Does German reunification equal capitalist restoration?

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SOCIALIST ACTION FEBRUARY 1990 13 Many on the left who oppose the reunification of Germany argue that the only kind of reunification possible today is capitalist reunification.

"In the current context," writes West German socialist Winfried Wolf, "calling into question the borders of East Germany can only mean opening the way to the absorption of East Germany by West Germany. ... The German 'national question' is but an instrument of imperialism against the post-capitalist countries." (Inprecor, Oct. 30, 1989)

Is this really the case? Are reunification and capitalist restoration synonymous? Hardly.

Imperialists for reunification?

The imperialists do not need German reunification to recolonize East Germany. Nor are they, in fact, pushing for German reunification. Their major spokespersons are clear about this:

• U.S. Secretary of State James Baker, after the collapse of the Berlin Wall: "German reunification is not on the order of the day."

• The European Economic Community, in a Nov. 28 statement: "This process [of German reunification] must take place within the full respect of the Helsinki Treaty, which calls for the respect of territorial integrity and the inviolability of the existing borders. It must be situated within the perspective of the integration of the EEC nations and in the context of East-West dialogue and cooperation."

• French President François Mitterand: "The will of the German people cannot override agreements among nation states which stipulate that the existence of two German states represents the best guarantee for safeguarding German interests."

• Former West German Chancellor Willy Brandt: "The German people are not the only ones who should decide the manner in which they are to live together. ... Germany is not the only nation concerned in this affair. We must not forget the four Allied powers (United States, France, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union) who are still the guarantors of Germany and who have thousands of troops stationed on German soil."

• Zbigniew Brzezinski, former President Carter's National Security Adviser: "I do not favor the termination of NATO and the Warsaw Pact, which I believe would contribute to anarchy. Both alliances, as two pillars of a larger European security system, could help to preserve geopolitical and territorial stability. Any new arrangement between the two Germanys-including confederation—-must be viewed in this context."

Could it be any clearer? While the imperialists give lip service to the German people's right to self-determination, they are in fact opposed to it. For them, this "right" is predicated on the maintenance of the post-war military and economic alliances and on the agreement of the four occupying powers-all of whom are concerned that the post-war counterrevolutionary order must not be disrupted.

For the imperialist powers, the German working class's deep aspiration for unity represents a serious threat—particularly in the current context of revolutionary upheaval.

Imperialism's best allies

The imperialist powers are also fully conscious that the East German Stalinist bureaucracy is affording them the best vehicle today for the gradual restoration of capitalism. This explains why the imperialists are moving fast to assist the East During his recent visit to East Germany, following the fall of the Berlin Wall, U.S. Secretary of State James Baker declared: "I expressed to Mr. Modrow [the current East German prime minister] our desire to see this reform process carried out peacefully and in the most stable manner possible, and told him he could count on our assistance."

The French daily Le Monde summed up the meaning of Baker's East German visit: "The U.S. Secretary of State went as far as he could in supporting the East German prime minister, Mr. Hans Modrow, on whom he counts to stabilize the situation in East Germany."

The objective of the imperialists is clearly to recolonize the Eastern European workers' states, that is, to overturn the planned economies in those countries. Their best allies in this undertaking are the Stalinist bureaucrats—not the German workers who are fighting for their unity, combining in this manner the struggle against bureaucratic oppression and capitalist exploitation.

Establishing the unity of the German working class in this struggle for a government without bosses or bureaucrats poses the need to build a revolutionary party throughout Germany that can raise high the banner of socialist democracy.

— ALAN BENJAMIN

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Panama...."

In his speech, Castro also revealed his deep fear that the Soviet Union might cut off vital aid to Cuba and use the Cuban Revolution as a bargaining chip in its negotiations with U.S. imperialism.

Castro pointed to a number of Soviet magazines-including Glasnost, Sputnik,