NO WAR, NO NATO!
Cincinnati Socialists, alongside the Party for Socialism and Liberation and the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky DSA, will host a rally this coming Saturday at noon at USquare plaza in Clifton to protest US and NATO aggression in Ukraine.
What is NATO?
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an alliance of Western capitalist countries, led by the United States. Formed during the Cold War to crush socialist and communist movements across Europe and the world, NATO is now a de facto extension of the US military machine.
Though the US and Russia agreed that NATO would not advance eastward following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US violated this agreement. NATO has since massively expanded, entirely in Eastern Europe. This has resulted in the military and economic encirclement of Russia by the US and its proxies, putting the world at risk of war between two nuclear powers.
What’s going on in Ukraine?
Right-wing Ukrainian nationalists rose to power in Ukraine following the so-called “Euromaidan” protests of 2014. Subsequently, majority ethnic Russian areas in the east of Ukraine have attempted to break away, fearing rising anti-Russian and Ukrainian nationalist sentiment.
Since then, the Russia-backed breakaway republics of Luhansk and Donetsk have fought against the Ukrainian military, as well as US-funded Ukrainian neo-Nazi paramilitary groups, such as the Azov Battalion. Though the 2014 Minsk agreement stated that the regions should be granted autonomy, Ukraine has failed to do so.
Meanwhile, Russia has also created (and now seeks approval for) a natural gas pipeline from its territory directly into Germany. Called Nord Stream 2, it would effectively bypass Ukraine, greatly diminishing the importance of Ukrainian energy and dealing a blow to the US policy of Russian economic encirclement. There is rare disagreement amongst NATO member states about this, with Germany in favor and the US adamantly opposed.
The conflict in Eastern Ukraine is, therefore, largely a competition between the US and Russia for economic power in Europe. Indeed, perhaps not coincidentally, Joe Biden’s son Hunter served on the board of Burisma, one of the largest natural gas companies in Ukraine.
Why should working class people in the US care?
Workers across the globe, including in the US, are being unwittingly put at risk by US brinkmanship and imperialism. Instead of abiding by its agreements, and drawing NATO out of Eastern Europe, the Biden administration has flooded thousands of troops and huge amounts of weapons into the region. While neither side claims to want war, this kind of reckless buildup greatly increases the possibility of conflict, inadvertent or otherwise.
Apart from the threat of war, the US working class should also be outraged at yet another example of money being spent on weapons for capitalist domination, rather than basic human needs. While the US leads the world in Covid-19 deaths, Joe Biden pumps yet more money into the bloated American imperial war machine. It is past time for US workers to unite to stop US aggression against their fellow workers abroad, and to seize the wasted resources of US empire!
What can I do?
Show up to a local action against war in Ukraine, but don’t stop there! Meaningful action requires organizing. Make a difference by joining a socialist, Marxist, or communist organization today!
Start conversations with your fellow workers about the injustices of US empire! If you’re a union member, urge your union to divest from arms manufacturers, and to denounce US imperialism.
Cultivate a healthy skepticism for both the pronouncements of the NATO governments and the capitalist press. To understand why even well-intentioned journalists often reproduce government misinformation, read Manufacturing Consent by Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman. For a more honest interpretation of current events, both foreign and domestic, read well-researched socialist publications like Monthly Review, LeftVoice, and Spectre. Listen to podcasts like Radio War Nerd, Give the People What they Want, and Multipolarista.