Over two years ago, in July 2022, the Bureau of the Fourth International made a public statement to express its disagreement with the US based group Socialist Action’s position on Ukraine. Although claiming to have ‘fraternal relations’ with the Fourth International, SA’s position not only contradicts the position of the FI on a fundamental level, it goes against basic principles of solidarity.
Inside the Fourth International, there is an ongoing debate regarding the positions and actions that socialists should take in response to the war in Ukraine. There are different positions among comrades and organisations of the Fourth International on how to oppose the war and what the tasks are for socialists in different context. Common to all our work is the rejection of all imperialism. As such, the Fourth International opposes all imperialist blocks and opposes NATO and Russian-led CSTO expansionism and interventions. Our opposition to imperialism and expansionism results in basic positions that include:
• condemnation of the Russian invasion and the demand that Russian troops leave Ukraine
• recognition of the right to self-determination of Ukraine
• solidarity with Russian anti-war activists
As the Bureau wrote in July 2022, exactly those principles are contradicted by SA: SA ‘does not reject the Russian invasion, nor does it declare support for Russian anti-war activists.’ Their statements present a distorted version of Ukrainian history. It attempts to instrumentalize declarations made by Fourth International comrades by referring to only part of what our comrades have to say and ignoring their assessment of the current war. Socialist Action obfuscates its position on the right of self-determination of Ukraine by calling only for independence of a hypothetical socialist Ukraine. Socialist Action is part of the United National Antiwar Coalition which has issued statements along similar lines; no rejection of the Russian invasion, no recognition of the right of self-determination of Ukraine and a refusal to stand in solidarity with Russian anti-war activists.’
Since the July 2022 statement, the war in Ukraine has escalated. Russia has declared its annexation of parts of Ukrainian territory and renewed its offensive. Comrades and organisations of the Fourth International are active in different countries in campaigns for solidarity with the Ukrainian people and specifically the Ukrainian working class. This work is carried out in cooperation with the Ukrainian organisation Sotsialnyi Rukh who in 2024 joined the Fourth International as a permanent observer.
SA has however persisted in taking positions that contradict the basic principles of the Fourth International. A February 28, 2024 article signed by ‘Jeff Mackler, National Secretary, Socialist Action’ goes as far as explicitly condoning the Russian invasion of Ukraine, describing it as ‘aid’ to Russian-speaking Ukrainians. SA has made clear that its recognition of Ukraine’s right to self-determination is contingent on Ukraine being ‘socialist’. In regards to Russian anti-war dissidents, SA has only expressed support for the minimal democratic rights of Boris Kagarlitsky. SA meanwhile remained silent on the repression of Russian anti-war activists, including Fourth International comrades, and refuses to express political solidarity with them.
It is the opinion of the Bureau that there can be no fraternal relations of our International with an organisation that rejects that rejects our basic principles. This is why the Bureau will propose to the upcoming World Congress that the Fourth International severs its ties with Socialist Action.
4 November 2024