There is no doubt that we are experiencing a crucial moment in the
history of relations between states and world powers, and a systemic
crisis (how irreversible?) of capitalism. These are phenomena that have
their roots in the mid-1970s, with the end of the thirty glorious years
following the Second World War. However, the Covid "storm," the outbreak
of the war in Ukraine, and the escalation of the Palestinian question
with the genocide perpetrated by the Israeli government seem to have
accelerated the ongoing crisis. Trump's election to the White House
seems to have thrown us into a vortex with no end or direction in sight.
Geopolitical experts are therefore hard at work trying to understand
what is really happening, how relations between the world's major powers
are changing: primarily the United States, China, and Russia. There
seems little doubt that the war in Ukraine is a reflection of the
inter-imperialist conflict and that the Palestinian massacre is part of
the upheavals seeking a new balance in an area crucial to global order.
The prevailing interpretation of what is unfolding before our eyes is
that the United States, a declining power, is attempting to maintain
firm control of its "domains," to regain a struggling economic
centrality-see the tariff issue-and to portray itself as the essential
arbiter (despite still having the most organized and widespread military
apparatus in the world) of international relations. Many commentators
consider this attempt to be a difficult one. For its part, China, a
rising power, appears to be patiently weaving a web of relationships and
positioning that allows it to occupy a hegemonic position and is not
averse to portraying itself as the center of the world of the near
future. Finally, Russia, fallen from the glories of the Cold War, has
ventured the invasion of Ukraine to warn everyone that it does not
intend to play a secondary role in the imperialist arena, having at its
disposal, among other things, a respectable nuclear arsenal: a deterrent
manifested for what it is, a weapon of blackmail and bargaining. (But
who can rule out the possibility that, as events unfold, a Dr.
Strangelove might be willing to use it?) Then there are some supporting
actors who are raising their voices and claiming their own weight, such
as India and Turkey. But let's not forget that in this context, the
European Union (including Great Britain, even if it is no longer
officially a member) is also present, wavering between deference to US
vassalage and an autonomy whose exacting nature is unclear, except for
the arms race that is currently engulfing it. Among the most active and
widely followed in raising the alarm about Europe's current
inconsistency is Mario Draghi, former ECB president, former Italian
prime minister, and now a permanent member of the European
establishment. His recipe is simple and is outlined in his famous Report
on European Competitiveness: focus on innovation and artificial
intelligence, implement the ecological transition, and increase
strategic security and defense to address the gap with the United States
and China. Recently, at an award ceremony in Oviedo, Spain, he launched
a rather cumbersome proposal on how to keep up with the times: create
within the EU a coalition of the willing (following Macron?) to
implement a pragmatic federalism "capable of acting outside the slower
mechanisms of the EU decision-making process" on defense, energy, and
cutting-edge technologies. In essence, he seems to be saying, more
decisiveness and determination are needed, even at the expense of
democratic processes: a trend that has many supporters these days.
In short, a reshaping of imperialist relations between rising powers,
declining powers, and powers merely potentially emerging follows or adds
to a capitalism that has reached its end and hopes to explore new
avenues of exploitation to maintain the accumulation process intact: see
the hopes placed in the two miraculous transitions, ecological and
digital. What role would the subaltern classes and class conflict play
in this plan? In the dominant narrative, of course, none, just inert
matter to be molded for productivist purposes or cannon fodder to be
thrown into the armed conflict, inevitable for the masters of the world
in the ongoing transition. Thus, the geopolitics so learnedly dished out
to us in the refined analyses of scholars and experts (in Italy, the
positions of Limes stand out in this regard) becomes a straitjacket they
want to pin us within to prevent any leap of imagination and social
struggle. Today we must ask ourselves this: are we condemned to the
competitive, capitalist, and imperialist logics that some Draghi
propagates with a millenarian air, or can we find ways out of this
reality rife with wars and exploitation?
Environmental historian Jason W. Moore, in his short essay "Imperialism,
With and Without Cheap Nature: Climate Crisis, World Wars, and
Liberation Ecology," published in the book Beyond Climate Justice (Ombre
Corte), sees the current crisis as a potential for radical socialist and
internationalist transformation. His thesis, summarized here, is that
the climate crisis and the evolution of today's capitalism prevent the
recurrence of the forms of exploitation seen in recent centuries; in
short, we are facing what he calls the Great Implosion, in which the
peasant and proletarian classes have the opportunity to regain control
of their destiny while the ruling classes are unable to address the
crisis. But, Moore warns us, none of this is a given. On the one hand,
we should take inspiration from past history, and on the other, we
should be wary of any compromise and ideological solution that disguises
the coordinates of imperialist capitalism. Ultimately, he tells us, it
will be "a question of global class struggle within the web of life, and
its outcome will be decided by this struggle."
More simply and succinctly, we could conclude: it's time for revolution.
If we don't want to end up in the vortex of the Great Implosion,
unpredictable but certainly fatal.
Angelo Barberi
https://www.sicilialibertaria.it/2025/11/16/nella-morsa-della-geopolitica/
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
history of relations between states and world powers, and a systemic
crisis (how irreversible?) of capitalism. These are phenomena that have
their roots in the mid-1970s, with the end of the thirty glorious years
following the Second World War. However, the Covid "storm," the outbreak
of the war in Ukraine, and the escalation of the Palestinian question
with the genocide perpetrated by the Israeli government seem to have
accelerated the ongoing crisis. Trump's election to the White House
seems to have thrown us into a vortex with no end or direction in sight.
Geopolitical experts are therefore hard at work trying to understand
what is really happening, how relations between the world's major powers
are changing: primarily the United States, China, and Russia. There
seems little doubt that the war in Ukraine is a reflection of the
inter-imperialist conflict and that the Palestinian massacre is part of
the upheavals seeking a new balance in an area crucial to global order.
The prevailing interpretation of what is unfolding before our eyes is
that the United States, a declining power, is attempting to maintain
firm control of its "domains," to regain a struggling economic
centrality-see the tariff issue-and to portray itself as the essential
arbiter (despite still having the most organized and widespread military
apparatus in the world) of international relations. Many commentators
consider this attempt to be a difficult one. For its part, China, a
rising power, appears to be patiently weaving a web of relationships and
positioning that allows it to occupy a hegemonic position and is not
averse to portraying itself as the center of the world of the near
future. Finally, Russia, fallen from the glories of the Cold War, has
ventured the invasion of Ukraine to warn everyone that it does not
intend to play a secondary role in the imperialist arena, having at its
disposal, among other things, a respectable nuclear arsenal: a deterrent
manifested for what it is, a weapon of blackmail and bargaining. (But
who can rule out the possibility that, as events unfold, a Dr.
Strangelove might be willing to use it?) Then there are some supporting
actors who are raising their voices and claiming their own weight, such
as India and Turkey. But let's not forget that in this context, the
European Union (including Great Britain, even if it is no longer
officially a member) is also present, wavering between deference to US
vassalage and an autonomy whose exacting nature is unclear, except for
the arms race that is currently engulfing it. Among the most active and
widely followed in raising the alarm about Europe's current
inconsistency is Mario Draghi, former ECB president, former Italian
prime minister, and now a permanent member of the European
establishment. His recipe is simple and is outlined in his famous Report
on European Competitiveness: focus on innovation and artificial
intelligence, implement the ecological transition, and increase
strategic security and defense to address the gap with the United States
and China. Recently, at an award ceremony in Oviedo, Spain, he launched
a rather cumbersome proposal on how to keep up with the times: create
within the EU a coalition of the willing (following Macron?) to
implement a pragmatic federalism "capable of acting outside the slower
mechanisms of the EU decision-making process" on defense, energy, and
cutting-edge technologies. In essence, he seems to be saying, more
decisiveness and determination are needed, even at the expense of
democratic processes: a trend that has many supporters these days.
In short, a reshaping of imperialist relations between rising powers,
declining powers, and powers merely potentially emerging follows or adds
to a capitalism that has reached its end and hopes to explore new
avenues of exploitation to maintain the accumulation process intact: see
the hopes placed in the two miraculous transitions, ecological and
digital. What role would the subaltern classes and class conflict play
in this plan? In the dominant narrative, of course, none, just inert
matter to be molded for productivist purposes or cannon fodder to be
thrown into the armed conflict, inevitable for the masters of the world
in the ongoing transition. Thus, the geopolitics so learnedly dished out
to us in the refined analyses of scholars and experts (in Italy, the
positions of Limes stand out in this regard) becomes a straitjacket they
want to pin us within to prevent any leap of imagination and social
struggle. Today we must ask ourselves this: are we condemned to the
competitive, capitalist, and imperialist logics that some Draghi
propagates with a millenarian air, or can we find ways out of this
reality rife with wars and exploitation?
Environmental historian Jason W. Moore, in his short essay "Imperialism,
With and Without Cheap Nature: Climate Crisis, World Wars, and
Liberation Ecology," published in the book Beyond Climate Justice (Ombre
Corte), sees the current crisis as a potential for radical socialist and
internationalist transformation. His thesis, summarized here, is that
the climate crisis and the evolution of today's capitalism prevent the
recurrence of the forms of exploitation seen in recent centuries; in
short, we are facing what he calls the Great Implosion, in which the
peasant and proletarian classes have the opportunity to regain control
of their destiny while the ruling classes are unable to address the
crisis. But, Moore warns us, none of this is a given. On the one hand,
we should take inspiration from past history, and on the other, we
should be wary of any compromise and ideological solution that disguises
the coordinates of imperialist capitalism. Ultimately, he tells us, it
will be "a question of global class struggle within the web of life, and
its outcome will be decided by this struggle."
More simply and succinctly, we could conclude: it's time for revolution.
If we don't want to end up in the vortex of the Great Implosion,
unpredictable but certainly fatal.
Angelo Barberi
https://www.sicilialibertaria.it/2025/11/16/nella-morsa-della-geopolitica/
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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