Globalized Class Struggles: A Marxist Approach to Contemporary Geopolitics

In this paper, I argue that Marxism offers the most appropriate paradigm for analysing and shaping contemporary geopolitics. The advantage of a Marxist approach is that it goes beyond merely descriptive analysis and can suggest and achieve long-term, effective solutions to the problems considered. I start by highlighting the adequacy of the Marxist paradigm for addressing the challenges of geopolitics and International Relations (IR), and I critically discuss two misinterpretations of Marxist theory: the claim that it neglects either the national or the international level. Then, I proceed to introduce the conception of Globalized Class Struggles (GCS). Against the view that takes class struggle (in singular) to refer only to the struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, I maintain that class struggles (in plural) are not reducible to that essential form, and that they include a wide range of further multisided confrontations between various antagonist actors. After pointing out what can be considered as the economic foundation of (GCS), I identify the main involved classes on the basis of the centre / periphery dichotomy, and I briefly illustrate the usefulness of (GCS) through selected examples. Further, I examine the Marxist principle of Proletarian Internationalism (PI) by developing an interpretation of it as grounded in the dialectic between the local and the global levels. Indeed, I claim that such an understanding of (PI) can appropriately address both intrastate and interstate geopolitical challenges. The analysis finally focuses on the normative potential of Marxism in general and (PI) in particular. The suggested Marxist approach to contemporary geopolitics is, admittedly, on the side of the working classes worldwide, especially in the peripheries, where they are engaged in fierce anti-imperialist struggles.