Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism

Imperialism is not simply about foreign wars or distant invasions. In Marxist terms, it is the global extension of capitalism—violent, exploitative, and driven by the need for endless profit. It is not a mistake of foreign policy; it is the natural outcome of capitalism when it reaches its limits at home.

“Imperialism is capitalism at that stage of development at which the dominance of monopolies and finance capital is established.”— V.I. Lenin, “Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism”

What Is Imperialism?

Imperialism begins when capitalists run out of ways to grow their wealth inside their own country. They look abroad—to new markets, cheap labor, and raw materials. They do not go to help. They go to extract. They do not spread freedom. They spread exploitation.

Imperialism does not just mean sending in the army. It also means using banks, trade deals, and debt to dominate nations. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are not neutral institutions. They are tools used to keep poor countries dependent and weak.

“Wherever there is oppression, there is resistance.”— Mao Zedong, “Oppose Book Worship”

Where countries resist, imperialism responds with violence. It funds coups. It sends weapons. It wages wars. From Vietnam to Iraq, from Haiti to Gaza, we see the same pattern

Imperialism allows a handful of rich countries to grow even richer by exploiting the rest of the world. This is not a failure of the system. It is the system.

Even within rich countries, imperialism creates division. A small part of the working class is bribed with slightly higher living standards, while workers in the rest of the world are crushed. This division is not accidental. It is how imperialism keeps workers divided and capitalism alive.

“A small handful of rich nations... live by plundering the great majority of the peoples of the world.”— Mao Zedong, “On the Ten Major Relationships”

Who Fights Imperialism?

Across the world, people resist. From the Cuban revolution to the Vietnamese victory, from the Algerian war of independence to the Palestinian struggle today, the oppressed fight back. The empire calls them “terrorists” or “dictators.” We want an end to empire. No more military bases. No more sanctions. No more governments overthrown for profit. We want a world where the wealth of the earth is used to meet human need—not to make billionaires richer. That world is called socialism.

“People of the world, unite and defeat the U.S. aggressors and all their running dogs!”— Mao Zedong, “Statement Supporting the Afro-American Struggle Against Violent Repression” (1968)