Founding Resolution of the ICOR

The World Conference of the Initiative “Coordination and Cooperation of Revolutionary Parties and Organizations” resolves to constitute itself as an international organization. Its name is “International Coordination of Revolutionary Parties and Organizations” (ICOR).

I.

The founding of the ICOR follows from the understanding: The time is ripe to counter highly organized, globally linked international finance capital and its imperialist world system with something new - the organized power of the international revolutionary and working-class movement and of the broad masses in a new stage of the cross-border cooperation and coordination of the practical activity.

Imperialism with its system of neo-colonialism can further exist only in a developing proneness to crisis which dramatically calls into question the existence of humankind. It is expressed in the world economic and financial crisis 2008, the structural crises of the capitalist system of production and reproduction, the debt crises, the global environmental crisis, the growing absence of family of the proletariat and the broad masses, the political crises, but also in the growing international threat of war, the increasing imperialist aggressions, and in the general tendency of imperialism to reaction and fascism.

Capitalism has no future to offer to the working class and the broad masses of people in the world. Therefore, the ICOR calls upon all revolutionaries of the world to join together in the spirit of the words of Lenin: "Disunited, the workers are nothing. United, they are everything." (Lenin, 1913, "Working-Class Unity")

The ICOR takes up the achievements of the internationally organized revolutionary and working-class movement. That includes the great revolutionary action of the Paris Commune in 1871, the victorious Russian October Revolution in 1917, the Chinese revolution 1945 to 1949, the revolutionary struggle of liberation for the destruction of the old colonial system and the emergence of the socialist camp after the Second World War.

The ICOR is based on the rich experiences of historical examples of international forms of organization like the First, Second and Third International. It takes into account today's circumstances, necessities and possibilities for such a
union. It puts into practice the great revolutionary slogan of Karl Marx, "Workers of all countries, unite!" as well as the one of Lenin, “Workers of all countries and oppressed peoples, unite!”

The revisionist betrayal, with its starting point in the Soviet Union at the Twentieth Party Congress in 1956, led to the hitherto biggest defeat that the international communist and working-class movement has suffered and resulted in a division of unprecedented dimension. The restoration of capitalism triggered off a gigantic wave of anticommunism and counterrevolution.

Also the occurrence of sectarian and anarchist tendencies harmed the international communist movement and workers' movement in part. However, the main danger for the upswing of the international revolutionary movement remained and remains the influence of reformism and revisionism on the workers' and people's movement.

With the decline of the Soviet Union at the beginning of the 1990s, modern revisionism lost its center. The imperialist bourgeoisie could take advantage of this in the 1990s for a worldwide anticommunist offensive. The weakening of the revisionist bastion of the Soviet Union is, however, at the same time an important factor for a new upswing of the worldwide struggle for socialism.

The billions-strong worldwide proletariat, in alliance with the broad masses, ultimately is a superior power to imperialism if it takes up the struggle for its liberation organized on an international scale and plays its leading role in the peoples' struggle for national and social freedom.

II.

At today's stage of imperialism with its highly developed and internationally linked productive forces, the material prerequisites for socialism have already matured to a great extent.

At the same time, under the dictatorship of worldwide finance capital, devastating destructive forces are taking effect:

• In those countries that are plundered and oppressed by imperialism, the impoverishment of the masses is increasing with the plundering of the wealth of these countries, military threats against any revolutionary activity, environmental destruction, starvation and expulsion.

• Even in the highly developed capitalist countries, the immensely increased exploitation is accompanied by a growing impoverishment of the masses and the dismantling of bourgeois-democratic rights and liberties and even the fascistization of the state apparatuses.

• The imperialistic bourgeoisie is a permanent threat to the sovereignty and integrity of the national states. This has led to a militarization of foreign politics of the imperialist countries that can only scarcely be covered with the veil of UN missions and humanitarian pathos.

• The rivalry of the imperialists, especially of the imperialist main powers, constantly fuels the danger of a world war and leads to regional armed conflicts in the struggle for a redivision of the world.

• The capitalist mode of production today confronts the world with a global environmental catastrophe which could make all human life impossible within a foreseeable future.

• Children and youth are robbed of their future by imperialism and the masses of the world's women are shackled by double exploitation and oppression. The women in those countries that are oppressed by imperialism often are also especially subjected to national and religious discrimination.

The desire and search for a society liberated from exploitation and oppression has to become a force for changing society which overcomes the basic evil of the imperialist world system.

The ICOR has arisen from the practical necessity to respond to the destabilization of the imperialist world system by developing to a higher level the revolutionary liberation struggle against imperialism and for socialism.

The building and strengthening of revolutionary parties in the individual countries is the decisive factor for a new upswing in the struggle to overthrow imperialism and for building socialism. This includes creating further organizational forms and platforms for the joint struggle of the masses at national, regional and international levels.

This historical challenge makes the cross-border cooperation, coordination and revolutionization of the struggles raging worldwide more necessary than ever before.

III.

Whereas

• many parties and organizations have developed the desire for constructive cooperation on the basis of equal rights;

• the masses of people and the core of the industrial proletariat are increasingly recognizing that the division between different nations must be overcome, which can be seen in the beginning of cross-border struggles;

• numerous international revolutionary forms of organization (conferences,
  forums, platforms) have emerged already;

• the slogans "Workers of all countries, unite!" as well as “Workers of all countries and oppressed peoples, unite!” can only become reality through international forms of organization;

• different societal conditions and traditions of the class struggle exist in the individual countries and in the individual organizations;

• the responsibility for the preparation and implementation of the revolution rests with the parties and the working-class and mass movements of the respective countries;

• there are still many ideological-political differences among the revolutionaries of the world;

• joint organized revolutionary action cannot wait until all of these differences are resolved,

the ICOR regards itself as contribution to promote the solidarity-based unity of the
international revolutionary and working-class movement.

On the basis of a clear ideological-political minimum consensus it pursues the unity of revolutionary action in connection with a lively process of discussion and clarification in order to deepen and broaden the foundations in terms of content.

The Founding Conference declares that the ICOR will consistently pursue an open-door policy toward all revolutionary parties and organizations and other international unions.

Its main issue is the coordination and cooperating in organizing class struggle and practical solidarity.

It seeks the close union and cooperation with other progressive internationalist forms of organization in the world and explicitly does not regard itself as their competitor. It establishes and confirms a new quality of the unity of the proletarian and revolutionary parties and organizations throughout the world.

IV.

Unified in regard to the strategic goal of overcoming the imperialist world system and
establishing socialist societal relations, the Founding Conference resolves as essential ideological-political foundations for mutual cooperation:

• to recognize the necessary revolutionary transformation of the societal conditions of capitalism/imperialism with the claimed goal of a socialist society and the necessity of establishing the dictatorship of the proletariat as democracy for the broad masses and suppression for the deadly enemies of humanity's liberation from exploitation and oppression;

• to draw a clear dividing-line to revisionism, Trotskyism and anarchism and any form of anticommunism like the hostile attacks and the bourgeois smear campaign against so-called “Stalinism” or “Maoism” and the dictatorship of the proletariat.

V.

The Founding Conference resolves that its organizational principle be the consensual coordination and cooperation of autonomous, independent and self-reliant parties and organizations.

In the voting on fundamental documents the conference aspires to decide about them on the basis of consensus. Principled ideological questions and fundamental political issues are not subject to a vote. However, in questions of practical necessity, concerning the founding documents and after an extensive discussion, respecting ideological-political differences, a majority decision can be taken. This requires a minimum of 80 percent of the votes of the delegates present. All resolutions on current affairs can be adopted by a simple majority. Parity of votes is regarded as rejected.

Every organization decides itself which project and which activities it supports. This is connected to the principle of reliability carrying out accepted tasks in the spirit of full responsibility for jointly putting them into practice.

Emphasis lies on cooperation and on mutual assistance in the class struggle and in revolutionary party building in the individual countries.

ICOR will cooperate on a worldwide, continental and regional level in general main tasks, as well as in single projects planned for a limited time.

It practices coordination to come to agreement on various processes and activities, as well as cooperation with regard to joint projects and practical fighting tasks.

It is based on mutual respect and the respect for the sovereignty of the member organizations and commits itself to non-interference in the internal affairs of the organizations.

It commits itself to a proletarian culture of debate in opinion building, in developing understanding for and implementing common practice.

Workers of all countries, unite!

Workers of all countries and oppressed peoples, unite!