The Russian invasion of Ukraine, inter-imperialist rivalry and the left

In juni organiseerden we het Marxisme Festival – een trefpunt voor activisten en een weekend van politieke discussie. Verspreid over deze zomer plaatsen we één voor één de opnames van de inleidingen online. We hebben de vaak levendige discussie na afloop van de inleiding niet opgenomen.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine, inter-imperialist rivalry and the left

For most of the left it is clear that the Russian invasion of Ukraine is an act of imperialist aggression. Ukrainians have the right to defend themselves, but about the implications there is disagreement. NATO-countries that are sending weapons clearly have their own agenda. They don’t care about the victims of the occupation of Iraq or the bombing of Yemen. In this debate we will discuss questions such as: What is the character of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the rivalry with the West? What does support for the right to self-determination mean in this context? Should we actively oppose the sending of armaments?

The debate on this topic will be kicked off by Joseph Choonara and Jeroen van der Starre. Joseph is the editor of International Socialism and member of the Socialist Workers Party. He is the author of ‘A Reader’s Guide to Marx’s Capital’ (2017) and ‘Unravelling Capitalism: A Guide to Marxist Political Economy’ (2017). Jeroen is a member of the Internationale Socialisten and editor-in-chief of De Socialist. In 2022, he wrote ‘Renaissance van de haat. Nieuw Rechts, FvD en de terugkeer van het fascisme’, a book about the resurgence of the far right.