• Commiejones@lemmygrad.ml
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    8 days ago

    Russia opposes the anglo-american world order which is the only imperialist power. Anti-imperialism is the most important aspect of the leftist struggle. Socialism is nearly impossible under the tyranny of the reactionary world hegemon as witnessed by the blockades and sanctions on Cuba, DPRK, and Venezuela. The delicate balancing act that China has had to play gets them labeled as “not really socialists.” The carnage the imperialists in Libya, Argentina, and Indonesia because of their leftist leanings are what happen when you try and fail to build socialism under the imperialist gaze.

    • Shezzagrad
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      8 days ago

      Russia is an imperialist nation which is clear by the attitudes of the nations around Russia think of Russia not just in Europe but everywhere where they border another nation. Look what they did to Afghanistan before America decimated it

      • Red_Scare [he/him]@lemmygrad.ml
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        8 days ago

        Illiterate gibberish. Modern Russian state did nothing in Afghanistan.

        USSR was there because the legitimate elected government which was allied with the USSR repeatedly asked for military help against the USA sponsored coup which put religious extremists in power.

      • Commiejones@lemmygrad.ml
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        8 days ago

        “Attitudes” of your neighbours don’t make you an imperialist power. Imperialism is defined on whether you use military violence or threats to extract wealth from other nations. It isn’t just some “vibe” or defined on evil mustache twirling.

        Europe is a part of the anglo-american empire. France literally still has colonies Africa. They are imperialists and as such their opinion is worth less than shit.

        Most of the nations that Russia borders have very positive relations with them.

        In 2014 more than half of ukrainians preferred trade agreements with Russia over the EU… which is why the usa sponsored the miadan coup even after the Elected president agreed to early elections.

        • Shezzagrad
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          7 days ago

          I fully fully agree that the west, including Britian, France, America, Israel, Germany are imperialist powers that have done far more bad then good in this world. But Russia isn’t that far off from the same imperialist thinking ways whether now with it’s invasion in Ukraine and land grabs in georgie and having Belarus (still not as bad as america, not even remotely). I think my main point was china i actually do like. They might value life a little less but they don’t just invade people for shit they want and instead play a smarter and often more mutually beneficial game then couping anyone who says no to you. I truly hope America falls into the worse kind of civil war that makes the Roman empire collapse look dignified

          • Commiejones@lemmygrad.ml
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            7 days ago

            Russia isn’t that far off from the same imperialist thinking

            Where is your evidence? How do you know what “Russian thinking” is? This is just orientalism. Look at the actions of Russia not your crystal ball or phrenology chart.

            Russia didn’t just invade ukraine because they wanted the land or resources. Russia wanted a neutral neighbour as a buffer between itself and the imperialists. They dont want Ukrainian land or resources. Russia already had more of everything that ukraine has. They spent decades telling nato that eastern expansion was an existential threat. Russia spent 9 years trying to get ukraine and nato to uphold negotiated signed peace deals. Those are not imperialist methods. The war in ukraine was started by imperialism from nato. Resisting imperialism is anti-imperialist.

            Russia’s involvement in South Ossetia is anti-imperialist too. Ossetia was granted independence from the Georgian SSR by the USSR. When the USSR was dismantled Georgia tried to re-annex Ossetia against the Ossetian people’s will. Georgia’s claims over Ossetia are imperialist in nature. It is not a land grab. Russia has floated the idea of offering Ossetia membership in the Russian federation but not without a referendum and consent of the people. Russia does have troops in Ossetia but they were invited by the Ossetians.

            Russia is by no means a socialist nation, reactionary ideas abound and there is legitimate concern that they could become imperialists if the USA were out of the picture BUT… right now the reality is they are opposing imperialism. Russia’s close ties with China and the fact that they will likely never be able to match China mean any imperialist dreams that Russians might have will be just dreams.

            china i actually do like. They might value life a little less

            WTF is this? thats just mad levels of racist, more orientalism, and again not based on material reality. If China doesn’t value life why have they raised the average life expectancy faster than every other nation in history? If they don’t value life why are they responsible for installing more green energy than the rest of the western world combined several years in a row?

            Kill the racist in your brain. Its poisoning your thinking. Stop telling yourself you understand the “thinking” of entire nations. Look at their actions.

            Honestly China sucks at anti-imperialism. They don’t further imperialism or profit from it directly but they also don’t do much to slow it down. They don’t confront the west on their imperialism. They barely finger waged the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. They learned the wrong lesson from their mistake supporting Pol Pot and now they don’t intervene on behalf of anyone even socialists in their back yard. They seem to think the best way forward is to wait the imperialists out but in the meantime there are 5 billion people crushed under the imperialist boot. Its a reactive plan with no guarantees and a certain ethical dubiousness.

            • Shezzagrad
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              7 days ago

              There’s no point talking to you when your first paragraph is incorrect. So what was the Crimea operation? South ossentia. Transistria? There was a time post soviet Russia was on a good path, but it’s literally under a former KGB lead dictatorship of a man who wants to reunify the USSR or atleast bring the same sort of glory. I’m all for nuances and I’m very nuances about Russia compared the west who see Russia=bad but you’re on the same equally dumb fallacy west=bad Russia=saint. Both are nuanced and both are pretty bad, even nations I love there’s a lot of bad, from china to turkey to Scotland. It’s good you realise the awful propoganda of the west but you just fell into another kind of propoganda and you aren’t any better at discerning propaganda than a maga or a typical western neoliberal

              • REEEEvolution@lemmygrad.ml
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                6 days ago

                Crimea: Seceeded from Ukraine as per its right as autonomous republic within Ukraine. The voted to join Russia.

                South Ossetia: The region of Ossetia was split between Russia and Georgia, and the south not exactly being keen on being part of Georgia. Both Georgia and Russia kept peacekeeping forces there to prevent escalation of this situation into civil war. A few years back Georgia escalated and opened fire on the Russian forces. Russia crushed Georgia.

                Transnistria: The region seceeded, a local soviet division, which would later be integrated into the Russian armed forces, aided the secessionists.

                who wants to reunify the USSR or atleast bring the same sort of glory.

                No such statement exists.

                I’m all for nuances and I’m very nuances about Russia compared the west who see Russia=bad but you’re on the same equally dumb fallacy west=bad Russia=saint.

                Which no one here does. People are just disagreeing with your outlandish points. There’s lots to critique with Russia (its anti-communism, its Olligarchs, its treatment of the LGBTQ+ people, its nationalism etc.), yet your points all are the most batshit western allegations. Not a peep about the many valid points.

      • rainpizza@lemmygrad.ml
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        8 days ago

        Well, have you asked yourself why NATO wants to expand to the east and stoking hate in those neighboring countries?

        The most simple example is Ukraine. Why was the CIA in Ukraine in 2014 stoking a coup?

        • Shezzagrad
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          7 days ago

          I do support Russia and their dislike of NATO making an ANTI Russia treaty then further and further encoraching near Russia. But I will say. These nations choose to not want to be in the Russian sphere

          • rainpizza@lemmygrad.ml
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            6 days ago

            These nations choose to not want to be in the Russian sphere

            The word “choose” is doing a heavy lifting here. Most of those countries are being actively forced to throw themselves into a war to satisfy the west’s bloodlust. The pressure is done through countless of NGOs that fund the unrest.

            A recommended reading to dispel the notion of an organic “choice” will be to investigate about the NED -> https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xw/wjbxw/202408/t20240809_11468618.html

                • Shezzagrad
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                  3 days ago

                  Late reply but it’s a genuinely interesting report, but maybe it’s a de programming issues but is it wise to disbelieve an evil superpower but trust the opposing super power as the complete good? I love china, I want Chinese dominance because historically they were dominant but non intrusive and their ethos isn’t the same as the western one of exploiting anything in existence. But we can entirely trust Chinese media in this regard? I’m not saying it’s wrong and I was born in the west (ethnically not western tho) so could do with brain washing of china bad. But I have made strides in recent decades to see what china has really done for the nations it works with while being aware of hypocritical stance of the west whining when their companies can no longer monopolize the exploitation of the entire global South or even China’s “scary” non existent international military bases and outpost that are in reality firmly in China’s sphere of influence

                  • rainpizza@lemmygrad.ml
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                    3 days ago

                    I completely understand where you are getting at.

                    About your question on Chinese media, I can only say that it doesn’t matter if you like or dislike a certain media outlet — it’s still important to be able to read their information critically and make your own opinion. In Lemmygrad, there are plenty of guides to develop media literacy if you are interested.

                    Now, from my experience, Chinese media has been very good at informing these type of issues and adds nuance to this discussion while western news not only strip the context out of the news but manipulate the facts to further their imperialist agenda. Evidence and facts are important and the west has proven allergic to it.

                    In conclusion, keep investigating and see every other perspective available(Russian, Chinese, Iranian, Venezuelan, Cuban, etc). Wish you the best!

          • 小莱卡@lemmygrad.ml
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            7 days ago

            Ah yes ukraine famously democratically elected russophobic nazis in 2014, the US us certainly didn’t intervene.

      • REEEEvolution@lemmygrad.ml
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        7 days ago

        which is clear by the attitudes of the nations around Russia think

        The four -stans in central asia, Belorussia, China, the DPRK and Mongolia all have great relations with Russia…

        Only nations with a subservient relationship towards a certain north american state have negative attitudes towards Russia, I wonder why?

        As for what they did in Afghanistan: Russia did nothing, it did not exist back then. You are one of the weirdos who equates current day Russia with the USSR. The latter consisted of several republics of which the russian SFRS was the largest. The russian SFRS became current day Russia after the illegal dissolution of the USSR.

        As for what the soviets did in Afghanistan: Aiding the local government against US funded jihadists.

        • Red_Scare [he/him]@lemmygrad.ml
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          7 days ago

          It boggles my mind how libs, including the Russian libs, keep forgetting that USSR joined the Afghanistan conflict on the side of Afghanistan.

          • Shezzagrad
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            7 days ago

            Are you actually nuts? You’re speaking to Pakistani with a more intimate knowledge of the afgan struggle then any of you. It was the Soviets that set the afgan path of progress, democracy, and liberalisation died with ussr and the dreams of a Afghanistan then completely wiped out by the USA after the Saudi funded and led 9/11 attack

        • Shezzagrad
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          7 days ago

          As for what the soviets did in Afghanistan: Aiding the local government against US funded jihadists.

          I’m sorry but even for a left wing/commie you are beyond moronic m everything else you said was a cope for this one sentence. Have you ever done any research on what happened, how the soviet invasion was the start of their downfall and America supporting jihadis TO FIGHT BACK were the catalyst to the demise long term. Clearly my friend you don’t know geopolitical, read a few books on Soviets/Russia and think their some bastion of freedom and a fighter against oppression

          • REEEEvolution@lemmygrad.ml
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            6 days ago

            I have done some research, thank you.

            And no, the downfall of the USSR started earlier. Afghanistan had fuck all to do with it.

            I notice however, you have not adressed any other answers you got to your posts. Guess you only could sort of do to one of mine. Not with any sort of substance, sadly.

            • Shezzagrad
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              6 days ago

              What research buddy? And when was i talking or give a shit about when the downfall of the USSR was, that was never my point.

              I notice however, you have not adressed any other answers you got to your posts. Guess you only could sort of do to one of mine. Not with any sort of substance, sadly.

              You noticed correctly, your points are below what i expect from “left wing” you’re essentially on the same lack of knowledge as an American republican but on the far commie sucking to Russia.

              Have you considered china? It’s a better country to suck up to, unlike European colonizers/imperialists like Russia. China is an actually productive nation unlike the USA and Russia

      • cfgaussian@lemmygrad.ml
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        7 days ago

        The “attitudes of the nations around Russia” is not a thing. What you are referring to is the attitude of the liberal and reactionary regimes and their brainwashing propaganda they subjected their own people to in which Russia and communism are conflated and thus Russophobia is stoked and encouraged by the ruling classes and their superstructure in order to suppress communist sympathies.

        As for Afghanistan, the USSR was literally there supporting a (somewhat) progressive, secular leftist(-ish) government against CIA armed terrorists. The situation in Afghanistan prior to the US invasion, much like in Iraq, was not great because of decades of US meddling and crushing sanctions following the victory of precisely those violent extremist elements that the Americans had armed, funded, trained and ideologically fostered (via Pakistan and Saudi Arabia) against the Soviet aligned government.

    • cook_pass_babtridge@feddit.uk
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      8 days ago

      Russia absolutely is an imperialist power. They’re literally invading one of their former imperial possessions, not to mention the shit they’re doing in Georgia, Syria, Nigeria etc

      If you support Russia’s wars of aggression, you’re not anti-imperialist.

      • Pili@lemmygrad.ml
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        8 days ago

        Russia is a capitalist oligarchy, but every decolonial and anti-imperialist movements are aligned with them because it’s their best chance of resisting imperialist powers (US and its allies) and gain self-determination. The recent revolutionary governments in the Sahel (AES) are a good example of that.

        Russia isn’t left wing, but leftist need to give them critical support in that respect in the context of the struggle against imperialism, because failing to do so means opposing the right to self determination of these oppressed people.

        • Red_Scare [he/him]@lemmygrad.ml
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          8 days ago

          This is perfectly put, thank you. I would only add that Russia’s decolonial role is entirely opportunistic and not principled, and as such can’t be fully relied upon. The oppressed people you mention will be wise to plan for a possibility that the wind blows some other way and Russia betrays them. Like how Russia could’ve finished off ISIS but didn’t because Putin preferred getting cozy with Erdogan.

      • Prometheus_Unbound@lemmygrad.ml
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        8 days ago

        former imperial possessions

        I’m curious, do you think that the Soviet Union was oppressing the population of socialist Ukraine? If so, that’s quite false.

      • Large Bullfrog@lemmygrad.ml
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        8 days ago

        Georgia? Tell me again who is sanctioning them and trying to encourage insurrection because their government isn’t playing ball?

      • davelA
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        8 days ago

        Russia absolutely is an imperialist power.

        Russia, if given its druthers, would be imperialist, but since it presently doesn’t, it presently isn’t. Putin tried to join NATO once, to join the imperialist club, but that was rejected, because the US wanted Russia Balkanized & plundered instead. Russia has figured out that presently it’s better off allying with Global South countries than attempting imperialist adventures upon them. And this war has accelerated that allyship.

      • Commiejones@lemmygrad.ml
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        7 days ago

        Opposing imperialism is not imperialism and only an idiot (or a imperialist sponsored poster) would argue otherwise. If you want to debate about imperialism you have to know what the word means. Geo-political analysis doesn’t work if you are operating on vibes and contextual definitions.

        We live in a monopolar world. There is only 1 Imperialist power. It is made up of the anglo-american world and europe. The so called “golden billion” or Global North. Anyone not part of the global north is unable to be imperialist because there is almost nobody left to colonize or vassalize because the western powers have already done so.

        The few independent nations of the world have only 2 choices, They can fight imperialism or try to conquer each other to build a tiny little empire. The latter will just weaken them and give empire the opening to balkanize and vassalize them. All geopolitical action in a monopolar world either helps the hegemon or hurts it, so if the USA says something is bad it is by definition anti-imperialist.

        The war in Ukraine was originally a civil war with the maidan movement backed by the USA (who we agree is 100% imperialist right?) It was western imperialism that started the war and Russia’s response has been to counter that imperialism. You can’t call a nation “imperialist” because it works to fight imperialist encroachment on its border.

        The current Russia is not the same nation as the USSR or the Russia Empire. They do occupy much of the same space but they are not the same ideologically politically or economically. Even then Ukraine was a willing and valued part of the old Russian empire who gained significant benefit including not being violently conquered by the empire to the west. The same goes 100x for Ukraine under the USSR. The USSR liberated Ukraine from the god dammed nazis. Are you saying that liberating Auschwitz was an act of Russian Imperialism?

        The issue in Georgia has nothing to do with Russia. They had an election and the old president refused to accept the results. She pulled a trump. The new president is not pro-Russia he is just holding out for a better deal from the EU. And again, The EU is an imperialist power. Supporting people who resist the EU is anti-imperialist.

      • REEEEvolution@lemmygrad.ml
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        7 days ago

        Ukraine was never a “former imperial possession”. The current iteration of Ukraine was created by the USSR. Also imperialism is not when invading.

        As for the other things:

        Georgia: Fired on russian peacekeeping forces in South-Ossetia, thus started a war (this is supported by a UN investigation). Georgia started it, Russia ended it. Completely fine under international law. One of the legal cases of legal war is one in self defense.

        Syria: The then government asked for military help. Russia provided help. Completely fine under international law. The other legal case for war is to aid in the defense of another nation when asked to do so.

        Nigeria: What happened there?

        The only thing that “could” be labeled russian war of aggression is the SMO, but per liberal logic it is not. Russia cited “responsibility to protect” as the reason, which for libs was completely fine when the west did it in Serbia. Russia stated that this would give a bad precedent case regarding the justification of wars.

        As communist I don’t really give a shit if a war is waged as aggressor or defensive. The outcome is relevant.

      • 小莱卡@lemmygrad.ml
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        7 days ago

        Remind me again, which country is supporting head chopping extremists in Syria, and stole their oil, and which country supported the secular goverment which in turn supported the resistance in Palestine. Or in eastern europe, which country pushed balcanization, ethnic hatred and literally arms neonazis and which one fights them, or in Africa which country bombed back to the stone age the countries that wanted unification like panafricanism and panarabism and continues to support head chopping salafists?

        You’re either dumb as a rock or youre just cynical, or both actually.