The event took place in Zurich on September 6.

By Rubén Tzanoff, SOL – Spanish State (LIS) and Séverin Stalder, MAS – Switzerland (L5I)

Automatically translated by AI.

Convener, reference and result

The Conference was convened by the International Anti-Imperialist United Front against Fascism, War and Environmental Destruction (FU). It was attended mostly by forces from the milieu of the International Coordination of Revolutionary Parties and Organizations (ICOR), of Maoist tradition. Among them the Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany (MLPD) stood out.

The event was held in mixed modality, face-to-face and virtual; with representation from different countries, ideological and political spectrum; trade unionists and revolutionaries. It worked through initial presentations and interventions according to thematic blocks.

The debates expressed what the conveners indicated in the final resolution as a “broad consensus”, referring to the members of the UF and other participants of its environment, regarding the characterization of the world situation and the policy to be deployed. In addition, another angle was raised: that of differences.

Differences embodied in the form of questions

As the conveners assessed: “…an intense and controversial strategic debate ensued on the question: what do the lessons of Zimmerwald in 1915 mean for today?”

In a sense, some of the important differences and nuances that made the formation of a “world united front against war, capitalism and fascism” impossible were reflected in the final resolution in the form of questions:

“Should we speak of a capitalist or imperialist world system? Which countries can be characterized as imperialist today? What are the deep economic causes of the global war escalation? Should we speak of the danger of a world war or of an already existing world war? What is the social alternative? How should the former socialist countries and those of so-called “really existing socialism” be evaluated? What lessons can be drawn from them? Can Hamas be an ally of the Palestinian liberation struggle? What forms of organization do we use to fight against war, capitalism and fascism, as the most brutal form of oppression of all resistance: a united front? Popular front? What is the role of the working class and what is its present level of consciousness? Can there be sustainable peace without revolution?”

Among so many questions, we will only refer to some of the polemics we raised, previously sent in a written paper.

Ukraine draws a watershed

The FU defined: “In the war in Ukraine, we fight against the inter-imperialist massacre and stand on the side of the masses in Ukraine and Russia. We do not align ourselves with the ruling classes in Russia and Ukraine, nor with NATO. We oppose the ruling powers in both Russia and NATO. We emphasize the struggle against the internal enemy. We are on the side of the exploited and oppressed. We fight for an immediate and permanent armistice.”

We had another position: “In Ukraine, the character of the war is dual. On the one hand, there is the right to defend sovereignty against the invasion of Russian imperialism. On the other, the inter-imperialist dispute between the U.S. and Russia. Our comrades in Ukraine defend their country from invasion and, at the same time, denounce NATO, Western imperialism, and reject the pacts behind the backs of the people. They do it from a position of political independence against the neo-liberal and pro-imperialist Zelenski government”.

All with Palestine and the exit in the background?

There were mentions of solidarity with the Global Sumud Flotilla and unanimity in support of Palestine, but the same did not happen with the differentiated proposal of “two states”. In this regard we expressed: “…the only just peace will come with the defeat of the Zionist state and a single, secular, democratic, non-racist and socialist Palestine. And that will only be possible with the socialist revolution in the entire Middle East”.

It is an urgent strategic question that, in this case, acquires relevance when one of the questions of the resolution was: Can Hamas be an ally of the Palestinian liberation struggle? which has as its policy the adoption of a reactionary Islamic fundamentalist state.

Danger of future war or ongoing global conflagration?

We express that there are regional conflicts motivated by the Inter-imperialist dispute, but that the Third World War has not yet begun. Likewise, the drums of war resound from the continuity of the capitalist crisis that began in 2008, Trump’s mandate and the deepening of the dispute for global hegemony.

“For now, the powers do not seek to provoke a world war. And they know that the nuclear arsenal can destroy the planet and no one wins. But they are nonetheless preparing, rearming and multiplying military spending. If the crisis and the conflicts worsen, a new global war could break out, because the imperialists resolve their great conflicts with massive destruction of productive forces and massacres of the working class”.

As a policy we propose that, if the conflagration breaks out, we should respond following Leninist teachings, with revolutionary defeatism, to convert the imperialist war into socialist revolution, without supporting any imperialist side.

Popular Front: historical failure and present trap

The organizational forms did not adopt an explicit definition either. We referred to the subject on two occasions. In the first one we said that: “… a political solution is needed, which is not the popular front. We need a workers united front in mobilization and to build revolutionary socialist organizations. The regroupment of revolutionaries is the task that we assume from the International Socialist League…” With a principled program for the workers and the people to govern and advance towards the socialist revolution.

On the second occasion, we insist on the rejection of the Popular Front because the alliance with supposedly “progressive” bourgeois parties and a diluted program subordinates the working class to bourgeois interests, annuls its political independence and blocks a socialist solution.

This assessment is not only a historical balance: it is a warning against the repetition of similar betrayals, such as those that – in our opinion – are expressed today by La France Insoumise with the complicity of other reformists and the wink of the Unified Secretariat.

We vindicate the validity of the Frente Único Obrero, with unity in mobilization, without silencing the differences and with total political and organizational independence.

Is there already fascism?

The Resolution of the FU states: “The emergence of fascism under a “democratic form…” “This development was also discussed under the designation of “modern fascism.””

In our opinion, the rising ultra-right breeds the seeds of fascism, which is why it must be confronted and defeated in the streets and in all spheres. However, this does not mean that there are already widespread fascist regimes and strong fascist parties.

For those of us who are Trotskyists, fascist regimes imply the passage of the bourgeoisie to a totalitarian state based on the physical crushing of the workers’ movement and the mobilization of petty-bourgeois masses in the service of big capital, as in the historical cases of Hitler or Mussolini.

And this has not yet happened, although there are alerts. In the US, Trump is moving in an authoritarian direction, as is Orbán in Hungary, Modi in India, Milei in Argentina and others, but the last word has not yet been said because there is also political and social revulsion. There is an ongoing dispute in which we revolutionaries have a role to play.

Political and social polarization: a determining feature of the world situation

For us, one of the central elements of the world situation is political and social polarization. It has two poles: the ultra-right, which is advancing and reaching governments, and the struggles, strikes, mobilizations and rebellions of workers and peoples, which are growing all over the world.

In Zurich we reaffirmed that the ultra-right is supported by important sectors of the ruling classes, which use them to install more authoritarian regimes, to repress and to guarantee their profits. They arose because of the crisis of capitalism, of bourgeois democracy and its parties, and the claudicating role of the reformist parties, like Syriza, Podemos, Die Linke and others.

Communism is not Stalinism

Specifically, there were those who were annoyed by our assertion: “The US is still the strongest , but it has lost weight since the fall of its Stalinist partner as a world apparatus. The US is still the strongest, but it has lost weight since the fall of its Stalinist partner as world apparatus…” and they responded trying to put a wrong equal sign between anti-Stalinism and anti-communism as a system overcoming imperialist capitalism.

It only took a few interventions to get the debates back on track, reaffirming the ideological, historical and present differences, but redirecting the exchange of opinions.

Our assessment of the event

As we see it, with the Zimmerwald (1915) and Kienthal (1916) conferences, Lenin, with the support of Trotsky, drew the red lines that brought about a historic break with reformism, verbal internationalism and patriotic nationalism, and the “Zimmerwald 2.0” initiative was far from going down that road.

In its attempt to unite the ultra-left and popular front positions, both the conference and the resolution failed to give meaningful instructions that could actually lead to meaningful tactical alliances and united fronts. It remains to be seen what consequences the FU member organizations will draw from the resolution in their practical work.

Beyond the aforementioned limitations and the profound differences we have with the ICOR and the United Front, the event is a contribution to the exchange of opinions in the search for points of contact in the face of the escalation of war.

We highlight the camaraderie at the meeting, the Cultural Festival and the tour of “Lenin’s footprints in Zurich” held the day after the event.

The presence of the LIS

Our delegation was composed of Ruben Tzanoff and Flor Salgueiro, militants of Socialism and Freedom (SOL) – Spanish State, members of the International Socialist League (ISL), who attended as guests, so we did not vote or sign the final resolution. We were with our comrade Chaiaa Ahmed Baba Beiruk who, as always, spoke in tireless defense of the cause of Western Sahara for self-determination against the occupation of the Kingdom of Morocco.

We also met with Séverin Stalder who attended as an observer representing Marxist Action Switzerland (MAS) -for its acronym in German- which is part of the Fifth International League (L5I), organization with which we are in an advanced process of integration. His correct statements on the right to self-determination of Ukraine and the clarification of the rejection of the Popular Front were rejected.

Concern about another possible global conflagration has led to a proliferation of meetings, such as the one that other currents will hold in Paris, France, on October 4 and 5, under the slogan: “Not one cent, not one weapon, not one life for the war!