By Farrukh Abadi
Over the last few months, more than 300 classified US intelligence documents have been leaked onto the internet. The suspect is 21-year-old Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts air national guard who worked as a Cyber Transport Systems journeyman, a low-ranking IT position.
The documents, the authenticity of which has been verified by US intelligence officials, provide useful insight into the inner-workings of the imperialist system and signs of its disintegration. Included in the leak is information on a number of countries, both allies and adversaries of the US, such as Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, Egypt, UAE, Israel, South Korea, North Korea, Iran, Mexico, Canada, the UK, and more. They paint a picture of realignment between imperialist powers and their semi-colonies and fierce competition unfolding among the capitalists internationally and within countries.
For example, documents regarding Egypt, UAE, Turkey, Serbia, and Hungary all show that despite each country’s open “alliance”—or rather subjection—with their respective imperialist power, capitalist factions in these countries are devising ways to secretly collaborate with opposing imperialist countries in order to cut themselves a sweeter deal.
These insights throw away the lies of a “unipolar world” or the possibility of peaceful coexistence among imperialist powers, a theory pushed under different names over the past century since the beginning of monopoly capitalism. Today, this idea is pushed by the US in the form of promoting global “democracy” under their stale hegemony. This global democracy is apparently to take place under the watchful eye of the US imperialists, ready to intervene with economic and military measures.riego
As long as there is capitalism there will be war; any sort of “peace” is only a temporary break between periods of war among the imperialists to redivide the world on more favorable grounds. Alliances follow the same scheme— while western imperialist powers primarily subject themselves to the hegemony of US imperialism for now, they are fundamentally in competition with one another and therefore constantly look for a way out to establish themselves as a separate superpower.
Cracks in this facade of a united bloc are becoming more apparent both publicly and privately. For example, one of the leaked documents shows friction between the US and Canada regarding the latter’s shortcomings in meeting its quota in military investment. In another example, a recent speech by French President Emmanuel Macron outlined his goal of establishing Europe as a “third superpower” and contesting US hegemony while establishing warmer relations with China.
The facts around the leak themselves also point to the decomposition of capitalism within the US. Nearly three million Americans have security clearance to access US intelligence documents, with over one million having access to Top Secret information. A key trend of imperialism is the increasing investment in military capabilities in order to maintain economic dominance globally and at home. Of course, this means expanding the state to maintain such a militarized regime. As more people have access to sensitive information, more leaks of all kinds are bound to occur.
