We come from a country, France, whose imperialism is on the wane. For example, its grip on Africa, particularly sub-Saharan Africa, has come to a sharp halt since the beginning of the 2020s. Following coups d'état, countries such as Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso have broken off diplomatic, economic and military agreements with France. These changes of direction, and the support they have met among the populations of these countries, are a rejection of the consequences of decades of French neo-colonialism. This neo-colonialism kept these countries in a state of weakness and dependence on French imperialism.
Can we rejoice at this blow to French imperialism? Certainly, but without blinding ourselves to the implications for the fate of the dominated peoples of these countries.
Indeed, the governments that emerged from these coups d'état turned to imperialisms competing with French imperialism, notably Russian and Chinese. The sincerity of African political leaders claiming to see these imperialisms as partners on the road to political and economic emancipation is irrelevant: the reality is that Russian and Chinese imperialisms, like all imperialisms, aim to exploit the wealth and people of these countries. At first, they may look advantageous in order to secure a firm grip on these countries, but this will not change their imperialist nature.
This tipping point is a new episode in the confrontation between Western hegemonic imperialism and the challenger imperialism of Russia and China, on a par with the Russo-Ukrainian war. The fact that the victory here goes to a rival imperialism does not mean we should rejoice. The denunciation of our own imperialism is the priority, but it must never overshadow the fight against all imperialisms. Exploitation and war are common to all imperialisms.
This defeat of French imperialism cannot lead to its gradual, peaceful retreat. On the contrary, as it weakens, it will become fiercer and more directly aggressive towards the countries it intends to maintain or retrieve in its domination. These are its former colonies, such as those in Sub-Saharan Africa, but also the colonies that France still retains, such as French Guiana and Kanaky. These are mineral-rich territories, strategic military strongholds in regions far from metropolitan France, and export outlets for metropolitan monopolies. To defend or recover its hold on these territories, French imperialism will use every conceivable means: corruption, repression, indirect recourse to its proxies, economic warfare or direct military intervention. History is replete with examples of this type, including recently for France, and there's no reason to believe that things will be any different in the times ahead. Like a wounded beast, imperialism grows more brutal as it is challenged by its competitors, or by the resistance of the peoples it oppresses.
In these critical moments, the communists of France must play their role as rearguard of the world proletariat, and as vanguard of their national proletariat, using all their strength to sabotage the war effort of French imperialism. In a similar situation, all communists in imperialist countries must do the same. This fundamental duty is ours, not only for the sake of the dominated peoples, but also because the power of imperialism is what enables it to buy peace on its metropolitan territory: the surplus profits from imperialist exploitation are what enable a country's capital to maintain acceptable profits while relieving its national proletariat. This prevents it from perceiving its historical interest and role: revolution and the dictatorship of the proletariat, to build a communist society. By helping to weaken imperialism in their own countries, Western communists will give themselves the chance to defeat their bourgeoisies.
However, in France as in all the countries of the imperialist heartland, we are currently too weak to claim to oppose our bourgeoisies with an anti-imperialist struggle capable of supporting the peoples in resistance to the extent of their needs. Our inability to provide consistent support for the struggle of the Palestinian people, particularly in the eighteen months since Operation Al-Aqsa Flood when Israel's colonial war became explicitly genocidal, is tragic proof of this. Boycotts, sabotage and strikes have certainly taken place in the West. But on the one hand, their number, regularity and scope were glaringly weak in relation to what was at stake. On the other hand, revolutionary communist forces have for the most part been in the second, or even third, line in these actions, behind various reformist organizations. In the anti-imperialist struggle, as in other fields, Western communists are currently failing in their task as vanguard of the proletariat.
If the progressive weakening of our imperialism, and therefore the weakening of our bourgeoisie, represents an opportunity for us to gain strength and influence within the proletariat, it also corresponds to the rise of the reactionary forces chosen by the bourgeoisie. It's a process we've already seen at work, particularly over the past decade, in Europe. The gradual disintegration of traditional political forces is giving way to the rise of far-right political parties, which are simply a more directly reactionary expression of the bourgeoisie's interests. If the weakening of Western imperialism, which is still relatively moderate, is enough to produce such effects, we know that the major crises to come will increase the risk of a fascist tilt in bourgeois democracies, in a renewed form. We must prevent the advent of the most violent incarnation of capital's interests, or if need be, resist its reign. Working today to strengthen ourselves, pragmatically and meticulously, gives us the chance to win the day after tomorrow.
To say that our immediate task is to strengthen ourselves, as communist organizations and as the general vanguard movement of the proletariat in France, is to state the obvious. The question we really need to ask ourselves is: how do we strengthen ourselves?
The weakness of communist organizations in imperialist countries is a fact that must be taken on board and analyzed consistently. While some communist organizations in the imperialist countries have a more significant membership, influence and strike force than any French organization, very few can honestly claim to assume the role and tasks of a genuine communist party.
There's an essential reason for this. The general decline of communist forces in the West is due to the success of an ideological offensive by the bourgeoisie at the end of the Second World War; to ferocious campaigns of repression spread over several decades; and to the purchase of the consent of the proletariat in the imperialist countries through the redistribution of the surplus profits from the exploitation of the dominated countries. But our current weakness, while explicable by a number of factors beyond our control, is first and foremost our own responsibility.
The long period of decomposition of the communist movement in the imperialist countries has certainly come to an end, and we are now witnessing the beginnings of its recomposition. But if this recomposition is still in its infancy, it's also because too many of us are stubbornly persevering in tactical and strategic impasses. The accumulation of sterile practices often stems from a misunderstanding of the situation in which we find ourselves. Too many communists in the imperialist heartland persist in thinking that all the proletariat in these countries lacks is the understanding that they are proletarians, and that their interest is in overthrowing the bourgeoisie. As a result, too many communists deduce that the absolute priority is to participate in all possible economic struggles, that their mere presence there would legitimize their discourse, and that proletarian class consciousness would emerge from the proletarians' unionist practices. In other words, the communist movement in France today is dominated by spontaneism, economism and trade-unionism.
If the proletarians of imperialist countries are not revolutionary, it's mainly because it's not in their immediate interest. Their historical interest - revolution and the dictatorship of the proletariat - is still a far riskier gamble than the status quo, the reign of capitalism, which nonetheless holds promises that still seem credible, even among the impoverished bangs of the proletariat. The proletariat's mass rallying to the communist struggle will only be possible when capitalism's promises no longer hold. But we're not there yet in France.
Of course, we're not advocating a retreat from the proletariat's economic struggles. Struggle within the masses is a duty for all revolutionaries. This work is necessary to grasp the fighting spirit of the masses, to maintain and develop an organic link between the communist movement and the workers' movement, and to prepare for their fusion.
However, the main obstacle to the development of communist organizations in imperialist countries today is their level of training, both theoretical and practical. Theoretical amateurism leads to false analyses and erroneous decisions. Practical amateurism leads to the fragility of organizations and their stagnation in unambitious actions. We must therefore work first and foremost to raise the level of training and supervision of our militants, so that they can acquire the discipline and skills needed by communists. Right now, our fundamental duty is to train professional revolutionaries.
Finally, we must continue to build and maintain links between our organizations, to develop internationalism within the communist movement. This is a necessity, firstly to better understand the opportunities and difficulties faced by our comrades around the world, and to draw inspiration from their successes and failures to make progress ourselves. Secondly, to fuel communist debate and line struggle, and to advance Marxist science towards a better understanding of the means to victory. Thirdly, to keep international solidarity alive, and to be united beyond borders in the world revolution. And fourth, to enliven our common fervor for the righteousness and beauty of our struggle.
It's an honor and a joy to be here with you today. We warmly thank our Greek comrades for giving us this opportunity. To be united by our common fight for humanity is our greatest pride.
