Absolutely. But there seems to be a merging of the global political crisis with the global economic crisis. Watching CNN I am amazed at how readily American politicians despite open cynicism towards Clinton, are lining up behind this Democratic imperialist strategy which will quickly be locked into a self-perpetuating terrorist war, as a CNN reporter almost called it with a slip of the tongue. Anti-government terrorists only need a fairly good base in the masses to be able to continue indefinitely. We may be entering into a new phase of world politics which could go on for 30 years like the Irish Republican war with Britain, except it will be global, while the US government tests out its ability to present itself to its electorate as high minded policeman of the world, and our perception of opinion elsewhere in the world is filtered through the monopoly capitalist news media.
They have now finally found the new enemy, so essential for anti-democratic, anti-socialist global politics. So useful after Gorbachov deprived them of an enemy. "The International Terrorist Network". The ITN. And they will use terror against it. State terror. Moral and righteous terror enforced by the leader of world peace. (Although Yeltsin is probably losing his act altogether in all other respects, yesterday his words correctly and logically implied that the US raids were also a form of terrorism.) Now the snag is that this is a self-fulfilling prophesy. Self righteous indignation against cowardly terrorists justifies more counter terror.
These internet lists also provide an emerging global network.
I really think it is fast becoming urgent in reality and not just in theoretical argument, to think globally. We need to suss out the possibility of class and national alliances on a global level that can be strengthened. We do not have to have a global centre of marxist leadership to do this, only growing numbers of people with a willingness to analyse what is going on and to make connections. An emerging coalition does not have to work in unison or to be clear about its boundaries, who is in it or who is not, whether everybody agrees about everything. So:
Under the news reports we should note how nuanced the comments have been of the USA's junior partners, including Blair. eg a leading Australian paper "supported" the action but says the USA really needs to give "leadership" in the Middle East (= stopping one sided support for Zionist militarism). Europe as a whole is distinctly wary of US policy on Israel. So there are coalitions here.
Economically, the substantial falls on world stock exchanges yesterday have mainly been interpreted as the result of financial crisis in Asia and Russia taking a new turn for the worse. But it seems to me the US raids will not have strengthened optimism. We shall see in the coming weeks how this gets interpreted. But the possible gains for capitalism from a ten year global war against "the ITN" are far outweighted by the probable losses, even if a stray member of "the ITN" does not acquire half a dozen nuclear devices from contacts in the former Soviet Union.
Listen if you will to advice from an old imperialist country:
The secret story of the Northern Ireland Peace Process is that the IRA won the terrorist war against British capitalism. The decisive moment when Major decided he had to negotiate came after the IRA blew up the Baltic Exchange. The Baltic Exchange?? A curiosity from the 18th or was it the 17th century of colonial history. *Except* that it was the main feature at the start of one of the modules in the Open University course in economics available to intelligent long stay guests of Her Majesty. This article explained the interesting history of the Baltic Exchange and how it now plays a major role in finance.
Also kept effectively secret/carefully not publicised, is that when the IRA resumed its armed campaign before the British election it was highly sophisticated in its attack on economic targets. No messing about with killing large numbers of civilians in a sleepy mixed Northern Ireland town. Reports of moderate-sized explosive devices places at key communication networks: main railway terminuses, junctions of arterial roads. London was paralysed several times over as I recall in a month. All motorway traffic in the north west of England was paralysed on two separate days.
London was no longer the most attractive European base for representatives of international financial companies wanting access to global financial markets.
Surrender.
Perhaps Blair will be now good enough to tell his friend Clinton that however much Clinton wishes to put on shining armour to cover up the stain on the imperial clothing, you cannot win against economic terrorism.
Does Bin Ladin know that it will be cleverer not to go for embassies, but economic targets. Probably not. But Bin Ladin could be killed tomorrow and there will be ten more of him.
So I suggest that although many may want to protest with street demonstrations against US raids, it is worth thinking how to beat the militarist hold over the media. I suggest on sound strategic grounds the issue is the global economy. Coalitions will emerge spontaneously calling for peace. Marxists should not look at them with disdain if they are useful in bringing certain constituencies together, but should try to facilitate campaigns against war and not just on an idealist moralistic basis. Some rich capitalist companies may have an interest in diverting substantial funds to ethical bodies which can sponsor discussions on how to stabilise world peace. If Clinton has been so helpful on Ireland how could his administration denounce conferences about learning from this process for example?
In terms of progressive politics and progressive constituencies, I think the crucial and difficult link is between the left in developed capitalist countries and the left in islamic countries. That is a difficult link to make for all sorts of reasons, centuries old religious prejudice, imperialism, and racism. It will also be difficult to use the internet for this purpose because any progressive socialist muslim will draw attention to themselves by joining a list like this in an active way. I think the onus of the initiative needs to come from our side with a genuine attempt to analyse the complexities of different political and class positions in the islamic world.
A friend of mine from the Sudan who describes himself as a socialist gave me some insight into reactions to the US raid on Khartoum. Even those who have no love for islamic fundamentalism are outraged by the attack. A range of the professional/national capitalist strata had invested in the pharmaceutical factory. When the Sudanese president points out that Clinton is a proven liar, they are not going to contradict him. Who knows which of their sons and daughters may be even angrier and follow a complicated course like Bin Ladin, son of the first wealthy non-royal bourgeois of Saudi Arabia?
We should therefore do everything to resist the capitalist media headlines that would want to marginalise all islamic protest as a form of islamic fundamentalism. If any coalitions in the west emerge against war, we should particular encourage them to make contacts with people from the islamic world from a broad range of opinion, to provide space for more progressive and less literally reactionary politics to emerge.
Global capitalism has got to face up to the fact that the accumulation of capital cannot continue to grow unevenly without highly dangerous social tensions. It will be far cheaper to bring in a Tobin tax for example and spend 200 billion dollars a year on economic construction in the islamic world. If the US government as hegemon, attempts a ten year terrorist war against terrorism it will lose in a really big way, even if the world is not blown up in the process.
Therefore, and I realise how long this post is, but I think the connections are essential to be made, there are not only major possibilities but major urgencies, in doing whatever little bits we can to foster some emerging global coalition against war, and for more democratic global control over the world financial system. It has got to happen. It will happen. We can foster the process until, or unless, we are dead.
Chris Burford
London.