Polemic on General Line of International ... - From Marx to Mao

The present correlation of forces in the world arena gavethe socialist countries, together with all peace-loving forces,the opportunity of envisaging as an entirely feasible task forthe first time in history that of averting a new world war andof ensuring peace and security of the peoples.The years that have passed since the adoption of this Statementhave fully corroborated the correctness of this thesis.The failure of the aggressive forces to push mankind over theabyss of a destructive thermo-nuclear war is a highly importantresult of the strengthening of the might of the socialistcountries, of the peace-loving foreign policy which they unswervinglypursue and which is increasingly winning recognitionand support among hundreds of millions of people andgaining the upper hand over the imperialist policy of aggressionand war.No Marxist doubts that imperialism, losing one positionafter another, is trying by every means to preserve its dominationover peoples and to regain its lost positions. At presentthe greatest conspiracy ever of the international imperialistsis taking place against the countries of socialism and the worldmovement of liberation. Of course, there is no guarantee thatthe imperialists will not try to unleash a world war. TheCommunists should clearly see this danger.But the position of the aggressor under present-day conditionsradically differs from his position before the SecondWorld War and, even more, before the First World War. Inthe past, wars usually ended with some capitalist countriesdefeating others, but the vanquished continued to live, regainedtheir strength after a time, and even proved able to startrenewed aggression, as is shown, in particular, by the exampleof Germany. A thermo-nuclear war does not offer such aprospect to any aggressor, and the imperialists are compelledto reckon with this. Fear of a retaliatory blow, fear of retribution,keeps them from letting loose a world war. Thesocialist community has become so strong that imperialism canno longer impose its conditions on the peoples and dictate its504