Editorial – Liberation Journal Autumn 2023
Over three decades since the end of the Cold War, the balance of socio-economic and political forces has been in constant flux, with new forces and contradictions emerging.
Imperialism’s vision of a “New World Order” and the “End of History” is itself now history and fading from collective
memory.
Today, imperialism, especially the military-industrial complex of the US and NATO, continues to use force and
exploitation of the people and resources of developing and underdeveloped countries. However, it is not a one-way street.
New possibilities and formations that aid the resistance to imperialist plunder are emerging. The recent BRICS
conference in South Africa, while showcasing the possibilities and desire of the Global South to play a decisive part in the struggle to resist the imperialist order, at the same time exposed certain fault lines. Forty countries have declared their candidacy for BRICS in its journey going forward.
However, the choice of the six countries to join the group in January 2024 demonstrates a certain lack of clarity about the direction of the project. The inclusion of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and the Islamic Republic of Iran, exposes a desperation to recruit certain powerful regional players to the club without considering their impact on the image and identity of BRICS.
This is in stark contrast to the original declared aim of the grouping – to challenge the hegemony of the G7 – and
exposes the contradictions inherent to the politico-economic variance among the BRICS+ membership.
The potential of BRICS to effect progressive change is undeniable, but the aforementioned contradictions also mean
that the anti-imperialist label is a misnomer. BRICS could represent a challenge to imperialist hegemony
and US mal-designs if it clearly demonstrates its commitment to peace, self-determination, and non-alignment.
The “lightning offensive” by the Azerbaijan Republic’s military forces on 19 September, which overran the ethnic
Armenian populated enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, is further demonstration of the current world order. It happened while the president of Türkiye, a NATO member, was addressing the UN General Assembly. Erdoğan declared that Türkiye was fully supportive of the military offensive, while Armenian premier, Pashinyan, warned, “There is no longer the threat of ethnic cleansing… It is now happening before our eyes.”
The fact that the five permanent members of the Security Council did nothing to stop the catastrophe speaks volumes.
In Africa, the Middle East, and former republics of the Soviet Union, new contradictions are also sharpening. Though
in all cases, directly or indirectly, the US and NATO continue with their illegal interference and destabilisation – with the British, French, and Turkish governments often in the vanguard. Nevertheless, if we are able to mobilise the forces
of peace and progress in Britain to work with us effectively, the possibilities for Liberation to make a difference are opening up.
In Britain, the case for non-alignment and an independent foreign policy is underscored by the pressing requirement to
meet the economic, social, and cultural needs of the majority of the population.
A progressive, democratic, and peaceful future is possible, but cannot be achieved through an unchecked military build up and expenditure or the desperate US attempts, as recently outlined by Biden at the G20, to create an “India-Middle East European Union Corridor”. This is seen by the apartheid Israeli State as defending US economic and military
ambitions.
And in the discussions currently taking place between the US, Saudi Arabia, Israel and EU leaders on this project, no
one asks, “Where is Palestine?”
Liberation believes that peace in the Middle East can only be realised if the right of the Palestinian people to self determination and the withdrawal of Israel from the territories it occupied in June 1967 is guaranteed.
It is time to change course. It is time to defend human rights, to embrace non-alignment and independence.
Jamshid Ahmadi, Liberation Journal Editor
