Vijay Prashad on Imperialism and the Contemporary Left | Q&A w/ Class Unity on 'Washington Bullets'

Vijay Prashad talks with Class Unity about the politics and economics of imperialism as well as issues with the contemporary left.

He is the author of many books, including:

(2011) Marx's Capital: An Introductory Reader. Contributed by Vijay Prashad, Venkatesh Athreya, Prasenjit Bose, Prabhat Patnaik, Jayati Ghosh, T. Jayaraman, R. Ramakumar. LeftWord.
(2015) Letters to Palestine. Verso Books.
(2017) Will the Flower Slip Through the Asphalt: Writers Respond to Climate Change. New Delhi: LeftWord Books.
(2019) Red Star Over the Third World. Pluto Press.
(2020) Washington Bullets. New Delhi: LeftWord Books.
(2022) Struggle Makes Us Human: Learning from Movements for Socialism, edited by Frank Barat. Haymarket Books.
(2022) The Withdrawal: Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and the Fragility of U.S. Power, with Noam Chomsky. The New Press.
(2024) On Cuba: Reflections on 70 Years of Revolution and Struggle, with Noam Chomsky. The New Press.

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[jamesayres]

Vijay you are of the best people on the planet, wish we had more like you

[coolshah]

Great video. It's always great to see Prashad.

[GeorgeSais]

It's nearly 1 a m in Sydney Australia, but when Vijay is on. I just cannot resist. He is tops and I recommend him to everyone I know.

[avSamikkannu]

A very productive engagement with Mr Vijay, a public intellectual very much concerned about the practical questions of building a viable Left organisation.
My sincere thanks to Class Unity for this interview.

[Kesan]

Great interview. Vijay is the worthy successor to Noam Chomsky

[linus]

I only wish more people can hear this. ❤😊

[elizabethferrari]

This is my new favorite interview with Vijay, "Vijay Unbound", lol. Thank you guys.

[publicutility]

Infinite important points, time and time again.
✌💞💪🤙🖖 Fellow Earthlings

[ericbushee]

Washingtonian leftist that is glad to have followed Vijay and found you all at Class Unity. Subscribed, looking forward to more and hope to help get that journal going!!!

[knugen]

I LOVE THIS MAN WHAT AN ABSOLUTE LEGEND ❤️

[igolfer]

We need more intellectuals like Mr. Vijay Prashad and Mr. SL Kanthan. The global south will be better and stronger if we have more voices like theirs.

There is no longer such a thing as realism; it is simply a pretext for imperialism or exceptionalism; it is an excuse for colonialism. Realism means basically “Might makes right” in Western lexicon. It causes and justifies wars and genocide. The West no longer brings hope or peace or prosperity; they stoke fears and destruction and inequality to the world.

The Taiwan issue and the Palestinian issue are the last pieces of colonialism and will be resolved in due course.

It is time that Western imperialism and colonialism in the name of capitalism finally come to an end. That’s why politicians in the West are hysterical and delusional and desperate to stop the rise of China. The so called “coming collapse of China”is, in reality, the coming collapse of imperialism and colonialism, or the collapse of global hegemony.

For the last 500 hundred years before the beginning of the collapse of colonialism in the 1950s, Europe had been colonizing the rest of the world, mainly for its endless resources and cheap labor to feed its own economic growth. The West had been fighting wars among themselves for colonies and control of raw materials and energy. Ever since the end of the WW2, independence movements across the globe had first set free countries in Asia, followed by Latín America, the Middle East and lastly Africa. The West is, now, no longer able to get free resources or labor or land, to support its dominance over developing countries, or the global South in general.

Under these circumstances, Europe, or the West including Japan, is losing its own economic independence; they are relying heavily or existentially on the support of the U.S. In the meantime, on the other hand, the global South with the cooperation among the BRICS COUNTRIES like China, Russia, Brazil, South Africa and so on, are focusing on their own economic growth and social development. The new world order is emerging with multipolarity and international democracy for shared prosperity. The West is feeling the heat and threat of its hegemonic collapse. That’s why they are following the marching order of the U.S., in its proxy war in Ukraine against Russia. The European countries have become totally dependent on the U.S. for its resources and strength. Without their old colonies, they submit themselves now completely to the hegemony of the U.S.

However, with the united front between China and Russia, the global south is awakening to a new world order. They see their hope and prosperity in China’s BRI as well as the strategies of the BRICKS. That’s why the West can not defeat Russia in Ukraine because it doesn’t have the unlimited resources it used to enjoy with their colonies gone forever.

The bottom line is how can the West or NATO expect to beat the united front between Russia and China in the long run without getting into a nuclear Armhcsageddon?!

It is a self-indulgent delusion that the West under the coercion of the United States would be able somehow to stop or contain the rise of China with so-called small yard with high fences. It is a self defeating hypothesis. The U.S. and China should be partners and friends instead of enemies or competitors, for the benefits of the humanity and for a better world for all.

[aisharasheed]

You are an amazing orator and scholar… I could listen to you all day every day… you speak what I think… your knowledge is far far superior…just amazing analysis of sensitive topics

[CharlieBabbitt]

Sublation Media and the party they are starting is a good answer to Vijay’s opening questions.

[kennethhymes]

We got a garrison state at home is what we got from the war in Iraq.

[StateOfPurgatory]

Oh my goodness
How great journalist you are

[howielisnoff]

It’s late in the “game, ” sort of like the bottom of the ninth inning. Vijay Prashad is one of few public intellectuals left standing.

[happy-go-commie]

1:14:45 Vijay Prashad is referring to the Bank of North Dakota (BND), the only state-owned bank in the US up to this day.

[mjleger]

About ecumenical discussion, ten years ago I tried to edit a book titled Comrades: Cross-Ideological Collaboration on the Left. I won't say who I invited but only one person was interested: Marc Herbst of the Journal of Aesthetics and Protest.

[lortega]

Mr Prashad, dear admired Vijay, I’m Chilean. I know you’ve been living there. I’ve been living in Australia for nearly 20 years, mainly working with Aboriginal community people in this country, in the Central Desert.
I hope you’ll get my message:
Have you uploaded any videos like this one, in Spanish?
I’d love to share your thoughts in Spanish in social media.
Regards

[arturoluna]

Thank you for enlightening me on the CIA