Last week's world economic summit was an almost 100 per cent success for - the nature of the arms build up, the new cold war, the US budget defecit, rates, the international debt crisis - the US asserted its interests not only against the working class and the Soviet Union but also against its capitalist 'allies'.
The United States' small matters either. West European capitalism continues to be drained of its finances to prop up the dollar and fund the American military build The United States is imposing a pattern of UD. arms trade across the Atlantic totally in its own financial interests. The US embargoes on trade with Eastern Europe are directly European 'high technology' firms. The continued impact of 'Reaganomics' ther the recession in Western Europe - and is directly creating starvation and chaos in large parts of the 'third world'. All those, including the Soviet leadership, who believed the West European capitalists would stand up to the United States had a nasty shock last week.
But the reason for Reagan's victory is easy to find. In a struggle between capitalists the Unitec States holds all the trump cards.
No European capitalist state has the power to defend capitalism in Western Europe against the Soviet Union. No European substitute for the dollar. capitalist has any workable alternative to NATO and the 'Atlantic Alliance' - that is the subordination of Western Europe to the United States.
More important the US arrived in Western Europe after World War Il with its Marshall Aid and ground forces to block socialism. Confronted with highly organised labour Western Europe, and the USSR as the strongest military power on the would not have survived in Europe without the intervention of the United States.
It is this reality which still dominates the positions of West European capitalism. Certainly the West European ruling classes dislike many of the current policies of the United States. But they tear the the USSR, far more. understand that reality perfectly well. They have only one - but utterly devastating -to European capitalism. ve will leave you to face your own working class and the USSR, alone.
Kohls, Mitterands, lapse like pricked balloons. As the United States is also the most powerful guarantor of their exploitation of the Middle East, Africa Asia the Japanese capitalists finally will give in to Reagan only United States in Western Europe was that out on the streets on 9 June - the West European labour and peace movements.
But then Thatcher, wanted them invited to the summit even less than Reagan did!
Editor: ALAN FREEMAN Published weekly except two weeks in August and the a week or beccloct Signed articles by contributors do not necessarily repreent Socialist Action's views. These are expressed in editorials.
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Ronald On every key question in dispute interest victories were not on hitting West is deepening still furcurrency can No West European movements continent, capitalist working class of Western Europe, and and the United States ruling class, • argument 'Either submit to us or Faced with that logic the Craxis and all the rest colLatin America, West force which really opposes the Mitterand, and Kohl sales