We live in an epoch of war. Israel’s brutal campaign in Gaza, backed by the West, has spilled into Lebanon. The Ukraine War is careening towards its bloody denouement. These and many other conflicts are a product of the crisis of capitalism, which is sharpening the divisions between the imperialist powers, and sowing instability everywhere. What is the solution? On 15 November, 19:30 GMT, the Revolutionary Communist International’s lead theoretician Alan Woods will deliver a speech on the question of war and imperialism today.

When Russian troops entered Ukraine in February 2022, a chorus of righteous fury went up from politicians and pundits in the West. A united front of ‘democratic’ countries offered up their arsenals and opened their cheque books to punish ‘Russian war crimes’ and resist the invasion of a sovereign nation. Fast forward two years and our enlightened democratic rulers are again offering their arsenals and opening their cheque books… to assist Israel’s barbaric war crimes and invasion of a sovereign nation.

The Middle East is sliding, inexorably it seems, towards regional war. Whose interests would such a war benefit? In a discussion we had in the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International, we asked ourselves this question.

Working to wipe imperialism off the face of the earth is a fundamental duty taken up by all communists. The day we entered the fight for socialism was the day we pledged ourselves to an uncompromising struggle for a world without imperialism, from the oppressed countries to the imperialist powers, leaving its bloody legacy in the dustbin of history where it belongs. The question is: how?

The world situation today is characterised by the opening up of a whole series of bloody conflicts: in Ukraine, in Gaza, in Congo, in Sudan. In the epoch of imperialism, the capitalist system which has outlived itself would sooner drown humanity in a sea of blood than peacefully go into the dustbin of history. On the other side, the world situation is characterised by revolutionary anger against war and imperialism.

“War is a terrible thing? Yes, but it is a terribly profitablething,” Lenin once remarked. The ongoing aggravation of inter-imperialist conflicts and proxy wars is once again proving Lenin entirely right. As thousands are being butchered in Gaza, Ukraine, Congo, Sudan and elsewhere, and as defence spending is rocketing globally, a handful of capitalists are lining their pockets. The working class is having to foot the bill for this deadly spending spree.

Between 24-26 June, 80 comrades from across Britain took part in the Marxist Student Federation’s first ever residential Marxist summer school. The inspiring school, set in the idyllic hills of the Peak District, was themed on the life and ideas of Lenin. Now, all four talks from the school are available online.

In a shock announcement, Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has told Russian state media: “NATO, in essence, is engaged in a war with Russia through a proxy and is arming that proxy.” In an uncharacteristically angry tone, he accused NATO of fighting a proxy war by supplying military aid to Ukraine, just at a time when western defence ministers have gathered in Germany for US-hosted talks on supporting Ukraine through what one US general called a “very critical” few weeks.

As ever, the outbreak of war has led to all manner of hypocrisy and propaganda from the agents of imperialism. Marxists must cut through this fog, and point out the real class interests at play. To end the horrors of war, we must end capitalism.

As the Russian army continues to shell the cities of Ukraine, the western press and politicians are doing their utmost to conceal the role of western imperialism in the disaster. Far from being a neutral party, the West have been provoking the conflict for their own imperialist reasons.

Were we to believe the war propaganda of the western imperialists, we would have to conclude that the current crisis in Ukraine began on 24 February 2022, when Putin ordered Russian troops to enter Ukraine. This is a reactionary imperialist war that we oppose, but our opposition has nothing to do with the hypocritical denunciations of the West. In fact, the crisis has a long background in which western imperialism has played an aggressive role – in Ukraine and throughout Eastern Europe.

We publish here a document written in 2016 by the leadership of the IMT as part of a discussion about the role of imperialism today and the character of China and Russia. We think it can serve to clarify questions that have been raised in relation to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The recent letter in praise of NATO by British Labour Party leader, ‘Sir’ Keir Starmer, is designed to impress the establishment whilst chastising the left. Instead of offering apologies for western imperialism, the labour movement must fight for socialist internationalism.

The conflict that has erupted between Armenia and Azerbaijan is the bloody legacy of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the restoration of capitalism. This is a barbaric war with reaction on all sides. All the powers intervening in the conflict claim to be victims, but the only real victims are the working people, on both sides, who are paying with their blood for the cynical and reactionary games of their leaders. Only internationalism and class struggle can direct the workers against their true enemies: their own ruling capitalist class. This statement by our Russian comrades

The coronavirus crisis is creating dissent within the ranks of the armed forces. This is a worrying development for the capitalist class, and a harbinger of explosive developments to come.