It is interesting to observe the reaction of liberals in Europe and here at home in Ireland to Trump meeting with Putin in talks to end the war in Ukraine.
Trump’s announcement that Zelensky is nothing more than a “mediocre comedian” and a “dictator” has triggered liberals and European neocons who, in their rush to defend Zelensky, accused Trump and Putin of being the actual dictators. This raises the question: what is a dictator, and whose accusations of dictatorship are legitimate and correct?
While politicians, diplomats and pro-Ukrainian proxy-war activists in the EU act appalled, none have the capacity to look inward, at EU imperialism and how its capitalist system dictates economic and social policies that are entirely anti-working class. The economic war waged on the working class and the poor is never spoken about in imperialist terms.
Von der Leyen is never accused of being a dictator.
Biden was never accused of being a dictator.
Obama has never been accused of being a dictator.
However, European leaders and political representatives must continue to tow the line and acquiesce to their Zionist masters. The only difference between Trump and Biden, or Trump and any US president before him, is Trump’s blatant, Machiavellian message about the US’ interest in dominating and controlling the world. While Trump stated that billions have been spent on a war that “should never have started”, his intention is not about bringing peace, but to ensure a pact with Putin to secure global US dominance.
The proxy war in Ukraine has been called out for being exactly that by Trump himself. He has admitted the US’ involvement in propping up the war that has only seen working-class men and women on both sides sacrificed. There are no winners for ordinary people in rich men’s wars.
Contrary to Trump’s big announcement, there is no immediate end to the war in Ukraine in sight. Trump is no peace-maker, and his motives for calling time on US support for the war in Ukraine demonstrate that he is a master manipulator.
Macron and Starmer are preparing to send 100,000 soldiers to Ukraine. At the same time, the US is preparing to withdraw 100,000 of its troops from Germany for redeployment. This makes NATO Article 5 no longer relevant. Europe needs an additional 300,000 soldiers and Ireland is also gearing up for this as we can see in the government’s planned dismantling of the Triple Lock.
US Vice President JD Vance’s slapping speech at the Munich Conference in February follows Trump’s demand for a 5% GNP contribution to fund NATO from every NATO member state. The US is no longer prepared to foot the bill for NATO, and the pressure on Europe to build an army has never been greater.
In the Morning Star, dated February 21st 2025, Kevin Ovenden asserts, “Britain is lucky to have a Stop the War Coalition and collaborative efforts to fight the incoming wave of austerity…”[1] But where is the anti-imperialist movement in Britain? Or in the north of Ireland?
We need to build an anti-imperialist movement, and this cannot happen until the mechanism of modern-day imperialism is understood. This is not something that the anti-war coalition seems to understand. The bread-and-butter issues of the working class are being ignored, as if war is a single-issue struggle.
Resistance to imperialism is very low because class consciousness has been destroyed by neoliberal identity politics which distract and divide us.
Class consciousness must be raised and as revolutionaries, we need to educate and show how the capitalist system controls, manipulates and co-opts us.
No one is immune from mainstream imperialist propaganda through education, mainstream media, etc.
We need to improve our critical thinking skills.
[1]Ovenden, K. (2025) “The end of the old era – and into a new, more dangerous, world” Morning Star website, accessed at: https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/end-old-era-and-new-more-dangerous-world
