From: Paul Bullock (paulbullock@EBMS-LTD.CO.UK)
Date: Wed May 28 2003 - 16:17:55 EDT
There may be some misconception here. Imperialism is characterised by the export of capital, and the consequent maintenance of effective material control over other nations ... thus eg the creation of debt regimes to maintain the process, interference in other (weaker) states affairs etc.. it becomes the oppression of other nations, the blocking of their abilities to govern themselves, including provoking anarchy if nothing better is suitable. eg Congo, Angola. However, as 'capital' on the move, this involves competing companies protected by their own governments, their own national committees. States thus confront each other, more or less armed, however delicately it is put. eg - 'trade frictions'-. Matters become more serious as eg 'Yugoslavia' is redivided ... Croatia to the Germans ( who rushed in with recognition quite unilaterally)- whilst the French and British tried to rearrange Serbia, Montenegro etc . Now Iraq is being 'reallocated'.... or do we think the new 'free trade area for the middle East' is a local idea? Soon we shall be hearing that the division in Ireland has nothing to do with Imperialism! That such 'capital' controlling states may not, at any particular moment, have 'miltiary agrandisement' as an apparent aim, does not negate their 'economic' and so 'political' status. Germany exports capital on a grand scale. Slowly it has begun to send its soldiers abroad to maintain its 'contribution' to its influence. The Japanese are now further amending their laws to allow 'first strike' capacity. Their armed forces are quite sizeable I think! It seems rather naive , to me, to believe that the propertied classes feel thay can ignore the need for a police force unconditionally dedicated to their needs. The Swiss of course have relied on tight lipped collaboration with the most odious of clients to ensure their own particular form of 'Swiss Bank' imperialism although it might appear at first as a contradictory notion. Paul Bullock ----- Original Message ----- From: <wpc@DCS.GLA.AC.UK> To: <OPE-L@SUS.CSUCHICO.EDU> Sent: Tuesday, May 27, 2003 9:17 PM Subject: Re: (OPE-L) dreams and nightmares -- LTV > Quoting Paul Bullock <paulbullock@EBMS-LTD.CO.UK>: > > > > > You responded > > > > > In what does, say, the German empire consist? > > > > You have made the point that you don't accept the concept of imperialism > > before. > > > > He was making a fair point that Germany at present is not an > imperial power. Clearly it was in the past, it might be in the > future but it is not one now. > > The USA clearly is an imperial power, and so is France, and the UK > is in the process of re-establishing itself as such. > > ------------------------------------------------- > This mail sent through IMP: http://horde.org/imp/ >
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