While this week's episode of Back in the USSR honors the struggle of the Palestinian people for national liberation on the 67th anniversary of the Nakba ("catastrophe"), it also addresses the deeper issues of imperialism and self-determination. It is difficult to express just how monstrous imperialism is and equally difficult to describe the destruction it inflicts on human life. The American Empire through economic exploitation, CIA secret wars, direct military intervention or military intervention through its proxy states (like Israel and Saudi Arabia), has killed and is killing millions of people around the world. One of the greatest myths of the 20th Century was that the Soviet Union was an empire when in fact nothing could be further from the truth. Instead of attempting to destroy anti-colonial movements in the Third World, the Soviet Union supported them. Instead of beating down national minorities and historically oppressed nationalities, the Soviet Union empowered them economically, politically, and culturally. Instead of supporting ruling class forces throughout the world to the point of mass bloodshed, the Soviet Union supported powerless people fighting for liberation. Far from an empire, the USSR was an anti-empire, and fundamentally it understood that to defeat empire it was necessary for working people around the world to have the strength and the tools to defend themselves.
With music from Georgy Sviridov, Ryan Harvey, Angelic Upstarts, National Choir of Azerbaijan SSR, NVA Choir, Lillian Allen, Molotov, and Lee Reed.
![<?php echo $config['site_title']; ?>](/static/images/rp-navimg.gif)
![Support the <?php echo $config['site_title']; ?>](/static/images/support.png)
