Just as Korea and the Congo marked the beginning of the end of the United Nations as an effective force in world politics, so Vietnam and Rhodesia spell the final break up of what was once the British Empire.
Since the end of World War II, British capitalism has triec desperately to save what it can from its imperialist investments. Forced to make political concessions to the tide of nationalism which swept the colonies, it attempted to bind the newly independent states with economic strings. The Commonwealth was presented to the world as an association of 'free and equal sovereign states,' but there is in fact little real equality. So far the largest proportion of British investments go to the older ‘white' dominions, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Rhodesia and even the expelled Republic of South Africa figure higher in the British capital investment list than Ghana, Kenya and Tanzania. Investments in the more highly developed dominions mean higher profits and quicker returns and that is all that capitalism is fundamentally interested in. Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand belong to the world of 'haves's the rest of the Commonwealth very much to the world of ‘have nots'.
British Imperialism, when it gave up the political rule over the ex colonies, however, had one last trump to play. The economies of these colonies were geared to Britain and her ‘allies'. With their dependence on the markets of the West, it was confidently expected that the new states would humbly follow British policy in the international arena.
But, imperialism is no longer the overwhelmingly dominating force it once was. The Russian Revolution and, above all since the war, the Chinese and Cuban revolutions have provided a most effective counter weight. The new nations of Asia, Africa, and the Carribbean, who once placed their faith in the United Nations or the Commonwealth and came to realise they were being used by Imperialism, soon appreciated the fact that they could stand up to the imperialist bullies whose powers of retaliation were curbed by the knowledre that they had to keep a wary eye on the growing Socialist sector of the world.
The United Nations as a force for peace was discredited when it was used by the United States as a cover for its aggression in Korea and in the Congo and by its utter incapacity to halt the Anericans in Vietnam or Dominican Republic. Just as the old League of Nations was revealed as the instrument of Anglo-French imperialism so the United Nations stands exposed as an extension of the State Department.
Within the Commonwellth, there has been a growing realisation that Britain takes a different line in 'native' ruled countries like British Guiana and white settler dominated countries like Rhodesia. To British Guiana it despatched troops to ‘keep law and order' and to frustrate the will of the people, it imposed on it a constitution deliberately designed to keep Cheddi Jagan and the P.P.P. out of office. In Rhodesia, it helred the settler regime of Ian Smith to
Commonwealth continued/
build the most formidable military force in Africa outside Verwoerd's
Republic.
With Labour in power, the African people had the right to expect
a speedy end to the semi-fascist regime in Rhodesia and immediate
independence on the basis of one man one vote. All they've had from
Wilson are high sounding platitudes, the promise of action in some
indefinite future, while Smith strengthens his forces and consolidates
his police state. Despite the apparent compromise of the final
communique, there can be little doubt that the African leaders,
responding to the pressure of the people are getting ready for a show
down over Rhodesia and when it comes, the whole hollow farce of
Commonwealth solidarity will be exposed finally.
The so called ‘peace mission' was a non starter from the day it
was launched. Wilson, committed wholeheartedly to support of American
action in Vietnam should have been the last person to lead such a
mission if it were to be at all effective. The Prime Minister of
Britain, however, could not stand down in favour of one of his
colleagues - that would be rather undignified for the old country,
old boy.
It is not only the leaders of the former colonial world who are
learning the lesscns of contemporary history. Imperialist internation-
alism means the subjugation of the whole world to economic exploitation
by the great capitalist powers. The instruments they create, whether
called League of Nations, United Nations, or Commonwealth are designed
to this end. Everything else, peace, prosperity for the under -
developed areas and so on, are secondary considerations. Genuine
internationalism can only come from the exploited, who have nothing
to lose and a world to gain, from combining their forces agaisst a
common enemy.