abandoning its policy of disarmament and turning to rapid armament, Japan is now taking on a more advanced role as an ally and pillar of American imperialism in the region. Australia is in a similar position, having turned its back on its treaty with France and is developing its armament, including the nuclear ones, through the AUKUS agreement with the US and Britain. In terms of its role in the alliance, South Korea, which has invested more in arms than Italy, is also a US ally that cannot be neglected. Most recently, the US is renewing its relations with the Philippines, where it has not stationed troops for 30 years, and is establishing 4 new military bases in the country within the scope of the Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) signed in 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Middle East, which has been expanding towards the Caucasus, Africa and Asia, has not lost its importance for the imperialists. It is in a strategic position in terms of energy reserves and transport routes. Changes have been brewing in recent years in this geography which has been the scene of many regional and national wars. In particular, the US tried to exclude its rivals from the Middle East but has failed to do so and both the US and Russia have troops in the region. Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey also have troops in certain countries in the region and are conducting military operations. Iran is active in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen. Turkey is active in Iraq, Syria, Libya and Azerbaijan. The Saudis, who pretend to be the leader of the Arabs, in solidarity with the UAE, as well as certain frictions, feed and support reactionary regimes and forces in the region, from Libya to Sudan, from Iraq to Yemen, some of them with armed intervention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to the special relationship it has with the United States and with its support, racist Israeli Zionism has taken important steps in securing the recognition of almost all the reactionary states of the region with which it has aimed to \u201cnormalise<\/em>\u201d its relations. This was happening despite its occupation of Palestine and its incessant shedding of Palestinian blood, despite the terror it unleashed in Jerusalem, which it has declared its capital, despite its almost periodic bombardment of Gaza and, in July, of the West Bank, despite its entry into Jenin with tanks, and the dozens of Palestinian lives lost after each attack. With its brutal attacks following October 7, the \u201cnormalisation process<\/em>\u201d has stalled and the Saudis suspended it. However, none of the countries of the region cut diplomatic and commercial ties with Israel; on the contrary, they continued to provide it with logistic aid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The open genocidal aggression of Israeli Zionism against Gaza, openly supported by the USA, Britain, European imperialists and almost all European countries, Japan, Australia, etc. aims to de-Palestinianise this region. This aggression does not distinguish between soldiers and civilians, does not recognise schools, hospitals, and holy places, and it has caused the peoples of the world, including the peoples of the imperialist centres, to react and huge demonstrations were organised in almost all cities. One of the main reasons why the US and its allies are supporting this inhuman aggression \u2013at the risk of making it more difficult for them to maintain their former good relations with the Arab countries of the region\u2013 is the growing importance of an ally like Israel in conditions of sharpening contradictions between the imperialists, as well as the fact that the new \u201ceconomic corridor<\/em>\u201d from India to Europe will pass through the Zionist occupied Palestinian territories. After a certain hesitation, Russian and Chinese imperialism, with a view to renewing its relations with the \u201cIslamic<\/em>\u201d countries of the region, calls for a \u201cceasefire<\/em>\u201d, but does not develop a concrete position to stop Israeli aggression beyond words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

14.<\/strong> While Russia reacted to the US steps by attacking Ukraine, China did not take long to respond to Pelosi\u2019s visit to Taiwan with a massive military exercise in that region. China, in deed, implements the expansionist policy with the project it launched years ago and called the \u201cBelt and Road Initiative<\/em>\u201d in reference to the \u201cSilk Road<\/em>\u201d. The Chinese project envisages to interconnect the whole world around China. The coup in Myanmar is connected with this project; Bangladesh and Pakistan are on the route of the \u201cRoad<\/em>\u201d, with large joint investments and loans and credits. So is Iran, with its $400 billion deal with China. China has improved its financial and economic relations with Turkey; it has also mediated peace between Iran and Saudi Arabia in an effort to undermine the \u201cNATO of the Middle East<\/em>\u201d that the US is trying to form to safeguard the energy resources in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China\u2019s relations with Saudi Arabia are a good example of China\u2019s effective expansion. Xi visited Riyadh twice, in 2016 and 2022, received the crown prince in Beijing, and on his second trip he attended the China-Arab States and China-Gulf Cooperation Organisation summits and signed several agreements. Currently, while China gets a significant segment of its energy needs from this country, a significant portion of Saudi oil is refined in China, and the Saudi energy company Aramco, which is the world\u2019s number one in terms of assets, has billions of dollars of investments in China. This monopoly has completed a joint energy investment in northeast China and has acquired a significant stake in a privately-owned petrochemical group. One of the consequences of the developing relations between the two countries was that the Saudi government did not comply with the request of Biden in the aftermath of the Ukraine war to increase oil production, but cut production in agreement with Russia. Secondly, the Saudi rapprochement with Iran has the potential to sabotage American plans regarding the Middle East. And thirdly, Saudi Arabia joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in March this year as a \u201cdialogue partner<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the level of its relations with the United States and being one of the main pillars of this country in the region, the Saudi example indicates the decline of the US, as well as China\u2019s method of increasing its influence in the world and gradually expanding its hegemonic spheres to the detriment of the US, by transforming its financial and economic power, the so-called \u201csoft power<\/em>\u201d, into political power, without resorting to military intervention and wars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

15.<\/strong> Nevertheless, it would be an overstatement to say that the Saudis have changed axis and joined the China-Russia alliance. What is happening, which the Saudis are not the only example, is rather the fact that the more or less large to medium-sized capitalist countries such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey, South Africa, India and Brazil, which are \u201cregional powers<\/em>\u201d with significant capital accumulation or military etc., try to take advantage of these intensified contradictions and frictions between the imperialists to further their own \u201cspecial interests<\/em>\u201d in the widening areas of manoeuvre. In this context, the Saudis are not only taking the necessary steps in terms of their interests in the world and the region by improving their relations with China and Russia and making peace with Iran, but on the other hand, they are also among the main participants and investors of the New Economic Corridor which will start from India and reach Germany via Israel, Cyprus and Greece, a project of the US and European imperialists to block China and its Belt and Road Initiative. Likewise, Turkey is seeking to expand in Syria, Iraq and Libya by playing on the contradictions between Russia and the US. With the contradictions between the major imperialists deepening, certain countries have been able to move more \u201cfreely<\/em>\u201d or more \u201cindependently<\/em>\u201d than before in order to \u201crealise their own interests<\/em>\u201d, and this can be considered as a flexibilization of axes for these countries rather than a change of axis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

16.<\/strong> Back to China, in September 2021, Xi Jinping, in his speech at the UN proposed the establishment of a \u201cGlobal Development Initiative<\/em>\u201d (GDI), and tried to consolidate China\u2019s image as a \u201cfriend of the world<\/em>\u201d. The Initiative claimed to bring to the agenda poverty reduction, food security and financing for development, and that it would be the vehicle for achieving the UN\u2019s 2030 \u201csustainable development<\/em>\u201d goals. Chinese propaganda propagates that it is in the interest of the people that support for developing countries comes from China and not from institutions like the IMF! The initiative has not been ineffective and more than 100 countries and international organizations have expressed their support, alongside the UN Secretary-General, and 68 countries have joined the Group of Friends of the GDI at the UN as of October 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another Chinese modus operandi is its lending and investment to several countries as part of the \u201cBelt and Road Initiative<\/em>\u201d. In the early years, China spent $200 billion on the project\u2019s infrastructure. By 2027, the cost of the project is estimated to exceed $1.3 trillion. China wants to prove its \u201cgood intentions<\/em>\u201d and seeks to create the perception that it distributes the loans and credits as a \u201chand of friendship<\/em>\u201d and \u201caid<\/em>\u201d in the face of financial and economic pressures by the US and the IMF. To that end, it extended the repayments of a $2 billion loan to Pakistan, whose talks with the IMF broke down, thus preventing it from going into default.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the last 20 years, China has provided loans worth 240 billion dollars to 22 relatively backward and dependent countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although China claims that its loans and credits have no political conditions attached to them and they are not politically motivated, this is contrary to the nature of things. Naturally, the borrowing countries become beholden to China. Moreover, while IMF loans are usually given at interest rates of 1.5-2.5%, the average interest rate of Chinese loans is 3-5%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As recently as 2018, with $1,252 billion China ranked first by a wide margin in Asia in terms of capital exports. It has overtaken the US in capital exports to Africa since 2012 and has been ahead in commodity exports since 2008. And in this continent, China has created dependency by indebting governments to the tune of $200 billion. In its total foreign investment and exports, Latin America\u2019s share is around 20%. According to an IMF study, when off-shore investments are included, China ranks 1st in the distribution of foreign capital stocks in the continent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While using \u201csoft power<\/em>\u201d and accelerating its economic and political expansion on the one hand, knowing the inevitability of a settling of accounts, China also increases its defence budget and arms itself more intensively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

17.<\/strong> Although the US is on the offensive and in a position to force its rivals into conflict, it is in a process of decline against its main rival, the young Chinese imperialism. China, on the other hand, is on the rise and is not only claiming new spheres of influence and hegemony, it is seizing them. In addition to its nuclear arsenal and its military presence spreading across the world, the US still has some advantages, such as in the production of chips, but the clock is ticking against it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

18.<\/strong> The views that we live in a \u201cunipolar world<\/em>\u201dwhere the USA is still the sole \u201cboss<\/em>\u201d of the world as a power capable of imposing all its policies and where all other imperialist countries without the ability to fight it submit to this patronage do not reflect the truth. The world has been \u201cmultipolar<\/em>\u201d for years, and this is evidenced by the fact that the United States, while still imposing itself on many issues, cannot get what it wants all the time, and is confronted by rivals on almost everything. For the time being, the US is looking for a way to maintain its hegemonic position, which it cannot maintain by ordinary means, in a war with Russia. However, despite all efforts to stop it, China is expanding its hegemonic spheres against the US in every continent, including Latin America, and Russia does not refrain from war to protect and increase what it has. The European imperialists, who in the past were content with the NATO umbrella, on the one hand, cooperate closely with the US as NATO partners, but on the other hand, they pursue their own independent interests and build their own separate European armies as the military basis of their economic and political unity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

19.<\/strong> Also to be taken into account in this framework are the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) that some reformist approaches try to categorise as \u201cemerging countries<\/em>\u201d or \u201cautonomous development alternative<\/em>\u201d by including China and Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let alone the fact that, demanding their share of the world and expanding accordingly, imperialist countries such as Russia, China, France and Germany have long ceased the world to be a \u201cunipolar world<\/em>\u201d with US imperialism as the sole boss; even medium to more or less large-sized non-imperialist countries can find the opportunity to open space for themselves in the \u201cmultipolar<\/em>\u201d world. The existence and expansion of the BRICS are proof of this as much as of China’s tendency to use the rest of the BRICS countries as a \u201cspringboard<\/em>\u201d for its capital export and economic expansion in general.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The union, which was renamed BRICS with the accession of South Africa in 2010, was founded in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India and China as part of a quest against the hegemony of the West and especially the USA. It strengthens the hand of the large and medium-sized countries in particular, which are trying to make use of the additional manoeuvring opportunities provided by the increasing tensions between the imperialists, but in reality, it is guided by China and Russia and is mainly used by them as a base. In 2014, the \u201cunion<\/em>\u201d, with an economic size of $26 trillion, representing about half of the world’s population and 26% of the total world GDP, created a \u201cDevelopment Bank<\/em>\u201d with a capital of $250 billion, later joined by the UAE, to facilitate their expansion by lending to \u201cdevelopment<\/em>\u201d projects. The opportunities it offers to medium-sized countries have led more than 30 countries to apply for membership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The BRICS summit in South Africa at the end of last summer extended membership invitations to Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The new memberships will come into force on 1 January 2024, and while the union will allow medium-sized dependent countries to pursue their \u201cown<\/em>\u201d interests, in reality, it will strengthen the hand of Russia and especially China vis-\u00e0-vis the US and create new relations of dependence for countries seeking new opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

20.<\/strong> In the latest confrontation between the imperialists, it is not only Russia that is having difficulties in continuing the war due to the effects of the sanctions as well as the anti-war opposition potential in the country. The US, the main power behind the provocation, fuelling and continuation of the war in Ukraine, is also having difficulties. Even if it is not yet in economic hardships, it is difficult for it to drag the European imperialists behind it for a long time. Moreover, another reason that makes it difficult for the US and its partners to continue the war through Ukraine, as much as Russia, is the mutual loss of life. Russia has so far lost more than 10 generals and as many warships, and faced the revolt of the mercenary Wagner group. In one of his recent speeches, Putin said that he had 617.000 troops fighting in Ukraine and that 300.000 recruits had been called up last year. In fact, Russia began its occupation by sending about 350.000 troops to that country. A US secret intelligence report explained Russia’s new deployments with casualties which is estimated to be 315.000, 90% of the initial figure. Naturally, the US, the UK and European rivals exaggerate Russia’s troop losses, while hiding the fact that Ukraine is losing troops and finding it difficult to continue the war. In fact, Ukraine is losing more than 100 soldiers a day. The Ukrainian government is having great difficulty in getting troops to the front lines, and it is trying to deal with great number of desertions and the widespread demonstrations by families against sending their sons to the army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

21.<\/strong> For western US imperialists and their allies, the Ukrainian war has become a double-edged sword. It is true that the war is weakening Russia. But at the same time, Chinese companies have replaced all the companies that have ceased operations in this country, and India and China have replaced Europe as energy markets. Russia\u2019s foreign trade with China has reached a record high of $190 billion, and 16% of this trade – up from 0.5% before the war – is in Yuan. This is forcing Russia to get closer and closer to China. However, the war puts an extreme strain on the European imperialists, who are deprived of the cheap energy their industries need, especially when their people have turned to widespread strikes and demonstrations for wage increases against the rising cost of living, as well as Ukraine, which suffers from destruction and a shortage of soldiers to continue the war. Only last year, H. Kissinger, though he changed his position later, demanded that the war should not be prolonged and that it should end with Ukraine giving up territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this point, China, which has refrained from openly supporting Russia and abstained in the UN vote, called for a ceasefire and announced a peace plan in February. While Zelensky said he would meet with his Chinese counterpart on the issue, the US said that the plan amounted to a \u201cde facto ratification of Russia\u2019s territorial conquest<\/em>\u201d, but did not engage in loud counter-propaganda. In April, Brazilian president Lula, after his travel to China, backed China\u2019s peace plan, saying that \u201cthe US should stop promoting war and be ready to talk peace<\/em>\u201d. Although the sanctions against Russia will not end immediately, given the diminishing aid and growing difficulties in Ukraine, despite receiving aid in the form of aeroplanes and tanks, it would not be surprising if talks on ending the war begin later this year. However, this will certainly not mean a calming of the intensifying contradictions and struggles between the imperialists, and a new confrontation between the rivals over another issue in another place is likely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ukraine’s \u201cgreat summer offensive<\/em>\u201d, heavily propagandised and backed by advanced weapons shipments, ended in a fiasco and failed to force Russia to back down. At the NATO Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Brussels at the end of November, the most common words used were \u201cdeadlock<\/em>\u201d and \u201cbattle fatigue<\/em>\u201d. Then, at a press conference, the NATO Secretary General spoke of \u201cUkraine’s victory<\/em>\u201d, citing as evidence \u201cthe infliction of casualties on the occupier, the liberation of some occupied territories and Ukraine’s ability to remain an independent country<\/em>\u201d. This, of course, does not convince Ukraine, which has been devastated by the war, whose most important industrial areas in the east have fallen under Russian control, whose economy has collapsed, which has suffered more than 300.000 casualties and the emigration of millions of its citizens, and which has become even more dependent on the USA and the EU than before. However, the US and its allies, surely not Ukraine, will determine its future, and Ukraine may have to settle for NATO and EU membership alongside its destruction. Because the end of the dwindling support is in sight: Biden failed to get $60 billion in aid through the Senate, Germany is signalling that the promised \u20ac8 billion is the last, and the UK has already put the brakes on aid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE COURSE OF DEVELOPMENT OF THE WORLD ECONOMY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

22.<\/strong> The world economy began to recover in 2021 from the crisis it entered at the end of 2019 and early 2020, following the stagnation in Europe and the contributing effects of the pandemic, and almost all indicators were positive, but it did not last long. 2022 was a year in which the growth of the world economy slowed down, with the exception of a few countries, and many economies, especially the Eurozone and Japan, went into stagnation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

23.<\/strong> The IMF\u2019s \u201cWorld Economic Outlook<\/em>\u201d for April 2023 states that with the exception of Ukraine (-3), Chile (-1), Sweden and Yemen (-0.5), the UK (-0.3) and Germany (-0.1), the economies of all countries are growing. However, the IMF also acknowledges that the growth of the world economy has slowed year-on-year from 6.3% in 2021 to 3.4% in 2022. The decline is even more pronounced for advanced economies, with growth slowing to 2.7% in 2022. In April 2023, the situation is even bleaker, with growth falling to 1.3% in developed countries, despite a small rise to 2.8% globally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The World Bank\u2019s figures are not much different. The Bank reports that the US economic growth has fallen from 5.9% in 2021 to 1.9% in 2022, and an estimated 0.5% in 2023. The Eurozone, on the other hand, has fallen from 5.3% to 3.3%, and the region is expected to grow by 0.0% in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The picture becomes even more bleak when the growth of trade volume and industrial production are used as qualitative indicators instead of economic growth rates, which do not fully reflect the actual size of the economy because they include the activities of the financial and service sectors, including speculative transactions that cause bubbles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Industry and Trade<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

24.<\/strong> According to data from the Netherlands Bureau for Political Economy Analysis, the growth rate of world industrial production decelerates from 7.8% in 2021 to 3.1% in 2022, although production is still increasing. We see the same decline in the growth rate of world trade volume, from 10.4% in 2021 to 3.2% in 2022, which continues to expand but at a slower pace. Nevertheless, aside from Russia and the countries of eastern Europe and the United Kingdom, which are contracting with negative growth rates, industrial production is still growing in the main countries and regions, such as the United States (3.4%), China (3.7%), the Eurozone (1.4%), Japan (0.2%), L. America (2.6%), even if it shows certain proportional declines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

25.<\/strong> Data from the same Bureau shows that the decline in growth rates witnessed in 2022 compared to 2021, both in world industrial production and trade volume, has turned into a contraction with negative growth when comparing the last two quarters of 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the last quarter of 2022, when annual growth rates were still positive, the negative growth or contraction in industrial production and trade volume \u2013compared to the previous quarter\u2013 did not continue. In the first months of 2023, there was a slight recovery and a certain increase in world industrial production. However, it can be said that industrial production will continue to increase at low rates and the growth rate will continue to decline rather than increase, and this is also what the IMF predicts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

26.<\/strong> On the other hand, the slight recovery in industrial production in early 2023, both in the world and in major economies, has not been seen in the volume of trade. World trade volume, which showed negative growth in the last quarter of 2022, continues this trend. This also indicates that starting from the last quarter of 2022, the gap between world industrial production and the development trajectory of trade volumes is widening. Among the factors contributing to the widening gap are the war in Ukraine, which has negatively affected the trade in natural gas and grains by causing disruptions and breaks in the supply chain, changes in international transportation routes and rising commodity prices. The fact that the capitalist world market is not growing in proportion to production but lagging behind, and that the gap between the growth rates of industrial production and trade volume is widening is a sign that the crisis elements based on overproduction are accumulating in the world economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Agriculture<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

27.<\/strong> A comparison of last year and this year in terms of world agricultural production points to characteristics similar to the rates of increase in industrial production. In recent years, climate change and related natural disasters and droughts, as well as the Russia-Ukraine war which began in 2022, have not only affected agricultural production but also trade in agricultural products. Based on the production of the three main food staples, i.e. wheat, corn and rice, the last two have declined in production, while wheat production increased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In wheat, while the production of 780.3 million tons in 2021\/22 could not meet the world\u2019s consumption of about 794 million tons this year and stocks were called upon, the production of 788.3 million tons was reached in 2022\/23, an increase of 8 million tons, and the shortfall was again met from stocks. Corn production, on the other hand, was in serious decline, with production falling from 1,217.3 million in 2021\/22 to 1,150.2 million tons in 2022\/23, unable to meet consumption. World rice production followed a similar pattern, falling from 513.9 million tons in 2021\/22 to 508.4 million tons in 2022\/23, not enough for consumption at all. While the production of butter, cheese, milk, cattle and poultry meat remained almost the same in these years, with very small increases, total consumption needs in all these areas was higher in line with the population growth of 80 million.[1]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

28.<\/strong> From 2021\/22 to 2022\/23, world trade volumes increased for wheat, but decreased for corn by 20 million tons and for rice by 1.9 million tons. However, total world stocks, of which China has held 110 million tons of rice and about half of the rest for the last five years, amount to 260 million tons of wheat, 140 million tons of rice and 313 million tons of corn. World rice prices tend to increase, albeit not rapidly, starting from September 2022, while wheat and corn prices fall with small fluctuations. For the time being, a few million tons for consumption of the three staples, two of which are also falling in price, can be met from stocks on hand, and the \u201cfood crisis<\/em>\u201d that some have sounded the alarm about is not yet around the corner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

29.<\/strong> To sum up, there can be no talk of a recovery and revival in the world capitalist economy, which has not had a good year in 2022; the world continues to experience a bumpy process in the development of industry, agriculture and trade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

High Inflation Rates<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

30.<\/strong> The world has been facing high inflation rates for the last few years. Since the summer of 2022, rates have steadily risen, reaching double digits in many countries. Rising inflation, or the depreciation of the currency, is often attributed by the capitalists to the war in Ukraine; but, together with the excessive rise in energy and commodity prices, it was fuelled by the \u201csurplus<\/em>\u201d of money in circulation as the policy of cheap money\/zero interest rates became unsustainable, and by the rapid increase in state borrowing in capitalist countries, including the most developed ones, which turned to printing money to prop up the monopolies during the pandemic. Newly printed, crisp banknotes are still circulating in the markets of almost all capitalist countries. Inflation rates, which were suppressed by the revival of the economies of the capitalist countries in 2021, after the pandemic, have gripped all countries following the blockages in the economy, multiplying and magnifying them with its counter-effect. In addition to countries like Argentina and Turkey, which have a long history of high inflation rates, the relatively stable countries such as the US and the Eurozone also experienced high inflation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

31.<\/strong> In March 2023, inflation has fallen slightly compared to the end of last year, but the relatively high rates still remain. For now, inflation has slowed down. A glance at the G20 countries shows the following: The lowest annual rate is in China, down from 1% in February to 0.7% in March. In almost all countries, the rate is declining by a few percentage points per thousand, and it stands at the following percentage points: 3.2 in Japan, 4.6 in Brazil, 5 in the US, 5 in India, 5.6 in India, 5.7 in France, 7.4 in Germany and 6.9 in the Eurozone, and 10.1 in the UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

32.<\/strong> While part of the burden of high inflation is shifted by the advanced capitalist imperialist countries on the backs of their own workers, a significant part is transferred to the dependent countries through foreign investments, \u201cknow-how<\/em>\u201d, foreign loans, credit and trade deficits, to be borne by the peoples of the world. This transfer of burden has been increasing since 1971, when the US withdrew from the Bretton Woods Treaty \u2013after which all developed countries also floated their currencies\u2013 and the gold equivalent of the dollar, imposed as the international currency, was abolished and its price was left to float.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Wheels Turn with Debt<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

33.<\/strong> The pandemic has fuelled the tendency to borrow; this is true, but borrowing, especially the frequent issuance of government bonds and treasury bills by states, is a normal tendency of capitalism and a means of shifting the burden onto the backs of the working poor by wealth transfer. However, it is a fact that state (and private) debt has increased in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Capitalist states have not refrained from borrowing, especially when economic and financial difficulties have increased, to support capital, especially monopolies, through various kinds of incentives and tax cuts, and to finance state investments and expenditures, even if they have reduced these. Certain bottlenecks in the wheels of capitalism, as well as the new burdens caused by the rise in inflation, have led to an increase in state borrowing as well as other \u201cmeasures<\/em>\u201d such as interest rate hikes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Relatively backward and dependent states also borrowed to cover trade and primary surplus deficits, to compensate for the depreciation of their currencies, and especially to finance infrastructure investments that were too large for their capitalists to undertake. The main problem for the dependent countries with the relative backwardness of the economy and deep corruption, hence the increased need for borrowing, is, as in the cases of Argentina and Pakistan, that they can borrow against certain economic and political conditions imposed by the imperialist states and financial institutions such as the IMF, as well as by banks and financial investment companies such as \u201cLondon moneylenders<\/em>\u201d, and that the interest rates on the debt rise as the difficulties of the country grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the last year, we have witnessed a large-scale increase in government debt. Today, many capitalist countries are indebted at rates exceeding their GDP, and the highest borrowing levels are in the imperialist countries with strong economies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a percentage of GDP as of 2022 December, here is a list of some indebted countries: Japan (258%), Greece (166%), Sudan (151%), Italy (140%), USA (122%), Portugal (112%), France (111%), Spain (110. 5%), Belgium (106%), UK (106%), India (93%), Brazil (88%), Egypt (87%), China (82.4%), Bolivia (82%), Tunisia (80%), Argentina (76%), Hungary (73%), Germany (67%), Malaysia (67%), Kenya (67%), Mexico (55%), Russia (24.9%).[2]<\/a>  The ranking of the most indebted countries in terms of debt amounts in trillion dollars as of 2022 is as follows: USA 24.5, UK 8.7, France 7, Germany 6.5, Japan 4.4, China 2.6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is indisputable that borrowing is an essential part of capitalism, be it made by states, companies and individuals, and the global debt stock is on the rise. According to the Institute of Foreign Finance, in the first quarter of 2023, total global debt stock increased by $8.3 trillion, reaching $305 trillion. Of this total, 161.7 trillion is held by companies (53 per cent), 85.7 trillion by governments (28 per cent) and 57.6 trillion by individuals (19 per cent). The total debt increase compared to the pre-Covid period is 45 trillion dollars.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interest Rate Hikes and Tight Monetary Policy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

34.<\/strong> It is now a rote measure; in the face of inflation, central banks raise interest rates and governments tighten monetary policies and cut government spending. This is the IMF recipe to all countries facing inflation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of 2021, central banks began to raise interest rates, and they did so frequently, 2023. The highest interest rate was in Argentina in September 2022 at 75%, raised to 81% after inflation exceeded 100% in March this year, and a new 2,000 peso note is on the agenda. The highest interest rates in March were in Brazil (13.75) and Mexico (11.25) respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bank of England raised interest rates gradually from 3.5% in December 2022 to 5.25 in the same month a year later. The US Federal Reserve (FED) raised interest rates by 4.75% in the last year, reaching 5.00-5.25% in May 2023 and standing at 5.25-5.50% in December. In May the interest rates were 7.5% in Russia, 6.5% in India, and 3.65% in China. In China the rate was decreased to 3.55% first, and 3.45 in August, and stands at 3.45% in December. In Russia, the rate is now 16%, more than double the rate in May, 7.5%; while in India it remains unchanged from May to December at 6.5%. In the Eurozone, the European Central Bank raised the rate from 3% early this year to 3.75% gradually, and it stands at 4.5% since September.[4]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rate hikes are accompanied by a tightening of monetary policies and cuts in public services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

35.<\/strong> All banks followed the Central Banks\u2019 rate hikes and lending rates increased. A direct result was an increase in mortgage rates. House prices rose sharply, then slowed down, peaking at the end of 2022 and then falling. High mortgage rates has led to a decline in house sales, while rents have risen sharply. Interest rate hikes had a stagnating effect on the markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

36.<\/strong> While interest rate hikes adversely affected banks by reducing loans and lowering their profits, another important negative effect was that the government bonds they had filled their coffers with, especially US Treasury bonds, have lost value as interest rates have risen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Central banks have raised interest rates mainly to combat high inflation and to increase the inflow of capital into their countries, but at the same time capitalists, who have large amounts of cash, have used the periodic rise and fall of interest rates as a method of growth and wealth increase. When large sums of money are traded, even small fluctuations in interest rates bring huge profits. For example, Warren Buffet, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, who is recognised as \u201cthe most successful investor of all time<\/em>\u201d, made $157 billion in the period 2020-2023 just by \u201cplaying on\u201d <\/em>interest rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interest Rate Hikes Hit Banks<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

37.<\/strong> The first problem in the financial sector emerged on the cryptocurrency exchange in November 2022. As the value of FTX crypto coins, the sector\u2019s second largest exchange worth $32 billion, plummeted its customers began to withdraw their money. The problem of payments could not be overcome by finding loans, and as the sale of the stock market failed to materialize, a bankruptcy filing was inevitable. The bankruptcy, which once again demonstrates the completely insecure profiteering nature of cryptocurrency, is the result of FTX\u2019s unaccountable profiteering and the FED\u2019s interest rate hikes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In December 2022, the UK government announced that it was preparing to make major changes to the banking sector, the reason being London having to lose its position as the \u201cfinancial centre of Europe<\/em>\u201d after Brexit. On the other hand, the EU is also preparing a similar \u201creform<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

38.<\/strong> In early March this year, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), ranked 16th in the US, was forced into bankruptcy, with shocking effects on the international banking system. With total assets of $209 billion and total deposits of $175.4 billion as of December 2022, SVP\u2019s collapse was caused by interest rate hikes by central banks. The rate hikes reduced the market value of the bonds held by the bank, which had bought large amounts of US government bonds at low interest rates. As interest rates rose, proceeds from \u201cfixed income<\/em>\u201d and long-term government bonds fell below proceeds from shorter-term speculative investments. Money holders turned to lending money for shorter-term but higher-interest loans, and investors\/depositors began to withdraw their deposits from the SVB. The bank was unable to cover the $2,250 million shortfall on the sale of bonds, the value of which fell, it was forced to sell to meet its cash needs and went bankrupt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The interest rate increases, which led to a fall in income from long-term treasury bonds, had the same effect on other \u201cfixed income<\/em>\u201d bonds. Falling market values of bonds totalling about $2.2 trillion destabilised the economy and many banks. The $12 trillion fixed-income mortgage-backed securities and $10 trillion corporate bond markets also suffered large losses in value, which was an important destabilising factor for banks holding fixed-income securities in their vaults.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two days later, Signature Bank, which focused more on cryptocurrencies, was similarly driven into bankruptcy and shut down by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Soon after, 11 US banks provided a $30 billion cash injection to rescue First Republic, a California-based bank whose shares plummeted 70% in a week and whose bankruptcy was feared. In early April, JPMorgan Chase, one of the \u201crescuers<\/em>\u201d, said that it did not expect a 2008-style crisis, but that \u201cthe banking crisis is not over yet<\/em>\u201d. In reality, the concern was that the banking system would be severely shaken by the collapse of the third bank, and American banks, with the help of the government, rushed to its rescue. (When these were not enough, the bank was acquired by JPMorgan Chase in May.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To this end, first of all, SVP\u2019s $88.5 billion of assets, including discounts, were purchased on favourable terms by First Citizens Bank, also based in California.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

39.<\/strong> Nevertheless, the global impact of the bankruptcies could not be avoided. First, SVB\u2019s UK subsidiary was rescued by HSBC, which bought it for 1 pound. More importantly, the shares of Credit Suisse, giant Swiss bank, which was seen as the \u201cweak link of the banking system<\/em>\u201d, fell by 24% in a short time and could not recover despite the $54 billion support provided by the Swiss Central Bank. In the end, the bank was bought by its rival UBS, with risk support from the government and the promise of 110 billion in liquidity from the central bank. However, this did not prevent Credit Suisse shares, which had a $69 billion outflow from their coffers in the first quarter of the year, from falling 62% below the sale price, nor did it prevent UBS shares from falling 8.8% after the acquisition. Not only that, the banking index of the Stoxx 600, which includes 600 of Europe\u2019s largest companies, fell 3.4%, wiping out all of this year\u2019s gains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US and UK stock indices and European stock markets suffered significant declines due to the impact of bailouts through bankruptcy and buyouts, while French bank Societe Generale SA lost 12%, BNP Paribas 10%, German Deutsche Bank 8%, British Barclays 8%. Spanish Santander and German Commerzbank shares fell by 10%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

40.<\/strong> In response to the shock in the banking system and the losses in share values, the US Federal Reserve and the Central Banks of the UK, Japan, Canada, Europe and Switzerland decided to increase the flow of US dollars in coordination with the US Federal Reserve in order to instil confidence in the financial markets. However, despite all measures, it is clear that the decline in growth rates in industrial and agricultural production and the trade volume is also reflected in the financial sector and, combined with the problems of this sector, had some negative impact on world capitalism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

41.<\/strong> The capitalist world is facing the consequences of the period when its governments pursued a zero-interest rate policy. In the era of zero interest rates and cheap money, many banks and companies bought government bonds or issued their own corporate bonds. Even companies like Apple that were not cash-strapped borrowed cheap money. Now many companies and banks are facing the depreciation of these bonds, which were easily affordable at the time, and rising interest rates on their debt. While the disproportions between the productive and financial sectors, which are surely intertwined, were manageable before, they have eventually become a problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2022 and the first three months of 2023 show that international capitalism, which is stumbling more and more, impoverishes working people and makes their lives unbearable due to out-of-control inflation, price hikes and falling real wages, including in the largest cities. Capitalism, which is based on the exploitation of surplus-value and recognizes competition and profit as the law, is also able to carry on with the collapse and bankruptcy of certain financial capital groups and banks in the US and Switzerland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

42.<\/strong> The raising of interest rates to control inflation, to attract more capital into the country, etc., makes credit more expensive, adversely affects the growth of investment, production and the economy in general; it causes new problems and dilemmas and aggravates existing ones. As a result of these negative developments, a debate has begun in capitalist circles as to how long the raising of interest rates will continue, and there are even suggestions that interest rates should be lowered in order to revive the economy. The bourgeoisie is trying to overcome the impasse of the system by manipulating monetary policy and interest rates as an element of it, but this is not smooth or easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

High Commodity Prices and High Cost of Living<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

43.<\/strong> With the rise in the inflation rate, commodity prices, which fluctuate relatively due to the imbalances between production sectors as well as the impositions of monopolies and the fluctuations between supply and demand, have increased significantly. Moreover, last year\u2019s increases in the prices of raw materials and especially energy caused a rise in the prices of all light industrial products, high-tech products, heavy and agriculture-based ones, leading to the rise in the inflation rate. The rise in energy and raw material prices has a number of causes, including changes in international shipping routes due to the US-China trade war, which has increased costs and caused bottlenecks in supply chains; the increased energy needs of the livening industry in all countries in 2021 right after the pandemic, and the tendency of energy-producing countries to profit from rising prices by not increasing production; and the war in Ukraine, which has directly affected the rise in both agricultural and energy prices by forcing the shutdown of Russian gas and changes in shipping routes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

44.<\/strong> This means that inflation is more likely to be reflected in the prices of essential consumption items and especially food products. In all capitalist countries without exception, food prices have risen above the rate of inflation. In China, for example, food prices rose 2.4% in March 2023, well above the monthly inflation rate of 0.7%. In the US, the inflation rate in March 2023 was 5% year-on-year, while the price increase for food products was 8.5%. In Germany, the gap is much larger: in March, the inflation rate was 7.4%, while the mark-up for food products was 21.2%. The situation is similar in France: in March, the inflation rate was 5.7%, but the increase in food prices was 15.9%. The UK is no exception. The inflation rate was 10.1% in March, while the increase in food prices was almost double that with 19.1%.[5]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

45.<\/strong> On the other hand, apart from volatility, which is a general trend, there is a slowdown in the rate of price increases not only for energy and food, but for most raw materials and products, even if some of them are rising, and in the case of energy the slowdown is significant. The Food Price Index of the UN Food Organization FAO shows that in March 2023 it had been declining for a year. World grain prices fell by 5.6% in March this year due to competition among exporters, while the price of wheat fell by 7.1%.[6]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The average barrel price of Brent crude oil, which has been in constant fluctuation ($111.26 in 2011, $43.67 in 2016, $71.34 in 2018), fell to $40 in 2020. The crude oil barrel price, which peaked again at $100.93 in 2022 and fell to $77.5 at the end of April 2023, is 24% cheaper than the previous April.[7]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The price of natural gas, which peaked in December 2022, fell seriously in April 2023, down from a peak in December 2022, as the new NordStream station was sabotaged, Europe significantly reduced and the completely halted its purchases of Russian gas, and the gas market fluctuated, pushing prices higher than before. Electricity prices also fell by 15.6% in France, 40% in Italy, 41.4% in the UK and 48% in Germany over the same period. But energy prices are still well above the 2020 and 2021 figures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A similar decline is seen in many other products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

46.<\/strong> However, some products are still rising and the price declines are not directly reflected on the consumer. Even the fall in grain prices is reflected in the prices of bread and other food products in diminishing proportions due to the interest and profits of importers, industrialists, creditors, banks and transporters. Secondly, despite the fall, prices are still high, especially for foodstuffs, and are generally rising, but not at the same pace as before. There is no such thing as an absolute price drop in chain supermarkets. Third, with exceptions, product prices are still, in absolute terms, many times higher than, for example, in 2020 and 2021. This point applies also to falling energy prices. The price of gasoline and diesel at petrol stations and the cost of gas for heating have fallen compared to the dizzying rise of the last two years, but cars are still filling up much more expensive than in the \u201cordinary days<\/em>\u201d before the price spike, and heating is still significantly more expensive. And most importantly, the purchasing power of workers and peoples is low because of low wages and other incomes and high inflation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nature of Growth<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

47.<\/strong> Since our last Conference, with the exception of a few countries, almost every country in the world has grown, even if the rate of growth in industry and the economy in general has slowed down. But along with the gap between the incomes of capital and labour, the injustice of income distribution has also grown. While a significant part of the working people in the world, especially in dependent countries, can earn incomes below or slightly above the poverty line, low-income segments face hunger and those who live on their labour are becoming poorer and poorer. The share of wages in GDP is falling. Especially when adjusted for inflation, the decline is serious compared to September 2021, when inflation started to climb. And of course, while real wages are falling, in the same period the share of capital in GDP has grown, the profits of monopolies, for example banks, have skyrocketed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neither the slowdown in the rate of inflation which continues to rise in absolute terms, nor the decline in the prices of energy, various raw materials and products, or economic growth have improved the living conditions of workers and laborers around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the UK, real wages fell to their lowest point in 20 years at the end of 2022, down 2.6% in the last quarter of this year alone, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures. Trade Union Congress (TUC) said the decline in real wages was the steepest since 1977, the second worst since 1945 and the longest wage squeeze in two centuries. TUC figures show that real wages for those working in key public sector jobs have fallen by \u00a3180 a month. In real terms, nurses for instance earn \u00a35000 less a year than in 2010.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Federal Statistical Office, real wages in Germany fell by 3.7% in December 2022 compared to the same month of the previous year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The declines in real wages in the main developed countries in the 3rd quarter of 2022 compared to the same quarter of 2021, according to Statista\u2019s figures based on the OECD, are as follows: France 0.8%, Japan 1.5%, USA 2.2%, UK 2.7%, Germany 4.3%, Spain 5.4%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

48.<\/strong> In these countries where real wages have fallen, the increase in the net profits of the monopolies is significant. It is known that energy companies are making exorbitant profits of billions of dollars in the same process, especially as electricity and natural gas bills soar and the people face the difficulty of heating. According to Statista, the highest profits \u2013in billion dollars\u2013 belong to the following sectors and monopolies: energy (Saudi Aramco 303, Exxon Mobil 70.6, Shell 64.6, Petrobras 53.5, Pampa Energia 52.8, Chevron 47.4, Total Energies 45. 5); high-tech (Apple 122, Microsoft 84.8, Alphabet 79); and banks (ICBC 65, China Construction Bank 57, JP Morgan Chase 45.6, Agricultural Bank of China 45.2, Bank of China 43.1). In the first quarter of 2023, the monopolies increased their annual net profits by 47.8% in the consumer goods-producing sectors, 18.5% in industry in general, 12% in the energy sector, and 5.3% in finance and banking.[8]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

49.<\/strong> The fall in real wages while basic consumer goods, especially food, are becoming more expensive, hits women first and foremost, and especially lone mothers, children and young people, as the UK figures on the loss of income of nurses and midwives, the vast majority of whom are women show. School meals, especially for children from low-income families, are becoming more problematic, while even in many developed countries many youth centres have closed due to cutbacks. Drug use is on the rise. It is women who feel the pressure of the growing problems the most in the family and they are the first to try to take measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

50.<\/strong> It is not only economic factors such as inflation and the cost of living that make the working and living conditions of the working class and peoples unbearable. Ozone depletion, melting of the glaciers, earthquakes, floods, droughts, forest fires, decreasing fertility of the soil, storms, hurricanes and tornadoes, etc., which are increasingly destroying the natural environmental conditions of the labourers in the first place, have also begun to push the limits of tolerance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The plundering of natural resources for the greed of profit, the spewing of poisonous gases by industrial plants for the same reason, the pollution of seas and rivers with their wastes, the triggering of droughts by dams and mining, deforestation as in the Amazons, etc. are all manifestations of the destruction of nature by capitalist states and monopolies. Capital accumulation and the development of capitalism are based on the alienation of labour and the destruction of nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under pressure from the peoples, the capitalist states have been forced to agree at annual meetings on the \u201cacceptable<\/em>\u201d limits of the pollution of nature by countries, supposedly to take measures to protect the environment and to curb the increase in the temperature of the planet. Countries like the USA do not recognise these limits, and their \u201cright to pollute nature<\/em>\u201d has become a commodity to be bought and sold. And as if the destruction of nature were not the direct result of capital accumulation and the capitalists\u2019 greed for profit, capitalist states and international capitalist organisations such as the World Bank have in recent years invented \u201cgreen energy<\/em>\u201d and \u201cgreen capitalism<\/em>\u201d as solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, the industry producing electric vehicles using lithium-ion batteries is presented as an ecological alternative. However, firstly, the extraction of lithium from the earth requires enormous amounts of water. One million litres of water is needed to produce one tonne of lithium. The Jujuy region of Argentina, for example, where lithium is produced, receives only 100 millimetres of rainfall per year, and the intensive use of fresh water is forcing local communities and small-scale agricultural producers to migrate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are not against renewable energy, but the promise of \u201cgreen capitalism<\/em>\u201d that leads to the dispossession of indigenous people and the pollution of their land and water is a cruel charade. It is impossible to protect the environment without directly challenging the capitalist system that is responsible for the destruction of nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

51.<\/strong> Capitalism\u2019s destruction of nature is a major cause of migration, displacing 20 million people every year, but it is not the only cause. Regional wars provoked by the capitalist imperialists through direct aggression, such as in Iraq and Afghanistan, are also another major cause of migration. The uneven development of capitalism which also causes the uneven development of sectors, the disparities between regions and countries, and the backwardness of many regions and countries lead to migration internally and internationally. Faced with this migration caused by unfavourable economic conditions, the developed capitalist imperialist countries, which are primarily responsible for migration, take measures up to the use of force. The US is trying to prevent migration from Mexico and Latin American countries by building a wall on the border, the EU countries are trying to prevent migration from Eurasia by strengthening their borders and increasing patrols, and by sinking the boats arriving by sea or abandoning the sunken ones to their fate. Another measure is the harbouring of migrants in third countries for small sums of money. Nevertheless, the capitalist imperialists, on the other hand, open their doors to the migration of skilled labour, in order to meet their need for cheap labour. Migrants and refugees, who find a way to reach these countries are also a source of cheap labour for capitalists. Unregistered, uninsured, ununionised and without any security, they can work and live in the worst conditions without the possibility of wage bargaining. Migrants constitute nearly one third of the world population, and almost half of them are children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE NATURAL RESULT: RISE IN THE STRUGGLE OF WORKING PEOPLE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

52.<\/strong> 2022 was a year in which the working class and oppressed working peoples around the world stood up for their rights, and this mobilization continues in 2023. This year there have been hundreds of strikes, demonstrations, resistance and protests targeting capital and governments in dozens of countries. The cause of the vast majority of these strikes is the worsening living and working conditions of workers, who are facing the aggravated negative consequences of capitalism. Political pressures and growing distrust of the system and governments are also among the reasons for the mobilisation of the working people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

53.<\/strong> In Kazakhstan<\/strong>, protests began in early 2022 with strikes by oil workers when fuel prices doubled, and they spread to other sectors and to the entire population. As indefinite rallies broke out, demonstrators clashed with police on the streets and seized the city administration building in Almaty. Regulations were brought on fuel and basic food products, and special forces were deployed to replace soldiers who refused to open fire on the population, and many people were killed. A state of emergency was declared and Russia, Belarus and Armenia sent troops as \u201cpeacekeepers<\/em>\u201d; and the uprising, in which the people demanded the resignation of all Tokayev and Nazarbayev-era officials, the recognition of the right to form parties and trade unions, and an end to repression, was quickly crushed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

54.<\/strong> At the end of March, in Sri Lanka<\/strong>, the people gathered around the presidential palace chanting \u201cdictator Gota<\/em>\u201d and demanding the resignation of the government in the face of power cuts, and skyrocketing prices of fuel and basic foodstuffs. The demonstrations turned into riots and the president was forced to fled the country. The prime minister appointed by the former president now sits in the presidential seat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

55.<\/strong> In Ecuador<\/strong>, a state of emergency was declared in June when fuel and food prices soared, prompting popular demonstrations and indigenous people to descend on the capital. While Lasso described the demonstrations as a \u201ccoup attempt against the government<\/em>\u201d, the demonstrations, which lasted for 18 days with the demands of increasing the budget allocated to education, reducing fuel prices and controlling the prices of food products, and in which 7 people died, ended with the government and the representatives of the demonstrators meeting and promising a 5% reduction in gasoline prices and improvement of other services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

56.<\/strong> In Hungary<\/strong>, demonstrations broke out when Orban, who won the elections in April 2022 and declared a state of emergency in the country after announcing the new cabinet, increased taxes in July in a country where inflation and interest rates rose while the EU cut its support. The main square of the capital was occupied by demonstrators, and the prime minister\u2019s office, where people marched in the evening, was protected by the police.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

57.<\/strong> In January 2022, in Burkina Faso<\/strong>, military chiefs who collaborated with French imperialism seized power in a coup d\u2019\u00e9tat. The military clique continued the corruption while economic conditions worsened and the question of people\u2019s security deepened with the attacks by the pro-Sharia gangs which control half of the country. On the second day of the mass demonstrations on September 29 and 30, another military clique attempted to save the regime with a new coup. As the demonstrations continued on October 1, our sister party appealed to the people not to have any illusions about the new coup plotters, who came out of the same mould as the old ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

58.<\/strong> In Sudan<\/strong>, another succession of coups and a showdown between military chiefs is taking place. The coup that stopped the popular uprising against al-Bashir consolidated its power with a second coup in October 2021. In April 2023, the armed showdown between Burhan, the army chief who led the coups, and Hamideti, the commander of the Rapid Support Forces, al-Bashir\u2019s militia organisation, over their inability to share power and Sudan\u2019s sources of income, spread across the country. In Sudan, too, organised popular forces have called on the people not to support either of the two reactionary sides in the conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

59.<\/strong> Peru<\/strong>, which had a serious food shortage in 2022, is another country that had a coup. Castillo, who was elected president in 2021 dissolved parliament on December 7, and announced that he had \u201cformed an emergency government<\/em>\u201d and declared a state of emergency in the country. However, several of his ministers resigned, including his deputy, while the army and police issued a joint statement defending the constitution. The parliament, working hand-in-hand with the Constitutional Court, then staged a coup, removing Castillo from office, having him arrested and replacing him with his deputy Boluarte. A state of emergency was declared in order to suppress the demonstrations in which the people clashed with the police. These demonstrations were called by people\u2019s forces against the plunder of domestic and imperialist monopolies and against the coup by the American supported oligarchy, and people had filled the streets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

60.<\/strong> In Brazil<\/strong>, in the second round of the elections held in the fall of 2022, the rising movement of the working class and working people against capital and fascism led to the defeat of Bolsonaro, who sought to establish a fascist dictatorship in the country, and he fled to the USA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

61.<\/strong> The popular movement that began in Iran<\/strong> in September 2022 was triggered by the question of the head covering imposed on women and the death in custody of Mahsa Amini. The demonstrations spread to all states and turned into an uprising. The reaction, with the slogan \u201cDeath to the dictator!<\/em>\u201d becoming increasingly prominent, included boycotts by students and teachers in universities and high schools, and weeks of strikes by workers who formed workers\u2019 councils in their factories. Shopkeepers closed their shutters and truck drivers also joined the movement by stopping transportation. Councils also emerged in universities. The people\u2019s movement rose on the backlash against the blockages of the capitalist economy, against the regime\u2019s economic policies and tyranny that deepened the social gap and poverty, high unemployment, ever-increasing food prices, neoliberal reforms, and rampant corruption. The Iranian regime claimed that the \u201cevents<\/em>\u201d were \u201cprovoked by traitors financed by the US and Zionism<\/em>\u201d and directed by supporters of the Shah. It immediately went on the offensive with arrests, shootings and executions of demonstrators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

62.<\/strong> In India<\/strong>, 200 million workers went on a two-day protest strike on 28-29 March 2022 against the attempted amendments in favour of capitalists to laws regulating working hours, workplace safety, minimum wage, etc. Many state governments tried to amend or suspend the operation of labour laws, extending the working day, while some states were forced to postpone or halt such changes as a result of widespread protests by workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In India, workers, the vast majority of whom work without social security and are subject to arbitrary dismissals, have often resorted to warning strikes, orchestrated migration, as in the case of north-eastern workers who returned en masse to their districts, or open rioting, as done by women garment industry workers in Bengaluru some months ago. Nevertheless, women workers in public nurseries and women public health workers without any social security have managed to organise themselves and go on sustained movements and strike action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Key Variable: Rising Labour Movement in Metropolitan Areas<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

63.<\/strong> Inflation, the rise in the cost of living, rising costs of housing, heating, transport and basic consumer goods, and the fall in real wages have mobilised the working class in big cities, including those who have not seen any strikes or demonstrations for many years. The tendency of workers to organise and struggle in public and private workplaces has developed and demands for higher wages and better working conditions have begun to rise in all countries. Workers and labourers are more and more inclined to impose their demands on the bosses through strikes and demonstrations. This is a trend with varying levels and rhythms, but it applies to all countries. The class struggle, the power of the workers when they fight together and the importance of the working class have increasingly asserted themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

64.<\/strong> In Germany<\/strong>, there have been actions and strikes in many sectors with concrete demands, going further than ever before. There was greater determination among the workers, to win and a general feeling of support for those involved in the struggle: health, education, public transport workers experienced this, and neither the government nor the bosses were able to turn other sectors against the strikers. The reformist trade union leaders had to take this into account. They were forced to a more radical demagoguery and even to prolong the strikes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bosses, the union leaders and the coalition government reached a compromise to stop the strikes with a wage increase below the official inflation rate. However, workers united in this struggle and gained more confidence in their power. Surely, other struggles will follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

65.<\/strong> In the UK<\/strong>, after a long break, strikes began in the early summer of 2022 with a rail strike, marking a new era in the labour movement, covering a wide range of sectors and continuing throughout the year, mainly as 1-2-day \u201cwarning strikes<\/em>\u201d being repeated several times a month, alongside longer ones such as those by Liverpool dockers, Dover dockers and trainee doctors. In 2023 it continued again, this time with several of the shorter strikes being synchronized and overlapped to increase their impact. Striking workers demand wage increases and better working conditions, including reduction of intensity of work and an end to zero-hour contracts. The government was unwilling to meet the demands of public sector workers on the grounds that it will \u201cfuel inflation<\/em>\u201d and put pressure on the private sector not to give high wage increases. After protracted strikes the nurses voted against the offer made to them despite union’s advice, and the discontent continues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The total number of working days lost to strike in the June-December 2022 period reached 2,472,000, the highest level since 1989. 79 percent of the lost working days occurred in the transportation, storage, information and communication sectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

66.<\/strong> In Italy<\/strong>, the far-right government in the service of big capital has launched a brutal attack on the working class, the poor and immigrants. The labour market has been further liberalised and precarised, social benefits have been stopped, the minimum wage has been removed from the agenda, and special protection for immigrants has been abolished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In these conditions, the struggle is developing for better working conditions, higher wages and an end to redundancies: The struggles of the GKN workers’ collective in the Stellantis and Arcelor Mittal factories, in the logistics, transport, health and care sectors are examples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

67.<\/strong> In Norway<\/strong>, the bourgeoisie and the big monopolies are \u201cwar profiteers<\/em>\u201d, especially because of the high gas prices. Nevertheless, workers’ real incomes have fallen in the last three years. After four days of action involving 25,000 workers in the private sector, in April the reformist leadership of the trade union confederation negotiated a wage compromise that compensates for inflation only for a minority. Nevertheless, workers tested their strength and ability to repel attacks on their living and working conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

68.<\/strong> In Spain<\/strong>, inflation is 7.5 per cent, unemployment is 13.1 per cent, youth unemployment is 29.26 per cent and 28 per cent of the population live below the poverty line. Two big demonstrations were organised by local initiatives in support of the public health system, with hundreds of thousands of people taking part. Sectors of labour (cleaning, hostels…) that are little associated with trade unions joined the struggle and tried to coordinate their action. There is a need to organise the opposition against the public sector privatisation plans. The political panorama has been destabilised by the recent local and upcoming general elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

69.<\/strong> In Denmark<\/strong>, where the profits of the big monopolies are high, workers had high hopes for a real wage increase this time in the national collective bargaining negotiations. However, union leaders agreed with the bosses on a very small increase in real terms and left it to local negotiations to get more, ignoring the collective fighting power of the class. As the bosses refused, some workers began to take the fight for higher wages into their own hands. The issue of \u201csocial dumping\u201d<\/em>, where migrant workers in particular are overexploited, is an important issue that workers are fighting against and strengthening solidarity. The government decided to turn a holiday into a working day in order to finance the war budget, which caused a huge demonstration and protest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

70.<\/strong> In Turkey<\/strong>, the presidential and parliamentary elections marked the political situation. This period was characterised by major problems facing workers and the people such as high inflation, which reached 100% in the first four months of 2023, the fall in real wages, political bans, as well as all the earthquakes. In Turkey, 60.4 per cent of the population lives below the hunger line and 87 per cent below the poverty line. Central Bank’s assets have fallen to negative figures, and the government’s tight monetary policy is bound to fuel unemployment. Similar problems are on the agenda after the elections, which the ruling party won and increased its aggression and restrictions. The country’s political conditions are far from being normal; on the one hand, steps are being taken towards the construction of a fascist dictatorship, on the other hand, de facto workers’ strikes and acts of resistance are spreading, even if they have not yet shown a tendency to unite and centralise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

71. France: \u201cNo to 64 years\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starting from January 2023, the powerful demonstrations (13 in total, including the May 1st) and strikes against the pension system reform mobilised millions of workers, young people and women. The movement coalesced around a concrete demand: \u201cNo to 64<\/em>\u201d, and it was supported by the main trade unions, a broad coalition of youth organisations, a wide range of associations and left political parties. This movement was also a continuation of previous movements against anti-worker and anti-people \u201creforms<\/em>\u201d and the wave of strikes for higher wages that began in 2019. This counter-reform led to feelings of \u201ctoo much, too much<\/em>\u201d, \u201cno this time<\/em>\u201d. \u201cNo to exploitation, no to working to the grave!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are many aspects of this movement which indicate its strength and determination, expressed in the slogan \u201cWe are not giving up<\/em>\u201d.<\/em> At the forefront of this struggle is the working class, which is participating in the movement in all cities, and in production centres all over the country… This movement has attracted large sections of the workers and the masses and, despite the government’s imposition, even today 90% of workers are against this reform. The way this reform has been imposed, using all the tricks of the constitution, most of which is unknown to the masses, various provocations and police repression, has increased the determination of the workers and the youth…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The movement has not blocked the economy, despite the continuous strikes in important sectors. Yet, blocking the economy is an important factor in the balance of power that is necessary to make the government back down. This is a lesson that many workers have learnt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The general feeling is one of happiness that the labour movement has shown its strength and capacity to unite around concrete demands. There are many lessons to share and discuss, and there is a growing awareness that the real obstacle to overcome is actually the whole system, the capitalist imperialist system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This movement had wide sympathy internationally. It mobilised workers and militants and encouraged them with the idea that \u201cYes, it is possible for workers to unite, fight and take the initiative<\/em>\u201d against capital and its system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

72.<\/strong> The dire consequences of the pandemic policy of the bourgeoisie and its governments, which impoverished the workers and the people, the rising inflation and the enormous cost of the war in Ukraine are awakening the labour movement in Europe, at different levels, but in the same direction and with similar demands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Workers and peoples are at a crossroads in the face of the continued attacks of the capitalists and their states. In the course of the struggle, the consciousness of the workers has grown and their self-confidence has increased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It must be expected that the struggle will further develop and intensify in the coming period because of the increasing attacks of capital and the growing inability of the system to meet the demands and hopes of the workers and the masses of the people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is our responsibility to build this consciousness, to fight the influence of reformism promoted by reformists and opportunists, to guide, to strengthen unity and to direct the struggle against the whole system of capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

73.<\/strong> The US<\/strong> working class mobilisation has also been on the move for the past few years and is growing. The US Department of Labor puts the number of striking workers in the US in 2022 at more than 120,000, up 50% from the previous year. The 2022 Report by \u201cilr.cornell.edu<\/em>\u201d labour action monitoring\/research website reports 117 strikes in the US, involving 224,000 workers, and 4,447,588 strike days. Accordingly, in 2022, the number of strikes increased by 52% and the number of striking workers by 60% compared to the previous year. The most strikes (more than 1\/3 of the total) took place in the food services sector, such as Starbucks. The majority of strikers (60%) are in the education sector. A significant number of strikes (32%) took place in non-unionized workplaces. Striking workers primarily demanded wage increases, while other demands included improved health care and an end to the practice of one person doing the work of several.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for the strikes in 2023, automotive workers with their long strikes and universities stand out in the education sector; UPS Cargo workers, Hollywood writers and workers, Caterpillar workers, Starbucks workers, transport and mining workers, and educators are either organizing strikes or have a strong strike tendency. Alongside the automotive workers, in the January-April period, there were 99 strikes and resistance actions in 138 workplaces. These took place in Starbucks, hospitals, media, transportation, universities and various branches of the service sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

74. <\/strong>In China<\/strong>, union organizing outside the official Federation of Trade Unions and strikes are banned. Nevertheless, strikes are organized through workers\u2019 committees formed in difficult conditions. The latest example was the week-long strike by delivery couriers working at Meituan, one of the country\u2019s largest food distribution platforms, against worsening working conditions and low wages, which began on April 20 this year. Hundreds of couriers walked off the job in Shanwei and several other cities in Guangdong province.[9]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In November 2022, a larger-scale example was the resistance at the production facilities of the Taiwanese Foxconn, Apple\u2019s main subcontractor, in the town of Zhengzhou, the so-called \u201cApple City\u201d. The plant employs more than 200,000 workers and produces around 500,000 iPhones a day. Exports from the plant totalled \u00a330.9 billion a month before the strike. Combined with demonstrations against pandemic measures, the resistance at the plant began and spread with protests, including clashes with police, by new workers who were forced to work and sleep in the same space as former Covid workers and who did not receive their promised extra payments. During the strike, 1\/3 of the plant\u2019s production lines stopped. In response, the Chinese government did not hesitate to call on retired military personnel to \u201chelp production<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OUR TASKS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

75.<\/strong> Under the conditions of sharpening of the main contradictions in the world, of the struggle between the imperialists, of the workers and peoples against the attacks of imperialism and its collaborators in the dependent countries, and of the working class against the bourgeoisie in the developed capitalist countries, the tasks of the communists are clear:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Aiming to establish the democratic dictatorship of the proletariat directly in those countries where the proletariat alone can take power, and the democratic dictatorship of the people, including the proletariat, in others, our main task in all countries is to organise the political struggle for power in all countries. Surely, we know that our parties are not in a position to take power from today to tomorrow, that the objective and subjective conditions for this are not mature enough; but it is also a fact that we have in front us a new period of revolutions, the conditions of which are ripening. We must approach all our tasks with the perspective of struggle for power and take our steps accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 What is happening in the economic field, especially the rise in inflation and the cost of living, and the tendency of the spontaneous labour and popular movement to swell in the face of this, makes it an urgent task for us to develop our economic agitation and exposure activity. This task has become a burning issue that we cannot neglect, and we must be able to combine economic exposure with political exposure in an apt manner. It is our urgent task to show, with clear examples, the causes of exploitation, where the resources are being poured into, what is involved in plunder, and the role of capitalist governments in organising and perpetuating exploitation. The workers are discontented and open to successful and convincing, professionally conducted agitation and exposure. If we fulfil this task properly, we can contribute to the rise of the workers\u2019 and people\u2019s movement and its goal orientation, as well as to the strengthening of our parties in the process of the development of this movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 It is a fact that the consciousness of the working people is relatively low. Their need for information about the problems that grip them is growing more and more. Examples of mobilisations in Europe and other countries point to this fact. On the other hand, fascist movements are also growing stronger and we know historical examples of how they have been able to tag along the exploited masses by using of their demands. We cannot allow this vacuum to be filled by reactionary, racist and fascist forces or by appeasing reformists and revisionists. To succeed in skilfully combining the propaganda of socialism with the urgent demands of the class is the main need for the revolutionary workers\u2019 movement to have a mass base. Therefore it is high time to raise our propaganda work as well as agitation and exposure. Moreover, we must raise the quality of this work and use new technologies professionally in our propaganda. In line with the needs of the struggle, we must increase the number of concrete and stimulating propaganda materials on various topics and disseminate them by using all possible media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We must definitely use new tools such as social media in our agitation and propaganda work; however, the importance of using new tools does not mean that the usual tools such as newspapers, leaflets and brochures, allowing us to establish face-to-face relations with the workers, become less important; we should not disrupt the widespread use of these tools, and emphasise our international conference and its importance in our agitation and propaganda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Developments point out that the training of our cadres is an urgent task so they can advance to a level that will convince the workers and labourers. For this we must quickly organise special training work. We must quickly educate our members and our periphery on issues such as political economy, war, world order, ecological crisis, identity politics, technological innovations, etc. We must not neglect this task to carry out our other tasks successfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 It is the fundamental obligation of our parties to contribute to the greatest possible extent to the three main struggles of the proletariat: economic, political and ideological\/theoretical. We have to participate in and lead strikes and demonstrations, try to advance the trade union struggle by breaking the influence of the union bureaucracy, and link it with the struggle for socialism and anti-imperialist democratic struggle, with the power struggle. We must also undertake the theoretical\/ideological struggle by considering the needs of the political struggle in the first place and we must strengthen the ideological unity of our Conference by developing solutions to our current inadequacies and problems, in a world where all contradictions are rapidly sharpening. In addition to the education of our members and our periphery, it is our fundamental task to successfully fight against social democracy, which tends to confuse workers and labourers by advocating class collaboration, against various kinds of reformist, revisionist, opportunist, Trotskyist theories and views, as well as against the bourgeois driven horizon-narrowing selfishness, careerism, and the defence of bourgeoisie and capitalism, and to unmask these currents to ensure that their real qualities are seen. We can strengthen Marxism-Leninism and our parties by defending it in the struggle against the bourgeoisie and all sorts of deviant currents that try to distort, change and invalidate its teachings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 The developments in the capitalist world and what the bourgeoisie imposes on the workers and labourers are not very encouraging, and the masses are not satisfied with their situation, their working and living conditions. Objective conditions lead them to fight against the burdens and difficulties imposed on them. They do not remain unresponsive in the face of the negative consequences of capitalism and the attacks of bourgeois reaction, and in certain countries there is even a certain search among the lower classes for an alternative, but they lack the necessary level of consciousness and organisation contrary to the drive of objective conditions to struggle. They are confused about how to overcome the problems they face, their current and future concerns, and they lack organisation. On the other hand, it is possible for the current struggle to become the basis for further struggles, for the workers\u2019 and labourers\u2019 actions to progress successfully and achieve gains, for the current recklessness of capital to be pushed back and for a new power relation to be established between labour and capital. To this end, we must endeavour to build broad unities and alliances, especially in the trade unions. It is not possible that the existing trade union movements not feel the pressure of the grassroots or not realise that they cannot remain in their previous positions in the face of the world developments. However, while seeing the necessity to change its position, the union bureaucracy, with its class collaborationist tendency, does and will continue to endeavour to prevent the formation of a union struggle and line outside of its control with a tactic that prioritises the demands for change forced by the workers. We cannot suspend our struggle against the trade union bureaucracy, on the contrary, we must give it more importance than before, but we must also be ready to renew its form. We must recognise that encouraging trade union alliances will expose us to new risks, but the new possibilities it will create will advance the movement and our parties within it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 In all countries, the struggle against the attacks of the ruling reactionary bourgeoisie aimed at making political life more reactionary and imposing fascism on the peoples is gaining more and more importance, and we must make use of the possibility of tightening our ranks and expanding the mass base in this struggle with democratic content, which we must link with the power struggle. For this purpose, we cannot avoid joining forces with anti-imperialist, and anti-fascist forces; the unity of forces and alliances with them with the right perspective will strengthen the struggle against the bourgeoisie, imperialism and fascism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The struggle against fascism does not trivialise the struggle against reformism and political approaches and stances that rely on \u201csocial progress<\/em>\u201d within the existing system. On the contrary, political tendencies based on preserving the existing capitalist order, which is limited to its restoration, feed and strengthen the fascism with which they seek reconciliation. The worker\u2019s and people\u2019s movement can only gain a mass base by successfully combating reformism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Based on the struggle for power under the conditions of the rule of the bourgeoisie and imperialism, it is imperative that our parties outline the political and organisational platform of struggle that will guarantee the leadership of the working class in the struggle for independence, political democracy and socialism in their countries and for the urgent demands of the workers and peoples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Our main task in the dependent countries is to organise the working class and the working people for the rule of the people and to accumulate the strength to take power. In order to achieve this goal, we must organise and lead the struggles of the working class and the masses of the exploited and oppressed people for their demands in order to weaken and overthrow the rule of the bourgeoisie and imperialism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 In the developed capitalist countries, the main task is to raise the struggle of the working class against the imperialist bourgeoisie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 It is a fact that in parallel with the rise of the economic and political aggression of the reactionary bourgeoisie in the world in recent years, the class struggle has also been on the rise. Gradually the working class and direct class struggle is coming to the fore. This is undoubtedly a good development for working class parties and it is our main task to unite with the mobilised working class and join their struggles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the rapid rise of the workers\u2019 movement, the fact that an important section of the environmentalist Green parties and movements tend to defend and implement the opposite of their programmes, as is the case in Germany, and the tendency of certain national movements to unite with imperialism, does not mean that a series of identity, environmental, peace, etc. movements and struggles, which are manifestations of the class struggle, are no longer important and that we should turn our backs on them. National movements demanding equality of national rights of classes and strata other than the proletariat, movements aiming at the protection and defence of the environment, which capitalism destroys for its greed for profit, and peace movements demanding the prevention of wars caused by the inter-imperialist struggle, etc. are on the agenda and they are inevitable. They develop in direct relation to the negative consequences of imperialist capitalism and are in reality different manifestations of the class struggle. For example, the women\u2019s movement, as an identity movement, surely develops not only in the face of oppression due to male domination, but also in the face of pre-capitalist and capitalist discrimination and inequality. Likewise, it is capitalism that steals the future of youth, and the youth movement is directly related to the exploitation and tyranny of capitalism. The indigenous movement and the increasingly important migrant movement of the last decades are also directly related to capitalism and its consequences and can be both a manifestation of the struggle against capitalism and can advance in conjunction with it. It is our duty, to take part in and in the front of these movements involving identity, environment, peace, etc., without considering them as alternatives to the class struggle and the developing labour movement and by fighting such approaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 One cannot rely on one imperialist to fight another. It is our fundamental duty to fight against imperialism in all fields \u2013economic, financial, political, cultural, etc.\u2013 and to oppose the imperialist plunder of the planet\u2019s resources and tyranny. We will undertake this task without attributing any positive qualities to any imperialist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 It is obvious that the importance of the struggle for peace has increased under conditions where war factors are on a serious rise. The struggle for peace, which has become especially topical in Europe due to the war in Ukraine, is quite weak, open to various influences, has fallen into serious contradictions, has been confused and disorientated. One reason for its weakness and confusion is the weakness of the working class and our parties\u2019 organised participation in this movement. One reason is the propaganda of the American and European imperialists and their allies covering up their own aggression, and the other is the influence of revisionists who consider only the US and NATO as aggressors, and of opportunists who affirm Russian and Chinese imperialism, which masquerade as \u201cfriends of the peoples\u201d<\/em>, in search of strength to withstand this aggression. The struggle for peace cannot aim for an \u201cAmerican peace<\/em>\u201d, or only target the USA and NATO allies, but it must target all imperialists and imperialism together with the conflict between them. However, we cannot be content with saying this; we must take a strong part in the peace movement and play our part in order for it to determine its direction correctly. \u201cEither revolution will prevent war or war will lead to revolution<\/em>\u201d \u2013this is our strategic slogan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In today’s world, where the use of weapons is on the rise and all imperialists and bourgeois reactionaries are armed to the teeth, there is no room for cosying up to Russian and Chinese imperialism nor for peaceful dreams! A new world war is on the agenda since the end of World War II, which ended with the two atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the surrender of Japan. Both Khrushchev’s revisionist idea that the \u201cbalance of power<\/em>\u201d created by atomic weapons prevents the possibility of war, and the idea that humanity has been or can be saved from wars in a world dominated by the international bourgeoisie and imperialism, which is derived from Fukuyama’s \u201cend of history<\/em>\u201d and based on the claims of the \u201cglobalisation<\/em>\u201d advocates that an \u201cage of peace and prosperity<\/em>\u201d has been\/will be reached, is a delusion that is refuted both by theory and social practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the increasing influence, in the stage of imperialism, of the law of capitalism’s uneven development at the level of sectors, regions and countries, and the lack of any other means than the force for the redivision of the world by various imperialist centres with changing power relations, theoretically point to the inevitability of a new world war. In practice, we are witnessing the intensification of the struggle between the imperialists for the division of the world, the outbreak of small regional wars that never end, the confrontation between Russia and NATO in Ukraine, and the intensification of the arms race. Therefore, the possibility of a World War Three, which would engulf the peoples of the world in the flames of a new great war, is growing more and more serious every day. We must shoulder the development of the peace movement against war without being swayed by illusions, and by warning the peoples of the world against the danger of a new war, we must prepare to turn a new war into the ferment of new revolutions, if it cannot be prevented against all odds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 We have to undertake all our tasks without limiting ourselves to our countries and without neglecting our international tasks. And in carrying out all our tasks we must not neglect doing our part to consolidate and strengthen our parties, to carry forward international unity and solidarity against our enemies of the class and people, and to bring about new fraternal organisations in countries where our Conference is not organised, and we must make the position of the CIPOML visible in every country and distribute Unity and Struggle, the organ of our Conference, in as many countries as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

December 2023<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

[1]<\/sup><\/a> Data regarding agricultural production and trade is from United States Department of Agriculture. See https:\/\/apps.fas.usda.gov\/psdonline\/circulars\/grain.pdf<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[2]<\/a> https:\/\/tradingeconomics.com\/country-list\/government-debt-to-gdp<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[3]<\/a> https:\/\/www.iif.com\/Products\/Global-Debt-Monitor<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[4]<\/a> https:\/\/www.global-rates.com\/en\/interest-rates\/central-banks\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[5]<\/sup><\/a> Data for inflation and price hikes are from Trading Economics<\/em>: https:\/\/tradingeconomics.com\/united-kingdom\/indicators<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

[6]<\/sup><\/a> Trading Economics, FAO<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[7]<\/sup><\/a> Statista<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[8]<\/sup><\/a> Source: FactSet<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[9]<\/sup><\/a> See twitter.com\/@chuangcn<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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