A event on Today. The event starts at 19:30.
Anti-Imperialism: Is the Enemy of My Enemy My Friend?
As socialists we want to see the end of imperial domination whether this is carried out by the West, Russia, or China. We also want to see the end of sub-imperial domination, for example, in the Middle East, carried out by Israel, Iran, Saudi Arabia, or Turkey.
The past decade has seen various conflicts where the sections of the left in Britain or elsewhere in the West have ended up supporting reactionary and authoritarian political leaderships. In Syria, sections of the British left (including the Stop the War Coalition) supported or minimised the actions of the Assad regime against the popular democratic movement from below. Sections of the left supported and celebrated the 7th October Hamas-led attacks and have whitewashed the brutal Hamas leadership in Gaza. The Communist Party of Britain, supported the Chinese state in its suppression of the Hong Kongers and denied the ongoing ethnic cleansing of the Uyghur minority in Xinjiang. Much of the left have also repeated and believed Russian ruling-class propaganda in the run up to and during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
These conclusions have been drawn, in one way or another, on the basis that resistance to Western-backed imperialism and power is progressive in and of itself, regardless of the political character of that resistance. Hong Kongers, Ukrainians, or Syrian dissident movements under Assad were in one way or another characterised as simply Western-backed pawns in a wider geo-political conflict of Western imperialism and the rest of the world.
How can we be consistent anti-imperialists and internationalists? How should we relate to international conflicts as socialists active in the UK and in the West?
Join Bristol Workers’ Liberty to discuss these questions. These meetings are open to all. Discussion and disagreement encouraged.
Entry requirements: no age restrictions
As socialists we want to see the end of imperial domination whether this is carried out by the West, Russia, or China. We also want to see the end of sub-imperial domination, for example, in the Middle East, carried out by Israel, Iran, Saudi Arabia, or Turkey.
The past decade has seen various conflicts where the sections of the left in Britain or elsewhere in the West have ended up supporting reactionary and authoritarian political leaderships. In Syria, sections of the British left (including the Stop the War Coalition) supported or minimised the actions of the Assad regime against the popular democratic movement from below. Sections of the left supported and celebrated the 7th October Hamas-led attacks and have whitewashed the brutal Hamas leadership in Gaza. The Communist Party of Britain, supported the Chinese state in its suppression of the Hong Kongers and denied the ongoing ethnic cleansing of the Uyghur minority in Xinjiang. Much of the left have also repeated and believed Russian ruling-class propaganda in the run up to and during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
These conclusions have been drawn, in one way or another, on the basis that resistance to Western-backed imperialism and power is progressive in and of itself, regardless of the political character of that resistance. Hong Kongers, Ukrainians, or Syrian dissident movements under Assad were in one way or another characterised as simply Western-backed pawns in a wider geo-political conflict of Western imperialism and the rest of the world.
How can we be consistent anti-imperialists and internationalists? How should we relate to international conflicts as socialists active in the UK and in the West?
Join Bristol Workers’ Liberty to discuss these questions. These meetings are open to all. Discussion and disagreement encouraged.
Entry requirements: no age restrictions
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