Simply stating something as if it were a fact, doesn’t make it true. BRICS perfectly fits the description you gave. It’s literally an alternative market, centered around the countries typically excluded by the “Western market”. By its own definition, it was formed to compete with Western markets for global economic influence, and to expand the market capabilities of its member states.
That fits every criteria of your limited definition of imperialism.
Russia also fits the standard definition of an imperialist state due to their hostile military occupations of neighboring countries, as well as their aggressive influence campaigns targeting foreign governments around the world. They literally check every single box.
BRICS is an international trade organization, not a means by which a tiny cluster of countries that are dominated by finance capital gain money by exporting capital and expropriate wealth from the global south. This is why BRICS is made up of largely developing economies. It absolutely does not fit my definition in the slightest.
Secondly, war is not imperialism. War can be done to cement it or aid it, but it is not itself imperialism. Otherwise Burkina Faso kicking France out would be “imperialism” against France.
Lol! “It does not fit your definition in the slightest” because you are ignoring all the things that define it as an economic system. You said it yourself…it is an “international trade organization”. What exactly do you think the purpose of that, is? Why does it exist?
C’mon, man. I know you aren’t that dim.
And war is absolutely imperialism, when the objectives are to expand wealth through land and resource acquisition. Especially when force is used to acquire those lands and resources. Russia tried to get it through regime change first, and when the people of Ukraine rejected those efforts…they invaded.
That is literally the defining characteristic of classic imperialism. Expansion through dominance.
Trade is not imperialism, I quite literally explained how the export of capital as opposed to commodities as a means to enrich the imperialist countries at the expense of others is imperialism. BRICS is about cooperative trade agreements.
As for expansion, no, it isn’t inherently imperialism, nor is war. The Statesian North absorbing the confederacy would be imperialism by your vague definition.
That’s exactly what Americans say when someone calls the US an empire. It’s a pretty lame deflection considering it ignores the application of economic dominance they use to get what they want from other countries.
I quite literally explained how the export of capital as opposed to commodities as a means to enrich the imperialist countries at the expense of others
You seem to think that imperialism is somehow limited to just Capitalist countries. Your definition also conveniently ignores the fact that you can obviously export both capital and commodities. What makes it “imperialism” isn’t “what” is being exported…it’s simply the fact that the smaller country’s resources are being consumed by the larger, in order to sustain its own existence and expand its sphere of influence.
Imperialism is all about dominance. Economic dominance. Political dominance. Military dominance.
Economic dominance is the most subtle and least invasive form of control. This is where the imperialist nation simply purchases influence in the smaller country by buying up companies, land and resources. The end result being, all the wealth generated by the smaller economy is being syphoned off and absorbed by the larger economy. This is the typical method used by Capitalist countries, and the only definition you seem to think applies to Imperialism. It isn’t. As I said, this is just the least invasive form of dominance.
The 2nd form of dominance is political. If the smaller nation resists the larger nation’s efforts to take over their economy peacefully, they will take steps to replace that nation’s leadership with loyalists who won’t resist…ie regime change. This doesn’t even necessarily have to be violent. The imperialist nation simply needs to pour resources into getting the right people places in key positions, and slowly take over the smaller nation’s government one office at a time, until there is no one left to resist their efforts to take control of their resources.
The 3rd and final form of dominance is violence. If the efforts to take control of the smaller nation’s government are somehow resisted, the final and most invasive actions will be employed. They will take control of those resources by force. Invasion. Annexation. Subjugation.
Russia employs all three of these forms of dominance, just like the US does. There is no difference in their tactics…only in their rhetoric when they try to justify their actions. They accuse each other of all the same crimes, that they themselves are guilty of committing. Anyone trying to defend this, by claiming that only “the other side” is doing it, is being intentionally disingenuous.
Russia is not economically dominating other countries, though, and neither is BRICS. Secondly, focusing on export of capital as the dominant measure of an imperialist economy does not mean a country can only export either capital or commodities. Further, earlier forms of imperialism existed, such as the Roman Empire, what I described is merely imperialism as it exists today.
When you are talking about “forms of control,” what you’re really describing is imperialism proper, the economic extraction, and then ways imperialism is maintained through soft and hard power. Russia is not economically plundering other countries. It is at war, but it is not an imperialist country.
This isn’t me being disingenuous, it’s me being principled in how I analyze the world.
Ok. Then explain how the Roman Empire was an empire, before Capitalism even existed. Capitalism is a relatively recent addition to human history. Whereas imperialism is by far one of the oldest.
Limiting your definition of what it is, exclusively to Capitalism, ignores 99% of our collective existence. It’s not like all the other forms of imperialism ceased to exist once Capitalism came along…it just came up with a new form of dominance to use.
And for the record, Russia maintains economic dominance over plenty of countries in its sphere of influence. Belarus. Georgia. Moldova. Kazakhstan. Kyrgyzstan. Armenia. Etc. All are heavily influenced by Russian economic policies.
But, as I said… that’s just one form of dominance that imperialist nations use to expand and maintain their control over other countries. Russia just uses the other two I mentioned, far more often. Putin obviously prefers the more old-school imperialism to the new-school variety employed by the US.
The Roman Empire had a different, earlier mode of production, and as such the imperialism of its era was different. I am speaking about imperialism as it is relevant today, no country has a similar mode of production to the Roman Empire.
As for Russia “economically dominating,” you’re really just saying Russia has economic power within countries it is near. This is not the same as systemically stealing all or most of their surplus the way western countries do to the global south.
Trade is not imperialism. BRICS is not imperialist.
Simply stating something as if it were a fact, doesn’t make it true. BRICS perfectly fits the description you gave. It’s literally an alternative market, centered around the countries typically excluded by the “Western market”. By its own definition, it was formed to compete with Western markets for global economic influence, and to expand the market capabilities of its member states.
That fits every criteria of your limited definition of imperialism.
Russia also fits the standard definition of an imperialist state due to their hostile military occupations of neighboring countries, as well as their aggressive influence campaigns targeting foreign governments around the world. They literally check every single box.
BRICS is an international trade organization, not a means by which a tiny cluster of countries that are dominated by finance capital gain money by exporting capital and expropriate wealth from the global south. This is why BRICS is made up of largely developing economies. It absolutely does not fit my definition in the slightest.
Secondly, war is not imperialism. War can be done to cement it or aid it, but it is not itself imperialism. Otherwise Burkina Faso kicking France out would be “imperialism” against France.
Lol! “It does not fit your definition in the slightest” because you are ignoring all the things that define it as an economic system. You said it yourself…it is an “international trade organization”. What exactly do you think the purpose of that, is? Why does it exist?
C’mon, man. I know you aren’t that dim.
And war is absolutely imperialism, when the objectives are to expand wealth through land and resource acquisition. Especially when force is used to acquire those lands and resources. Russia tried to get it through regime change first, and when the people of Ukraine rejected those efforts…they invaded.
That is literally the defining characteristic of classic imperialism. Expansion through dominance.
Trade is not imperialism, I quite literally explained how the export of capital as opposed to commodities as a means to enrich the imperialist countries at the expense of others is imperialism. BRICS is about cooperative trade agreements.
As for expansion, no, it isn’t inherently imperialism, nor is war. The Statesian North absorbing the confederacy would be imperialism by your vague definition.
That’s exactly what Americans say when someone calls the US an empire. It’s a pretty lame deflection considering it ignores the application of economic dominance they use to get what they want from other countries.
You seem to think that imperialism is somehow limited to just Capitalist countries. Your definition also conveniently ignores the fact that you can obviously export both capital and commodities. What makes it “imperialism” isn’t “what” is being exported…it’s simply the fact that the smaller country’s resources are being consumed by the larger, in order to sustain its own existence and expand its sphere of influence.
Imperialism is all about dominance. Economic dominance. Political dominance. Military dominance.
Economic dominance is the most subtle and least invasive form of control. This is where the imperialist nation simply purchases influence in the smaller country by buying up companies, land and resources. The end result being, all the wealth generated by the smaller economy is being syphoned off and absorbed by the larger economy. This is the typical method used by Capitalist countries, and the only definition you seem to think applies to Imperialism. It isn’t. As I said, this is just the least invasive form of dominance.
The 2nd form of dominance is political. If the smaller nation resists the larger nation’s efforts to take over their economy peacefully, they will take steps to replace that nation’s leadership with loyalists who won’t resist…ie regime change. This doesn’t even necessarily have to be violent. The imperialist nation simply needs to pour resources into getting the right people places in key positions, and slowly take over the smaller nation’s government one office at a time, until there is no one left to resist their efforts to take control of their resources.
The 3rd and final form of dominance is violence. If the efforts to take control of the smaller nation’s government are somehow resisted, the final and most invasive actions will be employed. They will take control of those resources by force. Invasion. Annexation. Subjugation.
Russia employs all three of these forms of dominance, just like the US does. There is no difference in their tactics…only in their rhetoric when they try to justify their actions. They accuse each other of all the same crimes, that they themselves are guilty of committing. Anyone trying to defend this, by claiming that only “the other side” is doing it, is being intentionally disingenuous.
Russia is not economically dominating other countries, though, and neither is BRICS. Secondly, focusing on export of capital as the dominant measure of an imperialist economy does not mean a country can only export either capital or commodities. Further, earlier forms of imperialism existed, such as the Roman Empire, what I described is merely imperialism as it exists today.
When you are talking about “forms of control,” what you’re really describing is imperialism proper, the economic extraction, and then ways imperialism is maintained through soft and hard power. Russia is not economically plundering other countries. It is at war, but it is not an imperialist country.
This isn’t me being disingenuous, it’s me being principled in how I analyze the world.
Ok. Then explain how the Roman Empire was an empire, before Capitalism even existed. Capitalism is a relatively recent addition to human history. Whereas imperialism is by far one of the oldest.
Limiting your definition of what it is, exclusively to Capitalism, ignores 99% of our collective existence. It’s not like all the other forms of imperialism ceased to exist once Capitalism came along…it just came up with a new form of dominance to use.
And for the record, Russia maintains economic dominance over plenty of countries in its sphere of influence. Belarus. Georgia. Moldova. Kazakhstan. Kyrgyzstan. Armenia. Etc. All are heavily influenced by Russian economic policies.
But, as I said… that’s just one form of dominance that imperialist nations use to expand and maintain their control over other countries. Russia just uses the other two I mentioned, far more often. Putin obviously prefers the more old-school imperialism to the new-school variety employed by the US.
But, it’s still imperialism all the same.
The Roman Empire had a different, earlier mode of production, and as such the imperialism of its era was different. I am speaking about imperialism as it is relevant today, no country has a similar mode of production to the Roman Empire.
As for Russia “economically dominating,” you’re really just saying Russia has economic power within countries it is near. This is not the same as systemically stealing all or most of their surplus the way western countries do to the global south.