1. Socialist Party today Merseyside writes on EU and economy Pages 12 to 15 G o w a n o n K o s o v a Twilight of the European project Pages 17 to 27 Happy with Lenin? New rules for left self-organisation Pages 8 and 9 B u m p e r e d i t i o n Largest ever 28-page issue still only 1 socialist democracy for a critical marxism no 7 august/September 1999 1 Euro-elections show support for radical red-green parties t i m e ! Page 4 to 6: French unity gets Alain Krivine and Arlette Lagulller elected as MEPs Pages 7 to 10: How socialists and greens can build a new party of the left socialist democracy august/September 1999* 1 2. From the readers, and the editors L e t t e r s F r o m o u r r e a d e r s Pretty right on I saw vour editorial by Dave Osier in sd6. I just wanted you to know that 1 think it was not onlv a good piece on B l a i r i t e B r i t a i i i . b u t a l s o t h e conclusions for the world stxrialist movement seemed prett}' right on. One thing I would say; with the rapidly changing economy and the nature of the class, a strike of programmers could indeed shut the whole mess down ^rin). One other thing: it's interesting that established and progressive unions over here, such as the dockworkers, are both maintaining an active level of struggje for basic democratic rights (there was a one- day work stoppage in support of Mumb Abu jamal on the west coast here), and movitig to organise low- paid services workers. A successful, if barely, campaign was held at the country's largest independent bookstore, and thc''rc also devoting signicant time and mone' to the organisation of bike messengers. We'll see how it all pans out, but it pn>mises to be interesting. Overall union membership continues, 1 believe, to decline. As for the left, it's pretty much catatonic, except for successful work in the I^bor Part)' and Mumia campaign by the likes of l^ibor Militant, Socialist .Action, and a very few other groups. .Membership in such organisations is growing, albeit in the "one b' one" category' rather than mass recruitment on any kind of scale, (iomradcly best greetings, Chris Faatz, Socialist Party, U S A Solidarity I enjoyed latest issue of Sodalist Democray - it hits the analytical spot well. We are in the process of setting up SoSfhrity, a TU magazine aimed at activists, members and rank and le groups primarily to challenge the idea of social partnersliip. The pilot issue should now be in the factories and ofces. We have set up a temporary w e b s i t e a t htt|v//www-Solidarit'.zetnct.C().iik. I lave a ItMjk. I f raiders have any links 2 0 socialist democracy august/september 1999 we should include, can tiffer any input or can suggest this link to any other sites, mail sf)lidarit'@zerner.co-uk. P e t e S l o m a n F o r s o c i a l i s t h i s t o r i a n s Readers may be interested to hear tliat Sol Dollinger's web page, at hrtp://homc.inreach.com/soldoll. n o w i n c l u d e s a r t i c l e s f r o m T l x American SodaEst, 1954- 1959. 'ITie Socialist Union of America c a m e i n t o e x i s t e n c e a f t e r a m u l t i - faceted debate from 1946 until 1953 within the US Socialist Workers Party. 'ITie followers of Bert (icKhran and I larr)' Braverman attempted to reform traditional SWP part)' leaders' thinking on a broad range of issues. What began with policy over Walter Heuther and the UAW spread to an extensive examination of the nature of the economies in liastern liurope beginning with Yugoslavia and continued through the Maoist-led revolution in China. As the opposition spread f)m the leaders in the National Committee of the Part)' lead by Bert (iochran and 1 lart)' Braverman to embrace a third of the part)', James P. (iannon, leader of the part)' moved to rid the part)' of his opposition group. After a long period Cannon succeeded in 1953. livxpulsion of the minority led to the establishment of the Socialist Union of America and the publication of The Amedcan SodaEstixam 1954-1959. B a l a K u m a r Keep it regular! "Ibank you for the latest copy of the magazine. A'ou invite comments on the format and frequenc)' and here the)' are. 'Ilie most impotfant thing about any publication is that it becomes a habit as far as readers are concemcxi.... the regular appearance will make a big difference to how man' are sold. Up to date comment is also iinportint, panicularlj- when you do not date the writing of articles, there can be much confusion when some are more current than others are. .s to the format...it seems to me to be less important than what is said in the articles, and in the case of the format in the latest magazine I would say it is ne, in fact I like it. ' l l i e r e s e e m s t o b e s o m e confusion on the left about the Sl.P vote in Scotland. The realit)' is that they polled more votes in the regional list section than did the SSP and that they beat us in most of the individual regions. 1 think this should be a d d r e s s e d b e c a u s e t h e ' M i l i t a n t " explanation Is not totally convincing. K e i t h W h i t e F r o m t h e e d i t o r s A thank-you to our s u b s c r i b e r s Socialist Democracy would like tc ttiank all those sufctscribers, and other readers, who have given us their feedt)ack on the magazine. Most readers are positive about the redesign - especially ance it allows the magazine to be produced more promptly. Rightly, one reader commented: "If you lot really aren't just a bunch of Trots and really are into green Issues/feminism, how come there aren't any articles on green issues or feminism in the magazine?" We hope modest improvement has been registered in this issue. Please continue to send articles, and suggestions for articles, to our address on the opposite page. Our homepage Readers will be glad to hear that Socialist Democracy's web ate has been redeagned. Now online -- at httD://members.triDod.co.uk/socialist dem/ - the redesign includes articles from our last issue and an extensive list of other web sites and online resources. 3. Building a new party of the ieft Next steps towards a New Left TheresultsoftheEuropeanelectionscontainimportant lessons for the left. As John Bulaitis explains in this issue, the militant left only gained seats where it had pre-existing party or party-type organisations of some signicance. In Italy, this was the Party of Communist Refoundation, in Spain the United Left and in France the Lutte Ouvriere-Ligue Communiste R e v o l u t i o n n a i r e c o a l i t i o n . T h e l e f t i n B r i t a i n - with the exception of Scodand - lacked a militant socialist organisation with a real national presence capable of mounting such a challenge. This points to the general strategic problem of building a new, pluralist and militant socialist party - which has been the objective of Socialist Denwcracy since its founders left the Socialist VsLtty/Militant. There is no doubt that the polidcal space to the left of New Labour will grow as the government slips further into farce. As Blairism unravels, it can expect further election reverses such as it experienced in the Euro-elections. Political apathy and abstentionism will also be a continuing feature of the next period. The best antidote to this would be the a party like the Scottish Socialist Part)'' on an all-British scale. But given the differences in political conditions between Scodand and the rest of the UK, this will not be easy. For the moment, only partial steps can be taken to start to resolve the crisis of political representation of the working class. In this regard, the news of emergence of groups of ex-Militant/Socialist Party supporters who are beginning to organise in several major cities is most welcome. Taken together, these groups could take an important step towards creating a new culture on the British left: one rejecting the congenital absolutism of British Trotskyism. As Chris Brooks argues in this issue, the New Left that is emerging needs to discover New Rules: favouring a creative and experimental culture on the left. These groups and others could become a real attractive pole for people wanting a militant socialist alternative, but rejecting fossilised sectarian dogmatism. On a European scale, however, we can see that there will be plenty of competition to win radicals - especially young radicals - to the left of the pro-capitalist social democratic parties. This can be seen, for example, in the French situation. Probably the LCR-LO coalition, which won ve seats in the Euro-election with 5.3% of the vote - lost a couple of percentage points during the campaign to Cohn-Bendit's G r e e n s . This was because of the hysteria whipped up over the Balkans war, and the pro-Nato position of Cohn-Bendit - who combined a pro- imperialist position with radical social policies on some questions. In Britain a Cohn-Bendit t'pe position is defended by Euro-journalist John Palmer, a regular contributor the magazine Red Pepper and long-time defender of the European Union, who vigorously advocated left support for the Nato war effort. As a welcome riposte, Patrick Scott's article reviews the response of the left to the war and the need to ght for self-determination for the Kosovars, while opposing Nato. For the same reason Peter Cowan's essay. The Twilight of Europe, dominates the second half of this magazine. Cowan's conclusions are hotly debated on the left, including amongst Socialist Democracy supporters. However his article represents a rare attempt to look at the global and political implications of the Balkans conict f o r t h e l e f t . In general, the Greens in Europe have moved substantially to the right, participating in bourgeois government alliances in several countries. If continued, the right-wing Green drift will produce at least accommodation to social democrac)' (as in France and Germany), and probably the consolidation of sections of the Greens as bourgeois liberal parties. This is the not surprising result of social radicalism that is not rooted in militant anti-capitalism and anti-imperialism. As Nick Long explains in his article, an open letter to the Way Head group in the Green Party, the antidote to this is a new left which bases itself neither on vague radicahsm nor fossilised dogma, but socialism, struggle and solidarity. The best opportunit)' to move towards this today is the forces emerging from the Militant tradition. Socialist Democracy completely supports these efforts. Re-launch of London Socialist Alliance 1st August 1999 Speakers: Rosie Kane, Scottish Socialist Party, Ian Page, Lewisham socialist councillor, Terry Liddle, Green Party. Also invited: National SA committee. Green Socialist Network, London ILN, Socialist Party and Socialist Outlook. 12-6pm Calabash Centre, George Lane, Lewisham SE13. Ladywell/Hither Green BR socialist democracy for a CTltical marxism No 7 august/september 1999 socialist dem/ C o n t e n t s 2 L e t t e r s Building a new left 3 E d i t o r i a l 4 E n r o - e k c t i o n s 7 A S c o t t i s h R o a d ? 8 T h e N e w R u l e s 10 Socialist Greens In Depth 11 Kashmir conict 12 I Vorid Recession 14 European curreng K o s o v a 16 The left on Kosova 18 Twilight of Europe 2 8 B a l k a n l e t t e r s Published by Socialist Democracy. E d i t o r i a l : s d e d i t o r s @ i n a m e . c o m G e n e r a l : s o c d e m @ i n a m e . c o m 45 Trafalgar Avenue, N17 8JG Signed articles represent the views of contributors. This issue the authors, July '99 Printed by Intype, London 0181 947 7 8 6 3 Subscriptions: Six issues 5 5 for all our back issues Cheques payable to 'Socialist Democracy'. If Socialist Democracy merges with another publication, subscriptions will be carried over. socialist democracy august/september 1999 3 4. Building a new party of the ieft Euro-elections show the need John Bulaltis, with a d d i t i o n a l m a t e r i a l f r o m Nick Long and Peter D r u c k e r T h e s e r e s u l t s a r e a crushing refutation o f t h e ^ n e w r e v i s i o n i s m ' t h a t h a s now conquered European social democracy and symbolised by the J u n e B l a i r - S c h r d d e r m a n i f e s t o f o r a ' s o c i a l - l i b e r a l ' Europe. Elections arc at best a partial i n d i c a t i o n o f t h e b a l a n c e o f class forces in society and the level and potential for socialist ideas. This is particularly the c a s e w i t h t h e E u r o p e a n e l e c t i o n s w h i c h i n s p i r e d record levels of apathy and i n d i f f e r e n c e . N e v e r t h e l e s s t h e p o l l , together with the preceding local English council elections a n d e l e c t i o n s f o r t h e S c o t t i s h p a r l i a m e n t a n d W e l s h assembly, gives important s i g n a l s t o t h o s e o f u s c o m m i t t e d t o b u i l d i n g a v i a b l e s o c i a l i s t a l t e r n a t i v e t o B l a i r i s m , t h a t i s a n e w Socialist Party - broad, non- s e c t a r i a n , d e m o c r a t i c a n d pluralistic. T h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t feature of the Euro-poll was t h e c o l o s s a l a b s t e n t i o n r a t e . The level in the UK - 77 per cent - meant that, under Blair, B r i t a i n a c h i e v e d t h e l e v e l o f p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n e l e c t o r a l p o l i t i c s m o r e n o r m a l l y a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h e U S A . B u t m a s s a b s t e n t i o n i s m w a s a n European-wide phenomenon: 55 per cent failed to vote in G e r m a n y, 5 1 p e r c e n t i n A u s t r i a , 6 0 p e r c e n t i n P o r t u g a l , 5 3 p e r c e n t i n F r a n c e . A n u m b e r o f f a c t o r s c o n t r i b u t e d t o t h e a b s t e n t i o n rate: the corruption scandals in the European Commission, the Kosovan war, the fact that the European Parliament is remote to the daily lives of populations, and the fear - m o s t m a r k e d i n B r i t a i n b u t existing elsewhere - that EMU w i l l t h r e a t e n ' n a t i o n a l sovereignty'. However, by far the most important feature of the abstentions is that they r e p r e s e n t a w i d e s p r e a d d i s c o n t e n t w i t h t h e n e o - l i b e r a l political consensus that now dominates electoral politics in all the European countries. In France, for example, a survey found that 45 per cent of those not voting gave as a reason t h e i r " d i s c o n t e n t w i t h t h e political parties". Moreover in the same country over one million (5.94 per cent) of those actually going to the polling s t a t i o n s h o w e d t h i s d i s c o n t e n t in a more positive way by voting 'blank', or spoiling their ballot paper. T h e ' S o c i a l i s t ' a n d S o c i a l D e m o c r a t i c p a r t i e s ( i n government in 13 out of the 15 m e m b e r s t a t e s ) p a i d t h e h i g h e s t p r i c e , s u f f e r i n g r e v e r s a l s i n a l l c o u n t r i e s except Portugal and France. Of the three big players in post-war social democracy, t h e G e r m a n S o c i a l D e m o c r a t i c Party (SPD) dropped ten per cent compared to its electoral victory nine months earlier, t h e S w e d i s h S P D f e l l t o 2 6 . 1 per cent, its lowest gure s i n c e t h e w a r, w h i l e B l a i r ' s N e w L a b o u r p o l l e d a disastrous 28 per cent - a level close to the catastrophic 1983 g e n e r a l e l e c t i o n r e s u l t a c h i e v e d b y ' O l d L a b o u r ' u n d e r M i c h a e l F o o t . T h e s e r e s u l t s a r e a c r u s h i n g r e f u t a t i o n o f t h e ' n e w r e v i s i o n i s m ' t h a t h a s n o w conquered European social democracy and symbolised by t h e J u n e B l a i r - S c h r o d e r m a n i f e s t o f o r a ' s o c i a l - l i b e r a l ' Europe. However the Right should not celebrate too loudly. In general its progress has been exaggerated by the media. Although in Britain and Germany, the Tories and the C h r i s t i a n D e m o c r a t s ( C D U / C S U ) g a v e N e w Labour and the SPD a hiding, o n a E u r o p e a n l e v e l t h e socialist group in the Euro- parliament has only fallen in s i z e f r o m 2 1 4 m e m b e r s t o 1 8 0 . The Right's new majority is because it was previously d i v i d e d i n t o f o u r d i f f e r e n t groups but has managed to u n i t e i n t h e E u r o p e a n Peoples' Party. S o w h i l e t h e R i g h t a d v a n c e d i n t e r m s o f percentage of voters, the abstention levels meant that it made no real progress in t e r m s o f n u m b e r s o f v o t e r s . The general feature of the e l e c t i o n s i s t h e r e f o r e a weakening of the vote for both the traditional parties of the Left and of the Right, both in t e r m s o f a c t u a l v o t e s c a s t a n d in percentage of votes won. F o r e x a m p l e , i n T h e Netherlands, the Labour Party declined from 22.9 to 20.1 per c e n t , w h i l e t h e C h r i s t i a n D e m o c r a t i c C D A a l s o declined from 30.8 per cent to 26.9 per cent. Likewise in G r e e c e t h e c o m b i n e d v o t e o f the two mainstream parties -- PASOK and the right wing New Democracy fell to 70 per cent from the 80 per cent scored at the last general e l e c t i o n . I n r e l a t i o n t o B r i t a i n i t i s too soon to speak of a Tory r e v i v a l . T h e T o r i e s ' v i c t o r i e s w e r e b e c a u s e t h e a b s t e n t i o n rate was not so high amongst Tory traditional voters as a m o n g s t L a b o u r ' s : w h i l e t h e stay-at-home rate in some w o r k i n g - e l a s s d i s t r i c t s reached 85 per cent and even 90 per cent. A general election is still likely to result in a radically different outcome. N e v e r t h e l e s s a s e c t i o n o f t h e Labour leadership is clearly alarmed by the problems the party is having of maintaining e n t h u s i a s m a m o n g s t i t s traditional working class base, and especially amongst the young. Unfortunately, with the exception of the campaign of the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP), there was no focus provided by the Left which c o u l d c h a n n e l t h i s disillusionment and potential opposition to Blairism. The performance of the SSP, a new party still in the process of establishing itself, w a s q u i t e s p e c t a c u l a r . Building on the election to the Scottish parliament of Tommy Sheridan, it polled 11 per cent in Glasgow and four per cent i n S c o t l a n d a s a w h o l e . T h e s u c c e s s e s o f S S P w e r e p a r t o f a E u r o p e a n - w i d e p r o c e s s . 4 socialist democracy august/September 1999 5. for a green socialist party Generally, the discontent a n d d i s i l l u s i o n m e n t i n t h e S o c i a l D e m o c r a t i c o r L a b o u r P a r t i e s l e d t o a n i n c r e a s e d vote for parties perceived to be on the radical Left. The most signicant a d v a n c e w a s i n F r a n c e . W i t h a s c o r e o f 5 . 2 % o r about a million votes, the joint l i s t b e t w e e n L u t t e O u v r i d r e ( L O ) a n d t h e L i g u e C o m m u n i s t e R e v o l u t i o n n a i r e (LCR) won ve seats in the European Parliament. Arlette Laguillcr of LO and Alain K r i v i n c o f t h e L C R a r e n o w b o t h E u r o M P s . T h e c a m p a i g n p r o g r a m m e included a 30-hour work week, a m a s s i v e i n c r e a s e o n s o c i a l spending and legalisation of the sans papiers (immigrants without residency rights). It got enormous publicity in France and attracted large audiences to public meetings in towns, big and small. E l s e w h e r e t h e r a d i c a l i s m reected itself in a variety of w a y s . In The Netherlands, for example, the formerly Maoist S o c i a l i s t P a r t y, t h e o n l y parliamentary party to oppose the Nato's Balkan war, won i t s r s t E u r o M P . T h e r e w e r e a l s o i m p o r t a n t v o t e s f o r v a r i o u s f o r m a t i o n s b a s e d o n t h e o l d C o m m u n i s t P a r t i e s . These were not uniform, f o r e x a m p l e i n S p a i n t h e c r i s i s - r i d d e n U n i t e d L e f t suffered a fall to six per cent, a n d t h e v o t e f o r t h e b r o a d s l a t e l e d b y t h e F r e n c h C o m m u n i s t p a r t y ( P C F ) continued, polling seven per cent. Nevertheless, in France, if the votes of the Greens, PCF a n d t h e L O / L C R a r e a d d e d together it can be seen that nearly one voter in four voted for slates perceived to be to the left of the Socialist Party- led government. Similarly in Greece the three parties standing to the left of the Socialist Party (PASOK) polled 20 per cent (the KKE, Synapsismos and Dikki). In Sweden, the Left Party polled 16 per cent, its best ever result; and in Germany t h e P a r t y f o r D e m o c r a t i c S o c i a l i s m ( P D S ) w o n a n a s t o n i s h i n g s i x p e r c e n t : based almost wholly in the East, the PDS is still a pariah in bourgeois society. In Italy four per cent voted for the Party of Communist R e f o u n d a t i o n a n d o v e r t w o per cent backed its former r i g h t - w i n g , t h e " I t a l i a n Communists" led by Cossuta: the former is sending four M E P s a n d t h e l a t t e r h a s w o n t w o . T h e v o t e s f o r t h e G r e e n s a l s o r e p r e s e n t a c e r t a i n radicalism. They polled 12 per c e n t i n T h e N e t h e r l a n d s (progressing from 3.7 per cent) 9.7 per cent in France ( i n c l u d i n g 1 7 p e r c e n t i n Paris), and 18 per cent in Wallonia, the French-speaking south of Belgium. In Britain they won two seats, including o n e i n L o n d o n . T h e G r e e n vote was largely young. But the Green political message was very ambiguous, left on s o m e q u e s t i o n s , r i g h t o n others (for example, in most countries they supported the Nato war over Kosova). They suffered a reverse in Germany where they were tainted with support for the government. The good result for the French G r e e n s c a m e d e s p i t e a particularly ugly campaign led by May '68 hero Daniel Cohn- B e n d i t , w h o m a d e a l e f t - sounding case for both Nato's a s s a u l t o n S e r b i a a n d a l s o t h e neo-liberal monetary union. T h e c o n c l u s i o n t h a t c a n b e d r a w n f r o m t h e s e r e s u l t s i s t h a t w h e r e t h e r e i s a nationally established focus f o r a r a d i c a l a l t e r n a t i v e t o social democracy it can attract a n i m p o r t a n t l a y e r o f s u p p o r t e r s . This is of course precisely w h a t d i d n o t e x i s t a t a l l i n England, while Plaid Cymru i n W a l e s w o n ' f r o m t h e d i s c o n t e n t w i t h N e w L a b o u r . H i s t o r i c a l l y i t h a s b e e n difcult in Britain for parties t o t h e l e f t o f L a b o u r t o a c h i e v e e l e c t o r a l s u c c e s s . T h e character of the Labour Party, in effect a political reection of the trade union leadership, tended to channel opponents to capitalism into the Labour Party. Another factor is the B r i t i s h e l e c t o r a l s y s t e m , w h i c h h a s n o t f a v o u r e d s m a l l parties. Yet the Labour Party has now changed and the Left c l e a r l y c o u l d h a v e t a k e n advantage of the proportional r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s y s t e m i n t r o d u c e d f o r t h e E u r o - elections, as the SSP did. I n d e e d t h e r e w e r e a n u m b e r o f i m p o r t a n t i n d i c a t i o n s t h a t a v i a b l e L e f t a l t e r n a t i v e t o L a b o u r w o u l d have won a respectable vote. I n t h e l o c a l e l e c t i o n s i n Tameside 14,000 voted for representatives of striking c a r e w o r k e r s . I n Kidderminster, campaigners ghting hospital closures won s e v e n s e a t s . In Lewisham, Ian Page s t a n d i n g a s a S o c i a l i s t A l t e r n a t i v e c a n d i d a t e w o n a council seat in a by-election with 40 per cent of the vote. I n N e w a r k , J i l l D a w n , a c c u s e d o f e x p o s i n g a n election ddle by the local N e w L a b o u r M P a n d w a s e x p e l l e d f r o m t h e L a b o u r P a r t y , s t o o d a s a n independent socialist and was e l e c t e d . I n S h e f e l d , L e e d s , H u l l a n d Wa l s a l l , s o c i a l i s t s won respectable votes. I t d o e s n o t t a k e m u c h imagination to think that if Arthur Scargill had, in 1995, been prepared to establish the S L P a s a b r o a d , d e m o c r a t i c and pluralistic party, such an organisation could have been playing the kind of role that the SSP is beginning to play today north of the border. Instead, the SLP reaped t h e r e w a r d f o r i t s n e o - S t a l i n i s t policies and undemocratic m e t h o d s p o l l i n g a E u r o - election vote of only 1.72 per c e n t i n L o n d o n a n d u n d e r o n e per cent virtually everywhere e l s e . T h e c o n c l u s i o n t h a t c a n b e d r a w n f r o m t h e s e r e s u l t s i s t h a t w h e r e t h e r e i s a nationally e s t a b l i s h e d f o c u s f o r a r a d i c a l a l t e r n a t i v e to social democracy i t c a n a t t r a c t a n important layer of supporters. 5 socialist democracy august/September 1999 6. Building a new party of the ieft E u r o - e l e c t i o n s But the responsibility for the lack of a viable Left alternative cannot just be laid at the door of t h e S L P. T h e r e w a s n o s e r i o u s attempt by the other important forces on the Left - notably the SWP and Socialist Party - to forge a national alliance of the Left, in the same way that LO and LCR forged a joint slate in France. Some initiatives were taken at a local level. In London there was a temporary agreement to stand a The strength and United Left slate including the s y m b o l i s m o f t h e M i l i t a n t / S o c i a U s t . , P a r t y ( S P ) . H o w e v e r t h e r e environmental seemed .o be a diinct m o v e m e n t i s a n r e l u c t a n c e b y t h e tv o Important pointer to :rpignT^h::%Lra:d' the character of the communities to broaden the base new socialist party' w i t h d r a w a l o f t h e S W P , t h e we need to work alUance zzled away. t o w a r d s * N o r t h W e s t t h e . I e x p e l l e d m e m b e r s o f t h e S o c i a l i s t Xt IS also a reason Party helped organise a similar why it is wrong to alllance, but the SWP and SP w i t h d r e w a s t h e e l e c t i o n s pose the slogan of spp,hcd. m .hc weat creating a new Midlands a Socialist Alliance ^workers' party' slate did stand but was hampered J by the fact that it was not part of which could be a national movement and its vote interpreted as a weakened by the left-wing 1 . n . . I c a n d i d a t u r e o f f o r m e r M E P Labour Party mark chnsdnc oddy. II or a party only These problems are partly a i m i n a t n r # a p r f - t h f * s e c t a r i a n a p p r o a c h aiming to reriect tne dominates the main political positions of organisations of the far left in t h e t r a d e u n i o n " " e - F o r t h e S P a n d S W P a l l i a n c e leaOerS* work is a nag of convenience, something they will engage in if and only if - it can help them to recruit a layer of new members for their own organisations. This approach creates a log jam in the struggle to build a new broad socialist party. This problem is compounded by the very low level of activity in the working class and social m o v e m e n t s . I t w i l l t a k e a recovery of struggle, and the i n v o l v e m e n t o f a m u c hv i d e r layer of activists than at present, to provide a solid basis for a new party. An upturn in the class struggle is needed to provoke some major rethinking on the left 6 # socialist democracy august/september 1999 around the question of creating a n e w p a r t y. What, however, should those in favour of a new Socialist Party along the lines of the SSP do n o w ? I t i s n o t a s o l u t i o n t o declare a new party without a s o l i d o r b r o a d f o u n d a t i o n . T h a t would only compound the d i f c u l t i e s a n d w o u l d a m o u n t t o t h e c r e a t i o n o f a n o t h e r s e c t alongside the others, as the Socialist Party leaders seem, sadly, keen to prove. Some are raising the question of big orientation to the Green Party, and even seeing the Greens as being the basis for a new party. This seems to be the position of some around the journal Red Pepper. This is probably mistaken, but comrades around Red Pepper will nd out for themselves. The Green Party is an ambiguous politieal formation and its leadership has an increasingly eleetoral, parliamentary perspective. Many Greens do not do not have a vision of building a party o f a c t i v i s t s a n d m i l i t a n t s t h a t links up with and involves itself i n t h e w i d e r s o c i a l a n d w o r k e r s ' m o v e m e n t . N e v e r t h e l e s s t h e Green vote was overwhelmingly young and radical and 20,000 applied to join the part' after its electoral broadcast. Socialists clearly bave to seriously take up the question of the environment and nd ways to link up with Green activists and the left-wing in the Green Party around the Way Aliead group. The strength and symbolism o f t h e e n v i r o n m e n t a l m o v e m e n t is an important pointer to the c h a r a c t e r o f t h e n e w s o c i a l i s t party we need to work towards. It is also a reason why it is w r o n g t o p o s e t h e s l o g a n o f creating a new 'workers' party', which could be interpreted as a Labour Party mark II or a party only aiming to reect the political positions of the trade union leaders. A new socialist party needs to be a socialist green party, encompassing tbe best from the w o r k e r s a n d t r a d e u n i o n m o v e m e n t , b u t a l s o o t h e r t r a d i t i o n s : t h e w o m e n ' s m o v e m e n t , t h e a n t i - r a c i s t campaigns and new politics like t h e v a r i o u s d i r e c t a c t i o n networks and campaigns. It would be an entirely new form of political movement tbat s e e k s t o b u i l d a n d r e e c t campaigns and struggles, rather than force its programme on the workers, oppressed and their a l l i e s . Socialists need to work in and build links with these campaigns a n d m o v e m e n t s , b u i l d i n g solidarity with people in struggle, e n g a g i n g i n i n t e r n a t i o n a l solidarity and building the Socialist Alliances. All this activity lays the foundations for a new political party. At the same time we have the task of generating new ideas a n d n e w d e m o c r a t i c a n d inclusive methods, which can play a role in creating the culture necessary for the development of s u c h a m o v e m e n t . We are in a difcult period. W e s h o u l d o v e r l o o k n e i t h e r t h e crisis of social democracy, demonstrated by the European elections, nor the crisis of the C o m m u n i s t m o v e m e n t . They have created the opportunity and the political space for the emergence of new- f o r m a t i o n s w h i c h w i l l i n v o l v e t h e coming together of different t r a d i t i o n s , a n d w h i c h c a n organise and give political voice to an important minority of militant workers and oppressed m i n o r i t i e s . 7. Building a new party of the left Ti m e t o t a k e t h e S c o t t i s h R o a d Sarah Parker, Nick Long, B a l a K u m a r a n d D u n c a n Chappie From stopping the City to keeping the allotment, the left has to nd a way to make solidarity with progressive struggles quite d i f f e r e n t f r o m t h e b r e a d a n d b u t t e r o f f a r l e f t l i f e a n d - w h e n r e s o u r c e s d o n ' t a l l o w a c t i v e solidarity - not carping the errors and experiments of o t h e r s . ^ This text was drafted by Socialist Democracy's London branch for d i s t r i b u t i o n a s a l e a e t a t a J u n e 1999 conference on left unity and socialist regroupment. Tlic(Carnivalagainst(Capitalism,w h i c h m o b i l i s e d t e n s o f thousands of people against capitalism and to cancel the third world debt, shows again that the energ- and conviction exists to build a large anti-capitalist movement. SadK', the far left is remote from many such struggles. We need a broad pluralist party- similar to the Scottish Socialist Party, that's red, green and feminist. People can have very different things in mind when they talk about unity. SoiiaHsl DeMocrmy aims to build three kinds of unity side-by-sidc. Unity for action in the unions and organisations standing for struggle and solidarity. Unity of anti-capitalists - be they greens. stKialists, feminists, anti-racists or whatc er - in building up a new mass party. And, finally, unity- in b u i l d i n g a p l u r a l i s t o r g a n i s a t i o n o f revolutionary- marxist activists. It's not just capitalism we oppose - we are also opposed to the factional 'party pride' that divides the left and the workerism that corrodes and constrains the anti-capitalism. In less than a year, the two thousand comrades of the Scottish Socialist Party have won four per cent of the r-ote. More importantly than winning an MSP, they have also w o n a s t a k e f o r a n t i - s e c t a r i a n socialism. 'ITic SSP has been built by- people who wilfully aim to broaden the boundaries of the organised far left and to extend the appeal of the SSP still further. In I-England and Wales, success in building up a new part- will similarly rely on the widest possible base of support. The space for an alternative is certainly there. Consider the rise of Green Party support across Britain. It's a good thing. We think they- will continue to rise for some time. Unlike their sister parties sitting in the war cabinets in l-rance and Germany, Green party- politics in Britain has a real radical and anti- militarist minority. In a way, that reects the way the support of the Green party- rests in the middle class and the declassed layers t)f society. However, separated Jiving space for campaigns that are from the solid social base of the involving thousands of people- working class, it will be harder for nding a way- to ght capitalism. Greens to gain mass support and l-rom stopping the City to keeping ensure their leaders move to the left, the allotment, the left has to nd a rather than to the right. But as part of way- to make solidarity- with a green and red party-. Green party- progressive struggles quite different activists will be more able to build a from the bread and butter of far left movement to capitalise on the gains life and - when resources don't allow of the past, including the successes of active solidarity - not carping the the movement against GMOs. It errors and experiments of others, could also draw in people from other Building a new party should not movements, such as Reclaim the mainly be about electioneering. It S t r e e t s . n e e d s t o b e a b l e s e r v i n g t h e i n t e r e s t s /nd what appeal such a party of the people by- building up anti- could have to Black and Asian capitalist solidarity and helping it to people! Mow can l.abour expect the nd a political voice. It's underway. Black and /sian community- to vote In Coventry-, Doncaster, South Cast for it, even as I .abour's .svlum laws Ixindon and elsewhere, we socialists legitimise the far right. In the are winning votes and council seats. Curopean elections, the BNP wrin Don't get us wrong. It's not a over 100,000 votes, partly thanks to quick or c-asy- thing to go. It's a slow the way- that l.abour puts forward and uneven process but one where asylum seekers as a threat to be sudden changes have to be f o u g h t . r e s p o n d e d t o p r o m p t l y - a n d w e It's time for change. It's also a need your help to get it right, time for action - and a bit of risk In London, a united left and taking. (Mmnides around the /WVl., green challenge against I^abour's Sodast Outlook and Labour Left mayoral candidate would be fantastic. Brieng still hae their l-abtjur Party- The key campaigning issues are an cards and we are sure they- do some excellent way for the left to leam gcKxI work in the Dibour party-. from, and win some trust from. However people needs to lend their Black and community organisations, weight to help start the break with 'ITie relaunch of the network of l.abour. Cven a long journey- has to Socialist Allbnces in I.ondon, on start with modest steps, like the August 1 1999, may be pivotal in electoral campaigns of Ian Page and I^mdon. Tlie three-seasons dash jill Mountford against l.abour in from now to the May 2000 mayoral IxAvisham. I lowever, it's not enough elections will be more effective if the for the Trotskyists and entrists to conference helps build up an leap out. By themselves, the intervention with crc-dible candidates Trotskvist mo ement could produce and a real base in the places where a fuck-up every bit as bad as the SI .P. we campaign. S e r i o u s t r a d e u n i o n a n d L a b o u r activists won't junk their party- cards just to hit their heads up against sect politics. So a movement for a new partv needs some reasonable women and men - you know what we mean - to avoid false starts. GckkI people- on the I.abour left need to stop weight and starts lending their weight to making sure the movement for a new part' docs not go down dead emls. MPs, Tribune editors. Brieng sellers, and Green party- people: bring vour address books with you. We need a re-al left that is based on action and which builds up a stronger active solidarity- not just in the campaigns that the far left initiates and animates, but also in socialist democracy august/september1999 7 8. The new rules for revolutionaries Part 1: The mistakes that lead Chris Brooks ^ T h e " D o n ' t s " Don't use people, or use them up D o n ' t u s e ^ t h e apparatus' as the key index of success Don't think you already know what you need to know D o n ' t t h i n k a b o u t o f f - t h e - s h e l f s o l u t i o n s D o n ' t f e a r r i s k s 1] Part two of this discussion article will appear in the October- November Sodaiist Democracy. Socialist Democracy hears them whereever we go. You may not know it, but even stick-in-the- mud Trotskyists are starting to spell out new rules that the left has to follow if it's serious about getting a anti-capitalist party on the road. Don't use people, or use them up lx)ts of socialist organisations put their emphasis on getting people to build that organisation, so much so they sometimes forget that people have to balance their organisation's politics with the rest of their lives. " The more you do" these comrades say, "the more you can do." Organisations should not force people to choose between supporting their organisation, building their own political and personal life and sustaining themselves as activists for the long r u n . Too many people have come with enthusiasm into organisations only to nd that they are encouraged, or manipulated, into sacrices that are unsustainable in the medium term. ITie set-up of many organisations encourages members set themselves the goals of the working class as a whole. Often, organisations take on too much work or address themselves to tasks that are not just ambitious - the' are impossible for that group to accomplish. When comrades later run short on time, money, cnerg)' or life choices, such comrades often feel they have to step back out of activit)' - and often out of the left. T h e a l t e r n a t i v e ? /i m f o r t i i e best result we can get with the resources we actually ha'e. Organisations have to start live within their means, in the short-term at least. We have to stop imagining that the tasks a group takes on have- nothing to do with its size, resources and social weight. Instead we need to spell out what we can do, and what we must learn, so that we can re-ally make the contributions that we can realistically do well - perhaps even identifying the particular contributions that only we are well placed to do. Don't use The apparatus' as the key index of s u c c e s s Membership, ofce space and print-runs are a prctt' misleading guide to an organisation's health - and to its strategic chances. To take few of the many examples on the British far left. Workers'Liberty be - only just - bigger than Socialist Outlook or Worhers' Tower. However its apparatus is more substantial than that of the other two organisations put together: more professional organisers, bigger printing press and print runs, a monthly magazine, a ostensibly non-part' newspaper, a youth paper and a whelp of polemical pamphlets. Rather like the SWP, when it bought its rst big printing press for its old Cotton Gardens ofce, the number of projects seems limited only by the capacit)' of the press. In fact, small organisations are deformed when they build an over- large apparatus. Members have to super-exploit their own resources to support the apparatus and their publications, l-undamental political revisions are developed within the apparatus and published - as fait accompli - for the members to contest through stiucmres that apparatchniks themselves never had to win. In effect, a member has no control over a big apparatus unless they join it. Sadly, this deformation is not even the main danger of a over-large apparatus. This approach to building an organisation encourages them to mc-asure their progress numericallv. That's the big danger. It's much more important - and more challenging - to gauge how well you arc looked upon by the people who work with in the movement, how c o m m i t t e d a n d r e a l i s t i c m e m b e r s are, and how far they are making a r e a l c o n t r i b u t i o n t o t h e w i d e r movement. These questions are most vital warning signs for socialist organisations, which, by their nature, are currently minority' organisations prone to semi-sectarian and factional decline even if their apparatus expands. Don't think you already know what you need to k n o w Tliis is the big point of difference between Socialist De/mcraiy and much of Trotskyism in the Anglo-Saxon world - if not Trotskj'ism elsewhere. The global political situation and forms of production seem to be going through a period of substantial discontinuous change. It's not just that the post-Cold War world has been different. We are in a post- post-Cold War with a international capitalist structure that has s i g n i c a n t l y e v o l v e d a n d strengthened its productive processes. I n t o d a y ' s g l o b a l i s e d manufacturing organisation, dozens of companies form supply chains. Capitalists plan that ever)- stage in the process may be conducted bv more than one company. This m e a n s t h a t t r a d e s u n i o n i s t s a r e starting to face chaotic and lean mechanisms of exploitation that are t]ualitatively harder to break. W i t h o u t i n t e r n a t i o n a l a n d c r o s s - sectk)nal solidarin.' of the t}pe the labour movement still has, largely, to build it is ati immense struggle. 8 0 socialist democracy august/September 1999 9. building New Left organisations t o s a d c a r i c a t u r e s o f L e n i n i s m It also means that capitalism increasingly nding other ways to increase prots and weaken opposition. More and more it is not trades unionists in the imperialist centres whom pay the price for capitalism. It is the oppressed and the poor. It is the environment. It is the social and democratic rights that have been won through mass stru^le. T h a t e m e r g i n g c h a o t i c productive process has signicant political and ideological changes. The global rule of business law becomes more necessaiy and the US aims for Nato to be the way to do it Anti-capitalist arguments and m o v e m e n t s h a v e b e c o m e m o r e fragmented and less convincing to many. Capitalist ideology is getting poorer there Ls a real obscurantist, a n t i - e n l i g h t e n m e n t a n d introspective-linguistic decay in political and critical theory. T h e t r a d i t i o n a l s o c i a l i s t response is to encourage struggle, build solidarit)' when it occurs and win people to socialism in the heat of the movement. The Anglo-Sa.on left largely concentrates on the ideological, political and economic implications of the union struggle. Yet today's anti-capitalist struggle increasingly ghts for social inclusion - against oppression, environmental destruction, povert)', a n t i - w e l f a r e a n d a n t i - d e m o c r a t i c attacks. The far left faces a gap of skills, competencies and experiences: > u i c o n t r i b u t i o n i s l e s s v a l u a b l e lei than it is in the trade union id tudent unions. It's a huge cc ility gap. . he solution: spot what we do- t know and, with modest)', sec if we can pick it up. It's not just that the left has to a lot to leam from R e c l a i m t h e S t r e e t s o r t h e a n t i - deportation campaigns. Mere's a more marginal example: Sodaiist Democrag is, b' part of the British left, called "Parksist, not Marxist". That's because we've shown a bit of interest in the campaigns against building on public land, like school playing elds, allotment gardens and parks. For the record, the "Land Question" is not the top issue today. H o w e v e r w e k n o w t h e s e movements are often signicant working class mobilisations. We t h i n k t l i e r e a r c s k i l l s a n d movements that the left will need to work with in the future. Right now, the left docs not have the skills, knowledge and trust to do so. So we think the left needs to identify and develop short, medium and long- term strategies for learning the skills and making tlie alliances we will need. Don't think about off-the-shelf solutions There is a big temptation to copy that has been tried elsewhere: in other times, other countries or (usually) both. Often, in fact, they did not work well where they were rst tried. However, capitalism has rather different national forms, and is currently in a period of rapid change. Taking solutions from the historic cookbook - a bit of 1950s S L L h e r e , s o m e 1 9 7 0 s L u t t e Guvricre there and a splash of 1980s IMG on the top - is often as effective as using old medicine to cure a new ailment. Of course, we are more than happy to steal a good idea when we hear it: there's no part)' pride in this magazine! However we think distinctly local solutions and novel tactics are usually the best. Instead, much of the left appeals to past tactics, as if these were principled orth(xlox)' or sure-re solutions. S u c h a n a t t i t u d e h a s l e d t o t h e 'cloning' of organisations - look at the embarrassing mini-SW and vnimrMiiitant organisations around the globe. It means that the w e a k n e s s e s o f t h e o f f t h e s h e l f solution are copied. Often many of the strengths of the earlier example a r e w e a k e n e d o r l o s t i n a n e w setting. It also has a political wcakne.ss. Between us, the tmth about the m a r x i s t m o v e m e n t i s t h i s : t a c t i c s were never our strongest point. At its best, the marxist movement I c a m t t a c t i c s f r o m t h e m a s s m o v e m e n t , i l i e m a s s m o v e m e i j t was often, at key moments, ahead of t h e m a r x i s t m o v e m e n t . M a r x i s m ' s key strength is that it is a framework for the analysis of dynamic relations from an anti-capitalism and revolutionaiy viewpoint. It help identify' the broad trends in the development of capitalism and human life, and the key fronts on which the capitalist class will take the offensive next. Much of tile left, however, denes itself by tactics. Iz:ft groups a t t a c k e a c h o t h e r o v e r t a c t i c a l choices yet hardly ever raise the key ideological and global viewpoints that working people and their allies need to see the wai' the world is moving. 'Hiat means that the far left h a d - w i t h s o m e h o n o u r a b l e exceptions nothing to say about the 'New i'imes' debate apart from carping over what Gramsci really wrote. The left had little to day about what the US attack on Iraq and Serbia had to do with a strateg)' to force Russia, China, Ukraine and the countries of the Arab Fast out of the 'global community' and into a new cold war alliance. We want to encourage the other view. Socialists should be veiy open about the tactics followed by their comrades - sometimes even neutral. On the principle political questions, however, we need more effort. Don't fear risks The simplest point to make. S o c i a l i s t s h a v e l e a r n t c a u t i o n through defeats. 'Ibat's wise. But too many organisations have no prejudice in favour of innovation. They build up a culture in which invention and experimentation is discouraged. Instead, one must wait for a sign from on Iiigh. Risks must be taken, l-'or most of the left, the worst tiling that can happen is that we stay as small as we arc through conser'atism. I n o u r n e x t i s s u e : T h e " D o ' s " Do set ambitious goals D o l o o k a b r o a d Do get people from d i f f e r e n t l e f t t r a d i t i o n s t o galvanise themselves together Do nd ways to compromise and b a l a n c e d i l e m m a s Do become a moving target 9 socialist democracy august/september 1999 10. Building a new party of the left Socialist Green Party needed Nick Long, active in the L o n d o n S o c i a l i s t A l l i a n c e a n d G r e e n S o c i a l i s t Network, writes this suggestion to the Way Ahead group I t w o u l d b e a m i s t a k e t o b e l i e v e that the Green Party is the political expression of all t h o s e c o n c e r n e d w i t h t h e e n v i r o n m e n t . T h o s e organised around Labour's SERA, the G r e e n S o c i a l i s t N e t w o r k a n d t h e G r e e n L e f t c o u n t f o r f a r m o r e 'llic Way Ahead, tlie left-wing current in the Cireen part)', should orient towards the formation of a Socialist Cireen Part)' 'ITie outcome of the elections to the liuropean, Welsh and Scottish parliaments, along with local elections next year could well d e t e r m i n e t h e f u t u r e c h a r a c t e r o f British politics. For the rst time ever in British politics the dominant social democratic part)', the labour Part)', will face a national challenge from socialists and greens. In the last general election less than a quarter of the electorate had an opportunit)' to vote red or green. Next year the vast majorit)' of voters will be able not only to vote red or green, but also have some hope that their votes will translate into seats and have representatives e l e c t e d , ' l l i e c h a r a c t e r o f B r i t i s h politics next year will change fundamentally and there is no going back. ilie question is who will emerge with a hand full of representatives, the forces of the socialist left or the Greens? What impact will this have on the Labour Part)' and can a Scxrialist Green Part)' emerge ? I would argue that the 'lAVA should throw its full weight into the Network of Socialist Alliances and stop tailing the Greens. In Europe 'er)' few social democratic parties gain more than 40 per cent of the vote when exposed to a red and green challenge. Only tiiose with mass memberships and policies supported by their core supporters are able to have any prospect of ruling alone. Only the absence of PR has kept Labour's 'ote articially high and kept socialists antl greens inside the l.abour Part)'. All this could change tiext year, i'he limited proportional voting next year is likely to fracture loibour's vote and open up the cracks emerging. Alread)' the writing is on the wall for Labour. Its performance in the I'iuropean elections and local elections shows that New l.abour's active support is ver' weak. Its membership is plummeting and it is f a i l i n g t o m o t i v a t e i t s c o r e supporters. The cjuestion of entr)' into EMU and the debate regarding electoral reform is likely to divide and demoralise its supporters. 'ITie baring of socialist candidates, including Ken Livingstone for Mayor of Ix)ndon c o u l d w e l l b e t h e n a l s t r a w t h a t splinters the labour left from their part)'. In Scotland the SNP is neck and neck with labour. It could be that the newly formed Scottish Socialist Part)' gains a trx; hold and in a hung Scottish parliament could play a pivotal role in extracting concessions to defend the environment and the working class. 'ITie emerging Socialist Alliance in Wales is also likely to have an impact, but it is unlikely that the Greens in either Scotland or Wales will gain more than a handful of v o t e s . It is now clear that despite offers of joint slates from the Independent labour Network and Ifxral sfxrialist alllinces, both locally and nationally the Green Part)' has adopted a sectarian approach to elections. In local elections in Ix-wisham in May the Socialist Allunce agreed not to stand in a ward where the local Green Part)' had concentrated i t s w o r k , b u t t h i s w a s n o t reciprocated in a ward where supporters of the Socialist Alliance had a real prospect of winning. 'ITie intervention by the Greens probably prevented a socialist councillor from re-gaining the seat. The cooling of relations b e t w e e n t h e N e t w o r k a n d t h e (ireen Part)' was clear when not a single leader of the Cireen Part)' elected to turn up at the national Network Conference in Rugby, despite the Network shifting its c o n f e r e n c e t o a c c o m m o d a t e t h e Cireens' conference. The Green Part)' predicted a repeat of their 15 percent 1989 Europe vote and they are hoped to gain up to eight seats. As a result of their sectarianism I believe they were lucky to g-ain two! The Green Party is a poor relation of its European sister parties and it has little in common with the militant campaigning politics of the Cierman Green part)' which after 20 years of environmental activism gained over seven per cent in the recent elcxtion. Most Greens in this countr)' are markedly more right wing. It should however be remembered that it was the parties of the socialist left, barely a couple of )'ears old that held ve deposits in the 1997 election in Scotland, E.ngland and Wales. The Greens failed to save a single one, even where they had built up a level of local campaigning and managed to have councillors elected. It would be a mistake to believe that the Green Part)' is the political expression of all those concerned w i t h t h e e n v i r o n m e n t . ' I T i o s e organised around I.abour's SERA, the Green StKUtlist Network and the Green Ixft count for far more. Two of these groups are turning towards the Network of Socialist Alliances. Something new is happening in British left politics. TTic sectarianism that has long bedevilled the left is beginning to thaw under the heat of P R . " I T i e N e t w o r k o f S o c b l i s t .Alliances is bringing together the disparate left. 'ITie 'lW/ can be part of this thawing process helping to develop its green cutting edge or it can continue to ally with a part)' that has demonstrated all the worse aspects of left parties. L i k e t h e m o r l o a t h e t h e m political parties are essential in giving expression to the beliefs hopes and ideals of socltl forces in societ)'. 'Ilie moves to the right by labour Part) is freeing up a space on the left, lets ll it with a Scxrialist Green Part'. 10 socialist democracy august/September 1999 11. Indo-Pakistan conict in Kashmir Kargil: The politics of war TheKargildevelopmenthaveexposed much of the ofcial s a f f r o n [ H i n d u fundamentalist] propaganda concerning Kashmir and Indo- P a k i s t a n r e l a t i o n s a s a v e r i t a b l e bundle of lies. 'I'he ruling part''s claim of the grand success of Prime Minister 'ajpayee's bus dipl{)mac' [opening a direct bus route to Pakistan] and the I-ahore Declaration [a vague promise to control the arms race] sounds a mischievous mocker)'. What was paraded as the X'ajpayee government's great acliievcment is now turning out to be a big diplomatic asco... For the '^ajpayee government, Operation jay [the Indian militar)' response] is rst of all a political move. 'I'he aim is to whip up war hysteria and sweep away all pressing issues before the people under the carpet of jingoism. In the name of tackling a war-like situation, the saffron establishment is seeking political sanction for its own fascist agenda. Politicisation of the armed forces has reached threatening proportions. Army bosses arc not only daily briefmg the media, they arc also reported to be attending meetings of the ruling BJP part)'. Most political contenders of BJP are also contributing to the intensication of war-hysteria by tr)'ing to beat the government in the eld of jingoism. There is a clamour for banning the Pakistan T'^ in India and even an embargo on the beaming of world cup cricket m a t c h e s s o t h a t t h e n a t i o n ' s a t t e n t i o n i s n o t d i v e r t e d f r o m Kargil! 'Fhe Left must hold high the banner of peace and appeal to democratic forces in both India and Pakistan to prevail over their respective governments and prevent t h e o u t b r e a k o f a f o u r t h I n d o - Pakistan war. Heightened tension and continuing air strikes may also create a Yugoslavia-t)'pe situation in India leading to more direct imperialist intervention in the region. /Ml genuine patriots must therefore ght for a return to peaceful bilateral diplomac)' between I n d i a a n d P a k i s t a n t o s t o p inltration in Kargil and work out a phased negotiated settlement of the Kashmir question. Duncan Chappie adds: Bill(ilintonmetwithPakistaniPrime Minister Nawaz Sharif early in July to discuss the Kashmir conict. The meeting concluded with Sharif calling for the withdrawal of Muslim fundamentalist guerrillas from positions in the Indian controlled section of the disputed Kashmir region. ShariPs agreement appeared to be just the capitulation he came to Washington in hopes of avoiding. However, examining the issues i n P a k i s t a n a s w e l l a s e v e n t s i n Afghanistan suggests that there may be more to the deal than -appears on the surface. Sharif approved the dispatch of Pakistani backed guerrillas to the I n d i a n s i d e o f K a s h m i r ' s l a n e o f Control, in part, as a means of winning domestic support from Pakistan's militar)' and Muslim fundamentalists and, in part, in hopes of pushing the international communit)' to intervene in the dispute. Wliile the inltrators scored some initial successes, the Indian militar)' has been making slow but steady progress in driving out the guerrillas. Meanwhile, the international communit)', worried about a possible escalation of the conict between these two newest nuclear powers, almost universally blamed P a k i s t a n f o r t h e i n c u r s i o n a n d refused to become involved in the dispute. ShariPs options are to e s c a l a t e t h e c o n i c t - f u r t h e r worsening Pakistan's international isolation and risking a much more substantial loss, or withdrawing the forces risking a domestic outer)' and possibly his career. Neither option is attractive, and having been soundly rebuffed when he went to Beijing for support, S h a r i f t u r n e d t o t h e U S i n a l a s t ditch effort to salvage some semblance of victor)- from his losing venmre. Yet he came away from the US talks with apparently ver)- little. He has to withdraw the forces from K a s h m i r. W l i a t c o u l d S h a r i f h a' e sought in reuirn: only US support in internationalising the diplomatic dispute cn-er Kashmir. He wants internationally mediated negotiations between India and Pakistan on Kashmir. Phis he can declare domesticalh' as a victor)-, arguing that the incursion and his diplomatic initiative put Kashmir on the international agenda. That is ne for Sharif, but besides the temporar)- decrease in tensions in South /sia, what does the US get in return? After all, it is f a r f r o m c l e a r t h a t e i t h e r s i d e planned or plans to escalate the conict to full scale war, or that a full scale war would degenerate into a nuclear exchange. Washington has a major interest in the region, in regards to which Pakistan might be able to offer a s s i s t a n c e . T h e U S w a n t s S a u d i terrorist Osama bin Laden's head on a platter - or at vet)- least on his shoulders in a US prison. Bin L,aden is reportedly in /fghanistan, under the protection and care of the Taleban militia. / V s S h a r i f h e a d e d b a c k t o Pakistan, prepared to call for the w i t h d r a w a l o f i n l t r a t o r s f r o m Indian-controlled Kashmir, the U.S. announced on July 6'"' that it was placing new sanctions on the T a l e b a n . T h e s a n c t i o n s a r e meaningless if the Pakistanis do not abide by them - and that may just be the point. Sharif may have agreed to pressure the Taleban on the bin l^den issue in return for the US pressuring both India and the UN on Kashmir. Wdtether the U.S. sweetened the deal with the possibilit)- of recognising the Taleban is unclear, though it has been suggested as a possibilit)' in the past. US companies are eager to run a pipeline from Central .sia through western .Afghanistan, and with competition for (ientral Asia heating up be^veen the US, Russia, and Iran, this option may be worth rec(jgnising the Taleban. Editorial from Liberation, publication of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) The Indian military response is rst of aii a poiiticai move. The aim is to whip up war hysteria and sweep away aii pressing issues before the people under the carpet of jingoism. In the name of tackling a war-like situation, the establishment is seeking poiiticai s a n c t i o n f o r i t s o w n fascist agenda 11 # socialist democracy august/September 1999 12. Merseyside Socialists viewpoint on How the Socialist Party sees a Merseyside Socialists - former Socialist Party members on Merseyside. The position of the Socialist Party E x e c u t i v e C o m m i t t e e i n O c t o b e r 1 9 9 7 w a s t h a t t h e U S A w o u l d r a i s e i n t e r e s t r a t e s a n d c a u s e a w o r l d crash, furthermore the stock exchange w a s a b o u t t o c r a s h - 1929 style. This is an edited extract from a much longer document available u n e d i t e d o n t h e S o c i a l i s t Demoaacy web site. Footnotes have been removed from this printed extract and some minor changes have been made to allow readers to follow the article more easily. In October 1997. Merseyside comrades (.|uestioned, at the Socialist Party's National (Committee. the leadership's outlook on the world economy. Was the world economy on the brink of a slump, and was it not possible for the US cycle of growth to last for 10 years? This was dismissed out of hand. .t the time of writing (.lmost two years later, there is still no immediate sign of recession in the US economy), there are of course portents of a potential slowdown (which could be partially cut across by interest rate cuts). 'i'he position of the Socialist Party Executive Uommittce in O c t o b e r 1 9 9 7 w a s t h a t t h e U S A w o u l d r a i s e i n t e r e s t r a t e s a n d cause a world crash, furthermore the stock exchange was about to crash - 1929 style. True, there h a v e b e e n a n u m b e r o f s e v e r e adjustments and it would be foolish, given the volatility of capital, to completely rule out a crash, but the predictions have- n o t b e e n b o r n e o u t . I t w a s a l s o raised by Merseyside about the p o s s i b i l i t y o f p o l i t i c a l interventions, of the institutions of capital being mobilised to underwrite countries in crisis. Again this was ruled out, supposedly because the leading powers did not have the resources of 1987. Ciermany and Japan were in no position to underwrite the world economy. Reality is s o m e w h a t d i ff e r e n t . O v e r t h e l a s t year we have seen the crisis expand outwards from Thailand, dragging down 40 per cent of the world economy into recession. Yet in the sphere of the political economy, the capitalist class has mobilised the political, s o c i a l a n d e c o n o m i c r e s o u r c e s t o n a t i o n a l i s e d e b t . t o a l l o w r e c e s s i o n t o d o t h e w o r k o f liberalisation, deregulation and imperialist penetration. I n t e r e s t r a t e s h a v e r i s e n o r f a l l e n d e p e n d i n g o n t h e circumstances, deals have been d o n e t o r e s t r u c t u r e d e b t a n d o t h e r n a n c i a l i n s t r u m e n t s u s e d to try and provide a way out. Additionally, the International Monetary Pund (IMP) and World Bank have provided the n e c e s s a r y r e s o u r c e s , accompanied of course by savage austerity measures. Now the talk is of a new Brctton Woods and a restructuring of the nancial institutions, even some form of c a p i t a l c o n t r o l s m a y b e implemented, particularly in the developing world, if the crisis threatens to engulf the whole system. However, in all of this the key issues are class struggle - the effects of the austerity measures and the response of the workers and peasant - because, at present the crisis is being placed on their s h o u l d e r s . .n a s s e s s m e n t o f t h e political economy of the ruling class should be a key component of any analysis. The power interests of the two key blocs, America and Phirope, and now to a lesser extent, Japan and South I v a s t A s i a f o r c e t h e m i n t h e direction of taking decisions which arc in their longer term interests. China may, at some stage, devalue because of turmoil in the world economy, but the longer- term interest of participating in the world capitalist market and being admitted to the World Trade Organisation (XH'0 - formerly the GATl"), currently postpones this. P r o t e c t i o n i s m o n a w o r l d scale leading to a repeat of 1930's slump is theoretically possible but for now is unlikely, b e c a u s e i t w o u l d m e a n a n absolute disaster for the leading capitalist powers and particularly f o r t h e d o m i n a n t m u l t i n a t i o n a l s . In any case a form of concealed protectionism already exists, the developed countries force it upon the rest of the world. America in particular plays the leading role. i ' h e N o r t h .m e r i c a n P r e e Trade .Agreement (N.Yl'l-A), W i ' O a n d t h e M u l t i l a t e r a l Agreement on Investment (MAI) are all about protecting the i n t e r e s t s o f t h e m u l t i n a t i o n a l s and transnationals. T h e t r a d e b l o c s o f N A F T A and the ITiropean Union are about protecting the interests ol t h e m u l t i n a t i o n a l s i n t h e s e a r e a s of the world, i he World Bank, I M F, B a n k o f I n t e r n a t i o n a l S e t t l e m e n t s a l l a c t o n b e h a l f o f these organisations. The reality is t h a t m u l t i n a t i o n a l s a n d t r a n s n a t i o n a l s d o m i n a t e w o r l d trade, their inter-rm trade is greater than the whole of world trade. Why then would they want to turn to protectionism? iMoreover, the power of these organisations is driving g l o b a l i s a t i o n , F. u r o p e a n M o n e t a r y U n i o n ( E M U ) , N A F T A a n d t h e M A I . Inthe1980swepredictedthee f f e c t s o f m o n e t a r i s m a n d recession would sweep Thatcher away. But the political issue of the Falklands war cut across this process. Following this there was a period o f h e i g h t e n e d c l a s s w a r. Important, as these events were, the underlving issues were much more important. T h e s e c a n b e b r i e y characterised as the restructuring of the economy, developing globalisation and the imposition of neo-liberal policies. If there had existed a revolutionary leadership, capable of winning the support of the leading layers of the working class, then, the possibility of socialist change could have been posed, but this was not the case. I n s t e a d t h e d e s t r u c t i o n o f t h e o l d t r a d i t i o n a l i n d u s t r i e s paved the way for service i n d u s t r i e s a n d i n f o r m a t i o n technology, which, together with t h e s e t b a c k s a n d d e f e a t s o f t h e period, especially the miners' strike, fundamentally affected the consciousness of the working class. The labour leadership during the 1980s played a disgraceful and baleful role but the key f a c t o r s w e r e - d e - industrialisation. unemployment, changing work patterns and industries -all combining and interacting, with the class defeats, acting to drive working class consciousness backwards, particularly amongst the most advanced lavers. 12 socialist democracy august/September 1999 13. the world economy and Europe non-existent global recession The ],abour Party Icadcrsliip was only able to get away witli their shift to tiie right because of t h i s . T h e d e b i l i t a t i o n o f t h e r a n k and le movements also arose due t o t h e s e c o n d i t i o n s . T h e 1 9 8 0 s threw up class battles but any renewed economic crisis in Hritain starts from a totally different vista. There have been 15 to 20 years of neo-liberal policies world w i d e . G l o b a l i s a t i o n a n d t h e Information Society is radically changing economic and class relationships. So the questions which should be asked are: if there is a recession how long will it last, will capitalism be able to nd a way o u t , w h a t e c o n o m i c c o u n t e r measures will be employed, and critically how will the working class respond? Central to this last point should also be the question: will a recession or slump stun, or activate a response from, workers? Over the past decade, m o v e m e n t s h a v e b e e n o f a defensive, often local nature. Why? Because of the impact of nco-libcral policies, globalisation, defeats and lowering of class- consciousness. Globalisation was denied as a concept by the Socialist Party leadership, except in regard to n a n c i a l t r a n s a c t i o n s . T h e A s i a n Tigers were regarded initially as not important to the world economy and not important in the globalisation process. Now the opposite is stated. This region a c c o u n t s f o r o n e t h i r d o f w o r l d trade, and from this statistic the S o c i a l i s t P a r t y d r a w t h e c o n c l u s i o n t h a t t h e r e w i l l b e a world-wide crisis. Moreover, we a r e t o l d t h a t t h e r e i s n o w globalisation of nance and trade. N o t o n l y t h i s b u t i t i s a c k n o w l e d g e d t h a t n e w technology and the changing nature of the advanced economies has played a role in "facilitating" globalisation. G l o b a l i s a t i o n c a n b e summarised as: privatisation, de regulation, liberalisation, the a t t a c k s o n m i d d l e c l a s s a n d working class living standards, the exploding movements of capital, which together have created the conditions for the present crisis. .dditionally the nature of the I n f o r m a t i o n s o c i e t y h a s dramatically changed the systems o f c o m m u n i c a t i o n s a n d n a n c i a l t r a n s a c t i o n s a n d i s t h e r e f o r e another key factor. Socialist Party predictions of a global slump, something which has never happened before, are currently way off the mark. Recession and slump encompasses 40 per cent of the world economy, but markets in Europe and the USA arc still growing, albeit at a reduced rate. I t w o u l d b e f o o l i s h , b e c a u s e capitalism is unplanned and inherently is a system of crisis, to rule out completely the possibilit- o f a w o r l d " c r a s h " o r e v e n a "slump". But the key question would be of the impact this will h a v e o n c o n s c i o u s n e s s a n d working class struggle. For the moment we have no reliable way of estimating this, it only amounts to either lucky guesswork or idle speculation. However globalisation is interpreted, it is a historical reality to be confronted. There may be a return to a form of "Keynesism" in Russia; elements of the planned economy may be reintroduced. Malaysia and other developing countries may temporarily return to some form of capital controls, b u t i n t h e m a i n u n l e s s t h e working class mounts a challenge to capitalism in some of the key countries then neo-liberal policies and globalisation will continue. In a recession/crisis capital will m o v e t o e x t e n d t h e n e w technologies, attack welfare state provision, use the pension funds of workers, privatise and lower l a b o u r c o s t s i n o r d e r t o b o o s t prots. Post Second World War, the existence of workers' states (albeit deformed), the strength of the working class - the expectations and crucially the experiences of w o r k e r s a n d t h e t r a d i t i o n s o f mass and revolutionary struggle - provided the consciousness to underpin an alternative rank and l e t r a d i t i o n s a n d m o v e m e n t s . I n turn this motivated the leading layers of the class, and formed the backdrop to a whole historical period. This workers power posed a central threat to the ruling class i n t h e 1 9 6 0 s a n d 1 9 7 0 s . G o m b i n e d w i t h t i i e w o m e n ' s , b l a c k m o v e m e n t s a n d o t h e r emerging movements this created a turbulent and radical period, partly based on tlie factors above. I n t h e e x - c o l o n i a l w o r l d t h i s w a s of a revolutionary character. T h e s e m o v e m e n t s c a m e a b o u t because it was a time of change. C^apitalism in the advanced industrial economies was moving away from Fordist models of large-scale production to a service and information-based economy. Allied to this the ruling class had to challenge the power of organised labour. There was a crisis of capitalism in the sense- that in Britain, in particular, the old imperial traditions could no longer exist in a rapidly changing world economy. That is why Britain, in many respects was catapulted to the forefront of class struggle. I n B r i t a i n , N e w Z e a l a n d , America the changing nature of t h e e c o n o m i c f o u n d a t i o n s resulted in the 1980s in political assaults of the capitalist class t h r o u g h m o n e t a r i s m , privatisation, de-regulation and neo-liberal policies. Signicantly there is a body of evidence showing that in these countries the results have been very much along similar lines. The working class movement was in many c a s e s c o n f r o n t e t l w i t h d e c i s i v e challenges. In Hritain with the miners. New Zealand, the seamen and Dockers, America, the air t r a f c c o n t r o l l e r s , a n d n o w i n .Australia, the Dockers. Failing to rise to these challenges (except in the case of .ustralia) the m o v e m e n t h a s b e e n f o r c e d o n t o the defensive, and is fragmented. (Britain trade union membership is now at 30 per cent, down from 50 per cent.) The result has been a f a l l i n g a w a y i n c l a s s - consciousness, in rank and le and trade union organisation. I f t h e r e h a d e x i s t e d a revolutionary ieadership, capabie of winning the support of the ieading iayers of the working class, then, the possibility of socialist change c o u l d h a v e b e e n posed, but this was n o t t h e c a s e . I n s t e a d t h e d e s t r u c t i o n o f t h e o l d t r a d i t i o n a l industries paved the way for service i n d u s t r i e s a n d i n f o r m a t i o n technology, which, together with the s e t b a c k s a n d d e f e a t s o f t h e period, especially the miners' strike, fundamentally a f f e c t e d t h e c o n s c i o u s n e s s o f t h e working class. 13 sodaiist democracy august/september 1999 14. While the Socialist Party forecasts Working-class defeats allow a Merseyside Socialists - former Socialist Party members on Merseyside. Peter Taaffe at the March 1998 National C o m m i t t e e d e c l a r e d it uniikeiy that monetary union w o u i d b e i a u n c h e d . I n f a c t h e w a s categorical "EMU will blow - take it down, write it d o w n . " Merseyside Socialists is interested in hearing readers' views, comments and criticisms. To get in contact p l e a s e e m a i l o n liv sodalists@hotmail.com or write to 2, Lower Breck Rd, Liverpool L6 4 B Y . In the 1990s the Socialist Party leadership followed on with the l i n e o f l e d C I r a n t , w h o frequently predicted the collapse o f t h e C o m m o n M a r k e t a n d I'luropcan project. In the early 1990s the national leadership were initially repeating this line, with a slight modication, "a shattering of the CC' is only likely in the event of a deep slump". In 1993 in an article for M i l i t a n t I n t e r n a t i o n a l R e r i e w, written by a comrade from Liverpool, it was argued: "Deationary policies will l e a d t o c l a s s conicts... nevertheless, it is likely, though not certain, that v e o r s i . x c o u n t r i e s c o u l d implement a single liuropean currency...Can political union be achieved? That is unlikely due to the separate interests of each capitalist class... International solidarity has been undermined through the role of the Stalinist parties and social democracy in the last decade. The seeming triumph of the market and the collap.se of the Stalinist states have reinforced this. European monetary union will bring back onto the agenda the pressing need for international solidarity" Instead of taking such points into account the analysis centred on European Monetary Union a n d i t s i n e v i t a b l e n o n - completion. . few quotations w i l l s h o w t h e m a i n t r e n d , especially those taken from the latter part of the 1990s, when it was increasingly likely that the project would be completed. In 1994 predictions were being m a d e t h a t M a a s t r i c h t w a s i n t a t t e r s a n d w o u l d b e " s h r e d d e d " by the time of the bluropean U n i o n s u m m i t i n 1 9 9 6 . T h e n when that didn't happen the prediction changed to there was no possibility of the other eight E u r o p e a n U n i o n m e m b e r s meeting the Maastricht criteria. T h e s t a t e m e n t t o t h e 1 9 9 7 conference said, "One of the by products of the l-rench events is the shipwrecking of I'MU. Lor t h e r s t t i m e , t h e r e i s a n admission trom bciurgeois spokespersons that, "it (EMU) I might not happen at all". 14 socialist democracy august/september 1999 Despite all the efforts of Kohl to plough on regardless, e v e n t h e " c o r e g r o u p o f c o u n t r i e s a r o u n d G e r m a n capitalism will not be able to a d h e r e t o t h e M a a s t r i c h t c r i t e r i a by 1999. The defeat of Juppe and his plan, which is what the I'rench election signied, was a shattering blow to Maastricht and IvMU. The softening of the criteria for I IMU will completely undermine the idea of a strong "euro". This in turn could lead t o c u r r e n c y t u r m o i l a n d competitive devaluations". I n o p p o s i t i o n t o t h i s Merseyside argued, "The election of Jospin in b'rance has not fundamentally altered the p r o s p e c t s f o r E M U . T h e government is staffed with those who believe that monetary union must go ahead and the view of t h e G o v e r n o r o f t h e B a n k o f 1 " r a n e e i s t h a t t h e r e i s n o possibility of postponement. There is great uncertainty surrounding the project but the underlying tendencies now point i n t h e d i r e c t i o n o f i t s e v e n t u a l c o m p l e t i o n - e v e n i f i t i s postponed for a period. These t e n d e n c i e s a r e r o o t e d i n t h e competition of the major world economic powers. The blocs that have emerged in America, Japan and l",urope push in the direction o f f r e e t r a d e a r e a s a n d a common currency is a necessity, w i t h i n l u i r o p e f o r t h e m u l t i n a t i o n a l s a n d n a n c i a l institutions. Whilst in Lrance and Germany there are political ambitions of creating a united luirope as a counterweight to Germany, the most important underlying issue initially is economic monetary union. The prospects of political union are a far distant prospect and on the basis of capitalism it is very hard to see anything like this being achieved. With monetary union only one and half vears awav there is likely to be a core of countries who will jump onto the train and the other countries will not be far away. lA'en if the convergence criteria was to be s o f t e n e d t h i s w o u l d n o t automatically undermine the moves in this direction, though it could bring deleterious effects for luiropean capitalism in future years. Neither will a renewed recession, which could c o i n c i d e w i t h t h e l a u n c h o f t h e p r o j e c t , i n t h e w o r l d o r I ' A t r o p e a n e c o n o m i e s fundamentally undermine the process". On this issue the leadership were hopelessly at sea, so much so that they could marshal little- support from the rank and le- delegates, the majority of speakers in the debate around EMU opposed the leadership. P e t e r T a a f f e a t t h e M a r c h 1 9 9 8 N a t i o n a l C o m m i t t e e d e c l a r e d i t u n l i k e l y t h a t monetary union would be launched (Jan 1999) but if it is it w i l l n o t g o t h r o u g h t o completion |in 2002|. In fact he was categorical "l^MU will blow - take it down, write it down." In J u n e 1 9 9 8 a C W I statement/update on the world economy was circulated, once again predicting a 1929 crash. Signicantly nowhere in the statement is there any mention of the actual social and political movements of the working class, e.xcept that there will be the re- emerging of an anti-capitalist m o o d b u t t h e r e w e r e n o p r e d i c t i o n s a b o u t t h e impossibility of IvMU in 1999. " N o w t h e E U c o u n t r i e s h a v e decided to set up the world's biggest peg on the basis of s u p e r c i a l e c o n o m i c convergence. The looming world recession will put enormous pressure on that peg....a new world recession, political and social unrest in ITirope itself will t e n d t o b l o w t h e c o n t i n e n t ' s currency union apart." The Socialist repeated the p o s i t i o n , " E M U c o u l d b e shattered by massive currencv turmoil even before the xing of exchange rates and interest rates in January 1999. If that does not happen, then in all probabilitv it w i l l b r e a k d o w n u n d e r t h e pressure of economic collapse, currency turmoil and huge social revre-en Party are- two clear examples. In both cases their rightward m a r c h t o t h e N a t o t u n e r e e c t s political pressures to remain or become- well-oiled cogs in the m a c h i n e r j ' o f b o u r g e o i s g o v e r n m e n t . In Germany the Greens are n o w p a r t o f t h e p o l i t i c a l mainstream as junior partners in the- SPD-led government and clearly wish to remain there. In Britain many may have been surprised by I avingstone's attempt to use the- bombings as a pretext to attempt to nally climb a b o a r d t h e N e w I . a b o u r bandwagon (though whether Blair w i l l a l l o w h i m o n i s a n o t h e r matter). I l o w e v e r e v e n b e f o r e t h e bombings Livingstone was on record as de-scribing himself as being in 90% agreement with Tony Blair, the- bombings were to clearly form part of that 90%. Many of the- arguments used to justify intervention into the Balkans have- clearly racist overtones. Namely that the various ethnic groups in the region (like- the- Protestants and Catholics in the- six counties) have an irrational hatred of each other therefore it is the- job of Nato to impose order. O n t h e - s a m e b a s i s o n e c o u l d argue that World Wars I and II happened because of the irrational h a t r e d t h a t t h e v a r i o u s n a t i o n a l groups within I-'urope had for each other, such an argument is clearly preposterous. There is nothing natural or i n e v i t a b l e a b o u t e t h n i c h a t r e d either in the- Balkans or anywhere else. The- experience of class struggle- in the 20* Ce-ntuiv' s h o u l d d e m o n s t r a t e t h a t i n periods of extreme economic and social crisis where the left cannot provide a coherent alternative then the political initiative almost inevitably falls to the right, and with the right comes xenophobia and racism in all its forms. W l i i l s t n a t i o n a l i s t t e n s i o n s began to re-emerge signicantly within Yugoslavia in the 1980s of w h i c h t h e a b o l i t i o n o f K o s o v a r autonomy by Serbia was a major aspect Yugoslavia still arguably remained a viable entitj' as a state. However the watershed was very probably the imposition of an IMF austerity package by the federal government in 1990. This package led to a drastic d e c l i n e i n r e a l i n c o m e s a n d t h e a b s e n c e o f a n y c o h e r e n t opposition from the left, indeed the absence of any real left meant that the political initiative drained a w a y f r o m t h e f e d e r a l g o v e r n m e n t t o w a r d s t h e nationalist demagogues namely Milosevic in Serbia and Tudjman in Croatia. In other words the primarv source of the break-up of Yugoslavia lies not within Yugoslavia itself but in the US l e d e c o n o m i c n e o - l i b e r a l offensive to open up the post- capitalist economies of the f o r m e r F a s t e r n b l o c t o t h e rigours of the global capitalist economy. This is more than simply a question of restoring capitalism to these societies. I t i s a b o u t r e s t o r i n g capitalism not on a Keynesian w e l f a r i s t m o d e l b u t o n t h e b a s i s of total economic deregulation Chilean style. As the example of t h e f o r m e r U S S R h a s demonstrated, things do not get worse before they get better, they get worse before thev get e v e n w o r s e . The irony is that whilst there a r c t h o s e o n t h e l e f t i n t h e N a t o c o u n t r i e s w h o h a v e f a l l e n i n behind their respective ruling classes there has been a minority but not insignicant trend within bourgeois opinion that has opposed the Nato campaign. E v e n w i t h i n t h e t w o c e n t r a l protagonists Britain and the US politicians such as Tory MP Alan Clarke and Republican S e n a t o r P a t B u c h a n a n h a v e opposed the bombings from a b o u r g e o i s i s o l a t i o n i s t perspective, neither of the two c o u l d b e d e s c r i b e d a s representing liberal bourgeois opinion by any stretch of the imagination. On the left an equally curious irony is the sudden f r i e n d s h i p t h a t S t a l i n i s t s throughout the world have developed for Yugoslavia. The irony being that at Yalta in 1945 Stalin agreed with Churchill and Roosevelt that Yugoslavia would fall within the Western sphere as part of the post-war carve up of Europe. The subsequent seizure of state power and overthrow of capitalist property relations by the Yugoslav Communist Party under Tito took place in direct v i o l a t i o n o f S t a l i n ' s o r d e r s a n d was a major factor in the Tito- Stalin split. One could therefore t c n u o u s l y a r g u e t h a t i n a t t e m p t i n g t o s u b j u g a t e Yugoslavia that the Nato powers are merely carrying out the posthumous wishes of Joseph S t a l i n ! Itisacommonmisconception that the R a m b o u i l l e t a c c o r d s w e r e c o n c e r n e d s o l e l y w i t h restoration of autonomy to K o s o v a w i t h i n S e r b i a . In fact the central sticking point was US insistence that anv peacekeeping force inside K o s o v a h a d t o b e a N a t o f o r c e . T h a t i s n o t a U N o r o t h e r f o r c e acceptable to all sides but a Nato and therefore US led force. 16 socialist democracy august/September 1999