Academic Essays

Essential Elements of Marxist Thought in International Relations

Although Karl Marx's ideas developed and changed over his lifetime and his legacy is still open to interpretation, theorists since the 1800s have been influenced by his core belief that social, political, and economic worlds must be analyzed together. This is because they agree that economic development incites change in every category of societal inequality— political, philosophical, and sociological. Thus, their separations become arbitrary and unhelpful. Recognizing how fundamental economics are in the way social issues evolve, Marxist interpretations rely on terms of class differences to convey social theories. So, when analyzing international relations, Marxists seek to describe how class inequality affects people by comparing indicators like average income, life expectancy, and literacy.

Imperialism, a policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force, significantly influences contemporary international relations from a Marxist perspective. They describe imperialism as the highest form of capitalism and interpret imperialistic events like most other social happenings: through terms of class differences. Capitalism, they believe, thrives on inequality. So, stating that imperialism is the highest form of capitalism translates to asserting that imperialism causes the most severe cases of inequality, but now further disseminated across the world through globalization. They believe that imperialism strengthens class inequalities by enhancing the wealth of one country by allowing for monopoly capitalism through the exploitation of other, developing countries— creating a super-wealthy class among the industrialized country's population and a super poor class among the less developing countries (described in World Systems Theory). For example, the English East India Company abused British hegemony to flout China's opium ban and smuggle opium in exchange for tea. As tea streamed into London, the Company's investors grew rich while millions of Chinese men fell into poverty as a result. Each occurrence of imperialism has vastly changed the pre-existing economic systems. Since said economic developments are the motor of social change, imperialism educates the parameters for many Marxist interpretations of modern international relations events.

A broad example of a Marxist interpretation of a modern international relations event through the lens of imperialism is the hegemonic influence of the United States in establishing neoliberal policies as the global norm. As developing countries gathered more and more economic debt in the 70s and 80s, their reliance on the International Monetary Fund, IMF, strengthened as they needed loans to avoid going bankrupt. The IMF is controlled by the United Nations, which is dominated by industrialized western countries, like the United States which controls 18% of the votes. Getting assistance from the IMF came on the condition that these third world countries implemented neoliberal, capitalist policies, such as eliminating price controls, lowering trade barriers, and deregulating markets— which all benefit the United States' economy. Marxists identify that Western countries, like the U.S., grew stronger because of imperialism, which in turn enabled them to dominate the way of the world. The proliferation of neoliberal policies reflects the result of inequality generated from imperialism because the United States benefited from it, allowing them to enforce conventions that benefited their economy, as described from a Marxist perspective.

A more specific example of a Marxist interpretation of a modern international relations event through the lens of imperialism is the Israeli domination of Palestinian territory. Starting in 1967 after the Six-Day War, Israel has occupied Palestinian territory. Palestine is not in the United Nations, still under British control, and is economically worse off than Israel. These factors make it difficult for Palestine to defend itself against Israeli imperialism. Israel dominates the region and their government treats Palestinians like second class citizens, demanding separate facilities based on race and prohibiting intermarriage. Israel can imperialize upon Palestinian territory through military force and treat Palestinian citizens unequally because they are higher up on the global socioeconomic power hierarchy.