After World War II, American imperialism supplanted Britain as the world’s premier capitalist power. It emerged armed to the teeth and, unlike its European rivals, its massive industrial base remained intact. The American capitalists pursued a ruthless program of world domination, employing any means—economic, political, and military—to secure markets, resources, and spheres of influence.

In the name of spreading “freedom and democracy,” US imperialism used money, arms, and propaganda lies to prop up reactionary regimes that served their interests. Meanwhile, parties and governments opposed to these interests, especially those sympathetic to socialism or communism, were sabotaged, undermined, and overthrown. If these measures proved insufficient, the self-proclaimed “world’s policeman” used naked force to achieve its goals—sparking wars and civil wars around the world.

In the name of spreading “freedom and democracy,” US imperialism used money, arms, and propaganda lies to prop up reactionary regimes that served their interests. / Image: Public Domain

But this new superpower was not invincible. From 1950–53, North Korean Stalinists, supported by China and the USSR, fought US imperialism to a stalemate on the Korean Peninsula. Determined to avoid a repeat, the American ruling class adopted increasingly aggressive policies in Vietnam, culminating in a massive war to prop up a series of unpopular, undemocratic, and reactionary South Vietnamese regimes. They spent $141 billion on the effort—over $1 trillion in 2024 dollars—and nearly 60,000 Americans and millions of Vietnamese perished. But the ruling class suffered defeat and humiliation—immortalized by infamous images of helicopters evacuating Americans from the roof of the US embassy in Saigon.

Not only did the Vietnamese Stalinists defeat imperialism and take power across all of Vietnam, but the whole course of the war had a profound effect on the consciousness of the US armed forces, young people, and advanced layers of the working class. The war provoked unprecedented mass anti-war mobilizations—at the time, the largest and strongest movement against imperialism and war in American history. Communists and other radicals had a huge opportunity to present their ideas to the American people, and revolutionary organizations mushroomed in number and size.

The Vietnam War had a profound effect on the consciousness of the US armed forces, young people, and advanced layers of the working class. / Image: Washington Area Spark, Flickr

A similar process is unfolding today. More than two decades of intervention in the Middle East accomplished little at great cost, apart from spreading black reaction through the rise of groups like ISIS and reconquest of power by the Taliban in Afghanistan.

In Eastern Europe, the cynical and reckless Biden-Harris administration is using Ukraine as a pawn in a reactionary conflict with Russia. As the US-backed regime in Kiev hurtles towards inevitable defeat, the Ukrainian masses are forced to pay a bloody price for the ruling class’s stupidity, and American workers are questioning why $175 billion (and counting) in weapons and aid is being wasted on a useless slaughter.

Similarly, the ongoing massacre of Palestinians in Gaza has exploded in the ruling class’s face. Once again, a mass anti-war movement has erupted among the American youth and advanced workers, enraged by endless images of brutality and barbarism. The whole Middle East risks being plunged into war involving Iran, Lebanon, and other regional rivals of the US and Israel.

Three decades into the so-called “Pax americana,” US imperialism has succeeded only in generating further instability at home and abroad. American workers are forced to foot the bill for the cold-blooded murder of their class brothers and sisters across the globe. Intending to consolidate and defend their domination, the imperialists have instead prepared future social explosions in Ukraine, across the Arab world, and in the belly of the beast itself.

The official socialist, communist, and trade-union leaders have proved entirely unable to prepare for these events. Only the forces of the Revolutionary Communist International have understood what is necessary to end war and genocide once for all—the seizure of power by the working class, the establishment of a workers’ government, and the abolition of the barbaric capitalist system.