The U.S. is no longer an unrivaled empire dominating the world system. It has suffered a relative decline as a result of its disastrous invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as the rise of China as a global superpower. Furthermore, the 2008 global economic crisis weakened America’s hegemony over the world economy. Considering a growing inter-imperial rivalry, revolutions and counter revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa, the threat of a U.S. or Israeli or Saudi Arabian war with Iran, a catastrophic migrant crisis, and a new surge of global revolt against authoritarianism and austerity alongside a resurgence of the far right, this panel will address the following questions: What distinguishes imperialism in the 21st century? What is new about anti-imperialist struggles? How do we express our solidarity with the Sudanese and Algerian uprisings, the popular protests in Chile, Lebanon, Iraq, and Iran, the Kurds under assault by the Turkish invasion of northern Syria, all Syrian revolutionaries fighting the Assad regime and Jihadists, the indigenous struggles in the Americas including opposition to the recent coup in Bolivia, as well as labor struggles in China and mass democracy protests in Hong Kong? What is needed for shaping an emancipatory socialist alternative that opposes all imperialist powers?
Imperialism, Anti-Imperialism and International Socialist Solidarity Today