Corbyn the Reactionary?

As Jeremy Corbyn surges towards the leadership of the Labour Party his foreign policy has been put under increasing scrutiny. What has particularly drawn the media's attention is Corbyn's tendency to associate himself with ghoulish anti-Semites such as Dyab Abou Jahjah and Raed Salah. Now, of course, Jeremy Corbyn is no anti-Semite- he is the embodiment of an old fashioned humanitarian. So what drives such a vehement anti-racist into the the company of pond life like Abou Jahjah?

The tragic answer is that Corbyn, like many other so-called leftists, harbours a reactionary anti-Americanism which contaminates all his thinking on foreign affairs. This thesis which is in part influenced by Professor Chomsky's more recent work basically rests on one fundamental premiss: There is no action the United States could ever undertake in global affairs which could be performed for moral or ethical reasons. To Corbyn and many on the left the US is simply too greedy, too corrupt and too racist to be capable of virtuous foreign policy making.

To be clear, I am not some US apologist. There is a catalogue of hideous episodes in post-War American foreign policy which deserve stern criticism. The assault and partition of the agrarian society in Vietnam was an aberration. The state sanctioned assassination of the democratically elected President of Chile, Salvador Allende was another example of vulgar Cold War imperialism. Not to mention President Bush's gung-ho destruction of Iraqi civil society, the brutal effects of which we are still dealing with today. 

But for all it's faults, America and the ideals of equality and liberty embodied by her constitution should be a beacon for the enlightened left. In articles written for the New York Tribune during the American Civil War both Marx and Engles recognised the revolutionary potential of the United States whilst decrying Russia as a bastion of reaction. And whilst arguably this potential hasn't materialised fully the United States still compares favourably to the despots and theocrats the left is all to happy to side with.

Corbyn's anti-Americanism is a reactionary syndrome which leads him to share platforms and rub shoulders with people whose values run against everything he claims to stand for. From Hamas to Putin, if you hate the United States, or the West you can be sure to have Jeremy on your side. 

It is that great concept of universalism, which underpinned the French Revolution of 1789, which should serve as the left's guiding principle in these matters. If Corbyn could merely employ the leftist critique he has used so effectively to excoriate the Government from the backbenches, against the Cuban gargoyle Castro or Jew haters in the Middle East the left could credibly exert some moral authority.