Internationalization of Capital 109 Current Political Problems The current needs of capitalism are,first,a reduction of the conflicts between national capitalists,which initially helped but later plagued capitalist development.Second,and at the same time,the labor market must be maintained by pacifying the advanced workers in the developed countries and by tapping the latent reserve army in the underdeveloped countries.The three major sources of difficulty for international capital- ism are contradictions between the centers,competition between the centers and the hinterland,and contradictions within the centers. CONTRADICTIONS BETWEEN THE CENTERS.Although the bitter memo- ries of the Great Depression and war remain,national rivalry-the use by national capital of the protective state to foster its growth-is far from gone.There remains not only the problem of settling differences between the Free World powers of the United States,Europe,and Japan,but also the challenge of Russia and China.In addition,the capitalists of the underdeveloped countries,although weak in general, are strong in particular places (for example,the overseas Chinese,the Philippines,the large Indian capitalists),and somehow must be in- tegrated into a supranational system. It is not merely a question of avoiding war between the rivals,but also the much more intractable problem of creating an international govern- ment apparatus to prevent depression and inflation,to work out a bal- ance between big and small,and to prevent,when the going gets rough, the tendency of capitalists to rely on their individual strength and cun- ning in place of collusion and cooperation. COMPETITION BETWEEN THE CENTERS AND THE HINTERLAND.De- spite capitalism's advances,poverty remains a significant problem in the advanced world and an overwhelming problem in the underdeveloped nations.Even the most optimistic forecasters do not see great progress in this area over the next thirty or forty years,which,for political prognostication,is a rather long time.The excluded masses,united before in the national independence movements,are now united in much stronger forms of resistance.The United States is presently bogged down in one such struggle,and several more are on the horizon.It is true that the multinational corporate system is to some extent prospering because of the war,but its continued existence depends upon keeping such resistance in check. CONTRADICTIONS WITHIN THE CENTERS.In order for an integrated worldwide system based on the relations of private property to exist,a vast imperial apparatus is necessary to administer the empire and to fight when necessary.During the past twenty years the United States pro- This content downloaded from 202.120.14.154 on Mon,04 Jan 2016 03:31:29 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and ConditionsInternationalization of Capital 109 Current Political Problems The current needs of capitalism are, first, a reduction of the conflicts between national capitalists, which initially helped but later plagued capitalist development. Second, and at the same time, the labor market must be maintained by pacifying the advanced workers in the developed countries and by tapping the latent reserve army in the underdeveloped countries. The three major sources of difficulty for international capital￾ism are contradictions between the centers, competition between the centers and the hinterland, and contradictions within the centers. CONTRADICTIONS BETWEEN THE CENTERS. Although the bitter memo￾ries of the Great Depression and war remain, national rivalry-the use by national capital of the protective state to foster its growth-is far from gone. There remains not only the problem of settling differences between the Free World powers of the United States, Europe, and Japan, but also the challenge of Russia and China. In addition, the capitalists of the underdeveloped countries, although weak in general, are strong in particular places (for example, the overseas Chinese, the Philippines, the large Indian capitalists), and somehow must be in￾tegrated into a supranational system. It is not merely a question of avoiding war between the rivals, but also the much more intractable problem of creating an international govern￾ment apparatus to prevent depression and inflation, to work out a bal￾ance between big and small, and to prevent, when the going gets rough, the tendency of capitalists to rely on their individual strength and cun￾ning in place of collusion and cooperation. COMPETITION BETWEEN THE CENTERS AND THE HINTERLAND. De￾spite capitalism's advances, poverty remains a significant problem in the advanced world and an overwhelming problem in the underdeveloped nations. Even the most optimistic forecasters do not see great progress in this area over the next thirty or forty years, which, for political prognostication, is a rather long time. The excluded masses, united before in the national independence movements, are now united in much stronger forms of resistance. The United States is presently bogged down in one such struggle, and several more are on the horizon. It is true that the multinational corporate system is to some extent prospering because of the war, but its continued existence depends upon keeping such resistance in check. CONTRADICTIONS WITHIN THE CENTERS. In order for an integrated worldwide system based on the relations of private property to exist, a vast imperial apparatus is necessary to administer the empire and to fight when necessary. During the past twenty years the United States pro￾This content downloaded from 202.120.14.154 on Mon, 04 Jan 2016 03:31:29 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions