Implications of Contemporary Totalitarian Imperialism for the Communist Perspective

Abstract Starting from a brief analysis of the structural characteristics of contemporary totalitarian imperialism , as a dialectical supersession of classical imperialism, and of the continuing crisis of capitalism, we focus on the new characteristics of global capitalism, which are arguably crucial for the unfolding geopolitical conflicts and the struggle for socialism. Referring more specifically to the emerging divide and conflict within world capitalism, between western NATO forces (US, EU, et al.) on the one hand, and the rising block of the BRICS countries on the other, we take a critical stance against those (left-wing) commentators or political currents, which consider this conflict as a typical inter-imperialist rivalry and argue for the need of taking an equal distance from the opposite poles of this rising confrontation. As argued, though the revolutionary forces struggling for socialism worldwide should not, by any means, identify with the BRICS coalition, the equal-distance approach should be criticized on the ground that a multi-polar world would be a more favorable condition for a communist perspective. What is more essentially argued is that, independently from the emerging two poles of geopolitical confrontation, there is an urgent need for a transnational class struggle (from below) towards communism, and that the fundamental capital-labor contradiction and the social question should be prioritized as against any national (or capitalist block) contradictions or national liberation struggles. As historical experience has asserted, the opposite prioritization will always work against social emancipation and the prospect of communism.