RE: [OPE] capitalist states, imperialism, and militarism

[GERALD LEVY <gerald_a_levy@xxxxxxx>]

Hi Dave Z:
 
 
I don't think that imperialism can be reduced simply to one state
trying to control a foreign society.  What was missing from your prior
definition of imperialism was incorporating the _economic_
relationships associated with imperialism: in that sense, I think it
is a kind of pre-Hobsonian understanding.
 

> It is of course debatable to what extent their policies are
> 'imperialist' --- to what extent one is helping or controlling
> communities. But my guess is that a significant fraction of the Lebanese
> population thinks the Iranian state is trying to control their society.
 
 
The overwhelming amount of people in  Lebanon, I think,  understand
that it is _US_ imperialism which props up the current government.
 
 
And, in any event, the idea that the Iranian state has some measurable
influence over Lebanese politics is a fundamental mis-reading
of the situation, especially insofar as it concerns the political
orientation and policies of Hezbollah.
 

> Perhaps the same goes for the people of Taiwan and the Chinese state.

 
That would be like saying that Bolshevik "imperialists" were
responsible for subjugating the Czar and his supporters or
that the anti-apartheid "imperialists" in South Africa are responsible
for oppressing the domestic beneficiaries of apartheid. In other
words, it would be a historically twisted perception.
 
 
In solidarity, Jerry

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