Deniz Adalı
April 2025 – Kaldıraç Issue 285
When one of my friends recently told me that Europe is not actually a “continent” from a geographical perspective, or in the same sense of physical geography, I remember pausing. To be honest, I was not aware of such a debate. As a “continent”, actually a large landmass surrounded by water, Europe seems to be an extension of Asia. Then I thought it should be noted that the name “Europe” as “Evropa” or in other spellings, is known to come from the Anatolian geography. Those who have been to the Zeugma museum have at least seen the scene of Evropa’s abduction by Zeus. Those who have read the Trojan War remember Europa’s position in this war. According to these images, the name Europe was stolen from the geography we live on. In other words, Europe, which seems to be the center of the world, is more of a political concept or a political-cultural concept.
In fact, we all know that Europe has no borders in one sense. For example, if they deem it necessary, Georgia or Armenia ceases to be part of the “East” and is presented as part of Europe. They present it that way because imperialist expansionism and colonialism have been the work of Europe, of the “white man” for thousands of years. If you colonize the rest of the world, of course you define the center of the world according to yourself. If you become the center, your east becomes the east and your west becomes the west. And from Anatolia to India to China, we get used to calling ourselves “the East”. In fact, over time, these concepts acquire such a content that “East” begins to refer to what is bad and “West” to what is good.
Knowing this, there is actually no harm in using the concepts of east and west. But it is important to remember that concepts and names have a history and that this history is written by the rulers.
Today, Europe is a candidate to become the center of the third great war of division, if this war, which will be called the Third World War, cannot be prevented. And in fact, they themselves are creating this situation.
The First World War and the Second World War were both centered in Europe. They are so because they are both wars of division. After completing the process of colonizing the world, the imperialist countries once again waged a war in order to take those colonies from each other. In world history, both of the two wars that have been called “world wars” coincided with the monopoly stage of capitalism, that is, the imperialist stage of capitalism. This is of course not a coincidence.
The process began before the dissolution of the USSR. Many Marxist economists, most notably Sweezy and Baran (both Americans), had already pointed out by the 1970s that the US hegemony was dissolving, with its economic indicators, which had become clear from every aspect after the Second World War. The “oil crisis” of the early 1970s was actually one of the major crises of the capitalist system and, in fact, signified the undermining of US hegemony. Not only the USSR, but also other imperialist powers, such as France and Germany, were expressing the end of the system that had been established by the US through the printing of unrequited money. However, the existence of the USSR, of the world socialist system, put this war within the imperialist West, which was united on the anti-communist front, on the sidelines. After the dissolution of the USSR, starting from the 1990s, this war of division came to the fore. The five main imperialist powers, the USA, Germany, Japan, France and England, have openly taken action to redivide the world among themselves. The USA, as the head of the system or as the hegemonic power, was advancing this process towards a more open war. For this reason, the question “does America need a foreign policy?” was being asked and the emphasis on “world empire” and “third Rome” was being highlighted. The USA was claiming to be the ruler of the world and was trying to impose this on its rivals with its military power.
In this period, we have seen the US wars of occupation such as Afghanistan and Iraq. Then the invasion of Libya was launched and eventually it extended to Syria.
But at the same time, the 2008 crisis emerged. Thus, the war of division and the crisis merged. This escalated the war of division even more.
Again, starting from 2003, we began to witness China’s strong entrance into the world market with its own brands, while stepping out of its role as the West’s factory or at the same time maintaining it.
China’s entrance into the market with its own brands, of course, further pushed the imperialist powers of the West, the international monopolies. Before the Syrian war, one of the major debates in the West was already about stopping China. As if that was not enough, Russia stepped into the Syrian arena. And thus, the debate on US hegemony became even more heated. In order to ensure that the West remains under its control, as it has been accustomed to since the Second World War, the US has stepped in by creating an “Islamic terror”, by further developing organizations such as al-Qaeda, which it had nurtured with its own hands. But this “new enemy” was not convincing enough. It lacked unifying power. During the first Trump era, the USA declared Russia and China as enemies.
In fact, at this stage of the war, the USA presented a plan for the West in order to keep it under its hegemony: The colonization of Russia and China. If these two powers were defeated by all Western imperialists, the crisis would be solved, the system would be at ease, and the sharing of the newly opened markets would be easier. After all, the USA, with its great military power, would get the lion’s share in this distribution.
The war in Ukraine, which started in 2014, was designed for this purpose. In this war, England, the EU countries, Germany and France saw a future for themselves as much as the USA. And so the war was once again shifted to Europe.
As the war between Russia and NATO in Ukraine approaches its third year, the defeat of the NATO front, led by the USA, England, France and Germany, has become visible.
Trump being a kind of forced coalition of the USA’s rulers means exactly this. Trump’s administration is in fact an attempt to get away without openly admitting defeat, without bearing all the costs of defeat on behalf of the USA.
Today, as if there is an air of “peace”. This is deceptive. For it is impossible for the imperialist front to realize a division without war. War is not a temporary desire, not a kind of hysteria or the work of the evil ambitions of some rulers, as some people think. On the contrary, it is a must of the capitalist-imperialist system. For this same reason, the end of the war will come when countries break away from the capitalist system through a socialist revolution.
Trump, as a mercantile president, delivers many statements. These “unconventional” statements actually serve the purpose of overshadowing the defeat, and in the meantime, the USA seeks to gain an opportunity for a restructuring in accordance with the new situation and for positioning its forces accordingly.
One of Musk’s remarkable statements is how the US economy urgently needs to find 40 trillion dollars. To this end, Trump has started a gold card promotion. Citizenship for five million dollars is being introduced at the same time as the policy of sending back immigrants. Trump’s demand for Gaza for itself is also worthy of attention.
The dismantling of USAID also deserves attention. So is the decision to close the USA base in Alexandroupoli. Likewise, the US draft resolution at the UN, which does not blame Russia, should be counted among these interesting moves. On the one hand, these statements are an attempt to show that the USA is serious about Russia’s desire for a peace based on the elimination of the causes of the Ukrainian war; on the other hand, they are an attempt to cover up the defeat.
At the same time when Trump is taking steps towards “peace”, when he says that aid to Ukraine is over, he wants Europe to take some of the burden. Now, the major European powers, France, Germany, England and let’s add Italy, are acting together to ensure the continuation of the war in Ukraine. Europe is now taking a position favoring war. France and England, Macron and Starmer, have decided together to talk to Trump in the same tone. Macron is a Rothschild banker and, coming out of his brief meeting with Trump, he changed his tune and declared that “the freezing of Russian assets is against international law”. It is a stunning hypocrisy and could only be done by a banker-president. It suits him. One would assume that France did not freeze these Russian assets, or at least opposed it. Starmer, on the other hand, was speechless in the face of Trump’s question. Trump asks him, “Will you be able to fight against Russia on your own?” The question has two sides. First, it is meant to suggest that if you fight this war without the United States, we will fight against China. The second is to indicate that you should recognize the seriousness of the situation and accept that this war cannot go on as it is. The USA claims that the burden of the war has fallen on itself. To a large extent this is true. But this does not mean that Europe, for example England, France and Germany, are sitting idly by while the war is being fought.
Now, Europe, together, is discussing (a) the establishment of a common European army, (b) the deployment of a European peacekeeping force to Ukraine. At the same time, Trump is discussing leaving NATO and leaving the UN. All this, of course, implies that the war will escalate further. The great powers of Europe do not want to bear the costs of the war. It is understood that they do not want to bear their part of the defeat. That is why they are even more insistent on war.
Eventually Zelenski was brought into the picture. Zelenski wore a T-shirt to his meeting with Trump at the White House. “I am a fighter,” he states. Not so long ago, 6 months earlier, he was declaring that “we are fighting here on behalf of the United States” and many officials from the US side were patting him like a poodle, saying “thank you for killing Russians on our behalf”. The poodle, of course, was going to the White House wearing a T-shirt. And apparently, swear words were exchanged and he was kicked out of the White House. The representative of Ukraine’s neo-Nazi regime came out as pro-war to Trump, as Europe wanted him to, and in the end gave up, at least for a few days, on a deal on precious earth elements. We don’t know what share of these precious earth elements England and France wanted, but at least for the time being, they came away empty-handed.
Those who called it a Russian-Ukrainian war are now unable to explain to us how it is that peace talks are being held between Russia and the United States. Trump does not want Europe to be at the peace table, while Russia, of course, insists that the parties of the war must eventually sit at the table.
The picture is as follows:
1
The USA accepts the defeat, but strives to take measures to overcome the defeat as lightly as possible. The new Trump administration, with its intriguing statements, is functioning in this regard, at least in the US domestic public opinion.
2
The USA and other imperialist powers have not given up their fight to colonize China and Russia. The USA wants Europe to take a more active role and take over the war against Russia. To do this, of course, it wants them to buy more of its weapons. To this end, it wants NATO members to increase their military spending. The German Chief of Staff declares that the war will break out in 2029 at the latest, as if they have a political will. In this scenario, the war against China appears to be the United States’ job. Hence, it is possible to predict that we will see more policies of demonization of China, by drawing Russia more into the sphere of peace.
Europe has enjoyed war very much. The two previous world wars were centered in Europe. Now, with the Ukrainian war, Europe has accepted this war back into its field. This is actually one of the successes of the USA, as we have been emphasizing since the beginning of the Ukrainian war.
3
The USA will accelerate its war plans against Iran. Iran is a major supplier of oil to China and it is clear that they want to block this channel. Iran’s internal problems are also quite pressing. Let’s say that today, all over the world, the internal problems of capitalist states will be pressing. Because every war is a civil war. And the working class and laborers will appear on the stage more and more because of hunger, unemployment, poverty and death, which are their share from these policies. It is certain that we will experience the same situation in the imperialist centers. The war against Iran has become the most important goal of the Middle East policy on behalf of the USA. The fall of Syria appears to facilitate this. What appears may not be true, we know that, but this is what appears. Israel and Turkey are the two hitmen of this war, the war against Iran, on behalf of the USA. The US and NATO’s approach to the Kurdish issue also aims to prepare the Kurds for the war against Iran. It is clear that instead of the revolutionary line in the Kurdish movement, they want the Barzani line ( which varies in different regions) to dominate. Let us not be misunderstood, we do not consider the gains of the Kurdish movement within this framework. Every gain of theirs is also our gain. But the policies of the USA are also clear and unambiguous. And we have no doubt that the Kurdish revolutionaries recognize this.
Coming back to the preparations for war against Iran, it is reflected even in the statements of the Director General of TRT that many steps will be taken in this regard in the coming period. The Director General of TRT did not hesitate to declare that the broadcasting policy to be followed in the coming period will upset Iran.
So, we can conclude that the USA will prioritize the issue of war against Iran and China, which means that dreams such as the cessation of war and the future of peace are not true, they are empty hopes.
4
The contradictions between the USA and other imperialist powers will once again come to the fore. The war between the imperialist powers, which was pushed to the background due to the war in Ukraine, will come to the fore again. This will once again highlight the real character of the war. This war is far from remaining as just a trade war. This point has already been crossed. That is why the other imperialist powers are revealing their pro-war stance more explicitly. Their desire to send peacekeepers to Ukraine is an expression of this. France’s proposal to station nuclear-capable fighter jets in Germany means exactly this. French President Macron attributes the loss of colonies or the tendency to lose colonies in Africa to Russia. It is becoming clear that the imperialist powers of Europe will take a more aggressive stance. This attitude will not be limited to Europe. It should be no secret that they will attempt to intervene in many parts of the world, or more accurately, that they will further develop these interventions without the US umbrella. Indeed, they have been doing this for hundreds of years and it is absurd to expect that they will now remain bystanders to developments.
5
Peace can only be realized when the world working class steps onto the stage of struggle. The world proletariat has to raise its struggle in every geography. Peace will only be realized with the disintegration of the capitalist chain, the capitalist system. The objective possibilities for this have developed and are developing.
This is also the case for our region. A revolution that will develop in the key countries of the region in terms of the development of the working class will spread throughout the region and raise the banner of socialism in the whole region. Today, the weakness or powerlessness of the revolutionary movement in a country is temporary. Every revolutionary movement in our region must carry on the struggle for socialist revolution with great faith and determination, no matter how relatively insignificant its strength might be.
The world is awaiting rapid developments. In the coming period, unprecedented and extraordinary developments will emerge, whether in terms of destructiveness or in terms of socialist development and positivity. Revolutionary movements must struggle taking this into consideration, take their stance accordingly, and position their forces accordingly. No development that seems to be negative, and indeed is negative, should retreat the determination for revolutionary struggle. Yes, the world revolutionary movement, the revolutionary movement in our region is disorganized, it does not have enough strength. At the expense of repetition, this situation belongs to the present and not to the future. It is in the hands of the pioneers of the working class to change this. It is not possible to move forward by focusing our eyes only on the war games of the great powers, on the war policies of the imperialist powers, just by concentrating here. This attitude will leave us revolutionaries in the position of spectators. It is necessary and imperative to keep our eyes on the developing resistances, no matter how big or small. The working class must organize to re-establish the future of humanity, to create a new world. There are possibilities for this. This is a historical opportunity and this historical opportunity will become a possibility with the right struggle more and more each day.
