The problem I have with this and the wider social democratic attitude to foreign policy is that these guys are patting themselves on the back for solidarity and condemning their Tankie comrades. They have no approach to policy that differs from the campists.
https://twitter.com/tobitac/status/1480712135076421634
This element of the left is not, at any point, paralysed by policy inaction on issues such as Yemen or Palestine. In fact, they feel very confident in expressing support for radical policy proposals.
But in the face of the systematic extermination of the population of Syria or East Turkestan the very best they can come up with is a policy vacuum and maybe potentially calling Max Blumenthal a dick on Twitter.
We must be critical of China but offer absolutely no policy to confront their human rights abuses, and in fact, oppose any policy measures as part of a “New Cold War”. The only material difference between these camps is vibes.
In the world of foreign policy your vibes are worth less than garbage to people suffering under threat of extermination by a totalitarian dictatorship carrying out a genocide. Your solidarity is not a substitute for policy.
So yeah, I’m glad you’re not a genocide denier but when your policy looks no different to your supposed enemies in the “Hands Off Assad” camp, who exactly is supposed to feel comforted by your weak sauce solidarity? Nobody is reading fucking Jacobin in Idlib pal.
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