Marxist-Leninists typically critically support the Russian Federation for it’s progressive role in opposing imperialism, presently spearheaded by the United States and secondarily from the broader west, such as the UK, France, Germany, and the various settler-colonies and imperialist coalition groups. Lemmy.ml has always had MLs.

Russia is neither similar to the ancient Roman Empire nor to contemporary western imperialism. You haven’t actually explained why, other than the fact that they are at war, and I already explained that war itself is not imperialism. Russia is not super exploiting countries for super profits, and in fact it is assisting countries like Burkina Faso in expelling imperialist countries like France. It isn’t that Russia can’t do wrong, it’s that it is not imperialist, and isn’t doing imperialism.

Russia certainly isn’t “my favorite,” it’s far from a socialist country. It does not need to be socialist to be worthy of critical support, however, in its role in contesting imperialism. It isn’t at all embarrassing to have a consistent and principled stance on this. I’m not making the case because I think you’re “stupid,” I believe you’re fully capable of grasping that Russia by no means is exploiting the global south in the same way or degree as actual imperialist countries like the US, France, UK, Germany, etc.

My question is why bring it up in the first place?

Extension is a relative term. Burkina Faso is extending its own influence to that of France by kicking them out. Every action has a reaction, in regaining their sovereignty they have reduced France’s. This is a good thing, but if we are being technical, it counts as imperialism according to Wikipedia. This is obviously an absurd statement, but that’s the point, Wikipedia’s definition isn’t actually a technical one, and instead is trying to describe a gut feeling more than a material process with concrete characteristics and motions.

And no problem!

I didn’t lie about anything, I’m merely extrapolating. If you think Russia is entirely unjustified in assisting the DPR and LPR against the campaign of ethnic cleansing from Kiev, then this is a clear value judgment on your part. I don’t see what you mean by “bad reputation,” how exactly am I contributing to that?

What is your point?

I’m neither lying nor “brainwashed,” the difference in analysis is because I am a communist, and am analyzing the situation with the world outlook of dialectical materialism.

As for Russia violating international law, Donetsk and Luhansk seceded from Kiev because of ethnic repressions against minority ethnicities in the Donbass region. International organizations correctly identified the neofascist nature of the new Kiev regime, as well as the war crimes committed against the Donbass region. In such a situation, do you think the DPR and LPR do not have the right to request Russian assistance in accordance with international law?

You’re being widely downvoted because you’re downplaying Kiev’s neofascism and essentially saying the Donbass region should accept being ethnically cleansed by Kiev. This is ridiculous, and you know it is, so you downplay the ethnic cleansing in order to protect your own image.

Some of the bait can be nice, but in my opinion I think we lean too far into the bait and too far into “dunking.” This isn’t a condemnation based on civility politics, but a rational desire to focus on higher quality posts and comments for onlookers. Being as edgy as possible can spark constructive conversation in the comments, but constructive conversation can also happen with good agitprop that has a convincing argument within the meme itself.

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. Treating imperialism like a vibe, and not like a material process, means we are incapable of learning how to stop it.

Russia isn’t trying to vassalize Belarus, etc, and doesn’t want to “conquer Ukraine,” it just wants to annex the Donbass region that already seceded from Kiev after the Banderite coup. Russia tries to draw on soviet nostalgia to keep the capitalists in power and prevent the communists from taking power. Imperialism is a stage in capitalism, not a mere policy preference.

As for the universal condemnation of force, this means you don’t support the Statesian north abolishing chattel slavery in the south, or any revolution in history. Reality is far more complex than that, which is why the good side lost the Cold War.

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.

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.

I’d rather the staunch ally of Israel and the one oppressing minority ethnicities in the Donbass region not be doing that any longer. I also wish that it no longer plays a similar geopolitical role as Israel, as a forward outpost for western imperialism to force neighboring countries into bending the knee.

Banger quote, and a tough but necessary lesson for progressives that are not yet communists.

Kiev has been slaughtering civilians in the DPR and LPR since 2014, when they seceded following the Banderite coup.

Russia has not been imperialist since it was under the Tsar, the Soviets got rid of their imperial and colonial holdings. Even if modern Russia wanted to be imperialist, the actual imperialist countries have already divided the world amongst themselves and are actively trying to break Russia up or force it into opening its capital markets.

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.

I think I answered pretty well, the US and EU are the core imperialist countries, the global south is largely imperialized. Most countries aren’t imperialist.

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.

No?