Karsten Stoeber is the president of the International Youth and Students for Social Equality chapter at NYU.

The war in Ukraine is now over a year old. Already, it is the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War II, with over 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers estimated to have been killed or wounded. The United States has massively invested in this war, providing more than $30 billion in security assistance to Ukraine, with both financial and economic aid.

Yet when we from the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) at NYU speak to students on campus, we find that most do not know much about this war, and even less about its origins. In the public media, there is no serious discussion about the history of the conflict. This is why the IYSSE at NYU will be organizing a meeting on the historical origins of the war in Ukraine and how to stop it as part of an international meeting series. Our meeting on April 13, titled “One Year of the War in Ukraine: The historical and political origins of the US-NATO conflict with Russia,” will explain the basic historical and political context that students need to know in order to be able to understand this war and fight for its end. 

Here are three things that we believe all students must know about the conflict in Ukraine. 

It is a conflict between nuclear-armed powers.

Russia and the United States are the world’s two largest nuclear powers, and they are fighting a proxy war in Ukraine. While there has been no official declaration of war, NATO is a party to the conflict. NATO has armed the Ukrainian military with advanced weapons systems and hundreds of battle tanks. United States and NATO commanders have been advising, training and leading Ukrainian proxy forces, which launch attacks based on CIA information within Russian territory. Not since the Cuban Missile Crisis over 60 years ago has the world been this close to a nuclear war.

You cannot understand this war without understanding the last three decades of U.S. wars.

The standard narrative about this war is that it was “unprovoked.” The IYSSE has always condemned the reactionary invasion by the Putin regime of Ukraine. We and our comrades in Russia and Ukraine are irreconcilable opponents of the Putin regime, as well as the Zelensky regime. Both have emerged out of the destruction of the Soviet Union by the Stalinist bureaucracy and the restoration of capitalism in 1991. 

But the claim that the invasion was “unprovoked” is a lie. Every war has a long prehistory and complex causes. The war in Ukraine is the culmination of 30 years of unending imperialist wars waged by the United States in an effort to maintain its hegemonic position in the world capitalist system. In addition to contributing to devastating wars in the Middle East and Africa, NATO has expanded to the borders of Russia. In 2014, the United States allegedly supported the overthrow of the pro-Russian Ukrainian government of former President Viktor Yanukovych, according to a leaked phone call. Ultranationalist forces — such as the political party Svoboda and the far-right Right Sector — played a central role. In 2019, the U.S. Congressional Research Service announced a new strategic doctrine: The U.S. military would actively prepare for “great-power competitions” with Russia and China.

The war in Ukraine can only be understood in this context. It is an imperialist war, which has as its aim the complete military defeat and breakup of Russia. This outcome is intended to place the immense wealth of natural resources that the Eurasian landmass holds under the direct control of American imperialism, clearing the way for war with China.

This war can be stopped by workers internationally. 

If one looks at the world right now, it can appear bleak and frightening. But there is a social force capable of fighting against war and all the other problems plaguing society: the international working class. And it is now on the move. The last few years have already seen the beginning of significant struggles by the working class. Now, in country after country, the class struggle is erupting to the surface with revolutionary potential. In France, Portugal, Israel, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States and beyond, millions of workers are beginning to struggle directly and openly against capitalism and other efforts to make the working masses pay for war.

As a Marxist youth and student organization, the IYSSE insists that the international working class is the only force capable of fighting against this war and its root cause, the capitalist system. We fight to build a global movement of young people against the war, rooted in the international working class and socialism. To learn more about the war in Ukraine and how to fight, come to our meeting at NYU on April 13 at 7 p.m. at NYU’s Global Center for Academic and Spiritual Life, room C95.

Contact Karsten Stoeber at [email protected].