Lenin finally refers to the "(5) the territorial division of the whole world among the biggest capitalist powers." Fundamental to imperialist country dominance of global economic structures is their role in policing and maintaining the world order they impose on us. Leading imperialist powers have important weapons industries, and participate as sellers in the global arms trade.
Russian Military Exports
It is only in military weight that Russia shows its power, but this by itself fails to make it an imperialist according to Lenin. Nor does it make Russia imperialist even in the pre-capitalist imperialist manner of ancient Rome, which required military expansion and slave labor. While Russia's significant military might, especially its nuclear arsenal, makes it difficult for the imperialists to push around, Russia does not invade and bomb countries across the globe as the U.S. does, or even as second-rate imperial powers like Britain and France do.
Moreover, unlike these other imperial military powers, capitalist Russia did not develop its own, but inherited its military might and armaments industries from the USSR. Russia is also unique in being the only country of the former socialist Soviet bloc that continues to be surrounded and threatened with military attack by the imperialist West
Nevertheless, Russia is a top world weapons exporter. No branch of Russian manufacturing is competitive on the international market except for the armaments industry. World arms exports in 2016 totaled $32.262 billion and $31.106 billion in 2017. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute lists Russia's arms export at $6.148 billion in 2017, down from $6.937 billion in 2016. The world's number one arms exporter is the US, with $10.304 billion in arms sales in 2016 and $12.394 billion in 2017. The US accounts for 34% of global military sales, and Russia for 22%.
The US's arms exports are slightly more than double those of Russia. Here, Russia is falling behind: while US arms exports grew by 25% in 2013-17 compared to the 2008-12 period, Russia's exports fell by 7.1% over the same period.
Russian Corporations among Weapons Producers
According to SIPRI, the world's top 100 arms producers made $398.2 billion in sales and military servicing in 2017. (Defense News gives somewhat different figures). Half of that sum went to the top 10 producers, five of which are US companies, while one is Russian. Of the top 100, 42 are US corporations, while 10 are Russian.
Russian Foreign Military Bases and Military Budget
Russia has 15 military bases in 9 foreign countries. Only two of these are outside the former Soviet Union, in Vietnam and Syria. China has one base outside of China, in Djbouti. The US has over 800 foreign bases.
Compared to the US military budget, which SIPRI put at $610 billion, just the increase in the Pentagon budget this year alone is greater than the whole Russian military budget, which was $66 billion in 2017, fourth after China and Saudi Arabia.
US and NATO increasing encirclement of Russia is a continuation of their prior policy to subjugate and recolonize the Soviet Union.
Russian Interventions in Other Countries
Russia has intervened in other countries (Yugoslavia, Georgia, Ukraine, Syria) but not in a manner of imperialist countries, which are motivated to seize natural resources and wealth. Nor is Russian intervention nearly on the scale of even secondary imperial powers such as France or Britain. Nor has Russia engineered coup d'etats in other countries as imperialist countries constantly do.
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