Imperialism, globalization and the battle of Iraq

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Imperialism, globalization and the battle of
Iraq
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Introduction

• Place of report in the session
• Reporter
• a US
• Jewish
• gay
• anti-imperialist
• in Holland
• Reporters limits
• non-economist

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Overview of report

• I. Imperialism Lenins classic theory
• II. Neoliberal globalization
• III. Armed globalization and the war on
  terror
• IV. The war in Iraq

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I. Imperialism Lenins 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• An outdated vision of capitalism revisionism and
  Hilferdings Finance Capital
• Luxemburgs The Accumulation of Capital
• The shock of 1914

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Basics of Lenins theory

• (from a non-economist!)
• Laissez-faire capitalism and monopoly capitalism
• Uneven development and export of capital
• Competition for raw materials
• The division of the planet colonial empires
• Spheres of influence and semi-colonies

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Colonial empires 1914
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(Official) division of the world

• PERCENTAGE OF TERRITORY BELONGING TO THE EUROPEAN
  COLONIAL POWERS (including the United States)
• 1876 1900 Increase or decrease
• Africa.......... 10.8 90.4 79.6
• Polynesia.... 56.8 98.9 42.1
• Asia............ 51.5 56.6 5.1
• Australia..... 100.0 100.0
• America...... 27.5 27.2 -0.3

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(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

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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 revolution
• 1955 Bandung India, Indonesia, Egypt etc. gain
  autonomy
• 1975 US defeat in Vietnam
• 1979/1980/1982 Thatcher elected Reagan elected
  debt crisis

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II. Neoliberal globalization

• Is imperialism still a relevant framework to
  analyze the post-1979 world economy?
• Claudio Katzs arguments
• Growth of inequality dominant and dependent
  countries
• Terms of trade
• Extraction of financial resources
• Transfer of industrial profits
• Loss of political autonomy

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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)

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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

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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

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Multinationals monopoly finance capital
Selected GNP of countries and revenues of
multinational corporations

• Countries (IMF, 2006, billion)
• 1. US 13,245
• 3. Germany 2,897
• 4. China 2,630
• 6. France 2,232
• 13. India 887
• 16. Netherlands 663
• 21. Indonesia 364
• 29. South Africa 255
• 32. Iran 212
• 47. Philippines 117
• 48. Nigeria 115

• Multinationals (Fortune, 2006,
• billion)
• 1. Exxon Mobil 339
• 2. Wal-Mart 316
• 3. Shell 307
• 4. BP 268
• 5. General Motors 193
• 6. Chevron 189
• 7. DaimlerChrysler 186
• 8. Toyota 186
• 9. Ford 177
• 10. ConocoPhillips 167

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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?

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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

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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

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9/11 Bushs opportunity

• The intervention in Afghanistan and the US
  presence in Central Asia

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IV. The case of Iraq

• Introduction imperialism and globalization in
  the Arab world

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Glory of the Arab world
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Ottomans
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British and French
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US imperialism

• 1933 US contract with Saudi king
• 1953 CIA coup in Iran
• 1956 Suez crisis
• 1962 US withdraws from Dhahran
• 1967 1973 US backs Israel
• 1979 Iran revolution USSR invades Afghanistan
• 1989 USSR leaves Afghanistan
• 1991 First US invasion of Iraq
• 2001 9/11 US invasion of Afghanistan
• 2003-? US invasion and occupation of Iraq

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Lessons of Arab history

• Depth of Arab anti-imperialism
• Oil, imperialism and populism
• The Arab despotic exception

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Iraq the stakes

• Oil (a quarter of the worlds proven reserves)
• A new Middle East
• US unilateralism challenge to Russia, China
  France, Germany
• The future of the peace movement

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Iraq geography

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Iraq some key dates

• 1918-20s British conquest, Mandate and crushing
  of (largely Shiite) revolt
• 1958 Iraqi revolution
• 1963 First Baathist coup decimation of Iraqi CP
• 1968 Second Baathist 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

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Iraq 3 major issues in the struggle

• The role of Islamic fundamentalism
• The role of Shiism
• Armed and unarmed resistance

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Islamic fundamentalism

• Islam and Arab identity
• The diversity of Islam in Iraq
• The diversity of Iraqi resistance
• Petty bourgeoisie and fundamentalism
• Fundamentalism a deadly enemy
• March separately, strike together

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Shiism

• A marginal, minority current within Islam
• The Shiite crescent today
• Iran and the axis of evil
• Ayatollah Sistani and the fight for elections
• Shiite fundamentalism, women and gays
• Diversity of Iraqi Shiite politics SCIRI, Dawa
  and Muqtada al-Sadr
• Al-Sadr as US enemy no. 1
• Shiite fundamentalism is still fundamentalism

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Resistance and solidarity

• The legitimacy of resistance
• The balance of military forces
• Armed resistance and sectarian violence
• Unarmed resistance the case of the Oil Workers
  Union
• Solidarity a political battle
• Solidarity concrete tasks