Zhou Miao and Liu Tingting: World Socialism Amidst Major Changes in the International Economic and Political Landscape
Currently, the great changes unseen in a century in the world are accelerating. The characteristics of changes in the world, in the times, and in history are becoming more apparent. The probability of various crises and conflicts breaking out has increased significantly, and the international economic and political landscape is undergoing profound and complex adjustments. Reviewing history, we can see that the development of world socialism is closely related to drastic shifts in the international economic and political landscape. Therefore, we must closely monitor the trends of change in this landscape, correctly respond to challenges and opportunities, and develop a profound grasp of the shifts in the world socialist movement to promote world peace, development, and stability, thereby pushing forward the progress of human civilization.
I. The Development of World Socialism Amidst Changes in the International Economic and Political Landscape
(1) The Underlying Logic of World Socialism’s Development Midst Changes in the International Economic and Political Landscape
Capitalism has been a global category since its inception. Since the continuous development and formation of the capitalist world economic system, the international economic and political landscape has undergone several major shifts. The movement of the basic contradictions of capitalism drives these grand shifts in the global landscape. Each time the capitalist world economic system develops into a new stage, a major adjustment occurs in the international economic and political landscape, and the world socialist movement undergoes major corresponding changes and developments. The international community is composed of many countries and diverse forces; to some extent, the stability of the international landscape and the international political and economic situation is determined by the economic and political states of several major powers and major countries, as well as the interactions and games between them.
In the era of old colonialism during the early stages of imperialism, because the globalization of capitalist production had not yet fully formed, developed capitalist countries often adopted naked colonial occupation to control and plunder Southern countries for economic gain. Major capitalist powers also frequently resorted to war to resolve intense contradictions and conflicts. It is precisely when major changes occur in the relative strength—especially economic strength—between the major capitalist powers that their contradictions and struggles intensify, even manifesting as war. This causes the international economic and political landscape to shift violently, allowing world socialist forces to rise by seizing the momentum. Lenin once pointed out: "Uneven economic and political development is an absolute law of capitalism." Within the capitalist world economic system, late-comer capitalist countries utilize "late-comer advantages" [1] to overtake established capitalist powers. Uneven economic development inevitably leads to uneven development of political and even military power. The unevenness of capitalist development intensified in the imperialist era; when the struggle between capitalist powers reached a boiling point, a "war to re-divide the world"—that is, a world war—was bound to break out.
The moments when the international economic and political landscape shifts violently and capitalist contradictions intensify are often times when capitalist economic crises are most severe. The basic contradiction between the socialization of production and the capitalist private ownership of the means of production determines the cyclical economic crises of capitalism. These crises further intensify class contradictions within capitalist society and contradictions between states. In order to shift the crisis and find a way out, some major capitalist powers will launch wars of colonial aggression or wars for hegemony and spheres of influence among the great powers. Marx noted: "Since the beginning of the 18th century, there has been no serious revolution in Europe that was not preceded by a commercial and financial crisis. This was the case with the Revolution of 1848, and also with the Revolution of 1789. It is true that we see every day that not only are the signs of conflict between the hegemonic powers and their subjects, between the state and society, and between classes becoming more serious, but the conflicts between the existing powers themselves are sharpening step by step... Neither war nor revolution is likely to cause a pan-European dispute unless it comes from a general crisis of industry and commerce, the signal for which always comes from Britain, the representative of European industry on the world market." Therefore, Lenin believed that imperialism is the root of modern war—especially world wars—and that war must inevitably intensify the contradictions and crises of imperialism. In the imperialist country where contradictions are most acute and complex—the "weakest link in the imperialist chain"—a proletarian revolution is not only inevitable but can also achieve the first victory of socialist revolution within a single country.
(2) The Emergence of the Paris Commune and the Victory of the Russian October Revolution Amidst Changes in the International Economic and Political Landscape
The period from the early 16th century to the mid-to-late 19th century was the budding and development stage of the capitalist world economic system, also known as the free competition stage of capitalism. During this stage, European capitalism began its journey of early colonial aggression and expansion, drawing the world’s backward countries in and promoting the establishment of a capitalist world economic system. The vast number of countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America began to fall into the status of colonies or semi-colonies of Western nations. During this period, Britain was the first to complete the Industrial Revolution and embark on the capitalist path, followed by several major countries such as France, Germany, and the United States, which successively developed into capitalist powers. This caused the international economic and political landscape to undergo drastic changes, a process accompanied by war and revolution.
In 1870, the Franco-Prussian War broke out, a conflict initiated by the Kingdom of Prussia to unify Germany and contend for hegemony over the European continent with France. France suffered a crushing defeat; the people of Paris launched an uprising and established a republic, the French Third Republic. In March 1871, the people of Paris overthrew the bourgeois provisional government and established the Paris Commune, the prototype of the world's first proletarian political power. In the mid-to-late 19th century, capitalism began to enter the stage of general monopoly capitalism. During this period, capitalist powers intensified their foreign aggression and expansion, turning many countries and regions in Asia, Africa, and Latin America into colonies or semi-colonies, thereby forming the capitalist world colonial system. Due to the uneven political and economic development of capitalist countries, World War I broke out. Lenin reached the conclusion that "imperialism is the eve of the socialist revolution," and argued: "The imperialist war was bound, objectively, to extraordinarily accelerate and unprecedentedly sharpen the class struggle of the proletariat against the bourgeoisie; it was bound to turn into a civil war between the hostile classes."
The uneven development of imperialist countries created weak links in the imperialist chain. These weak countries had lesser status and concentrated, acute internal contradictions. The fierce competition and struggle between imperialist countries—especially the imperialist wars—plunged such nations into extreme economic hardship, severely deteriorated the living conditions of the working class and laboring people, and led to a serious crisis in the rule of monopoly finance capital. This weakened the strength of imperialist countries as a whole and made the contradictions in the weak links of the chain more prominent, providing a rare historical opportunity for socialist revolutions to succeed in these countries. If the proletarian party in such a country is strong and firm, and the working class is tempered in struggle with a high degree of organization and consciousness, then the socialist revolution can achieve victory. Russia was the weak link in the imperialist chain. Lenin utilized the crisis created in Russia by the world war between imperialist powers to decisively lead the working class in a socialist revolution, achieving a landmark victory and transforming socialism from theory into practice.
(3) The Appearance of the Socialist Camp and the Rise of Nationally Independent States Amidst Changes in the International Economic and Political Landscape
After World War I ended, as the unevenness of economic, political, and military development among imperialist countries intensified again, Germany, Italy, and Japan—whose military strength had grown rapidly—demanded a re-division of world spheres of influence. This further sharpened the contradictions between imperialists, leading to the rapid outbreak of World War II. Under the influence and inspiration of the World Anti-Fascist War and the leadership of various communist parties, many countries in the world embarked on the socialist path. Socialist forces continued to grow, expanding beyond the borders of a single country to form a socialist camp headed by the Soviet Union. After World War II, the emergence of the socialist camp and the formation of the bipolar landscape ended the history of Western powers dominating global affairs. During this period, influenced by World War II and socialist revolutions, national liberation movements surged. Lenin pointed out: "Imperialism carries out annexations not only in newly opened regions, but also in existing ones, intensifying national oppression and thus also intensifying resistance." Not only did irreconcilable contradictions exist between imperialist countries, but their oppression and exploitation of colonial and semi-colonial countries were bound to provoke resistance, leading to the rise of national liberation movements. Comrade Mao Zedong pointed out: "Such a revolution in a colony or semi-colony can no longer be regarded as an ally of the world capitalist counter-revolutionary front; it has changed into an ally of the world socialist revolutionary front." The independence and liberation movements of colonial and semi-colonial nations became an organic part of the world proletarian revolution, eventually joining the general tide of the world revolutionary movement to strike at the colonial order of imperialism and facilitate the disintegration of the old colonial system of the capitalist world.
Between the poles of the bipolar landscape, the newly born independent nations gradually formed an emerging political force on the international stage—the Third World. Socialist countries supported and allied with Third World countries to continuously wage struggles against capitalist power politics and hegemonism, which helped in establishing a just and reasonable new international political and economic order. After gaining independence, the international environment for Third World countries remained grim; they faced both counter-attacks from Western countries and the constraints of the old international political and economic order on their own development. Emerging independent nations had to unite, strengthen mutual cooperation and exchange, and jointly fight against hegemonism to safeguard national sovereignty and independence. They needed to play an independent role in international affairs to create favorable external conditions for economic development. Among these developments, the Asian-African Conference of the 1950s, the Non-Aligned Movement of the 1960s, and the "Group of 77" were three important milestones in the united struggle of independent nations as the Third World. In these processes, socialist countries played an active role in promotion. For example, at the Asian-African Conference, the Chinese delegation participated under the personal leadership of Premier Zhou Enlai. Facing sabotage by imperialism, Premier Zhou proposed the famous principle of "seeking common ground while shelving differences" [2] and put forward the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, ensuring the success of the conference and the adoption of the Final Communiqué of the Asian-African Conference. The appearance of the Third World as an emerging international political and economic force gradually changed the international landscape and promoted development toward multipolarity. The vast number of Third World countries, by opposing hegemonism and power politics, became an important international force for world peace and development, and the most important and extensive ally of world socialism.
II. The Methods and Intensity of Contradictions Between Great Powers and World Socialism Amidst Changes in the International Economic and Political Landscape
(1) The Development and Changes in International Relations and Contradictions Among Capitalist Countries After World War II
Before World War II, wars frequently broke out among major capitalist countries over the competition for colonies, investment sites, and markets. War was the highest manifestation of the intensification of contradictions between great powers, causing violent shifts in the international economic and political landscape, thereby allowing world socialism to achieve immense development. From after World War II until the end of the Cold War, the methods and intensity of the struggles between great powers underwent major changes. The United States gradually built a global hegemony, forming military alliances with Western countries to jointly deal with socialist and Third World countries. Relations between capitalist powers of the same category were characterized mainly by "cooperation-competition." The profound economic and political roots of this change in the era and international relations lie in capitalism entering the stage of international monopoly capitalism. The large-scale movement of transnational capital and the unfolding of the international circulation of capital formed capitalist economic globalization.
On this basis, developed capitalist countries formed a neocolonial global mode of rule. By comprehensively utilizing hegemony in the global economy, finance, technology, military, and regulatory rules, mobile capital could obtain huge monopoly profits. Developed capitalist countries no longer needed to carry out military conquest or direct colonial rule; they could adopt various methods—especially hidden ones—to indirectly dominate, control, interfere with, and plunder backward countries and regions, ensuring these countries continued to serve as market outlets for goods, sources of raw materials, and sites for investment. Consequently, even though the vast number of Third World countries had achieved political independence, they remained constrained by the old capitalist world system, international inequality, and the old international economic and political order.
Similarly, while the struggle between the major capitalist countries for economic and financial hegemony, investment sites, sales markets, and sources of raw materials is also intense, direct armed conflict generally does not occur. The reasons for this situation lie, on the one hand, in the emergence of the socialist camp and, on the other, in the fact that the United States, in order to maintain its super-hegemony, can achieve its strategic goals by employing various non-war means—such as economic, financial, and trade measures—to suppress other major capitalist powers. After World War II, the Japanese economy grew rapidly, maintaining a huge trade surplus with the United States and gradually becoming the world's largest creditor nation. In the 1980s, under pressure from the United States, Japan was forced to sign the "Plaza Accord" and undertake financial liberalization reforms. The yen appreciated rapidly and substantially, which damaged the competitiveness of Japanese export enterprises and shocked the Japanese economy, leading it into a period of long-term stagnation. The United States acts similarly toward European countries. Believing that a unified Europe does not serve its interests, the U.S. frequently fosters division and friction within the European Union (EU) and supported the United Kingdom's Brexit. It has provoked disputes between "New Europe" and "Old Europe" [3], utilizing countries such as Poland and Romania to divide the EU and weaken France and Germany. It opposes the establishment of an independent security protection system by the EU and prevents Europe from building military defense integration. In particular, it is extremely vigilant against other Western countries challenging the hegemony of the U.S. dollar. On January 1, 1999, the Euro was officially launched, challenging the dollar's hegemonic position. Subsequently, NATO, led by the United States, bombed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and the Kosovo War broke out. The Euro’s exchange rate fell, and under the pressure of various tactics, the Euro has found it difficult to challenge the position of the dollar to this day.
2. Development and Changes in the Relations and Contradictions between the Two Systems after World War II
Post-World War II international relations also included those between capitalist and socialist countries. Since their birth, socialist countries have been treated with hostility by capitalism, and capitalist countries have spared no effort to besiege and strangle them. Before World War II, capitalist countries primarily used military force. After World War II, finding that a frontal assault was unsuccessful, the developed capitalist countries adopted a strategy of "outsmarting" [4] the socialist countries through "peaceful evolution" [5]. This involved the West exerting pressure and influence in political, economic, ideological, and diplomatic spheres to induce changes within socialist countries—especially within their ruling parties—that met Western needs, thereby incorporating socialist countries into the capitalist orbit. Correspondingly, the two camps, dominated by the U.S. and the Soviet Union, engaged in a "Cold War," comprehensively utilizing political, military, economic, and cultural means to compete across different fields and levels. Although differences and conflicts were severe, both sides did their best to avoid the outbreak of a large-scale global war (World War). Confrontation was usually carried out through "cold" methods, such as local proxy wars, technological and arms races, and geopolitical maneuvering.
The disintegration of the Soviet Union is a "successful" example of the developed capitalist countries’ peaceful evolution of socialist states. The various reasons for the Soviet collapse remain worthy of research and summary today. Among them, the economic war meticulously planned by the United States can be said to have "made a great contribution." Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, through economic intelligence analysis, the U.S. learned that the Soviet Union was a major oil exporter, and the foreign exchange earned from oil and gas exports accounted for about 70% of all Soviet hard currency. Without this money, the Soviet economy would lose a vital pillar. Thus, under U.S. manipulation and planning, international oil prices continued to fall in the decade preceding the Soviet collapse, thereby exacerbating the deterioration of the Soviet economic situation and precipitating its dissolution. The collapse of the Soviet Union led to the end of the bipolar pattern. Although the international economic and political landscape underwent drastic changes, it did not take the form of a large-scale war. Due to the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the struggle among major powers affecting changes in the international economic and political landscape has primarily occurred between the West, led by the United States, and emerging major powers such as China and Russia.
Since the end of the Cold War, capitalism has continued to place its strategic focus on pursuing, blocking, and containing socialist forces, with China as its primary target. After the drastic changes in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, although Russia implemented a capitalist political and economic system, the United States continued to apply a strategy of "weakening, containment, and defense" against it. This is because international financial monopoly capitalist forces, led by the U.S., require unipolarity and seek to bring the countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union entirely under their control. NATO, led by the U.S., has continuously expanded eastward, squeezing Russia's strategic space and weakening its influence. This eventually led to a surge in nationalist sentiment within Russia, which began to fight back. Russia has not only strengthened its strategic coordination with China and maintained close ties with Iran, taking a tough stance against NATO expansion, but has also begun to adopt a policy of non-cooperation with the U.S. on a series of issues. This has exacerbated the overall diplomatic dilemma the U.S. faced after launching the Iraq War and has brought about profound changes in the global strategic situation. Russia possesses the strong comprehensive national power and various strategic resources left by socialism, giving it the capital to contend with the United States. This has also provided other countries with a "breather" under the exploitation of international financial monopoly capital—this is a rich strategic legacy left by socialism for world peace and development.
3. New Developments in the Strategic Focus of Competition and Modes of Struggle between the Two Systems
Because no war broke out among the major capitalist countries, because socialist countries needed to vigorously pursue economic construction, because of capitalism’s new colonial modes of rule, because of capitalism’s "peaceful evolution" toward socialism, and because socialist and Third World countries were insufficiently prepared for the new ways in which capitalist rule and influence change the world—lacking perfected methods of decryption and defense, and failing to handle challenges properly—the drastic changes in Eastern Europe and the collapse of the Soviet Union occurred, causing the world socialist movement to suffer major setbacks. Since the end of the Cold War, the West has regarded China as the only remaining major socialist power; thus, China has become the primary strategic target for Western hostile forces seeking to implement "Westernization" and "differentiation" [6], as well as containment. Even though China and other socialist countries embarked on the path of Reform and Opening-up and actively participated in the process of economic globalization, the West still maintains deep strategic suspicion toward China and persists in the strategic goal of gradually achieving peaceful evolution through engagement. Most socialist countries were established on a foundation of economic and cultural backwardness and are surrounded by the capitalist world; they urgently need to develop productive forces and enhance comprehensive national power to deal with the threat of force from capitalist countries. Furthermore, they need to improve the attractiveness of their system by developing productive forces and raising the people's standard of living. An important reason for the upheaval in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe was that, compared to Western developed countries, the improvement of social productive forces and the people's living standards became increasingly slow, which affected the attractiveness of the socialist system and the confidence of the people. Therefore, during this period, the world socialist movement manifested primarily through the reform and construction of socialist countries, continuously exploring development paths suited to their own national conditions. The strategic focus and mode of struggle in the relationship between the two systems—socialism and capitalism—were mainly reflected in economic and systemic competition. That is to say, the main challenges facing socialist countries consisted, on the one hand, of dealing with traditional military threats and non-traditional security threats such as "peaceful evolution" from capitalist countries and, on the other hand, of how to rapidly increase comprehensive national power centered on economic strength and enhance systemic competitiveness and attractiveness.
The highly developed productive forces and socialized mass production created by capitalism constitute the material basis for socialist relations of production. Marx and Engels believed that within a capitalist world system where developed Western countries and backward Third World countries coexist, it is possible for backward countries to achieve "leapfrog" development. However, the realization of this leap by backward countries must be conditioned upon fully learning from and utilizing all the "positive achievements" [7] created by capitalism. At the same time, after backward countries achieve revolutionary victory, world socialism has not yet attained an overall victory, and capitalism is still developing. In other words, the development of the world economic system and the development of the relationship between capitalism and socialism in the process of world history remain global movements. In a capitalist world system based on the world market, the relationship between capitalism and socialism includes not only a vertical relationship of historical succession and replacement but also a horizontal relationship of diffusion, interaction, and complementarity. What backward countries need to absorb are not only the past advanced achievements of Western developed countries but also those advanced achievements created in the contemporary era. There are many historical lessons from the international communist movement after World War II. One of the most important is that some backward countries, after embarking on the socialist road, neglected the sublation [8] and utilization of capitalist civilization, resulting in a heavy price. In its international interactions and relations with capitalist countries, although China faces major challenges in preventing Western peaceful evolution and suppression in political, economic, and technological fields, it still insists that "economic construction is the center" and "development is the hard truth" [9]. It persists in normal international exchanges with the West and learns from the civilizational achievements created by Western capitalism, thereby achieving great successes in modernization.
III. The Accelerated Evolution of Today's International Economic and Political Landscape and the Development of World Socialism
1. The Overall Strategic Situation of the Accelerated Evolution of Today's International Economic and Political Landscape
The end of the Cold War and the termination of the bipolar pattern marked the entry of the world’s economic and political landscape into a new period. Particularly since 2008, the U.S. and global financial and economic crises triggered by the subprime mortgage crisis have plunged the global economy into a long-wave cycle of recession. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic further exacerbated the uncertainty and instability of the global economy, making the prospects for recovery and development of global economic growth even harder to predict. Because capitalism is in the downward phase of its economic cycle, the global economy has remained sluggish, which has triggered various economic, social, political, and geopolitical contradictions. World peace and development face increasingly severe challenges; the world has entered a period of relative turbulence, and the "Great Changes Unseen in a Century" [10] are accelerating. Since the end of the bipolar pattern, the rifts between the United States and the West have also been gradually widening. Within Western countries, the relative strength of major capitalist powers is undergoing significant changes. Three centers of power have formed in the capitalist world (the United States, Western Europe, and Japan), and other Western countries are striving to throw off U.S. control and expand their own influence. This is a new situation in which the law of the uneven development of imperialist countries is operating. Since the international financial crisis, the strength of the United States and Western countries has relatively declined. While the U.S. hegemonic position is in relative decline, it remains dominant among developed capitalist countries and is still the main pillar maintaining the capitalist system. In Europe, the U.S. continually pushes for NATO's eastward expansion, attempting to use NATO to replace the EU, reintegrate Europe, and construct a new European geopolitical architecture. It seeks to squeeze Russia's living space and even completely dismember Russia to serve U.S. pursuit of European and world hegemony. In the balance of international forces, the power of emerging major power groups, represented by the BRICS countries, is continuously strengthening, and the power of socialist countries, represented by China, is also continuously developing. The socialist forces in the world and the peace-loving and righteous forces internationally are engaged in an unremitting struggle to oppose the old capitalist order, establish a new international political and economic order, and promote world peace, stability, and development, becoming an important force in the international political and economic landscape.
In the past, the United States and the West mainly adopted neo-colonialist methods to influence the world. Generally, they did not directly intervene with major powers through armed force or engage in armed conflict. Furthermore, the presence of righteous forces pursuing peaceful development and the constraints provided by the contradictions and struggles among the major powers meant that while world peace, development, and stability faced increasingly severe challenges, they still maintained a state of overall relative peace. However, facing today's increasingly complex and severe international situation, we must clearly recognize that as the global gap between rich and poor continues to widen and as the total volume of international financial monopoly capital continues to rise—especially while it is mired in deep crisis—its need for surplus value and "blood transfusions" to maintain its operations, pursue profits, and transfer the costs of the crisis grows ever larger. This inevitably prompts it to take more adventurous actions. The continuous eastward expansion of NATO and the strategic pressure on Russia eventually led to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. This signifies that the international economic and political situation will undergo accelerated evolution in the future, and global peace, development, and stability face enormous threats.
Within the general international environment, due to the neo-colonialist and neo-imperialist modes of global plunder and dominance adopted by the United States and the West, "peaceful evolution" [11] targeted at China and other socialist countries has unfolded across all fronts. A struggle has persisted regarding geopolitical security, economic and financial security, political security, and cultural and ideological security, characterized by penetration and counter-penetration, control and counter-control, and interference and counter-interference. Within the changes unseen in a century, socialist countries—especially China, the world's largest socialist state—face more urgent strategic pressures and security development challenges from the United States. The American ruling class has already designated China as its primary strategic competitor, further intensifying its strategic containment of China. Geopolitical curbing, economic suppression, financial attacks, technological and trade sanctions, and ideological assaults against China have become increasingly fierce and overt.
In order to maintain its hegemonic status, the United States emphasizes an "alliance of democratic values" and a "rules-based international order." Particularly in Asia, it claims to be "returning to the Asia-Pacific" and forcefully promotes its "Indo-Pacific Strategy." Building upon traditional alliances such as the "U.S.-Japan Security Treaty" and the "U.S.-ROK Mutual Defense Treaty," it is vigorously pushing the "Quad" (U.S., Japan, India, Australia) and the AUKUS (U.S., UK, Australia) alliance, intending to form a new "Pacific Rim Treaty Organization" military alliance to encircle China. In short, China faces an increasingly uncertain and unstable strategic environment internationally. We must pay timely attention to the changes in the intensity, severity, and methods of international contradictions and struggles during the accelerated evolution of the international economic and political landscape, making full strategic preparations and appropriate strategic responses. During the historical intersection of the "Two Centenary" goals [12], the world has entered a period of turbulence and transformation. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: "Currently and for a period to come, although our country's development is still in a period of important strategic opportunity, there are new developments and changes in both opportunities and challenges. The magnitude of both opportunities and challenges is unprecedented, but overall, opportunities outweigh challenges." "Time and momentum are on our side; this is the source of our composure and confidence, as well as our determination and faith." Over the 70-plus years since the founding of New China, and especially during the 40-plus years of reform and opening up, our Party has always maintained that "development is the absolute principle" [13], promoting sustained and healthy economic and social development. We have achieved great accomplishments that have attracted worldwide attention; our comprehensive national strength—including economic, technological, and national defense capabilities—has significantly increased, ushering in bright prospects for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. We have persisted in and developed socialism with Chinese characteristics, created a new path of Chinese-path modernization, and created a new form of human civilization. This "time and momentum" refers to the fact that the firm pace of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is unstoppable, and the attraction and cohesion of the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics are increasingly strengthening. In short, with the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, the systemic advantages of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the spiritual strength of self-confidence, self-improvement, and the courage to engage in the "great struggle" [14], and the solid material foundation accumulated through great achievements in socialist modernization, we can use the certainty of our own development to respond to the uncertainty of the external environment, extend our period of strategic opportunity, and smoothly realize the Second Centenary Goal.
(3) The Development of World Socialist Forces amidst the Accelerated Evolution of the International Economic and Political Landscape
Currently, as the changes unseen in a century accelerate, the Russia-Ukraine conflict has brought about profound evolution in the international situation. Capitalist crises are deep, and human society faces unprecedented challenges to peace and development. The world socialist and left-wing movements face both developmental opportunities and various risks and challenges. The disintegration of the Soviet Union and the drastic changes in Eastern Europe [15] caused the world socialist movement to fall into a low ebb. Most Communist Parties and left-wing forces around the world, though in this low ebb, remained firm in their belief in the truth of Marxism and the scientific nature of communism. They did not sink; rather, under extremely difficult conditions and through the adjustment of theories and policies, they entered a period of renewed gestation and development. Internationally, socialist countries such as China have calmly responded to the challenges of hegemonic states, and the cause of socialist construction continues to advance. Because economic crises have dealt heavy blows to capitalism, emerging countries have risen abruptly, and contradictions between major powers act as constraints, world socialist and left-wing forces are also continuously recovering. Since the international financial crisis, socialism has once again attracted people worldwide. In developed Western countries, according to opinion polls, more and more people yearn for and believe in socialism. People in the former Soviet Union and Eastern European countries increasingly miss the various beauties of the socialist period, and socialist trends of thought in Asia, Africa, and Latin America have become active again. Particularly in Latin America, the Latin American left is an important component of the world socialist movement. Marked by Hugo Chávez winning the Venezuelan general election in 1998, a group of center-left forces rose in Latin America thereafter, exerting an extremely profound and positive influence on the development of world socialism. After Chávez's passing, the Latin American left experienced setbacks. However, due to the failure of social governance by the Latin American right and the intensification of social inequality and poverty, a new "pink tide" has emerged in Latin America in recent years, reflecting the resilience of world socialist and left-wing forces. In particular, as socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a New Era, it signifies that scientific socialism is radiating great vitality in 21st-century China. Socialism with Chinese characteristics adds powerful strength to the revitalization of world socialism and greatly encourages world socialist and left-wing forces. World socialist and left-wing forces also emphasize cooperation and coalition-building, promoting new development in the left-wing and world socialist movements. Communist Parties in many countries actively participate in international forums such as the "International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties" (IMCWP). The IMCWP is the most influential and effective platform for alliance and exchange among Communist Parties worldwide. Communist Parties also focus on regional alliances. For example, under the advocacy of the Communist Party of Greece, the "Initiative of Communist and Workers' Parties in Europe" was established. This was an organization for unity and cooperation among European Communist and Workers' Parties, founded in 2013 but dissolved in 2023. However, on this basis, Communist Parties from several European countries established the "European Communist Action" in November 2023.
Communist Parties and left-wing organizations in various countries also actively participate in and organize social movements such as protests and strikes, continuously expanding the influence of left-wing forces. In recent years, as the structural crisis of capitalism in developed European and American countries continues to evolve and spread across various fields, political instability in Western politics has intensified, and social movements like protests and strikes have surged, providing socialist forces with certain developmental opportunities and space. Communist Parties in Western countries actively participate in these movements to expand their influence and win new development. However, the development of world socialist and left-wing forces also faces challenges from the right. The political and economic crises spreading across the U.S. and the West should have provided a social basis for the revival of left-wing forces, and Communist Parties in Western countries should have taken this opportunity to achieve great development; however, because the strength of Communist Parties in various countries is generally weak and their influence limited, right-wing forces have instead gradually gained dominance in the political arenas of some countries. The guiding ideologies and theoretical propositions of Communist Parties in many countries are not unified; almost every country has multiple Communist Parties, and the problems of lack of cohesion and fragmentation are serious. Party programs, policies, organizational structures, and modes of operation do not adapt well to changes in national social structures. The methods of organizing electoral alliances and taking the parliamentary road to seize power adopted by Communist Parties in some countries have also shown little effect, and the influence of these parties urgently needs to be enhanced. For the world's left-wing and socialist forces, theoretical innovation is required to continuously unify thinking and further strengthen the parties' appeal and cohesion. It is necessary to actively plunge into the various activities concerning the interests and demands of the broad masses of working people worldwide, and to strengthen the leadership and representativeness of world left-wing forces and political parties to enhance their influence. It is necessary to further strengthen alliances, communication, and exchange; further strengthen organizational functions and operational mechanism construction; and continuously improve work styles and methods. Alliances should be unfolded across multiple dimensions—at the level of Marxist and left-wing political parties, trade union organizations, and left-wing scholars and academic circles—to enhance the effectiveness of unity and alliance and promote the continuous development of the cause of world socialism. It can be said that "the future of world socialism depends on the effective joint action of the international proletariat."