Anti-imperialism

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Korean poster captioned "Repel the U.S. invader!"

Chinese poster captioned "Imperialism and all reactionaries are all paper tigers"

Anti-imperialism in the context of Marxism-Leninism is the opposition to states which meet Lenin's definition of imperialism as outlined in his work, Imperialism, the highest stage of capitalism.

Anti-imperialism supports self-determination and anti-colonial movements even if they are not pro-socialist:

The struggle that the Emir of Afghanistan is waging for the independence of Afghanistan is objectively a revolutionary struggle, despite the monarchist views of the Emir and his associates, for it weakens, disintegrates and undermines imperialism; whereas the struggle waged by such "desperate" democrats and "Socialists," "revolutionaries" and republicans as, for example, Kerensky and Tsereteli, Renaudel and Scheidemann, Chernov and Dan, Henderson and Clynes, during the imperialist war was a reactionary struggle, for its results was the embellishment, the strengthening, the victory, of imperialism. For the same reasons, the struggle that the Egyptians merchants and bourgeois intellectuals are waging for the independence of Egypt is objectively a revolutionary struggle, despite the bourgeois origin and bourgeois title of the leaders of Egyptian national movement, despite the fact that they are opposed to socialism.

— Joseph Stalin, Foundations of Leninism, 1924

People who categorize themselves as anti-imperialists often state that they are opposed to colonialism, colonial empires, hegemony, imperialism and the territorial expansion of a country beyond its established borders. They might not be communists either, but can be part of the national bourgeoisie or the non-socialist proletariat. The current governments of Iran and Russia, for example, are anti-imperialist but are also opposed to communism. In the long run, however, to truly defeat imperialism in the world, the working masses will need to arm themselves with Communism.

The struggle against Imperialism is an essential part of the struggle for Socialism and the liberation of the working class and oppressed people worldwide. Anti-Imperialism is the political and economic resistance to Imperialism and Colonialism (or neo-Imperialism and neo-Colonialism). Anti-Imperialism requires a revolutionary struggle against the Capitalist state and the establishment of a Socialist society.

It is important to recognize that anti-Imperialism is not simply about supporting one state or another, but about supporting the liberation of oppressed peoples from the exploitation and domination of global Imperialism. Therefore, any course of action should be evaluated in terms of its potential impact on the broader struggle against Imperialism and the goal of establishing a Socialist society.

During WWI, Lenin called on Socialists to reject the idea of a “just” or “defensive” war, and instead to see the conflict as a class war between the ruling class and the working class. He argued that Socialists should oppose the war and work towards the overthrow of the Capitalist state. Seeing that the war was an Imperialist conflict between competing Capitalist powers, the workers of all countries had a common interest in opposing it. Socialists who supported their home countries during World War I had betrayed the principles of international Socialism and Proletarian solidarity.

The phrase gained widespread use after the Second World War and at the onset of the Cold War as political movements in colonies of European powers promoted national sovereignty. Some anti-imperialist groups who opposed the United States supported the power of the Soviet Union, such as in Guevarism.

See also

• Anti-capitalism
• Anti-colonialism
• Anti-fascism
• Anti-racism