In this comradely conversation, #Sandro_Mezzadra discusses the global war regime, multipolarity, and internationalism—a conceptual constellation he and Brett Neilson explore in depth in their recently published book, The Rest and the West: Capital and Power in a Multipolar World (Verso, 2024). Mezzadra understands the global war regime as the escalating militarization of social life, where even societies not directly engaged in military conflicts are governed through the logic and mechanisms of war. From the perspective of the current conjuncture of war, Russia’s imperialist invasion of Ukraine and the genocidal war on #Gaza, now extending into #Lebanon, are interconnected elements of the same capitalist world system. At the heart of the global war regime lies the multipolarity of contemporary capitalism, critically understood as the configuration of power blocs—comprising capital, state, and non-state actors—competing for control over global circuits of accumulation. Mezzadra deconstructs the normative conception of multipolarity, linking it to the social genesis of “campism”, where support for authoritarian regimes (such as the Islamic Republic of Iran) emerges as a reaction against Western imperialism. For Mezzadra, only an #internationalism rooted in the politics of #liberation holds the potential to dismantle the current war machine. This interview was conducted by the Materialist Research Group—a critical research collective focused on Iran, Afghanistan, and the MENA region—in Paris, June 2024. Special thanks to Reza Sahibdad, the Hazara-Iranian filmmaker, for making this possible. TIMESTAMPS 00:00:00 – 00:06:59 A Unitary Conjuncture of War in a Fractured World-System 00:06:59 – 00:17:28 From Colonial Wars to the Global War Regime 00:17:28 – 00:25:18 Lenin as Method: The Disjunction Between Capitalism and Territorialism 00:25:18 – 00:45:46 Centrifugal Multipolarity: Three Reasons a Linear Transition from Pax Americana to Pax Sinica Is Unlikely 00:45:46 – 00:57:44 From Chartered Companies to the "Annexation of Crimea": Why Territory Matters 00:57:44 – 01:09:10 War on War: A New Zimmerwald? 01:09:10 – 01:21:09 New Internationalism: The Question of the National Dimension of Struggle 01:21:09 – 01:31:12 Heterogeneity of Struggles : A New Internationalism and a Renewed Politics of Liberation 01:31:12 – 01:37:22 Against Campism: The Case of Iran Is Easy, Let’s Talk About South AfricaIn this comradely conversation, #Sandro_Mezzadra discusses the global war regime, multipolarity, and internationalism—a conceptual constellation he and Brett Neilson explore in depth in their recently published book, The Rest and the West: Capital and Power in a Multipolar World (Verso, 2024).
Mezzadra understands the global war regime as the escalating militarization of social life, where even societies not directly engaged in military conflicts are governed through the logic and mechanisms of war. From the perspective of the current conjuncture of war, Russia’s imperialist invasion of Ukraine and the genocidal war on #Gaza, now extending into #Lebanon, are interconnected elements of the same capitalist world system.
At the heart of the global war regime lies the multipolarity of contemporary capitalism, critically understood as the configuration of power blocs—comprising capital, state, and non-state actors—competing for control over global circuits of accumulation. Mezzadra deconstructs the normative conception of multipolarity, linking it to the social genesis of “campism”, where support for authoritarian regimes (such as the Islamic Republic of Iran) emerges as a reaction against Western imperialism. For Mezzadra, only an #internationalism rooted in the politics of #liberation holds the potential to dismantle the current war machine.
This interview was conducted by the Materialist Research Group—a critical research collective focused on Iran, Afghanistan, and the MENA region—in Paris, June 2024.
Special thanks to Reza Sahibdad, the Hazara-Iranian filmmaker, for making this possible.
TIMESTAMPS
00:00:00 – 00:06:59 A Unitary Conjuncture of War in a Fractured World-System
00:06:59 – 00:17:28 From Colonial Wars to the Global War Regime
00:17:28 – 00:25:18 Lenin as Method: The Disjunction Between Capitalism and Territorialism
00:25:18 – 00:45:46 Centrifugal Multipolarity: Three Reasons a Linear Transition from Pax Americana to Pax Sinica Is Unlikely
00:45:46 – 00:57:44 From Chartered Companies to the "Annexation of Crimea": Why Territory Matters
00:57:44 – 01:09:10 War on War: A New Zimmerwald?
01:09:10 – 01:21:09 New Internationalism: The Question of the National Dimension of Struggle
01:21:09 – 01:31:12 Heterogeneity of Struggles : A New Internationalism and a Renewed Politics of Liberation
01:31:12 – 01:37:22 Against Campism: The Case of Iran Is Easy, Let’s Talk About South Africa
