1. The present era is the era of imperialism, the highest stage of capitalism. It is the eve of the proletarian socialist world revolution.
2. The world is largely divided up between two great imperialist superpowers, the Soviet Union and the United States of America, who exploit and oppress the peoples of the world.
3. But the main trend in the world today is revolution and the situation is excellent. Countries want independence, nations want liberation, and the people want revolution. This historical trend is irresistible.
4. The international working class and oppressed peoples of the world must resolutely unite, and in so doing, must build the broadest possible united front against imperialism, especially the hegemonism of the two superpowers.
5. Chairman Mao Tsetung developed his great strategic concept of the three worlds on the basis of a penetrating class analysis of all the fundamental contradictions in the present world and the division and realignment of all the political forces in the world. This concept of the three worlds indicates to the workers and oppressed peoples and nations who are our enemies and who are our friends in the world, and gives extremely valuable orientation in the international class struggle. The Soviet Union and the United States make up the first world. The developing countries make up the third world; and in between the two is the second world of minor imperialist countries.
6. Within the first world, U.S. imperialism is still a dangerous and vicious power and has a very large economic empire and many military bases around the world. But it is now overstretched and beset with problems. It is the declining superpower.
7. In the Soviet Union, once a glorious socialist state, a dictatorship of the working class and a beacon to the oppressed people of the world, state power has temporarily been seized by a new bourgeoisie. It too is now an imperialist superpower.
8. The Soviet Union is the rising superpower, struggling to redivide the world and strengthening its armed forces furiously. It is the most dangerous source of war. Soviet social imperialism is socialist in words but imperialist in deeds, and is treacherous and deceptive. In addition the Soviet revisionist renegade clique has a fifth column partly subservient to its interests in the revisionist parties within the different countries of the world. Both superpowers are the main enemy of the peoples of the world but the Soviet Union is the more dangerous superpower.
9. The main force opposing the hegemonism of the two superpowers are the developing countries of the third world. The third world includes those countries most heavily exploited and oppressed by imperialism and colonial ism, and also the genuine socialist countries. The People’s Republic of China is a great bastion and faithful supporter of the ever-growing struggles of the oppressed peoples and nations against the two superpowers The People’s Socialist Republic of Albania is also a beacon of socialism and struggle against the superpowers in Europe and throughout the world.
10. An intermediate vacillating force in the struggle against the hegemonism of the two superpowers are the countries of the second world, the minor imperialist powers such as Britain. The developed countries of the second world exploit and oppress the third world countries, although they themselves are at the same time subjected to superpower oppression, exploitation, control or threat.
11. The Revolutionary Communist League will fight for Britain to be independent of superpower hegemonism as one important aspect of the struggle for socialist revolution. The League must therefore lead the working class of Britain always to strengthen its unity with the exploited and oppressed peoples and nations of the third world in the common fight against imperialism especially the hegemonism of the two superpowers.
12. In particular the Revolutionary Communist League will oppose all acts of British imperialist exploitation and oppression of other peoples and nations such as those of Ireland and southern Africa. The revolutionary peoples of these countries are the class brothers and sisters of the British working class in the fight against the common enemy, the superpowers and the British imperialist bourgeoisie.
13. In the interests of the international working class and the oppressed peoples and nations of the world, the Revolutionary Communist League will also struggle to make the British imperialist bourgeoisie line up with the countries of the third world in the broad international united front against imperialism, especially the hegemonism of the two superpowers, as far as this is possible. Inevitably however the British imperialist bourgeoisie will be a very vacillating member of the united front and we must in no way rely on it. Because of its imperialist class nature it will try to exploit the third world countries as much as it is able, and will play a treacherous role in the struggle against the superpowers. The British imperialist bourgeoisie has a particularly bad record of servility towards the superpowers. At present it tends to line up with US imperialism in the hope that it can still get rich pickings from the imperialist plunder of the oppressed peoples of the world. Nevertheless, because the British imperialist bourgeoisie is also engaged in inter-imperialist rivalry with the superpowers and is partly oppressed and exploited by them, it will at times oppose the superpowers. It will partly support the anti-superpower aspect of the international united front, but it will tend to oppose the anti-imperialist aspect of the international united front. Therefore the British imperialist bourgeoisie can be forced towards more consistent participation in the broad united front only if the oppressed peoples and nations and the British working class firmly struggle against its imperialist nature. While struggling against the British imperialist bourgeoisie, we will support any progressive stand taken by the government on international questions, at the same time as exposing the class interests behind its moves and criticizing all its vacillations.
14. The Revolutionary Communist League supports the attempts of the bourgeois governments of Western Europe to unite politically and economically in order to resist the threat from Soviet social imperialism and control by US imperialism. In the present international struggle against the superpowers, the existence and enlargement of the EEC is primarily positive. At the same time revolutionary Communists must firmly oppose any attempts of the bourgeoisies of Western Europe to step up their exploitation and oppression of the working class of Western Europe, the oppressed peoples of the world or the smaller European nations. We will constantly point out that the class interests of the bourgeoisie inevitably lead to repeated squabbles between the governments of Western Europe and cannot provide a reliable basis for the unity of the people of Western Europe. Only the spirit of proletarian internationalism can unite the people of Western Europe firmly against the two superpowers.
15. Imperialism is the root cause of war. The fierce rivalry between the two imperialist superpowers will inevitably lead to a world war.
16. Imperialist war will be answered by a people’s war of revolution against imperialism. Whatever weapons are used by the superpowers, it is people not weapons that are decisive. If the superpowers insist on launching a third world war it is likely that the whole structure of imperialism will utterly collapse.
17. The strategic focus of the struggle between the two superpowers is Europe. Europe is a highly industrialized area: whoever rules over Europe possesses a key position in the struggle to rule the world. The Soviet Union has the naval strength to threaten Western Europe with economic blockade. Its armies in Europe outnumber those of the West and are trained for sudden attack. Meanwhile the United States strives hard to maintain its influence in Western Europe.
18. The peoples of Western Europe must strengthen their unity and make preparations now for a people’s war of national resistance against any invasion by Soviet social imperialism. In the event of an inter-imperialist war between the two superpowers on West European territory the working class and people of Europe must fight for independence from both superpowers and must not support either of them. We would be for the defeat of our own bourgeoisie if it took us into such an inter-imperialist war.
19. A successful people’s war is a protracted war and it can be waged only by mobilizing the mass of the working people and by relying on the mass of working people. The bourgeoisie is afraid and unable to do this. Therefore a successful people’s war can be led only by the working class and its Communist Party. The working class will constantly have to struggle with its bourgeoisie to win the leadership of any war of national resistance against a Soviet imperialist invasion.
20. At the present time the working class in Britain must particularly struggle against two strong tendencies towards the superpowers within the British bourgeoisie. Firstly we must combat the developing tendency to appease Soviet social imperialism. Secondly we must oppose the continuing alliance of the British imperialist bourgeoisie with US imperialism. US imperialism is prepared to hand Britain or any other country over to Soviet social imperialism if it suits its appeasement policy, and its imperialist strategy in the event of a sudden Soviet imperialist attack is to reduce Western Europe to a nuclear wasteland. We oppose relying on US imperialism and oppose US domination of NATO. We support military integration by the western European bourgeoisies for self-defence against the superpowers. However we will expose the bourgeois nature of these defence arrangements and stress that only full preparations for a true people’s war, led by the working class, can deter and defeat any Soviet social imperialist invasion.