p The world economic system of capitalism has gone through several stages during its long formation and evolution, but never before has it undergone structural changes so considerable in scale’ and consequences in so short a period as since the war. For all their extraordinary diversity and variety they arc ultimately, through interacting and interlocking, links in a single chain of world events. Therefore, in addition to all-round, detailed study of each of these links taken separately, there is a real need to study them as a complex. The fundamental principles of the Marxist-Leninist methodology of investigating social development provide the theoretical basis needed for such an analysis.

p The various concrete trends in the ‘self-movement’ of the world capitalist economy considered above not only bring out in the aggregate the most important shifts inits postwar structure of production and international division of labour but are also in fact various forms of the manifestation of broader tendencies that reflect both the course of the steady deepening of the crisis of the last exploiter formation on earth and the objective economic needs of the growth of the productive forces of the countries of the non-socialist world. None of them are developing in isolation from the main direction of social progress in our time, viz., the historically inevitable liquidation of all forms ol exploitation of man by man and of some countries by others through the transition from capitalist society to socialist on a world scale.

p The Great October Socialist Revolution in Russia, which opened the age of the general crisis of capitalism, at the 324 same time laid the foundation for the disintegration of its previously all-embracing world economy. The disintegration has intensified especially in recent decades since the formation of a world socialist .system and the taking of the road of national independence by countries of the colonial world led to final collapse of the imperialist powers’ omnipotence in mankind’s global economy, and the field of operation of the laws of the capitalist mode of production has been more and more restricted by socialism.

p The growth and internationalising of social production within the ever contracting limits of the world capitalist economy, as is clear from the data we have analysed, in no way further extension of the socio-economic basis of capitalism. Furthermore it is they that have largely determined the intensification of its instability and the development everywhere of the capitalist social system’s inner contradictions. The acuteness of capitalism’s social problems has not simply not lessened since the war but on the contrary has become unprecedented. A continuing rise of the anti-imperialist struggle of the peoples of the emancipated countries for genuine independence, further growth of the insoluble contradictions between labour and capital and between the overwhelming majority of nations, headed by the working class, and the monopolistic oligarchy in capitalist countries, mass unemployment, political instability, world economic upheavals, increasingly frequent cyclic overproduction crises, the shakiness of the international monetary system, and unrestrained inflation—such are the characteristic features of modern capitalism’s world economy.

p The fundamental conclusions of Marxism-Leninism that growth of the productive forces of capitalism does not mean consolidation of its position as a world social system have been confirmed. The class antagonisms, and the socialist and national liberation revolutions that are eroding its imperialist basis are not imported from outside, but are the natural consequence of the steady deepening of its decisive contradiction, viz., that between the ever increasing social character of production within it, and imperialist methods of appropriating social labour. In developing production capitalism itself creates the material conditions and objective premises for revolutionary struggle by the 325 broad masses of the people of non-socialist countries for a radical restructuring of society, for complete abolition of the still enormous survivals of the age of imperialism and colonialism both in their own countries and on an international scale.

p Analysis of the results of the development and internationalisation of the productive forces in the postwar world capitalist economy, on the one hand, and the growth within it of deep crisis phenomena, on the other hand, gives a graphic idea of the existence of a quite definite connection between these processes. This dependence will undoubtedly remain in the coming, really foreseeable period. It is forcing state-monopoly capitalism (and will) to resort more and more broadly to a policy of social manoeuvring at the expense of the reserves made available by scientific and technical progress and by improving the efficiency of production. With steady consolidation of the international position of socialism, the growing strength of the fight of the workers in capitalist countries for their vital rights, and the continuing rise of the anti-imperialist movement in emancipated countries, modern capitalism is forced to adapt itself in every way to (for it) an unfavourable world situation, and to search for new opportunities both to prevent a further collapse of the capitalist economy and to stabilise it. To that end the monopolies are trying more and more actively to resort to a policy of neocolonialism and state-monopoly methods of programming and regulating the economy, and to employ international economic integration in their interests, and so on. But none of this is yielding the desired results.

p The postwar development trends in both the industrial and the primary commodity areas of the modern world capitalist economy graphically indicate the objective inevitability of growth of its irreconcilable contradictions. With all the conviction of incontestable historical facts they emphasise the lack of perspective for a system of international economic relations based on exploitation of man by man and of some countries by others. As Leonid Brezhnev noted in the report of the Central Committee to the 25th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union:

p It is farthest from the Communists’ minds to predict an ’automatic collapse’ of capitalism. It still has considerable 326 reserves. Yet the developments of recent years forcefully confirm (hat capitalism is a society without a future.  [326•1 

p Marxist-Leninist economics, in bringing out the deep causes of the inner contradictions in world capitalism’s development, has always attached great importance to studying the international relations of production and the single world economy formed on them. The founders of scientific socialism paid great attention in their day to the pattern of this system’s functioning under the undivided sway of the capitalist class in the world economy and politics. But the logic of the investigation, and even more the conclusion that capitalism lias a transitory character, forced them to look to the future, to estimate the outlook for the internationalisation of social production (progressive in its very essence) in the next historical period.

p Lenin made a very big contribution to the theoretical posing and development of this problem. Basing himself on a Marxist analysis of the real needs of progressive growth of mankind’s productive power, he concluded that it was necessary, when fighting for an alliance and unity of the working peoples of various countries, to bear in mind the tendency to create a single, generally regulatable world economy as a whole.

p This tendency has already revealed itself quite clearly under capitalism and is bound to bo further developed and consummated under socialism.  [326•2 

p This line of development was not simply examined on the plane of world economy. Lenin saw it primarily as part, albeit paramount, of a broader tendency, constitutionally inherent in a certain level of development of society’s productive forces, toward the internationalising of all the main areas of social affairs in general. Stressing the manysided character of this, he wrote:

p already under capitalism, all economic, political and spiritual life is becoming more and more international. Socialism will make it completely international.  [327•1 

p As the historical competition between the two opposing social systems develops and the economic, political, scientific, technical, and cultural links between them expand, these theses of Lenin’s become more and more important and topical. They bring out a very essential aspect of the scientific approach to analysing the main outlook for the development of world relations today. In fact they formulate the idea of the sequence of the development, under the general crisis of capitalism, of trends toward a consistent limiting, and then final overcoming, of the imperialist capitalist class’s monopoly position in these relations by socialism, the world economy included. This sequence began to make itself particularly felt in the postwar period.

The postwar changes in the structure of the world capitalist economy not only indicate, \vith the persuasiveness of historic, objective facts, the consistent growth within it of crisis trends that threaten the very existence of the capitalist social system but also pressingly demonstrate the need today to mould a new world system of international division of labour. The building of such a system, corresponding to the tasks of the progressive growth of the productive forces of all countries without exception, would help resolve many vitally important problems. An urgent one of these is to ensure lasting peace, security, and genuinely mutually advantageous co-operation between nations in conditions of peaceful coexistence and economic rivalry of the two opposing social systems.