Declining American imperialism is turning into a rabid dog

The capitalist mode of production, which has enabled the development of impressive productive forces that could form the basis of a benevolent communist society, has for over a century been a rotting corpse that survives on the backs of the working people and no longer generates the benefits of scientific achievements and fascinating human creations, but rather horrors of oppression and increasingly numerous, bloody, and destructive conflicts in every corner of the planet. Nations no longer play any role in progress, nor do they have the possibility of being autonomous; instead, based on the balance of power, they align themselves with one or the other of the most powerful and feared imperialist countries from an economic and military standpoint, the two leading powers of which are today the United States and China. And the crisis of the capitalist mode of production, with its overwhelming overproduction, is a terrifying specter for the bourgeoisie. 

World War II enabled the United States to assume global economic and military hegemony, but China, with its younger and more vigorous form of capitalism, is advancing its interests methodically, subtly, yet very effectively throughout the world. That “international law,” which in fact represented the law of the strongest—that is, the Western countries led by the U.S.—is being “respected” less and less, as Putin’s so-called war against Ukraine has kicked off the race toward “illegal” predation. We emphasize, among other things, that one would have to be quite naive to believe in “international law”, since the regular violations of “international law,” committed by the two victorious imperialist powers, the US and the USSR, immediately after 1945, and also by Israel since its formation in 1948, has already exposed the lies underlying this “law” that was said to protect nations and which the UN was supposed to safeguard. From Ukraine to the Caucasus, from the Middle East to the Far East, from America to Africa, conflicts continue to escalate as if the “order” imposed by “international law” since 1945 were crumbling and plunging into a downward spiral. The “Cold War” and “armed peace” have run their course; deregulation is in full swing.

Today, Trump’s America no longer has any “insecurities” and is issuing a barrage of decrees, even going so far as to intervene in Greenland, the Caribbean, and Venezuela! Now it is showing up in the Middle East after vowing never to set foot there again, with the aim of carrying out joint action with its Israeli ally. Leading an operation dubbed “Epic Fury,” Trump brutally launches an attack without a UN mandate, without consulting Congress or NATO members, and without the consent of his “allies” in the Persian Gulf or Europe. In fact, for those two rogue cowboys, Trump and Netanyahu, in the midst of deceptive negotiations with the mullahs, the goal was to crush the recalcitrant Iranian enemy once and for all and to complete the policing and ethnic cleansing campaign that Israel has been waging for years in the Middle East, acting as a bridgehead for the United States. Now, faced with China’s economic advance in every corner of the world, America wants to assert its “protectorate” in the Middle East, South America, Antarctica, and soon, above all, in the Pacific, which is usually China’s hunting ground.

America is in an uproar because it is truly in danger.

The United States and Israel clearly hold air superiority over Iran while the conflict, which began in early March, appears increasingly asymmetrical. But the mullahs are holding their ground and have more than one trick up their sleeves. Contrary to the predictions of some experts in the region, the Iranians have struck back and continue to launch repeated attacks, using missiles and, above all, drones against the Gulf states because of those countries’ ties to the United States.  Their attacks also target Israel, whose “Iron Dome” has some vulnerabilities; Netanyahu reportedly traveled to Germany in early March to seek an agreement with the automotive giant Volkswagen regarding the production of components for this defense system.

The Iranian regime, composed of the mullahs and the Revolutionary Guards, has demonstrated its ability to rise again, much like the mythological nine-headed Lernaean Hydra, whose heads grew back in double numbers after each cut, despite the decimation of most of its leaders by killer drones, and today it exploits its control over the Strait of Hormuz.  In this way, it holds the global economy hostage, and the drone war can do nothing about it, since a war without ground troops is not enough, and the war robots are not yet ready.

On the other hand, the mullahs’ regime has not yet made use of one of its most devastating weapons: the “martyrs”—or, more precisely, suicide attacks. They knew how to use it in the Iran-Iraq war in 1980, which caused, by conservative estimates, 500,000 deaths; The Iraqi army possessed overwhelming material and technological superiority, while the Iranians could count on significant demographic superiority, and the weapon of “martyrdom” was thus employed, with Iranians, often very young, voluntarily detonating mines strapped to their bodies or throwing themselves with grenades under enemy tanks. Subsequently, the cult of martyrdom spread rapidly to Lebanon in the 1980s, when the Iranians began training Hezbollah forces. The Lebanese Shiite organization has, in fact, expanded the repertoire of “martyrdom tactics” to include suicide bombings. Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al-Qaeda which is a Sunni organization, learned from this by adopting suicide attacks and incorporating them into his own narrative of martyrdom. Successor groups and rivals, such as the Islamic State, would take the horror of suicide attacks to new extremes in the mid-2010s. To carry out suicide attacks, the Iranian regime now has auxiliary forces that can be deployed abroad: ultra-radical militias in Iraq, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and cells of Shiite fanatics scattered throughout the world. In early 2026, for example, Iraqi militias such as Kataib Hezbollah openly called on their fighters to take part in “martyrdom operations”. Hundreds of them are said to have volunteered for suicide missions in order to defend Tehran. This strategy could be used not only against U.S. interests or against Jewish or Israeli institutions in the Arab-Muslim world, but also in Europe and the United States. In the space of a single week in early March 2026, four arson attacks targeted Jewish institutions across the continent. A synagogue in Liège, Belgium, on Monday, March 9; a Jewish community center in Greece (not claimed or confirmed as a terrorist act); an incendiary bomb left outside a synagogue in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on March 13; and a Jewish school in Amsterdam on Saturday, March 14. A few days later, on Monday, March 23, a car was set on fire in Antwerp’s Jewish quarter; the day before, a fire had destroyed four ambulances near a synagogue in London. This entire series of attacks is systematic, geographically dispersed, and, above all, claimed by a single group—the “Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya” (Islamic Movement of the Supporters of the Righteous), which was previously unknown but undoubtedly stems from Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. There have been reports of additional attacks against the U.S. Embassy in Oslo, the U.S. Consulate in Toronto, a Jewish community center in Michigan, and other locations. Germany, which has hundreds of Hezbollah supporters, is ramping up security measures. 

But on the Iranian side, whether or not they are sleeper cells, the Islamic State—a Sunni organization—and other Sunni factions hostile to the Tehran regime, not to mention the opposition from Iran’s Kurdish population, could seize the moment to carry out bloody attacks against Iran, as already happened in January 2024, or attempt to engage in clashes with the Iranian military. 

New AI driven warfare techniques

For the time being, it seems unthinkable that the U.S. government would set foot in these regions; instead, it merely flies over them, bombing them and experimenting with an “artificial intelligence”-led air war, sending drones and missiles to the countries it seeks to conquer—or rather, to subjugate—and, above all, to terrorize, in order to conclude pseudo-negotiations. One certainly cannot count on a popular uprising, as Trump’s appeals seemed to suggest to the Iranians, because the “liberation” brought about by the aggressors’ bombs is worse than the mullahs’ rule. The social demands put forward by any rioting masses would certainly not fare any better than they do now, partly because the victor always prefers to install docile puppets in power—puppets dedicated to subjugating the people.

In Ukraine, Palestine, and the Persian Gulf, aerial warfare involving drones, missiles, and bombings is raging. These air raids were first tested during World War I and in the colonies (Italian bombing in Libya in 1911, bombing in October 1925 in Syria by the French Air Force in Damascus), during the Spanish Civil War, and were then systematized during World War II to bring the conflict to an end, deliberately using them as a weapon of destruction against civilian populations, and thus as a weapon of terror. In addition to saving the lives of soldiers at the expense of civilians, air power has a psychological dimension, as noted by British Viscount Trenchard, founder of the Royal Air Force and a theorist of aerial warfare in the 1920s and 1930s, who hoped that bombing campaigns would prompt the population to rebel against their own government. Therefore, civilian casualties are never “collateral damage,” but rather a weapon of mass destruction that targets not only military objectives but also hospitals, schools, and markets. The recent innovation in this field of war lies in artificial intelligence, which analyzes an overwhelming amount of information captured from videos at breakneck speed, thereby enabling the targeting of specific material and human targets without sparing the civilian population. Yet history shows that air wars have never been enough to secure victory without sending in ground troops to take control of territory, and the U.S. military knows this all too well after the wars in Vietnam, Iraq, and Syria, as well as in many other theaters of war. 

In the face of the current global economic crisis, the world’s leading economic and military power is in fact becoming increasingly aggressive, relying no longer on its now-declining economic strength but on its military might, which remains unrivaled. His greatest enemy, who is plotting to seize the top spot in the world and impose his own goods and an economy even more prosperous than that of the American “King Kong,” is the Chinese dragon.The struggle between the two capitalist giants over the division of global markets is now taking on diverse and varied forms of conflict, but these are increasingly harmful to humanity and, above all, to workers in every country. The clown Trump lashes out with vulgarity that above all reflects the brutality and arrogance of the American bourgeoisie that supports “the artist with the blond streak,” and above all kills with drones, injures civilians, and cynically starves a portion of humanity, casting aside the hypocritical mask of morality and compassionate democracy that the Democratic administration of Obama and Biden once flaunted. Enough with the subterfuge, the subtleties, the compassion. The U.S. Department of Defense became The Department of War in September 2025, because there the focus is no longer on defense but on offense.

Trump comes across as a performer who spews threats, lies, and surprising, ever-changing strategies; a puppet whose rhetoric reflects the positions of the American business elite—whether on oil, weapons, or now AI, and so on. Every possible means is being sought to profit from the international situation for the benefit of their own businesses. And in this macabre dance, the big bankers and corporate executives are fully aligned with the military leaders, who are themselves tied to the booming AI industry. For the past decade, at the Pentagon – the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense – most decision-makers have focused on the military threat posed by China, raising the possibility of a third world war. These strategists are well aware that China will eventually catch up with them in the field of armaments, and they are seeking new weapons of mass destruction, much like the atomic bomb during World War II.

The U.S. Army led the Manhattan Project to develop the atomic bomb, the use of which led to the tragedy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Technology capable of replacing humans would be welcome to achieve the same end. AI could then help wage war in place of humans, making it possible to use machines and robots, a true science fiction fantasy. Two key figures will play an important role in this process: Colonel Robert O. Work, who will provide strategic guidance, and Colonel Drew Cukor, a U.S. Air Force officer specializing in intelligence and air operations, who will oversee the practical implementation.

As early as 2015, Colonel Bob Work, who served as Deputy Secretary of Defense under the Obama and Trump administrations, introduced the use of AI in decision-making and the deployment of unmanned systems, thereby sparing “human lives.” During a public speech in 2015, he declared: “Let me tell you this right off the bat: if, in ten years’ time, the first person to break through enemy lines isn’t a robot, shame on us”. “We can do it”. Even in war, both the military and capitalists try to do away with human aid, without realizing that this is precisely where their downfall lies! Work had the support of experts from Amazon, Google, and IBM. But the Pentagon’s budget, though colossal in 2016, was not enough to embark on the AI venture; and even though the Internet was a Pentagon creation, the U.S. military leadership was still hesitant to make the technological leap. In 2016, Drew Cukor joined the Pentagon’s intelligence office and, together with Bob Work, was determined to introduce the use of AI into the operations of the armed forces. In fact, since 2001, the U.S. military had increased its drone sorties on the battlefield from 54 to 8,000 by 2010 (in Afghanistan, Iraq, and North and East Africa; in the fight against Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and ISIS), but there was significant “collateral” damage. In addition, the video recordings were unusable because they were too large, and human analysts were overwhelmed by the workload.

The Maven project (Algorithmic Warfare Cross-functional Team) was launched in 2017 within the Department of Defense to use AI in analyzing drone footage that provides U.S. military intelligence, particularly in the areas of intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance, as well as geospatial intelligence. Data from drones, satellites, and other sensors (such as surveillance cameras installed in urban areas) is analyzed using AI, enabling operational decisions to be made. The human workload has been drastically reduced, and military efficiency has improved.

Since the use of AI was becoming inevitable, Cukor was put in charge of Project Maven. It wasn’t just a matter of reaching out to AI providers and tech giants; the United States military also had to engage with the business community to secure cash investments.

Cukor reached out to companies in Silicon Valley, where the top AI talent was concentrated, as well as to self-driving car manufacturers like Tesla, Waymo, and Uber, which were equipping their vehicles with cameras capable of analyzing the surrounding environment to avoid obstacles.

The Maven project is now set to become the Department of Defense’s largest investment. The goal with this new investment is to carry out targeted operations against high-value targets in order to shorten the “kill chain”. For Cukor and Work, AI would change warfare forever, as the United States Military would now be able to cope with large floods of data in order to act quickly and effectively. However, within the Pentagon, the use of AI will lead to job cuts and a drastic reduction in bureaucracy, and as a result, Cukor and Work’s mission may face numerous obstacles. Silicon Valley, which once proclaimed itself libertarian, has gradually been co-opted, and even though some AI providers today fear that their expertise might be used for military purposes, they are all now deeply involved in the future battles involving killer robots targeting humans, and are vying for military defense contracts in pursuit of lucrative profits. Palantir Technologies (one of the world’s most highly valued American companies), Scale AI (49% owned by Meta), Anthropic, and OpenAI are throwing themselves into the arms race, which is becoming an extraordinary commercial outlet for their generative AI platforms, as the pursuit of profit takes precedence over libertarian values and the defense of the homeland. Google is also involved in the Maven project, while Apple has refused to participate. The Maven team within the Pentagon has therefore been instrumental in pushing the U.S. military to use systems that have yet to be thoroughly tested in combat. Ten years after the launch of Cukor’s initiative, AI-based decision-making systems are in use on the battlefield and across all branches of the U.S. military, in submarine sonar systems, and in space operations that integrate the work of more than 50 companies.NATO began using a version of the system in the spring of 2025, and ten Alliance members are seeking to acquire it. AI-based targeting systems are integrated into at least two highly classified systems—one airborne and the other underwater—capable of monitoring, selecting, and eliminating targets completely autonomously, intended for the defense of Taiwan.

Not only is Silicon Valley a loyal servant of the U.S. military, but so, of course, is the business community. Since 2024, Drew Cukor has been heading the department dedicated to the use of artificial intelligence for Jamie Dimon, the CEO of the investment bank JP Morgan and a close associate of Trump. In fact, American business leaders invest billions in the military industry (missiles, drones, ammunition) and boast that their business interests align with the defense of the country and a powerful military to deter others from “misdeeds”. “Today, the situation has changed dramatically from defense to offence: we are facing a full-scale war in Europe and a much greater threat in the Indo-Pacific region…And now is the time to act,” Jamie Dimon declared in December 2025 during the Reagan National Defense Forum, alongside entrepreneur Christopher T. Calio, president and CEO of RTX (Raytheon Technologies Corporation). He leads a global team of more than 180,000 employees who are advancing aviation, designing integrated defense systems, and developing next-generation technologies in the aerospace and defense sectors. Colonel Work has served on the company’s board of directors since 2017.

But AI won’t be the one to save the U.S. economy, because its competitor and archrival, China, is racing ahead in AI and will even surpass it in this sector!

Global Capitalism in the Storm of the Middle East

Why on earth did Trump get himself into this mess, which is—as anyone could have expected—leading to a supply crisis involving oil, gas, fertilizers, and etc. due to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz by Iranian forces, which could lead to a crisis in the functioning of global capitalist supply chains—and thus also in the U.S. component of that system? Not to mention the enormous cost of this initiative for the U.S. government, which is already heavily in debt. China, too—which relies on oil from Iran and the Persian Gulf countries (and, having anticipated the crisis, holds substantial energy reserves sufficient for 4 to 6 months)—could be affected by the drop in demand if soaring energy and food costs were to curb consumption in the countries to which it exports, such as Europe, the United States, and others. In Japan, the currency is depreciating, exacerbating existing inflation, with the price of a barrel of oil reaching $140 due to the yen’s depreciation; yet its situation is already dire, with a record debt-to-GDP ratio of 250%, which could force the government to sell U.S. Treasury securities, thereby worsening the U.S. Treasury’s situation. The United States has embarked on a war that is costing it between $1 billion and $2 billion a day and has already borrowed $1 trillion over the past five months. 

As for Putin’s Russia, this war suits them well because, thanks to their “ghost fleet”—which nothing seems to be able to stop—when oil prices rise, the state coffers, which are in dire need of funds, are replenished. Russia therefore has every interest in ensuring that this war lasts as long as possible. On the other hand, it cannot allow its only remaining ally in the Middle East to collapse, at the risk of losing all credibility. The Moscow-Tehran strategic alliance is vital for Russia if it wants to maintain even a modicum of influence in the Middle East. Putin is thus supporting the Iranians by providing them with technological upgrades for their drones, as well as experts who can use satellite imagery to strike U.S. bases with greater precision. For their part, the Americans are forced to rely on the Ukrainians to defend their military bases from Iranian drones, since the Ukrainian military is the only one with real expertise in this field. In fact, they intercept 95% of Russian drones using inexpensive drones—costing between 10,000 and 20,000 euros—while the Americans use missiles costing millions of euros to destroy a single drone.

Hasn’t the U.S. air campaign, combined with that of its Israeli proxy, opened Pandora’s box? 

The Arab allies in the Gulf, who oppose this intervention, have in fact found themselves caught up in it and have been particularly hit hard by the Iranian attacks. The global economy could be severely destabilized by a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which supplies oil, gas, fertilizers, and other chemicals to countries that need them. Stock markets skyrocket, overheat, rates rise and fall throughout the day depending on statements from various parties, central banks are in a tizzy, and no one can say who the real winner is because on the ground, the Iranian leaders, even though decimated, keep rising again and again and manage to hold out by sending inexpensive drones or blocking the Strait of Hormuz, letting “friendly” ships pass— Chinese in this case, or even blackmailing the others with exorbitant prices. How will Trump’s inner circle—comprising political, military, and business figures—manage to extricate itself from this mess without suffering economic losses, given that this air war involving artificial intelligence is costing them a great deal of money?

This “law of the jungle” atmosphere has the middle classes fearing a descent into hell—a global economic crisis that could lead to a world war. Wars involving AI provide an opportunity to test an increasing number of new weapons that could be used in a future conflict against China, with the participation of vassal “allies,” a division of labor among the belligerents, with Russia handling Europe on China’s behalf, and China handling the U.S.—the American bourgeoisie having no need to concern itself with Europe, whose countries will have armed themselves to the teeth… or nearly so! Against this backdrop of aggression against Iran, NATO appears to be growing stronger; middle powers such as European countries and Canada, despite being threatened and blackmailed by the United States, have lined up behind their master, absolving him of his aggression against Iran.

Only the working classes of all countries—both aggressors and victims—will be able to oppose these infamous wars, which the bourgeoisie, driven by the inexorable decline in their rate of profit, will be forced to unleash. But to do so, the proletariat must rise up, reject all forms of national solidarity, organize economically into genuine class-based unions, and join the only party that embodies the millennia-old experience of social struggles against class society and capitalism—a party that can thus lead them in a relentless struggle against the bourgeoisie, transforming the war between states into a class war: the International Communist Party, which has remained faithful to the line of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and the Italian Left.