Skip to content

Top reads on the Ukraine conflict war and imperialism

Marxist Theory · 2022-02-24

Core Argument

This article is not an analysis in itself but a curated reading list that establishes a clear political line: the Ukraine war is an inter-imperialist conflict between two reactionary camps, and Marxists must oppose both Russian imperialism and NATO imperialism without taking sides with either. The central claim is that the crisis cannot be understood as beginning on 24 February 2022, but must be traced back through the 2014 Maidan coup, the Donbas civil war, and ultimately to the restoration of capitalism in the former Soviet Union. The West's "hypocritical denunciations" of Russia serve to obscure NATO's own aggressive eastward expansion and the role of western imperialism in creating the conditions for war. The only principled position is internationalist class struggle, not support for either imperialist camp.

Theoretical Grounding

The analysis is grounded in the classical Leninist theory of imperialism as developed in Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism, which defines imperialism as the highest stage of capitalism characterised by the dominance of finance capital, the export of capital, and the division of the world among the great powers. The reading list draws heavily on Trotsky's critique of pacifism as a servant of imperialism, arguing that calls for "peace" that do not attack the capitalist system itself are objectively reactionary. Lenin's formulation that "war is the continuation of politics by other means" is central, as is his insistence that the class character of a war must be determined by asking which classes are waging it and for what historical-economic reasons. The Bolshevik position on the national question in Ukraine is referenced, particularly the critique of Stalinism's role in feeding reactionary Ukrainian nationalism. The theoretical framework rejects both reformist illusions in the UN and NATO as peacekeeping institutions, and the opportunist position of supporting "progressive" national bourgeoisies against rival imperialist powers.

Conjunctural Relevance

The article was published on 7 March 2022, less than two weeks after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began on 24 February 2022. It responds directly to the immediate propaganda environment: western media portraying Ukraine as a model democracy and Zelenskiy as a heroic defender of European values, while Keir Starmer and other social-democratic leaders compete with the right wing in chauvinist support for NATO. The conjuncture is defined by the collapse of the post-1991 settlement in Eastern Europe, the eastward expansion of NATO into former Soviet sphere of influence countries, and the long-term decline of US imperialism relative to rising powers. The article situates the war within the 30-year trajectory of capitalist restoration in Ukraine, which destroyed living standards and subjugated the country to a "ruling clique of corrupt gangsters and oligarchs." The specific reference to the 2014 Maidan movement and the subsequent civil war in Donbas grounds the analysis in the concrete history of the region, rejecting the framing of the war as an unprovoked aggression by a madman.

Where the Argument Continues

This reading list functions as a gateway to the broader IDOM corpus on Ukraine and imperialism. The argument continues in several directions:

  • The 2014 Theses on Ukraine provide the foundational analysis that the reading list claims remains valid, covering the character of the Maidan government, the Donbas civil war, and the roles of Russia and NATO.
  • Alan Woods' series of articles from 2014 (Where is Ukraine going?; Russia, Ukraine and the West; Kiev loses control of Donbas; Ukraine: Rebels reject Kiev rule) develop the conjunctural analysis in real time as events unfolded.
  • The 2016 document "Imperialism today and the character of Russia and China" extends the theoretical framework to the specific question of whether Russia and China are imperialist powers, a question that became central to the 2022 conjuncture.
  • Against the Stream episodes and subsequent IDOM articles would continue to track the war's development, the response of the left, and the economic consequences for the working class in both Russia and Ukraine.
  • The broader Marxist tradition is mapped through Lenin's Imperialism, Trotsky's Pacifism As The Servant of Imperialism, and Lenin's War and Revolution lecture.

Connections

This reading list should be read alongside:

  • Lenin, Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism — the theoretical foundation for the entire analysis
  • Trotsky, Pacifism As The Servant of Imperialism — the critique of bourgeois pacifism that informs the rejection of calls for "peace" without class struggle
  • Alan Woods, Where is Ukraine going? (2014) — the most substantial single analysis of the Ukrainian crisis in the IDOM corpus
  • IMT World Congress Theses on Ukraine (2014) — the organisational line that the reading list claims remains valid
  • "Imperialism today and the character of Russia and China" (2016) — the theoretical document that extends Lenin's framework to the post-Soviet conjuncture
  • The statements by Russian comrades referenced in the reading list, which demonstrate the internationalist duty of Marxists in the belligerent country

Key Quotes

  1. "Were we to believe the war propaganda of the western imperialists, we would have to conclude that the current crisis in Ukraine began on 24 February 2022, when Putin ordered Russian troops to enter Ukraine. This is a reactionary imperialist war that we oppose, but our opposition has nothing to do with the hypocritical denunciations of the West."

  2. "Capitalists do not wage war for high-minded ideals, but to secure markets, and spheres of influence."

  3. "Only class struggle, transcending national boundaries, and the overthrow of capitalism, can bring an end, not only to the Ukraine war, but all war."

  4. "Far from being a model democracy, since the restoration of capitalism in Ukraine 30 years ago, the 'free' market has destroyed living standards, has caused a long-term decline of the Ukrainian economy, and has subjugated the nation to a ruling clique of corrupt gangsters and oligarchs."

  5. "The present crisis in Ukraine is the result of a long chain of events that lead straight back to the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s and the restoration of capitalism in the region. The return of capitalism led to a collapse of the living standard, the resurgence of nationalism, and caused a rupture in modern Ukrainian society."

  6. "The task of workers' parties in capitalist countries is to foment revolution at home, to turn their fire on their own ruling class, and end their country's participation in fratricidal war. The main enemy is at home!"