MIM NOTES No. 190, July 15, 1999 Ongoing war in Yugoslavia: Imperialist empire expansion on the agenda in the Balkans by MC12 After the bombing stopped, U.$. President Clinton offered the people of Yugoslavia and the Balkans a cruel deal. If they follow Slovenia -- which was the first republic to leave Yugoslavia, and the one that has the tightest dependence on Western European imperialist powers -- and if they get rid of president Milosevic, Amerika and its allies will do them the favor of taking over their economy and "rebuilding" the country imperialist armies devastated. Their alternative is continued economic ruin, military occupation, even hunger and disease, as basic infrastructure has been destroyed and their access to trade and transportation has been cut off. Clinton, ever trying to appear the peace-maker, confused his analogies in a speech in Slovenia. He did mean to threaten Yugoslavia, to tell them that they have to go the way of Slovenia or pay a terrible price. But he said it as if Slovenia was being welcomed into Europe because of its inter-ethnic harmony, as compared to the violent conflicts within Yugoslavia. "We want Serbia to be a part of the new Europe," Clinton said. "But Serbia must reject the murderous rule of Mr. Milosevic and choose the path that Slovenia has chosen, where people reach across the old divides, and find strength in their differences and their common humanity."(1) The only problem is Slovenia -- whose population is 91% Slovene -- did not come to Western Europe to solve some ethnic conflict. It came there -- under the leadership of the imperialist powers -- to cut its ties to the poorer parts of Yugoslavia and sell itself to imperialism, mostly Germany. Slovenia had already taken advantage of unequal development within Yugoslavia, and by leaving the republic in 1990 it was trying to avoid having to support its poorer state capitalist former companions. Clinton would like the masses to think that imperialism rewards nations that "find strength in their differences and their common humanity." But in fact the U.$. rewards states that perpetuate the worst forms of genocide and "ethnic cleansing," including the Philippines, Indonesia, Turkey, Guatemala and Israel, whose governments and militaries have all carried out vast atrocities against subordinate nationalities, only to reap greater and greater levels of U.$. financial and military support. But Clinton couldn't well say that, as he proclaimed this a first for humanitarian-motivated war. Reuters helped Clinton out with this explanation: "Slovenia, which declared its independence from Yugoslavia on June 25, 1990, has been largely free of the ethnic violence that has plagued the Balkans this decade." But they didn't mention the essential differences in ethnic composition and territorial issues which made Slovenia a very different case in the first place. More significantly, the Slovenia government let NATO planes use its airspace during the war and said it would welcome ground troops if necessary as well.(1) Imperialism digging in The popular myth is that the imperialist governments are sacrificing to spend money on the war and "reconstruction." In fact, the military expenditures are massive subsidies for their leading corporations, and outlets for capital that needs to go somewhere as their economies grow. The U.$. spent about $7 billion on the bombing, which covered most of the cost, and the occupation is expected to cost as much as $25 billion per year.(2) At the Group of Eight meeting of leading imperialist nations (plus Russia), German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said: "We want all countries in the region to develop toward an integrated Europe." And the BBC reported: "The Balkan countries are expected to sign up to Western-style economic reforms. In return, the world's richest countries promise economic aid and access to their markets." continued on page 4... ...continued from page 1 This is going quite a bit beyond the supposed concern with stopping ethnic cleansing. The European Union estimated it will cost at least $4 billion over three years to rebuild Kosovo, and the European Investment Bank guessed it would cost $32 billion for a complete Balkans reconstruction package. The World Bank, unable to contain its greed, said it could take up to $100 billion to do the whole reconstruction job.(3) And the planned reconstruction costs are designed not only to subsidize imperialist multinational corporations -- the oil and steel and telecommunications and agricultural companies who will be paid for the job -- but also to enforce the shape of the economies being "assisted." The Balkans plan is being compared to the Marshall Plan for Western Europe after World War II. The scale is much smaller, but the end goal is much the same: bringing the region and its people into the imperialist orbit and locking them to it. In the case of Germany or France, this represented the building of an imperialist bloc against the oppressed nations of the world. Now they are expanding to include the oppressed nations of the Balkans as well, to cement their dependence and allegiance to imperialist interests, and to keep them from falling into the competing reach of Russia. If Russia has no opportunity for expansion, as the pieces of its empire increasingly fall into Western imperialist hands, then the domination of Europe will be unchecked, and the U.$. and its allies will be free to devote themselves to expanding over the rest of the globe. MIM does not pretend that Russia is socialist, we have always recognized that the government turned state capitalist since Kruschev came to power. And while we do seek to take advantage of inter-imperialist rivalries, we know that the only hope for peace and true self-determination for the nations of the Balkans and oppressed people throughout the globe is anti-imperialist revolution. Notes: 1. Reuters 21 June 1999. 2. BBC, 18 June 1999, http://news.bbc.co.uk 3. BBC, 11 June 1999, http://news.bbc.co.uk