The author addresses the problem that racism and imperialism have a critical role in how the modern military operates. Military studies have seen an uptick in the last decade, as scholars have turned to the concept to explain why warlike connections are so deeply ingrained in modern liberal nations, as well as what role sociopolitical and economic structures play in legitimizing and organizing political violence. In spite of this, race and colonialism have always played a secondary part in these narratives. The article “Resisting racial militarism: War, policing and the Black Panther Party” clearly shows how we can place racism and imperialism as crucial to the workings of modern militarism. According to research, which draws heavily on the Black Panther Party’s theory and its members’ often contentious participation in the anti-Vietnam War movement, Black Panther Party members’ distinctive understanding offers an insightful view of the racially and colonially motivated militarism. Huey Newton’s concept of inter-communalism, their analysis of ghettos as colonial spaces, and their comprehension of the officers as an unauthorized army of occupation are all examples of how their understanding prefigures that focuses on the intricate interplay between racial capitalist processes of un bordering and the dissolving boundaries between war and police activity.
The author presents the evidence that when confronted with systemic racism and economic inequality in the 21st century as a result of events such as George Floyd’s murder and the worldwide rallies that followed, the party is more appropriate than ever before, with its strategies and evaluations forming an integral part of the genealogy of emerging Black radicalism (Manchanda & Rossdale, 2021). Racial Capitalism and police power are intertwined in this intercommunal concept of militarism, as state practices that are simultaneously weakening and strengthening in an uneven manner, despite their simultaneous withering and escalation. We begin by looking at Newton’s speeches and writings on the matter, and then we examine the military connections between the United States and Israel.
The topics of institutionalized racism and racial militarism have been discussed and studied throughout the course. These topics are relevant in contemporary times, as well as we have witnessed the issue of racism in our national history. Moreover, the recent cold-blooded killing of George Floyd has ignited the black lives matter movement. The murder of George Floyd depicts the institutionalized racism prevalent in the law enforcement agencies of the United States. The issue of racism has come to the forefront in the national and international debate.
Reference
Manchanda, N., & Rossdale, C. (2021). Resisting racial militarism: War, policing and the Black Panther Party. Security Dialogue, 52(6), 473-492.
Racial Capitalism and Settler Colonialism
In this article, the author discussed the two case studies of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization and the apartheid of South Africans. In the previous two decades, the social connections between Palestine/Israel and South Africa have been fundamentally altered by the parallel transformations in both of these countries. They have had vastly different effects on freedom of expression in Palestine and South Africa. The end of apartheid in South Africa liberated Black South Africans from the sway of the white minority. As a result of the country’s democratic and racial transformation, Black citizens of South Africa now enjoy full legal equality.
The author presents the evidence that we should keep in mind not just the successes of the South African liberation movement but also its limits as inspiration for Palestinians. Post-apartheid, one of the most populated countries in the world, South Africa, persists. In addition to the ancient white elite, who still dominate the vast bulk of power and wealth in the country, a small Black elite and a burgeoning Black middle class have formed. Many of the city’s poorest residents of color are forced to live in shantytowns and shack settlements, where they face significantly higher rates of HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases. Socioeconomic trends in Palestine/Israel have been very comparable. Social welfare and labor unions are under attack as a wealthy Jewish Israeli financial elite amass enormous riches (Clarno, 1994). However, while a limited Palestinian elite with strong relations to the PA has become wealthy, the great majority of Palestinians face unemployment, land expropriation, and ongoing repression.
This source has utilized the case studies of settler colonialism and apartheid in South Africa. The topic of racism has been studied and discussed throughout the course from various aspects. Racial Capitalism is one such dimension discussed in this source. In racial Capitalism, racial identity plays a significant role in the determination of social and economic privileges. The example of apartheid in South Africa is pertinent in this regard. Similarly, the socioeconomic suppression and land occupation in the Palestine/Israel conflict is an example of settler colonialism.
Reference
Clarno, A. (1994). Neoliberal Apartheid: Palestine. Israel and South Africa After.
The Counterrevolutionary Moment
This source has examined the imperialist outlook of the 1st world war. One of the first theories in The Highest Stage of Capitalism called World War I an imperialist conflict fueled by capitalist interests and predicted a peace that would terminate both empire and Capitalism. They asked that authority be transferred to the labor and peasantry, that peace is negotiated without annexations, and that Capitalism be cut off completely in practice. The Bolshevik Revolution had worldwide repercussions, and thesis 10 advocated for the development of a new revolutionary Union. It took the Bolshevik Decree on Peace another six months to restate and further clarify the demand for a non-binding peace: colonized and subject states must be granted the right to freely vote on whether or not to incorporate, after the incorporating or generally stronger nation has completely forced to evacuate its troops and without the slightest pressure.
The study has utilized the ideas of Lenin and Du Bois to raise the point that imperialism was the root cause of the great war and said that any peace that did not resolve the problems would be a sham. Yet Smuts rewrote the argument to clear the British Empire of the violence and rapacity that led to war while these anti-imperialists established the link between war and empire by calling attention to the global hunt for colonies fueled by financial capital and led by the British (Hausteiner, 2021). He argued that the old empires of the Ottoman and German empires, based on injustice and tyranny and anchored in theories of central sovereignty, were the main contributors to the war in Smuts’ view.
This resource has looked at the capitalist interest behind the 1st world war. It can be looked at as a critique of Capitalism. The topic of racial Capitalism, which has been studied and discussed in the class, has been at the heart of this source. The conflict of economic interest may lead to an economic struggle between nation-states. Mercantilism in the past was used to propagate economic interests by the nation-states, while in modern times, economic sanctions have emerged as tools of modern states to preserve and propagate national interests. The current economic war between the United States of America and China is one such example of a conflict of economic interests.
Reference
Hausteiner, E. M. (2021). Adom Getachew & Worldmaking after Empire: the rise and fall of self-determination. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 2019. Constellations, 28(2).