They are using this strength to take over key sectors of European industry, and are using American state power to force their way into Japan. American firms are much bigger, more advanced and faster growing than their foreign rivals. The majority, amongst whom are to be found Sweezy, Magdoff, Jalée and Nicolaus, believe that the United States is not only the dominant imperial power today, but that it will become increasingly dominant in the future.įootnote 2 Their argument runs, with variations, roughly as follows. Recent Marxist writers have been divided in their views on which of these three variants of imperialism is most likely. For this to happen the antagonisms between states must be severe. Imperial Rivalry in which the relatively autonomous states no longer perform the necessary organizing role, or perform it so badly that serious conflicts break out between them and the unity of the system is threatened. For this to work the antagonisms between the members of the coalition must not be so severe that they overcome the interest they have in maintaining the coalition.
Ultra-imperialism in which a dominant coalition of relatively autonomous imperialist states performs the organizing role necessary to preserve the unity of the system.
This domination may not, of course, operate smoothly-for antagonisms will not be eliminated but merely contained. America acts as the organizer of world capitalism, preserving its unity in the face of socialism.
US super-imperialism in which all other capitalist states are dominated by the United States and have comparatively little freedom to choose their policies and control their economies in ways opposed by the American state. T his essay will discuss the effects of recent economic trends on the unity of the imperialist bloc and on the autonomy of its constituent elements-the individal nations.įootnote 1 Three broad possibilities may be distinguished:
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