Cold War Two
Cold War Two
Cuba and Russia renew relations in a new global struggle for survival
Russia and Cuba today are once again strategic economic partners in a worldwide struggle between imperialism and anti-imperialist construction, in which a possible socialist world-system lays beyond the horizon. But there are important differences between Cold War Two and its post-Second World War predecessor.
First, Cold War One was conducted at a time in which the United States of America was at the height of its imperialist hegemonic power, possessing the economic capacity (but not the political will) to lead an enlightened reform with respect to the unjust structures of the world-system. Today, however, the USA is in economic decline relative to imperialist and emerging powers, and it is in full political and moral decadence, incapable of leading the world (at least at the present time) in any possible constructive road toward peace, stability, and global economic development.
Secondly, during Cold War One, the People’s Republic of China was in its infancy, and its role in the world order was not yet defined. Today, however, China has emerged to become the leading nation, economically and ideologically, in the construction of a post-imperialist world order.
Thirdly, during Cold War One, the Soviet Union symbolized a possible future socialist world of centralized economies, with the Soviet Union as its political and cultural center. Today, however, the possible future socialist world-system is pluripolar, with political space for regional powers, including regional powers with capitalist economies. In fact, post-Soviet Russia is emerging as a key post-imperialist regional power with a capitalist economy.
Fourth, during Cold War One, the nations constructing socialism had not yet reached maturity. Today, however, the most advanced of the nations that have declared for the construction of socialism have moved to a more advanced stage of socialism, made possible by the fact that they have arrived to understand the necessary role of the state in modernizing national economies. Moving beyond the earlier model of centralized state control of the economy, they have arrived to socialist-oriented state direction and planning of the economy, which includes the identification of strategic sectors in which private enterprises—even foreign private enterprises—play a critical role in stimulating productivity and economic development. (See “Socialist socioeconomic formations: Lessons from real socialism in the global South,” June 7, 2022; “China models a new type of socialism: The most advanced example of a new socioeconomic formation,” June 10, 2022). Thus, the most advanced nations have resolved the question of the relation between economy and state; they are constructing state-directed economies with defined economic and political space for private enterprises and for the market, functioning in accordance with plans conceived by states ruled by delegates and deputies of the people.
Fifth, during Cold War One, Third World leaders and intellectuals and their Western sympathizers were still struggling to understand the fundamental principles of the human quest for understanding. Today, however, by unlocking the door to economic productivity and forging national consensus, the most advanced states have liberated intellectuals from the false epistemologies and assumptions of the capitalist world-economy, empowering them to accurately see real unfolding worldwide tendencies, which are pointing to the emergence of a peaceful and prosperous world order based in the post-imperialist principle of the sovereignty of nations. To be sure, the future cannot be predicted, even though tendencies can be observed, and probabilities can be projected; it is possible that today’s observable real tendencies toward peace and prosperity will be derailed by the destructiveness of imperialist powers in decadence.
Sixth, during Cold War One, the Cuban Revolution was in its youth, thereby functioning as a symbol of hope for a myriad of possibilities, including a new wave of people’s revolutions in Latin America and the Caribbean. Today, however, a mature Cuban Revolution has demonstrated above all persistence, demonstrating the capacity of an informed and committed vanguard political party to marshal the political consensus necessary to defend the dignity of the nation.
In short, in Cold War Two, a more mature form of socialism has much more to recommend it, while capitalism—with its myopic neoliberalism and endless wars—has much less. In the alternative world order under construction, mutually beneficial trade relations among mature socialist and progressive capitalist economies would give all nations a common interest in the peaceful resolution of differences. All nations would have an interest in developing and maintaining strong militaries for self-defense, but no nation would be authorized to place military bases all over the planet. All nations would be united behind a common commitment to respect for the sovereignty of nations and non-interference in the internal affairs of states. All nations would benefit from a dialogue of civilizations, which would further advance human scientific and philosophical knowledge, and which could include open and civil debate among the advocates of representative democracy, social democracy, and people’s democracy.
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Cuba today is in the midst of an economic crisis that has been caused primarily by the intensification of the U.S. economic, commercial, and financial blockade; and that occurs in the context of a multidimensional crisis of the world, caused by the aggressive imperialist policies of a hegemonic power in decadence. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel arrived in Moscow on May 7, 2024, for his fourth visit to Russia as head of state, with previous visits in 2018, 2019, and 2022. In these encounters, Díaz-Canel and Russian President Vladimir Putin have signed official commercial and cultural agreements. In addition, the two nations have held interchanges of high-level delegations as well as sessions of mixed commissions, which have created conditions conducive for investment. Both the Cuban and Russian governments consider relations between the two countries to be strategic, in which they work together in the attainment of high priority objectives for both nations.
In the fourth episode of the Youtube program of the Presidency of Cuba, Desde la Presidencia, recorded on May 11, the Cuban President characterized the trip of the Cuban delegation to Russia as very significant for various reasons, including an important interchange with the Russian President on Russian-Cuban bilateral relations and the present problems in the Cuban economy. The President’s guest on the Youtube program, Minister of Foreign Relations Bruno Rodríguez, stressed the importance of the economic relationship with Russia, inasmuch as Russia provides fuels and fertilizers necessary for the production of food and for the providing of energy in the short-term; and because Russia is investing in projects that will have long term benefits to both Cuba and Russia. He noted that at the present time there are six projects involving Russian companies that are in place and functioning, and four others that have been approved and will soon be implemented. He noted that there also are in process new opportunities for commerce with respect to medical, biopharmaceutical, and biotechnological products.
The Cuban foreign minister also stressed the importance of Cuban participation in the Supreme Council of the Eurasian Economic Union, because it will enable Cuba to pursue “an autonomous development . . . outside the mechanisms of domination of the international system controlled by the dollar.” He noted that the USA wants to maintain unilateral hegemony in a time when its moment in history has passed. The Eurasian Economic Union consists of states that were member states in the former Soviet Union. See “Cuba and the Eurasian Economic Union: Mutually beneficial cooperation for common prosperity,” May 10, 2024.
Russian exports to Cuba have increased from 132 million dollars in 2015 to 844 million dollars in 2022. During the past year, Russian tourist travel to Cuba has experienced a dynamic growth, arriving to 185,000 Russian tourists, with expectations that it will soon surpass 200,000. Russia is now in third position with respect to the countries of origin in Cuban international tourism. Russian tourism in Cuba has been stimulated by an increase in flights connecting Russia and Cuba, as well as by the use in the Cuban banking system of MIR cards, the Russian equivalent of Visa and MasterCard, with the infrastructure designed especially for the payment of services and products in the tourist and hotel sectors of Veradero, Camagüey, and Havana.
The Cuban delegation also attended the military parade in Red Square in commemoration of the Day of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, which celebrates the May 9, 1945, unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany following the triumph of Soviet forces in the Battle of Berlin of April 16 to May 2, 1945. The Soviet (and Cuban) view is that the people of the old Soviet Union, who sacrificed more than twenty million lives in the war, were the principal protagonists in the defeat of Germany; in contrast to the prevailing Western view, which emphasizes the role of U.S. and British military campaigns in the defeat of Germany. Soviet and Cuban scholars note that the Soviet defense of Stalingrad in the autumn of 1942 was a turning point in the European theatre. Soviet forces by the end of 1943 had retaken half the territory occupied by Germany during 1941 and 1942, and they advanced across Eastern Europe toward Germany in 1944. In his discourse at the May 9 commemoration, Putin pointed out that in our times the West wants to distort the history of the Second World War in order to deny the fundamental role played by the Soviet Union in the victory over fascism.
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Final Considerations
The increasing bilateral commerce between Russia and Cuba is a dimension of the wider phenomenon of increasing mutually beneficial commerce among the nations of the South and East, as they seek to circumvent the structures of the neocolonial world-system and to minimize the consequences of the unconventional war unleashed by the USA against nations that insist on a sovereign road. As the worldwide conflict between decadent imperialism and anti-imperialist construction unfolds, one can observe the clarity of understanding and purpose of the leaders and intellectuals of the East and South, standing in marked contrast to the confusion and division that reigns in the USA.
Fidel taught that from the greatest challenges emerge the greatest opportunities, so an awakening in the United States cannot be ruled out, even though there are few signs of it at the present time, either among the elite or the people of the United States. We should not lose sight of the fact that the alternative post-imperialist world order under construction by the nations of the East and South is, in objective terms, the only reasonable option for humanity. As long as the post-imperialist world order continues to construct itself, there will be present the possibility of the emergence of a new generation of intellectuals and leaders in the USA, who are capable of explaining the only reasonable road for humanity. They initially will confront ideological blindness everywhere, so they will be required to seek to educate simultaneously both the power elite and the people, keeping two possibilities in mind. On the one hand, an enlightened reform from above led by the elite that constructs a humanist and progressive capitalism and sets aside imperialism as obsolete. On the other hand, the non-violent taking of political power by the people in order to construct a socialism with American characteristics, necessarily rooted in the expansion and deepening of the founding principles of the American Republic. If the two possibilities were to emerge with political force at the same time, the leaders would have to keep them united with politically intelligent strategies, until the reform is consolidated, at which time the difference between the two visions can be openly debated and decided.
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