IDEOLOGICAL STRUGGLE

CAITLIN JOHNSTONE—Replacing capitalism and imperialism with equality, justice, peace and harmony is what our world needs if our species is to survive into the future, but the agenda to make that transition sets us directly at odds with the largest power structures in the history of civilization. For this reason there’s been a generations-long campaign of psyops, infiltration and propaganda to keep the left down which surely continues to this day in online circles, but even if it didn’t the chaos, paranoia and confusion created on the left over the years by programs like COINTELPRO would be enough to significantly hinder our efforts to organize and overturn the status quo.

MATT EHRET—In this week’s episode of the Great Game, we discuss the good, the bad and the ugly developments of world history and modern events. The discussion unpacks the positive developments surrounding Russia’s Eastern Economic Forum (Sept 2-4) which is unleashing a new multipolar development dynamic onto the world in total synergy with China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

PEPE ESCOBAR—Beijing for its part is focused on increasing its connectivity with Iran via what could be described as a Persian-colored corridor incorporating Tajikistan and Afghanistan. That will depend, once again, on the degree of Taliban control.

But Beijing can count on an embarrassment of riches: Plan A, after all, is an extended China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), with Afghanistan annexed, whoever is in power in Kabul.

What’s clear is that the extended troika will not be shaping the most intricate details of the future of Eurasia integration. That will be up to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which includes Russia, China, Pakistan, India, the Central Asian “stans” and Iran and Afghanistan as current observers and future full-members.

At 81, the great Harpal Brar, Indian-born but long a resident of Britain, communist party founder, and revolutionary theorist, is without a doubt one of the few remaining great Marxist-Leninist thinkers of the old school. In his political career, he has fought not just the capitalist enemy, but all forms of fake and theoretically erroneous leftism, from anarchism to social democracy and Trotskyism, along with communist revisionism (which undermined and eventually contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union from within). This chat with Harpal is simply to be prized. Brar’s work deserves attention and our gratitude. We are glad Caleb Maupin arranged to make this interview widely available to activists everywhere. 

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