Spiros Patelis | Revolutionary Unification (Greece)
What has changed since the 1st Conference of the World Anti-imperialist Youth Platform
The Russian Special Military Operation (SMO) in Ukraine, now the largest theatre of WWIII, has been escalating for over three years. Meanwhile, imperialist aggression led by the USA is intensifying across all active and potential war zones, particularly against the resisting “weak links” in West and South-West Asia, such as Palestine, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen with Iran being the main target. Other potential flashpoints include East Asia (Korean peninsula, and Taiwan), and Central Asia/Transcaucasia, where imperialist proxies such as Turkey and Israel are becoming increasingly involved.[1]
WWIII is escalating at all levels: operational military, economic, ideological-political, diplomatic and scientific. The Russian SMO, the genocide in Palestine, the conquest of Syria by proxies of the USA-NATO-EU―Turkey and Israel, the attack on Hezbollah, Lebanon and Yemen, the strengthening of the positions of the imperialist axis (through France, Turkey and Israel) in Transcaucasia (Armenia, Azerbaijan), the preparations for an attack and regime change operation in Iran, the escalation of tensions in the Korean peninsula and Taiwan, the expulsion of the imperialist military presence from the “Sahel zone” in Africa, etc., are elements of the escalation and not the de-escalation of the war.[2]
In the ideological-political front, the Trump administration’s closure of USAID has shifted the focus from identity politics to promoting racism, nationalism and anti-immigration rhetoric and propaganda in Europe, the US and in Russia. In the US, a series of raids, arrests and deportations of immigrants without judicial warrants have led to widespread protests and clashes with police and the national guard in Los Angeles. One might not expect this to be the case in a multinational state such as Russia; however, the Russian government, which also exploits cheap immigrant labour, has passed a law to segregate immigrants, presenting them as criminal elements who must be confined and heavily policed. This obscures the class issue of the regime’s exploitation of migrants and intensifies monarcho-fascist tendencies in Russia by presenting far-right racist Western movements, Trump and the Black International as fraternal anti-globalisation movements.
More than three years have passed since Russia began its (SMO) in Ukraine. Over two million young people have been fighting on the front line against the most recent instrumentalisation of fascism by imperialism. The regime’s shallow bourgeois ideological constructions (nationalism, big state chauvinism, and orthodox religiosity) have proven inadequate in motivating young people to engage in battle. Instead, the ideals of the Great Patriotic War and the Great Soviet struggle against fascism and Nazism have spontaneously re-emerged in the public consciousness. Unable to placate this increasingly dominant attitude, the capitalist class has tried to incorporate some of these symbols and history into its own ideological constructions. After all, the armed citizen is the bourgeoisie’s worst nightmare.
Taking into account the immediate families and social circles of combatants and those who have been demobilised, tens of millions of people have become radicalised in an anti-fascist, anti-imperialist, and pro-Soviet direction. This acts as a deterrent to inconsistency and betrayal by the newly formed Russian bourgeoisie, while creating conditions for the further radicalisation of Russian society. Furthermore, the official confirmation of the participation of soldiers of the Korean People’s Army in the conflict is the most hopeful development amid the flames of WWIII. This event cements the notion of who is on the right side of history in the minds of the people.
On the war fronts, there is not only internationalist action, with fighters from the DPRK and Cuba for example, but also the activation of the Black International through mercenaries on the other side. Far-right, nationalist, fascist and Nazi organisations around the world are the main source of mercenaries acting as proxies for imperialists. This is evident on all fronts, particularly in Ukraine, where Colombian mercenaries and others from various European countries are fighting. Furthermore, Ukrainians have been seen displaying Nazi symbols during joint operations with the Israeli army in Gaza, while also supporting Islamist paramilitary groups in Africa, including in Sudan, Somalia, Niger and Mali.
The number of organised religious NGOs has increased significantly, particularly among Muslim populations in the former USSR, Syria and elsewhere, and they engage in extensive propaganda activities. These organisations exploit the willingness to act and self-sacrifice of vulnerable young people, particularly the long-term unemployed, to the extent that they readily become potential martyrs, as seen in Islamofascism. Islamofascists, who are associated with Sunni Islam, are being recruited from the former Soviet republics in Central Asia and Russian Transcaucasia, as well as from among the Uyghurs in China. They are being used by the terrorist government that seized power in Syria. This will be a potential destabilising factor that will come into play in Russia, and perhaps also in China.
The demise of the USAID does not mean that manipulation is no longer carried out through the “NGOisation” of politics, with a particular focus on controlling the youth. Such changes rarely have simple, linear outcomes. With a change of tenant in the White House, the international and domestic deep state has been restructured, as have donations to NGOs. This can result in some NGOs being rendered useless overnight. In such cases, they frantically search for alternative “movement-like” objectives to secure donations. For example, this type of NGO establishment has been working to detach the Palestinian issue from the broader context of WWIII, portraying it as a separate matter with no deeper connections to other countries or conflicts.
The imperialist propaganda machine and the role of revisionism & opportunism
The imperialist regime spreads divisive ideologies through formal institutions such as education and the media, as well as through their agents within the movement―notably opportunists and revisionists such as the current KKE/KNE leadership. This faction engages in subversive activities such as interfering in other parties’ internal affairs to gain control, financing fractionalists to cause splits, promoting the dogma of “the Imperialist Pyramid” and the position of “equal distances” during the escalation of WWIII, as well as using the WFDY to expand the influence of their manipulation.
Masquerading as “pure revolutionaries”, this toxic opportunism-revisionism weaponises historical symbols and pseudo-revolutionary rhetoric to exploit the disillusionment of the youth, only to reject anti-imperialism and socialist struggle in practice. By deferring liberation to the “maturation of conditions” in the distant future, they actively disarm movements, sabotage revolutionary consciousness and perpetuate imperialist oppression.
This modern form of opportunism poses a greater threat to the global revolutionary and anti-imperialist movements than previous forms for one specific reason. Historically, opportunism aimed to undermine the workers’ movement in the most advanced capitalist/imperialist countries. However, today, due to the specific traditions and history of the party that spawned this new form of opportunism, the aim is to undermine the movement in dependent and semi-dependent countries – the potential “weak links” in the global imperialist system where the next revolutionary situation could potentially emerge.
They even applied their motto of “equal distances” to the genocidal conflict in Palestine. Up to a year after the escalation of zionist aggression against the Palestinian people, KKE and KNE produced posters with slogans including “No to the Israeli occupation of Palestine, that the people of Israel are also paying for”. In his speech, a member of the central committee added that “Their [the Palestinians’] struggle is just, and the support of the people cannot be overshadowed by the fact that on Palestinian soil, there are capitalists chasing profits and enriching themselves in this situation, as exploiters do everywhere.”[3], as if a people who have no homeland can have privately owned means of production. Most disgustingly, a member of the politburo stated that “…we have to consider the losses suffered by the working class in Israel. 317 youths of the Israeli army have been killed, and not all Israelis agree with Netanyahu’s policies. We also had massive demonstrations there. We must not forget that. The working classes on both sides are suffering; we should view the matter from a class perspective.”[4]
Our experience and practice in Greece―The work of the Revolutionary Theory Group
In countries such as Greece, which have effectively become holiday destinations for citizens of imperialist countries and places of rest and recreation for Zionist troops, the youth are already spontaneously mobilising. A recent example of this occurred in Crete, where a peaceful demonstration against the genocide of the Palestinian people infuriated some Israeli tourists, who responded by making gestures, spitting, shouting obscenities and threatening the protesters. It is our duty to support this movement in becoming conscious, in fighting against imperialism and its proxies.
We have addressed this need in Greece through the work of the Revolutionary Theory Group (RTG). Since its formation in 2001, the group’s purpose has been to provide a solid foundation in Marxism-Leninism to a growing student movement and the young people developing into the new type of working class,[5] through study and discussion. This helps them devise effective strategies for contemporary struggles. Its core mission―critically studying, creatively developing, and practically applying revolutionary theory―became increasingly vital as the group expanded its work over decades, conducting numerous lectures, seminars, courses (including major series on modern revolutionary theory and the history of Marxism in Athens), and publishing studies like the 2017 volume on the October Revolution.
This need has intensified significantly due to global events. The 2020 pandemic shifted work online, increasing youth accessibility and participation. Meanwhile, the beginning of Russia’s SMO in 2022 and rising tensions have highlighted a dangerous deficiency in theoretical analysis that cannot be mitigated elsewhere. In the face of the widespread “equal distance” opportunism on the left regarding imperialism and conflicts such as the one in Ukraine, the group provided vital Marxist-Leninist education, dissecting modern imperialism, the history, theory and practice of revolution, the national question, early and late socialism, and WWIII. This attracted many young people who were actively questioning official narratives, and it filled the void left by other organisations’ inadequate theoretical responses to the complex world situation.
The main core of the RTG consists of Revolutionary Unification members. They organise events, prepare digital materials, give talks, moderate discussions, and invite external speakers to share their perspectives. The RTG’s most recent event took place on 6 June and was titled “World War and Anti-Imperialism: Questions of Theory, Methodology, Ideology and Practice”.
On the tasks of the antiimperialist youth during WWIII
The World Anti-Imperialist Youth Platform was established at a crucial moment in history: the time of WWIII, which is also an era of great opportunity. This war has many fronts and theatres of operation, some active and some inactive. It is a war between two adversaries: the imperialist axis of aggression, led by the USA, and the anti-imperialist and socialist forces. It is clear that we are facing one enemy.
The imperialist forces are regrouping. They know their reign of terror is ending and will fight tooth and nail to preserve their parasitic system. This means they won’t hesitate to change direction in an attempt to confuse and disorient us, looking for the most vulnerable spot from which to launch their next attack.
We must be focused on those who are trying to make us believe that some conflicts are detached from others, that people who support Palestine can also support the Ukraine fascist junta, the corrupt proxy regime that is responsible for the demographic demise of the Ukrainian youth, that they can support Uyghur and Hong Kong separatists against the PRC, and so on. That they can stand both with the Palestinian people against zionist aggression and against the enemies of the USA, of the state responsible for the unchecked growth that is the cancerous zionist entity on the lands of Palestine, Lebanon and Syria. They are mistaken.
To be effective in this struggle, we must have clear goals. Unity can only be achieved through common goals. Once we have established common goals, we can then find the means of achieving them together. Our most important tactical goal is the defeat of the imperialist axis led by the USA. Our strategic goal is socialism and communism.
This is why the anti-imperialist youth cannot unequivocally oppose war. Can we crush imperialism without war? Can the reunification of the Korean Peninsula happen without war? This is also why we cannot unconditionally oppose mobilisation. The armed forces of anti-imperialist and socialist countries are the military arm of the global anti-imperialist movement. They must mobilise against imperialist aggression. Can we say that we are against the mobilisation of young people in African countries fighting to free themselves from neocolonial exploitation? Can we say that we are against the armed forces and people’s militias in Venezuela?
Our comrades in dependent countries must mobilise to fight for independence. In countries that are part of imperialist alliances, popular movements must oppose the participation of their armed forces in imperialist operations. The long-standing slogan of our anti-imperialist marches in Greece is “Not one soldier, not one ship, not one plane to the NATO massacres”. Our comrades in imperialist countries must resist mobilisation into the war machine of imperialism. They must coordinate with workers, trade unions and the people to block imperialist movements and hinder acts of aggression against socialist, and anti-imperialist countries. It is important to make this distinction if we want to be clear about our objectives.
The goals of the World Antiimperialist Youth Platform must align with the three main goals of the World Antiimperialist Platform. It is our duty to identify the most effective goals that can unify the antiimperialist youth into a militant front, capable of taking the strategic initiative and eradicating the global imperialist system from this planet so that the people can pave the road unhindered towards socialism and communism.
Notes
[1] Dimitrios Patelis, Marking Three Years of War in Ukraine, “Platform”, March 2025
[2] Dimitrios Patelis, Who will seize the strategic initiative in WWIII?, “Platform”, April 2025
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[5] This is the type of working class developed in labour processes featuring renewal and creativity, as opposed to the traditional working class predominantly involved in repetitive, manual labour processes. (Dimitrios Patelis, Anti-imperialism, and the transition from early to late socialist revolutions, “Platform”, 2023 October)
