The extent of the tragedy and suffering in Ukraine is hard to put into words. Hundreds have been killed, villages and large parts of cities are turned into rubble, and according to UNHCR numbers from March 16, over 3 million people have already fled Ukraine since the invasion of the Russian army started. This is the biggest and fastest growing refugee disaster in Europe since World War Two. Most of the refugees are women and children, as men aged 18–60 are not allowed to leave the country.
Defying the horrific attacks, tens of thousands of young people are bravely fighting against the Russian invasion and people are protesting in many cities, among them Kherson, Melitopol and Berdyansk, against the Russian attack and occupation. Parallel to them, the vast majority of young working class people in Russia do not want this war. Thousands took to the streets again on Sunday March 6 despite the threat of long prison sentences. On that day alone, nearly 5,000 people were arrested across 65 cities according to the independent Russian NGO for human rights OVD Info.
Many young Russian soldiers who are serving their 12-month compulsory military service are apparently forced to sign contracts as regular soldiers, the so-called “kontraktniki”, and are then sent to fight in Ukraine. Moreover, there are a great number of stories about young soldiers who have been lied to about what they will be doing. Like in most wars historically, it is again predominantly the young working class that is sent as cannon fodder to die in the wars of the rich and mighty.
At the same time, though a mass anti-war movement has still not emerged internationally, it is also young people that are standing up most visibly against the war in many countries. In Germany for example, Fridays for Future has been calling for and participating in the large antiwar demonstrations on Friday March 3 that drew 170.000 to the streets across the country. The anti-war demonstrations in the days before were even bigger with 250.000 demonstrating in Cologne on February 28 and half a million in Berlin on February 27.
A strong antiwar movement in Russia and internationally, democratically led and organized by the working class and youth is key to stopping the horrific carnage. While it is important to point out that this will not develop in a straight line, and the heavy and growing repression in Russia can push back the movement, we also want to emphasize that the current situation does in fact bear the potential for a mass movement to develop that could eventually overthrow Putin’s regime.
For all of us living in countries where we do enjoy democratic rights, this means that getting active and organizing an antiwar movement that steers clear of all imperialism and opposes militarization is the most important and effective thing we can do at the moment to show our solidarity with the people in Ukraine.
Crisis on Top of Crisis: The Impact on Youth
This war will have huge impacts on the consciousness of young people across the world, particularly in Ukraine and Russia themselves as well as in the neighboring European countries. For the vast majority of people a full invasion of Ukraine was more or less unimaginable and therefore constitutes yet another major “WTF-moment” of the 21st century. The impact on consciousness can hardly be overestimated — it will go far beyond the current situation and be interlinked and compounded with the effects of the ongoing economic, social and political crises that characterize the period.
For many working class people now in their late 20s and early 30s, the 2008 economic crisis was probably a big turning point, foreshadowing some of the subsequent chaos and leaving them with the feeling that their lives will not be better or more comfortable than the lives of their parents, but be determined by increasing uncertainty and precarity. In the following years, youth unemployment in many European countries went through the roof, especially in Southern European countries after the 2011 Euro Crisis. In the second half of the 2010s, more and more people realized the existential threat posed by the exacerbating climate and environmental crisis, which is reflected in higher levels of mental health issues related to the issue, but also led to the 2019 climate movement. Then came Covid-19, which is still far from over, and now a war in Europe on a scale that was unimaginable for most.
Many fear, not without reason, that the war could even spread beyond Ukraine. According to a German poll from February 28, 69% of the population in Germany are scared that NATO will be drawn into the conflict. This has been picked up widely by German newspapers who go a step further with titles such as “Two-thirds are scared of World War 3 according to poll”. For some, the feeling of doomerism — the pessimistic view that the world is heading for disaster and nothing can be done to stop it — will therefore be pushed to unknown heights.
Another effect will be a certain restoration and consolidation of trust in the institutions of western capitalist countries, especially on a supranational level like NATO or the EU. According to a poll published on February 16, around 74% of Europeans believe the EU should defend Ukraine against a Russian attack, though the biggest group of 47% limits this to diplomatic measures. Another study, reported on by the Guardian on February 9, found that over 60% think NATO should defend Ukraine. Moreover, the German poll cited above found, next to the fear of the spreading of the war, that 78% support German arms deliveries to Ukraine as well as the unprecedented rearmament of the German armed forces — only 16% are against both.
All of this reflects a strong feeling of solidarity towards the people in Ukraine and an understandable fear of war, but it also shows the pressure for national and western unity across class lines, which is already incredibly strong and can grow even further as this war drags on.
We Need to Oppose All Forms Militarization and Imperialism
In this new cold war, the west is portraying itself as the progressive project that is defending freedom, human rights and democracy. It is beyond question that Russia and China are brutal authoritarian regimes. Socialists are also active in both countries, politically organizing against both regimes under extremely harsh conditions. The uptick of repression in Russia, pushed through during the last days at breakneck speed, means that the country is now even more clearly a de facto dictatorship. Again, it is young people that are on the frontlines of the fightback, bravely defying draconian crackdowns and notwithstanding the threat of harsh prison sentences.
Their courageous resistance against Putin’s invasion war is a continuation of their fights of the past years. Despite the ever-growing repression, young people across Russia have been standing up for women’s rights and the rights of LGBTQI+ people, demanding an end to domestic violence and pushing for state-funded crisis centers in every region, higher wages and freedom of all political prisoners. These are just some examples of the heroic fights of young people in Russia against the Kremlin regime. Russian youth, just like millions of young people in other countries across the world, understand that the ruling class and their governments, who are profiteering from and defending the capitalist system, have nothing on offer for them and that they instead have to fight for their democratic rights, to end all forms of oppression, and to avoid climate disaster.
Moreover, broad layers of young people internationally also understand that it is necessary to resist all militarization, whether it is pushed by ruthless dictators and autocrats or allegedly progressive liberal democracies. Many young people see through the hypocrisy of western imperialist powers who claim to defend values and human rights, all the while investing billions into murderous weapons instead of spending the money on healthcare, education and for climate protection to meet ordinary peoples’ needs. They also recognize that it is the same states and European security forces who have discriminated, mistreated, abused, and deported refugees for years that are now responsible for the racist treatment of non-European refugees trying to flee the war in Ukraine.
The long list of imperialist wars, “regime changes “by force, neo-colonial “economic activities” around resource grabbing, conquering foreign markets and securing cheap labor as well as countless deals with dictatorships and the “Fortress EU/North America” approach to migration bely the self-proclaimed image of the West and show its hypocrisy. In February this year, there have been reports that the US is now even testing robot dogs to be used in their fight against migrants on the border with Mexico. The West is not “morally superior” to Russia or China: when it comes to securing and enforcing economic and geostrategic interests all imperialist powers resort to violence, repression and war.
In order to become less dependent on Russian fossil fuels, for example, the United States now seek to strengthen their relationship with the dictatorial regime of Saudi Arabia who are currently bombing Yemen with US support, thereby causing one of the worst humanitarian crises on the planet. Then there is of course the NATO bombing of Belgrade in 1999, the Iraq war for oil based on lies around alleged weapons of mass destruction, the invasion of Afghanistan and countless more.
Moreover, democratic rights are also under attack in several western capitalist states, requiring a determined answer by the working class. In the wake of the BLM rebellion, young protesters across the US and Britain were arrested and landed with trumped up charges. In Ireland, members of ISA and ROSA faced conviction and fines for organizing socialist feminist demos following the murder of Sarah Everard. Similarly, climate activists in various countries have also had to experience first hand whose “values” bourgeois states are actually defending. Thousands of them have been arrested and faced police violence for protesting with their bodies using civil disobedience tactics against climate destruction. It is clear, bourgeois states do not defend progressive values, but the capitalist system, the value of private property and the right of capitalist corporations to increase their profits no matter what.
Following this direct repression and violence against protestors and social movements, many states are pushing for more repressive legislation to restrict democratic rights by law. In Britain for example, the so-called “Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill” is currently under discussion, which aims at significantly curtailing people’s democratic right to protest.
Working Class Resistance Can Stop the War
Before the invasion and annexation of Crimea in 2014, only a minority of people in Ukraine were in favor of an alliance with NATO (18,9% in 2007, 13% in 2012). Larger groups of the population supported a military alliance with Russia (31,3% in 2007, 26,2% in 2012) or a non-aligned status for Ukraine (30,7% in 2007, 42,1% in 2012) according to the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology. This has, however, changed dramatically since then for obvious reasons with the biggest share of the population favoring an alliance with NATO from then on (46,4% in 2014, 40,9% in 2019, 62% in February 2022). It is completely understandable why people living in Ukraine would want military support and protection from other countries when under severe attacks from an imperialist power with a military three times the size of its own. And while polls show that large layers of people living in western countries tend to be in favor of arms deliveries or further militarization, many will, while probably feeling somewhat uneasy about it, simply not see a practical alternative as to how we can otherwise help the people in Ukraine.
However, as this article explains further, more arms from or the beefing up of militaries of western states are no way to peace. Western imperialist powers are first and foremost interested in securing their own hegemony and influence over resources and markets in this new cold war. The real dividing line in society is not between liberal democracies and rightwing autocratic regimes, but between the interests of the working class and the interests of the ruling class. The mighty and powerful, whether in Russia, China, the EU, or the US, all share in common their pursuit of profits and power at the expense of the lives of ordinary people.
The people in Ukraine have every right to defend themselves and to fight against the Russian invasion. To increase the resistance’s efficacy and to build the strongest possible guarantor for the rights and interests of the working class in Ukraine, it is paramount to develop democratically organized resistance committees across all communities.The best way to help the resistance in Ukraine from the outside and to stop the horrible war is by building an international antiwar movement that is clearly based on the working class and youth and that opposes all wars no matter what imperialist interests stand behind it. This is not some utopian dream, history shows that mass movements against war can be successful and that the youth can play a leading role in them.
The need for such a movement to oppose all wars, including the occupation of Palestine by the Israeli state, the bombing of Somalia by the US or the war and famine in Yemen caused by Saudi Arabia and funded by the US, is clearly seen by large layers of working class and youth. Fridays for Future for example tweeted, “While Ukrainians deserve immediate peace and all our support, so do the people from Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Yemen, and all war torn regions. Empathy, justice, and compassion should be for everyone.”
The Youth Can Lead the Way
Young people can play a decisive role in antiwar movements as history has repeatedly shown. One of the most outstanding examples of young people’s historic involvement in antiwar movements is the Vietnam war student protests that saw millions taking to the streets over years and eventually forced the United States to stop the imperialist war. In the previous decade, the US civil rights movement showed how mass movements can bring about real change. The students during the Vietnam war recognised that even though they were going through economic precarity with not enough money, housing and healthcare that there were billions for a war that was not in their interest. With chants such as “Hey, hey LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?”, the students were widely aware of the war crimes being committed by the profit-driven criminals in the Eisenhower/Kennedy/LBJ/Nixon administration during the period of the Vietnam War.
The growing opposition among the US population, spearheaded by the protests of young people, against the war and the various administrations that led it, eventually forced the US to withdraw its troops and stop the war.
Young people continue to be among the most militant and willing to get rid of the exploitation and oppression people face. This is not only due to them being most directly affected by the war as well as by its indirect consequences and many other crises, but also because they are less held back by defeats of the past. Many of those who have been active in recent big youth movements, such as the refugee solidarity movement, the feminist movement, the climate movement, BLM or the Palestine solidarity movement, will also want to get active in opposition to imperialist war in the coming period. Moreover, having been politicized precisely by their opposition to one or several of the ugly consequences that capitalism inevitably creates, many of them will also draw the conclusion that it is the capitalist system that is the root cause of military tensions and wars.
Young people play a crucial role as a dynamic and radical element in almost all important social struggles. By taking the initiative at the beginning, they can spur on industrial action from the working class, whose economic and social power is the decisive factor as history has shown. When the organized working class mobilizes and puts its power to use, we can build a powerful international mass antiwar movement which can really end this and future wars. Some actions by port-workers in Britain refusing to offload Russian fossil fuel tankers are a powerful symbol and point in the right direction. Young activists must consciously seek to orientate towards and tie our movements to the working class, its demands and organizations.
What We Need to do Now
The example of the Vietnam war protests shows that an antiwar movement can be successful when led and organized by workers and young people. Such a movement however, is not built overnight. If you want to get active against the Ukraine war, oppression or any other ill of this rotten system, get in touch with the closest ISA group to discuss what you can do at your school, university or work place. First steps can be sit-ins, “die-ins” and walkouts that can create a real dynamic and spread rapidly. The school student strike against sexism and war on March 8 in Austria is an important example.
Such actions must be connected to discussions around demands and program with the aim of building up a broader network of democratically organized committees in schools, colleges, universities and workplaces. We need to build towards strikes against war, withdraw our labor against transporting weapons and military equipment and combine our protests and actions with clear demands.
To ensure that people in Ukraine as well as in Russia are provided with all that they need and to rebuild everything that has been destroyed, key sectors of the economies as well as all the oligarchs’ wealth should be nationalized and put under democratic workers’ control.
All racist treatment and deportations of refugees must stop, women and children must be protected against human trafficking. The European governments must provide all necessary means, so that refugees receive the support they need no matter if they are “European” or come from another region of the world.
The recently agreed massive militarization programs have to be stopped, we need the investments in health care, climate protection and education instead.
The discussion around decoupling from Russian fossil fuel so far is a farce, as the imports of Russian oil and gas have even increased since the start of the war. We need to end the use of fossil fuels for energy and transport, whether they come from Russia, Saudi Arabia or West Virginia. But capitalism has shown itself incapable of kicking this dirty habit. To be able to transition to a fully green energy sector in the fight against the climate crisis, the energy sector needs to be nationalized and democratically controlled by workers and consumers. This is also necessary to counter the price explosions and guarantee everybody’s right to affordable and sustainable energy.
To win real and genuine peace for the working class worldwide and to be able to end all forms of oppression as well as effectively fight the climate crisis, we need an overthrow of the capitalist system. This is the goal of ISA. As an international revolutionary party we are committed to ending capitalism and building a socialist world in which the power is in workers’ hands and the fruits of our labor serve the needs of people and the planet and not a few wealthy individuals.
