Lenin defined imperialism as the monopoly stage of capitalism, making war endemic to it

Evidence

Writing in 1916, Lenin described imperialism as a phenomenon of monopoly capitalism, with its territorial division of the world between financial and industrial cartels and competing imperial blocs. Lenin indicted monopoly and violence as the reality lurking behind the myth of peaceful, mutually beneficial exchange. As capitalism developed, he argued, the concentration of production and capital led to the transformation of free competition into monopoly. Far from creating peaceful international relations of mutual understanding and benefit, the Bolshevik theoretician contended, war and Great Power rivalry were endemic to capitalism. — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market, 254

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to earlier chapters’ treatment of the sweet commerce thesis and to Lenin’s critique of Hobson; also resonates with the ‘civilising mission’ narrative the neoliberals displaced. — connects to: Imperialism is capitalism’s political drive for the remainders of the noncapitalist world — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 2224; Imperialism is the first stage of bourgeois political rule, not capitalism’s last; Capitalism depends on a noncapitalist world whose possession is imperialism’s core project (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Imperialism is the first stage of bourgeois political rule, not capitalism’s last #contradicts (0.80)
• Imperialism is capitalism’s political drive for the remainders of the noncapitalist world #qualifies (0.75) — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 2224
• Capitalism depends on a noncapitalist world whose possession is imperialism’s core project #expands (0.75)
• Imperialism newly made power and violence themselves the conscious aim of the state #expands (0.72) — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 373
• Imperialism shifted from trade profits to investment profits requiring long-range exploitation #expands (0.72) — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 2343
• Imperialism made power an end in itself rather than a means to law #expands (0.70)
• Classical Marxism neglected imperialism in its theory of capitalist development #corroborates (0.70) — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 486
• Marxian theory is structurally unable to grasp modern imperialism #contradicts (0.70)