Introduction
o Place of report in the sessiono Reporter:
a US Jewish gay anti-imperialist … in Holland
o Reporter’s limits: non-economist
Overview of report
I. Imperialism: Lenin’s classic theory
II. Neoliberal globalization
III. Armed globalization and the ‘war on terror’
IV. The war in Iraq
I. Imperialism: Lenin’s theory
The Marxist understanding of imperialism before Lenin Marx and Engels: Ireland, Poland, Algeria and India German social democracy: ‘not a man, not a penny’ Cracks in the consensus: the Moroccan crisis (1911) An outdated vision of capitalism: revisionism and
Hilferding’s Finance Capital Luxemburg’s The Accumulation of Capital The shock of 1914
Basics of Lenin’s theory
(from a non-economist!)Laissez-faire capitalism and monopoly capitalismUneven development and export of capitalCompetition for raw materialsThe division of the planet: colonial empiresSpheres of influence and semi-colonies
(Official) division of the world
PERCENTAGE OF TERRITORY BELONGING TO THE EUROPEAN COLONIAL POWERS (including the United States)
1876 1900 Increase or decreaseAfrica.......... 10.8 90.4 +79.6Polynesia.... 56.8 98.9 +42.1Asia............ 51.5 56.6 +5.1Australia..... 100.0 100.0 —America...... 27.5 27.2 -0.3
(Unofficial) control of the world
DISTRIBUTION (APPROXIMATE) OF FOREIGN
CAPITAL IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE GLOBE
(circa 1910)
Britain France Germany Total
(in billions of German marks)
Europe.......... 4 23 18 45
America.......... 37 4 10 51
Asia, Africa, and Australia...... 29 8 7 44
Total........ 70 35 35 140
Imperialism, 1916-1982
1914-20 Re-division: German and Ottoman possessions become British, French, Italian, Japanese and US
1936-45 Failed German challenge to re-division; Italy and Japan lose their colonial possessions
1947/1956 Truman Doctrine and Suez crisis mark replacement of British by US hegemony
1949 Chinese revolution1955 Bandung: India, Indonesia, Egypt etc. gain
autonomy1975 US defeat in Vietnam1979/1980/1982 Thatcher elected; Reagan elected; debt crisis
II. Neoliberal globalization
Is imperialism still a relevant framework to analyze the post-1979 world economy?
Claudio Katz’s arguments:• Growth of inequality: dominant and dependent countries• Terms of trade• Extraction of financial resources• Transfer of industrial profits• Loss of political autonomy
Distribution of wealth (2005)
% world pop. % world GDP GDP per cap.
Dominant 14% 78% $ 31,000
countries
Dependent 80% 19% $ 1,410
countries
(Figures from CADTM)
Debt: the poor fund the rich
Marshall Plan aid to Europe,
post-WW2: $ 90 billion
Debt payments from dependent
to dominant countries, 1980-2004:$5300 billion
Number of total Marshall Plans
from poor to rich: 59
Terms of trade and repatriation of profits
Ratio of prices between dependent country exports and dependent country imports:
1980 100
2002 48
Net repatriation of profits from dependent countries by multinational corporations, 1998-2002:
$ 334 billion
Multinationals: monopoly finance capital
Selected GNP of countries and revenues of multinational corporations
Countries (IMF, 2006, $ billion)1. US $ 13,2453. Germany 2,8974. China 2,6306. France 2,23213. India 88716. Netherlands 66321. Indonesia 36429. South Africa 25532. Iran 21247. Philippines 11748. Nigeria 115
Multinationals (Fortune, 2006, $ billion)
1. Exxon Mobil $ 3392. Wal-Mart 3163. Shell 3074. BP 2685. General Motors 1936. Chevron 1897. DaimlerChrysler 1868. Toyota 1869. Ford 17710. ConocoPhillips 167
Loss of political autonomy
IMF/World Bank/WTO: one dollar, one vote
‘Structural adjustment’ and ‘conditionality’
Consequences for social spending and debt repayment
Consequences for negotiating positions
Bancosur: sign of change?
III. Armed globalization and the ‘war on terror’
• Militarism: response to — and cause of — disintegration of peripheral states (Katz)
• Role of US:
* Enforcer of neoliberal world order
* Sole superpower: 50%+ of global military spending
* Military-industrial complex
* Military supremacy & inter-imperialist rivalries
* Oil: Latin America and the Middle East
• Tools: ‘Coalitions of the willing’, NATO and UN
The post-1991 world order
The first US invasion of Iraq (1991): a decisive moment (Achcar)US military return to Gulf region (after 1962 withdrawal)
Demonstration of superior US military technology
Network of bases and alliances
US imperialism
1933 US contract with Saudi king1953 CIA coup in Iran1956 Suez crisis1962 US withdraws from Dhahran1967 & 1973 US backs Israel1979 Iran revolution; USSR invades Afghanistan1989 USSR leaves Afghanistan1991 First US invasion of Iraq2001 9/11; US invasion of Afghanistan2003-? US invasion and occupation of Iraq
Lessons of Arab history
Depth of Arab anti-imperialism
Oil, imperialism and populism
‘The Arab despotic exception’
Iraq: the stakes
Oil (a quarter of the world’s proven reserves)
‘A new Middle East’
US unilateralism: challenge to Russia, China … France, Germany
The future of the peace movement
Iraq: some key dates
1918-20s British conquest, ‘Mandate’ and crushing of (largely Shiite) revolt
1958 Iraqi revolution
1963 First Ba’athist coup: decimation of Iraqi CP
1968 Second Ba’athist coup
1979 Saddam Hussein becomes president
1980-88 War with Iran
1990-91 Annexation of Kuwait; first US invasion
1991-2003 UN embargo
2003- Second US invasion, occupation and civil war
Iraq: 3 major issues in the struggle
The role of Islamic fundamentalism
The role of Shi’ism
Armed and unarmed resistance
Islamic fundamentalism
Islam and Arab identityThe diversity of Islam in IraqThe diversity of Iraqi resistancePetty bourgeoisie and fundamentalismFundamentalism: a deadly enemy‘March separately, strike together’
Shi’ism
A marginal, minority current within IslamThe ‘Shiite crescent’ todayIran and the ‘axis of evil’Ayatollah Sistani and the fight for electionsShiite fundamentalism, women and gaysDiversity of Iraqi Shiite politics: SCIRI, Dawa and Muqtada al-SadrAl-Sadr as US enemy no. 1Shiite fundamentalism is still fundamentalism