That’s certainly a big if, but one of the important bits is that they are largely kept out of the ability to imperialize the world as it’s already divided amongst the western powers. As Russia develops, it will likely see that same saturation and development of finance capital domestically, but unlike the west, it won’t have the ability to expand, and will more likely lead to crisis. If the west severely weakens before then, there’s a good chance it would indeed become imperialist, as imperialism isn’t a policy choice but the natural evolution of capitalist development. However, this is on a world scale, not merely at the level of an individual country.
Your definition seems a little cherry picky. Ignoring the obvious role of hard power and over-focusing on capital seems like a mistake. But I don’t know enough anyway. Wiki’s definition makes more sense to me
Hard power is used to maintain imperialism. The reason the export of capital is important is that this is what allows imperialist countries to siphon all of the wealth from the global south, vs. just selling them things. Wiki’s definition is vague enough to apply to Burkina Faso kicking France out, ie it turns anti-imperialism into imperialism.
It’s absolutely extending your power over a foreign nation. Resistance to domination is the enforcement of your own will over that of others. Wiki’s definition is intentionally vague to the point of being worthless, while the historical analysis of imperialism as originated with theorists like Hobson and extended by Lenin, Nkrumah, and Cheng Enfu describes an actual system, its material causes and mechanisms, and describes why it exists and how to end it. The wiki definition is like defining capitalism as “trade” and saying Marx was being ridiculous by analyzing it further.
Would Russia be imperialist if everything was the same except they had more finance capital and less commodities trade?
That’s certainly a big if, but one of the important bits is that they are largely kept out of the ability to imperialize the world as it’s already divided amongst the western powers. As Russia develops, it will likely see that same saturation and development of finance capital domestically, but unlike the west, it won’t have the ability to expand, and will more likely lead to crisis. If the west severely weakens before then, there’s a good chance it would indeed become imperialist, as imperialism isn’t a policy choice but the natural evolution of capitalist development. However, this is on a world scale, not merely at the level of an individual country.
Ok thanks.
Your definition seems a little cherry picky. Ignoring the obvious role of hard power and over-focusing on capital seems like a mistake. But I don’t know enough anyway. Wiki’s definition makes more sense to me
Hard power is used to maintain imperialism. The reason the export of capital is important is that this is what allows imperialist countries to siphon all of the wealth from the global south, vs. just selling them things. Wiki’s definition is vague enough to apply to Burkina Faso kicking France out, ie it turns anti-imperialism into imperialism.
Kicking someone out is not “extending power over foreign nations.” That is “resisting foreign nations trying to extend power over you.”
You’re being ridiculous and clearly not taking the definition as intended. Your definition is the problem here
It’s absolutely extending your power over a foreign nation. Resistance to domination is the enforcement of your own will over that of others. Wiki’s definition is intentionally vague to the point of being worthless, while the historical analysis of imperialism as originated with theorists like Hobson and extended by Lenin, Nkrumah, and Cheng Enfu describes an actual system, its material causes and mechanisms, and describes why it exists and how to end it. The wiki definition is like defining capitalism as “trade” and saying Marx was being ridiculous by analyzing it further.
Here’s a good summary of imperialism.