p There are two forces on earth that can decide the destiny of mankind. One force is international capitalism.... The other force is the international proletariat that is fighting for the socialist revolution. . . .

p V. I. Lenin

p Lenin’s ideas concerning the need for a most scrupulous analysis of objective conditions, particularly the alignment and balance of power are of immense theoretical and practical importance for understanding the nature and character of contemporary international relations and, above all, for finding ways of influencing them and for pursuing an effective foreign policy.

p “The entire history of revolutions, however, teaches us,” Lenin stressed, “that when we have to do with a mass movement or with the class struggle, especially one like that at present developing not only throughout a single country, albeit a tremendous country, but also involving all international relations—in such a case we must base our tactics first and foremost on an appraisal of the objective situation. .. .”  [64•* 

p If by international relations we mean the totality of economic, political, legal, diplomatic and military contacts and interrelations among peoples, among states and state systems, among the main social, economic and political forces and organisations functioning in the world, we should recognise that the correlation of these forces constitutes the objective 65 circumstances in which both world politics as a whole and the foreign policy of individual states are developing.

p When we study the balance of power in the world in all its diversity and complexity we have to bear in mind the conditional and relative nature of objective and subjective factors applied to the given category. On the one hand, the balance of power as a whole may be viewed as an objective basis for international relations, as objective conditions in which states, classes, parties and individuals operate in the international arena. On the other hand, a state’s foreign policy (which is by its very nature a subjective factor) operates in relation to other states as an element of the international situation that does not depend on them. Furthermore, the foreign policy of the state which takes into consideration the objectively prevailing balance of power has an effect on it to a certain extent, i. e., becomes an element of that balance of power.

p The forces taking part in international relations differ quantitatively as well as qualitatively, as we have said above. The difference in the strength of individual states is an objective fact. Essentially, this is what lies behind such notions as great powers, medium and small nations. This gradation of the participants in international relations, despite their formal equality, is also reflected in international legal documents. According to the Charter of the League of Nations, for example, some states enjoyed a permanent place in its Council, others were semi-permanent, while the remainder were elected to the Council only for a definite time. The United Nations Charter accords five states the status of permanent members of the Security Council, so signifying the recognition of their special role and certain prerogatives which the other UN members do not enjoy.

p The notion of power in its diverse variations is prominent in bourgeois theories of international relations, in foreign policy doctrines and in the political strategy and tactics of imperialist states. One may refer to such concepts as " equilibrium of forces”, "power vacuum”, "centres of power”, "positions of strength”, which have for decades typified and in many ways continue to characterise the foreign policy theory and practice of imperialist states.

p Marxist-Leninist literature too is liberally sprinkled with notions of power and power alignment. Lenin noted the objective substance of these notions and on many occasions stressed the prime importance of an analysis and strict account at each stage of history of the balance of power as the basis of a scientific elaboration and successful pursuit of any policy.

p Lenin considered it a fatal error to ignore the objective balance of class forces.  [66•*  Science demands that “account be taken of all the forces, groups, parties, classes and masses operating in a given country”,  [66•**  he stressed. “It is only when,” he said, “at every sharp turn in history, we appraise the class relations as a whole, the relations of all classes, and do not select individual examples and individual cases, that we feel ourselves firmly supported by an analysis of probable facts.”  [66•*** 

p Changes in the nature and the alignment of forces in the world, which in the final count reflect the deep-going processes in social production, largely determine both the principal trends in international affairs and the specific course of events. Shifts in the international balance of power are expressed in contradictions, conflicts and wars, and ultimately predetermine their outcome. The peace which puts an end to a war, as Lenin said, “can be nothing but a consideration and a record of the actual changes brought about in the relation of forces in the course of and as a result of the war”.  [66•**** 

p An analysis of the balance of power, therefore, is an essential element in a scientific study of contemporary international relations.

p It is even more important for influencing international relations and for conducting an effective foreign policy. Account for the balance of power lies behind the working out of a scientifically substantiated foreign policy strategy and tactics, the selection of corresponding forms of struggle both 67 internally and externally. “We Marxists,” Lenin said in this connection, “have always been proud that we determined the expediency of any form of struggle by a precise calculation of the mass forces and class relationships.”  [67•* 

p A growing influence on world politics is being exerted by changes in the alignment not only of forces that directly operate in international relations, but also forces operating within individual countries. Lenin often noted the difficulty of this task, stressing the importance of giving an all-round account of the relation of forces. Its complexity is evident in the experience of the world revolutionary movement. Antonio Gramsci, founder of the Italian Communist Party, made just that point when he compared social phenomena with categories in the exact sciences: “In a parallelogram of forces, the component vectors are constructed so as to obtain a resultant, what is more, the particular resultant desired; but forces operating in political life conduct themselves not as conventional symbols in a predisposed scheme, they clash, become intertwined and tangled, and destroy one another, thus creating a complex whole which is a drama rather than an abstract scheme. In physics, as a result of the interaction of the component forces nothing disappears; in life every day everything is being lost and everything is being reestablished, and every day brings, if we continue this comparison, a new scheme... .”  [67•** 

p The task of taking all-round consideration of the correlation of forces can only be correctly resolved on the basis of Marxist-Leninist theory and the creative application of Leninist ideas. Moreover, Lenin taught us that we must identify in this motley, and at first glance jumbled mosaic, the basic forces that play a decisive role in world politics. Lenin’s work and all of his practical activity in international politics are a splendid example of the scientific way to do this.

p Before the victory and consolidation of socialism as a world system, imperialism was the main force in international 68 politics. Lenin invariably followed the determining influence of imperialism on all aspects of international relations throughout the complex and confusing tangle of the diplomatic struggle. In his classic Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism, Lenin wrote: “Finance capital is such a great, such a decisive, you might say, force in all economic and in all international relations, that it is capable of subjecting, and actually does subject, to itself even states enjoying the fullest political independence. . . ..”  [68•*  Even then, however, Lenin stressed that one “must not lose sight of the forces which counteract imperialism”.  [68•** 

p In October 1917, when the proletariat organised as a ruling class, as a socialist state, appeared in the world scene as an active participant, the situation changed radically. Imperialism stopped being a monopoly force in deciding international issues and in determining the course of historical events and the destinies of peoples; a new force had entered world politics. Despite its relative frailty, Lenin even then emphasised its tremendous historical role.

p The correlation between capitalism and socialism—which are class-antagonistic socio-economic systems—between imperialist and socialist states, is today, too, decisive in the overall balance of the most diverse forces, whose interaction forms the complicated and multi-coloured fabric of contemporary international affairs. The prime importance of the balance of power between socialism and capitalism in the world is generally conditioned by the very nature of our time, and epoch of struggle between the two opposing social systems and the transition from capitalism to socialism.

p The balance of power between the two systems and between states representing these systems, and the change in this balance objectively determine the alignment of all other forces in the world, the foreign policy of individual states and international political development as a whole.

At the present time, the course and outcome of international events in any corner of the world are determined ultimately not so much by local and internal forces as by 69 the correlation of world forces, primarily the balance of power between capitalism and socialism. Conversely, events that might appear to be local or confined to a small scale frequently acquire international importance. This circumstance is directly connected with the consequences which one or another relatively local event may cause for the balance of power between the two world systems.