Some Reflections on Imperialism | Robert Reid

Late April, early May sees the anniversary of two hugely important events.  This gives a chance to reflect on them as we acknowledge that today there is “much disorder under heaven”.

Fifty years ago on 30 April 1975, Vietnam achieved its liberation and the end of the US war on Vietnam as Saigon fell to the liberation forces and the US and its allies ignominiously fled the former capital of the South Vietnam puppet state.
Eighty years ago, on 9 May 1945, the Soviet Union accepted Nazi Germany’s surrender in Berlin ending the horrific World War 2 which saw the death toll of an estimated 27 million civilians and military in the Soviet Union alone.

Today we are hearing the drums of war beating loudly again with the US enabled Israeli genocide in Gaza, the US / Israel threat of war on Iran, the proxy war in the Ukraine and the US preparations for war against China.

Following the end of WW2, US imperialism took over from British Imperialism as the global imperialist power.  At the same time more and more colonies of the European powers started to gain independence, and China achieved its own liberation under the leadership of Mao Tse Tung and the Chinese Communist Party.  The USSR, which was the main force defeating Nazi Germany, provided a counterweight to that of the US imperialism which led to the cold war, continuing until the “collapse” of the Soviet Union in 1991.

During this period, although New Zealand claimed to have an independent foreign policy to that of the US, from time to time, by and large when Washington said “jump”, NZ said “how high”.

We are mostly aware of the Lange Labour Government of 1984 bringing some tensions to the US – NZ relationship with its nuclear free policy regarding nuclear armed or powered war ships.  But it did not take long for this relationship to be “repaired”, and for the US to declare NZ, if not an ally, then a “very, very, very good friend.”
Although the US blamed NZ for the breakup of the ANZUS military alliance, NZ along with Britain and the other settler colonies of Australia, US and Canada has been part of the 5-Eyes spy network for at least 70 years.  Although NZ did not commit troops to the US invasion of Iraq, it did commit troops at US request to Afghanistan.

More recently, Labour and National Coalition Governments alike have sent Prime Ministers to be observers at NATO meetings and NZ continues to be involved in US led military exercises and agreements in South Korea, Hawai’i, the Philippines, the Taiwan Strait / South China Sea as part of the US attempts to blockade China’s maritime trade routes and as part of a multi-national force to protect Israel in the Red Sea.
NZ’s military spending has not been large on a global scale, and it has even moved away from big ticket items such as frigates and fighter jets as the cost of this equipment has skyrocketed.
However, like many other countries in the US orbit, NZ has now succumbed to US demands to increase military spending and Defence Minister Judith Collins has just announced that defence spending will be doubled to 2% of GDP over the next 8 years with an immediate injection of NZD 9 billion over the next 4 years to upgrade transport aircraft, helicopters and naval infrastructure.

Australia, even more willing than New Zealand to be a junior partner of US imperialism, ripped up an agreement with France in 2021 to supply conventional submarines to join a newly created AUKUS pact that made the US the supplier of nuclear submarines to that country.  As soon as that agreement was signed the pressure came on NZ to join a so-called Pillar 2.
Both Labour and National seemed eager at the beginning to be part of Pillar 2.  However, the gloss has quickly worn off Pillar 1, with it now being unlikely that Australia will ever own or control the promised nuclear submarines. This US is still demanding that it spends the AUD 368 billion price tag to finance the building of submarines it may never own, other big ticket military hardware and facility infrastructure to house it.
While it is the ruling classes of capitalist and imperialist countries who start wars, it is always the working class who lose their lives as members of the armed forces or as civilian casualties of a war.

It is up to working class, peace and anti-imperialist organisations to campaign to ensure that NZ moves well away from being a junior partner of US imperialism.
Also, in NZ we are witnessing the growing anti-colonial struggle within the country by Māori.  Although the ruling class of the NZ settler colony has been well disposed over the years to be a loyal junior partner of global imperialism and colonisation, Māori and their tau iwi allies are breaking with colonisation and imperialism from wherever it comes.

Those of us who protested US and allied aggression in Vietnam over 50 years ago, believed that US imperialism, after being defeated by a much smaller country was not only a “paper tiger” but in decline.
Fifty years later we still see hegemonic US imperialism responsible for so much death and destruction across the globe. But this time it does seem to be in its death throes. “The road may be long and torturous, but the future is bright!”

On the Sixteenth and Seventeenth of May, Robert Reid and comrades will be hosting a commemoration of the liberation of Vietnam. Peace, anti-war and anti-imperialist activists young and old are encouraged to attend.
• From 2.00 pm to 4.30 pm on Friday 16 May the Alexander Turnbull Library will be displaying some of their collection of anti- war on Vietnam material in the Kupenga Room. People are welcome to pop in and view this selection during the afternoon.
•From 5.00 pm to 7.30 pm Friday 16 May (note earlier than first advertised time), also at the National Library, everyone is invited to an “Extraordinary General Meeting of the Wellington Committee on Vietnam” which will be a time of reflection and reminiscing on the 1960s / 70s anti-war movement, including not only the CoV but other groups such as Release All Vietnamese Prisoners of Conscience (RAVPOC), Medical Aid for Vietnam, Organisation to Halt Military Service (OHMS). A selection of “protest” photographs will also be on display.
•From 10.00 am on Saturday 17 May “old protesters” and friends are invited to have brunch together at the Home Café in the National Library Building.