“We are not seeing individual crises across various geographies,” said Henry Kissinger a few weeks ago, “the traditional patterns of great power politics are returning.”
Kissinger was an adviser to the Nixon regime and orchestrated the coup against the Chilean left government in 1973. But he is right about our world in 2023 – war and imperialism are defining features of the present.
That’s why it’s more important than ever to defend Irish neutrality.
The Irish ruling class wants to pull us into an alliance with NATO warmongers – the USA, Britain, and France – the very people who have been responsible for countless deaths across the Middle East and Africa.
NATO is already fighting a proxy war with Russia through the conflict in Ukraine and in the Caucasus region a NATO-backed power, Azerbaijan, is ethnically cleansing Armenians, forcing 120,000 people to flee their homes.
As Apartheid Israel commits war crimes against the people of Gaza the US and Britain moved warships to the coast as a warning to Iran – meanwhile Iran watches the breakdown of talks between the Saudis and Israel and plots.
And military planners in the US and China are weighing their options as the scales tilt in one direction and then another.
All these competing powers are in Africa fighting over access to resources and mines.
This is why protests for Gaza are being criminalised across the world with mass arrests in France, Italy, and Germany. In a world preparing for war protests need to be suppressed and populations convinced to sign up to a military block.
In formerly neutral Sweden war propaganda has allowed the government to drive a push to join NATO. The establishment here wants to chip away at our neutrality too.
Kissinger is right – war between competing capitalist blocks is a defining feature of our age.
Imperialism has existed since ancient Rome but modern Imperialism is different – it is rooted in corporate power and the giant companies who can demand armies are sent to secure oil in the Middle East or metal mines in Africa.
As recession looms and competition increases the world becomes a far more dangerous place. The working class in Ireland needs to take a stand against these wars for profit.
We need to defend Irish neutrality – which means staying out of warmongering alliances – while declaring our support for oppressed people like those in Gaza.
Join the Irish Neutrality League protest 1pm Saturday November 4th from Garden of Remembrance Dublin.