A call for an international democratic movement against authoritarianism and neo-fascism

The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has ignited a crisis with far-reaching global implications and consequences. The rise of reactionary extremism in many countries, including the United States of America, the Russian Federation, and parts of Western Europe, raises the spectre of the internationalisation of 21st Century neo-fascism and authoritarianism.

Russia attacks Ukraine

The Kremlin's 'special military operation' has failed to take down Ukraine. Ukraine did not collapse, the Government did not flee the country, and the Russian assault on Kyiv was a military disaster. The invading army has conducted a reign of terror in the occupied areas leading the International Criminal Court to issue an arrest warrant for President Putin to answer allegations of war crimes. Russia continues to rain down destruction on critical civilian infrastructure, including the ecocidal sabotage of the Kakhovka Dam. Sixteen million people have become refugees or been displaced within Ukraine, and many civilians continue to die as a result of Russian bombardment.

Since 1991, and after the breakup of the Soviet Union, Russia and Ukraine started off in similar positions, but have since moved in very different directions. In both countries, the rapid 'shock therapy' privatisation of state assets and resources created an elite of ultra-wealthy oligarchs. Under Putin, the Russian Federation has progressively become more and more authoritarian and is now one of the most repressive countries in the world, arguably a leading example of 21st Century neo-fascism. By contrast, in Ukraine, popular movements challenged the corrupt elites, mobilised to overthrow their Moscow aligned political front men, and strived to build a more democratic and European-oriented country.

The Putin regime, and the kleptocrats and criminal syndicates that support and benefit from the regime, are threatened by the example of former Soviet republics asserting their independence, attempting to address corruption, build democratic institutions, and orient to Europe.

Putin's justifications for war

The Kremlin claims that NATO expansion and 'aggression' made war unavoidable. Western countries certainly mishandled aspects of the relationship with post-Soviet Russia and failed to respond to Russian aggression in Chechnya, Georgia and elsewhere, and in Ukrainian Crimea and Donbas in 2014. However, given their histories of Russian domination, the countries of Eastern Europe and the Baltic States had good reasons to seek guarantees for their hard-won independence and democratic institutions. They turned to NATO for protection, which, as sovereign nations, they had every right to do.

Putin accuses Ukraine of Nazism and its government of being Nazis. Yet it is Putin's government that has close links with the European extreme right and supports the fascist MAGA movement led by Donald Trump.

Putin's accusation that former Soviet republics (Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia) have committed 'genocide' is another lie. These countries have struggled to deal with insurgent pro-Russian separatists fostered politically and backed militarily by Russia. Putin continues to issue a stream of veiled threats about the possible use of nuclear weapons. His claim of 'dirty bombs' in Ukraine has no more factual basis than did Bush/Blair claims of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. In 1993, Ukraine transferred its nuclear arsenal to Russia and dismantled its nuclear infrastructure in return for security guarantees to which Russia was a signatory.

Russian propaganda is a raft of falsehoods and calculated disinformation designed to create anxiety, undermine support for Ukraine, weaken resistance to the invasion and sow confusion in the Global South. Beneath all Putin's spurious justifications is an imperialist agenda to re-establish not the Soviet Union but the historic Russian Tsarist empire. According to Putin, Ukraine is not a real country but part of the 'Russian world'.

Who stands against Putin's war on Ukraine and the West?

It is easy to understand why the extreme right internationally are cheerleaders for Putin's Russia, but why are there individuals and organisations from the Left lending credibility in various ways to Putin's justifications for his campaign of war and destruction in Ukraine?

Some directly support Russian aggression for historical ideological reasons. Some deny Ukrainian agency, suggesting that Ukraine is merely a 'proxy' for the US and that both sides are morally equivalent. Others echo Russian propaganda, opposing the invasion but excusing it as a defensive response to NATO expansion. Yet others denounce the carnage being meted out to the Ukrainian people while arguing that arms shipments, and other Western support for Ukraine via NATO, should cease, which would deprive the victims of Russian aggression of the means to defend themselves.

By giving credence to Russia's spurious justifications for the invasion of Ukraine these 'anti-imperialists' have effectively become unwitting assets for Putin and Russian neo-fascism.

A disturbing 'peace' initiative from Australia

In Australia, some sections of the peace movement have become conduits for Russian propaganda. Others, however well-intentioned, have sown confusion and thus allowed themselves to become accessories to aggression.

A particularly disturbing such 'peace' initiative has been issued by an Australian Professor Joseph Camilleri, together with Professors Richard Falk (US) and Chandra Muzaffar (Malaysia). Their 'Call' To all who care about Humanity's and the Planet's Future is directed at an international audience. They call for an immediate ceasefire, an 'end to the delivery of lethal military aid to Ukraine', a 'phased withdrawal of Russian military forces', a neutral Ukraine, and some kind of resolution of the status of Crimea and the Donbas down the track, which Russia would continue to occupy in the meantime. The 'Call' expresses no solidarity with Ukrainian resistance, depicts Ukrainians as manipulated by the United States, and does not defend Ukraine's right to decide its own economic and social future or join the European Union.

The effect of this scenario would be to consolidate Putin's illegal gains, allow him to rebuild his crumbling military forces, repair the Russian economy, and prepare for an inevitable resumption of the war in the future. This is well understood by the former Soviet vassal states who are vehemently opposing any such 'settlement'.

For the authors of the 'Call', the problem is not the trashing of the UN Charter, the proliferation of anti-democratic extremism, and the rise of 21st Century fascism, but a world in which the US wields too much geo-political power and influence. Many, particularly in the Global South, may well agree with this critique of US hegemony, but sacrificing the Ukrainian people and nation to achieve this geo-political outcome is surely a price too great to pay.

In Germany, Putin is actively facilitating a 'ceasefire' campaign, bringing together left- wing and far-right leaders and organisations. The ceasefire demanded by the 'Call' To all who care about Humanity's and the Planet's Future echoes what Putin wants and needs in Ukraine. It is nothing short of appeasement of blatant aggression and an implicit acquiescence to extremism. It reads like a 21st Century version of Neville Chamberlain's vain 1938 attempt to secure 'peace in our time' from Adolph Hitler.

A just and sustainable peace will not be secured by succumbing to Putin's aggression and the demands of extremists.

Oppose right-wing authoritarianism and neo-fascism

Everything possible should be done to enable the Ukrainians to recapture their illegally occupied territories and secure their 1991 borders and national sovereignty. The defeat of Putin's aggression is a precondition for a lasting settlement in Eastern Europe and for any possible social renewal and progressive future in Russia itself.

An international problem needs an international response. Instead of ignoring the fascist and reactionary nature of the Putin regime and assisting the Russian war effort, wittingly or unwittingly, what is needed is a broad international democratic movement against authoritarian extremism and neo-fascism, and in solidarity with the people of Ukraine.