“We have to be determined in the campaign for peace, and unite with all those governments, movements and peoples who oppose this US rampage.”
Diane Abbott MP spoke at Stop the War’s recent International Anti-War Conference. You can read her speech below.
We meet at a crucial time for all those who are opposed to war and who strive for peace, because now we are trying to stop the wars, not just one war.
We have had an invasion and a coup in Venezuela, and the same is threatened against Cuba. Nigeria has been bombed, along with Yemen. There was a coup in Syria to install an ally of both Al Qaeda and ISIS. There is an ongoing genocide in Gaza, a rampage against Palestinians in the West Bank and a full-scale invasion of Lebanon.
There is a military build-up against China, especially through AUKUS. And of course, there is the war and blockade of Iran. Finally, there is the prolonged war in Ukraine, the largest war in Europe since the Second World War, much bigger even than the NATO campaign to destroy Yugoslavia.
All these have one thing in common. The United States is central to them all and initiated most of them. There has been a lot of debate about the meaning of US strategy in recently published documents.
Some have argued that they mean the US is confining itself to the Americas. Some believe that it is limiting its reach to the Western hemisphere. None of that is true. Any close reading of those documents tells us otherwise. More importantly, any objective assessment of US actions makes it clear: this is a plan for the reassertion of US primacy across the globe.
It is America first and last. It is Make America Great Again by making others worse, including allies. It is a plan for global domination.
In the 1950s, the US accounted for around FORTY PER CENT of World GDP. Today, it is about ONE-SIXTH of World GDP. The US has lost out to the Global South in general and China in particular. It has lost its economic dominance.
The US is now attempting to reassert its former economic dominance primarily through a combination of trade wars, sanctions, and military methods. It has three enormous advantages in that project.
The first is the overwhelming dominance of the US military. The US spends vast sums on the military, roughly as much as the next 9 countries combined. It has done so for decades. It is the only country in the world that can stop other countries from operating all around the world, as it has done with its siege of Cuba.
The second US advantage is in the global role of the US Dollar. US policymakers themselves call it their “inordinate privilege”. It is the currency of global commodities. When the US needs more of them, it can simply print Dollars. The rest of the world has to earn them through trade.
The third key advantage is the US’s allies. There is the belligerent ferocity of its Israeli ally, which does not baulk at outright genocide.
On the other hand, there is the complete spinelessness of its other allies, such as those in the Gulf, in Europe, Japan, Britain and Australia, who watch their economies destroyed, their energy supplies blown up, and their societies made even more subordinate. Their only response to Trump’s demands for protection money is to rush to make the pay-offs and offer garish, golden gifts on top. In other words, Britain is complicit in everything the US does.
But, despite all these advantages, not everything is going to plan. The US lost the first few rounds of the trade war with China. It seems wary of attacking Cuba. It is unclear what, if anything, it has achieved in Iran. The war in Ukraine drags on. Only the appalling genocide stands as a monument to their complete ruthlessness.
From all this, it seems clear that we are in for a prolonged fight. The US is not going to give up and go home. They have told us they are going to do the opposite. Believe them.
Which means we have to be determined in the campaign for peace, and unite with all those governments, movements and peoples who oppose this US rampage.
- Diane Abbott is the Member of Parliament for Hackney North and Stoke Newington: you can follow her on Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram.
- If you support Labour Outlook’s work amplifying the voices of left movements and struggles here and internationally, please consider becoming a supporter on Patreon.
I agree 100% with Diane. As a socialist I was inspired by the Cuban revolution and even more so when I first visited in 1991 since when I have been a member of Cuba Solidarity. I did their Cuba bike ride in 1998.