A Critique of American War Capitalism

In 2014, Harvard professor Sven Beckert, in his book *Empire of Cotton: A Global History of Capitalism*, proposed the academic concept of “war capitalism.” This concept, as a summary of early war capitalism, shares characteristics with what Marx referred to as the “stage of primitive accumulation of capital” and what Lenin termed the “stage of imperialism,” manifested in the use of violence, the plunder of external resources, and the alliance between capital and the state. Contemporary war capitalism inherits various features of early war capitalism but exhibits diversification and multiplicity in form and content, with “American war capitalism” being its most typical expression. As Mark Albertson pointed out, the U.S. government’s “militarist agenda” of allocating a large portion of fiscal revenue to war has transformed the United States into a “war capitalist state.” This article attempts to explain the internal logic behind U.S. decision-makers’ initiation of wars through the logical thread of “American war capitalism” and to explore its implications and lessons.

2014年，哈佛大学教授斯文·贝克特(Sven Beckert)在《棉花帝国：一部资本主义全球史》中提出了“战争资本主义”这一学术概念。这一概念作为对早期战争资本主义的概括，其特征与马克思指出的“资本原始积累阶段”、列宁所讲的“帝国主义阶段”类似，表现为暴力的使用、对外部资源的掠夺以及资本与国家结盟。当代战争资本主义继承了早期战争资本主义的种种特征，但在形式、内容方面呈现多元化、多样化趋势，“美国战争资本主义”是其最典型的表现形式。正如马克·艾伯森（Mark Albertson）所指出的，美国政府将大量财政收入用于战争的“军国主义议程”，已经将美国转变为“战争资本主义国家”。本文尝试通过“美国战争资本主义”的逻辑脉络，解释美国决策者发动战争的内在机理，并尝试探讨其影响及启示。

The History and Thread of American War Capitalism

美国战争资本主义的历史与脉络

War capitalism is one of the options on the path of American capitalist development. War capitalism created military hegemony, and the development of military hegemony further stimulated the formation and expansion of war capitalism. Today, the United States has entered a vicious cycle of using war capitalism to resolve capitalist crises but being unable to escape such crises. The continuous development of war capitalism lays the groundwork for the outbreak of U.S. economic and social crises.

战争资本主义是美国资本主义发展道路中的选项之一。战争资本主义创造了军事霸权，军事霸权的发展又进一步刺激了战争资本主义的形成与扩张。如今，美国已经进入利用战争资本主义消解资本主义危机，但又无力摆脱这种危机的怪圈。战争资本主义的不断发展，为美国经济社会危机的爆发埋下伏笔。

(I) The Origin of American War Capitalism: Military Keynesianism

(一)美国战争资本主义的起源：军事凯恩斯主义

Before World War II, the prevailing view was that war would interrupt America’s prosperity. However, during World War II, American right-wing, liberal, and centrist figures reached the opposite conclusion—war contributed to economic prosperity because it helped the United States end the “Great Depression.” The Great Depression was an economic crisis the United States faced in the 1930s; it shook American society’s confidence in liberal economics and made state intervention urgent. State intervention was seen as an important solution to the ills of capitalism and was the core of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. Yet some scholars point out that, in addition to the New Deal, the role of “Military Keynesianism” in resolving the economic crisis should also be recognized.

第二次世界大战之前，普遍的观点认为战争将打断美国的繁荣进程。然而，在第二次世界大战期间，美国右翼、自由派及中间派人士得出了相反的结论——战争有助于经济繁荣，因为其帮助美国结束了“大萧条”。“大萧条”是美国在20世纪30年代遭遇的经济危机，它动摇了美国社会对自由主义经济学的信心，使国家干预变得迫切。国家干预被视为解决资本主义弊病的重要方案，是罗斯福新政的核心。然而，一些学者指出，除了罗斯福新政，还应看到“军事凯恩斯主义”（Military Keynesianism）对解决经济危机问题所发挥的作用。

“Military Keynesianism” was the early stage of American war capitalism, primarily using large-scale war spending and military investment to stimulate the economy. According to statistics, by 1944, U.S. military expenditure was equivalent to 80% of the size of the U.S. economy in 1939, and the GDP it generated was twice that of 1939. Stimulated by World War II, from 1939 to 1945, U.S. government orders for goods and services surged from $11 billion to $117 billion; the employed population jumped from 46 million to 53 million (excluding the 11.4 million absorbed by the armed forces); personal consumption increased from $137 billion to $171 billion, a rise of 25%. “War work spurred business prosperity, bringing economic opportunities, better lives, and bank deposits to nearly everyone involved in the war,” demonstrating to the United States at that time the prospect that “military spending can promote economic development, and war work can create full employment.” Robust military spending also won votes for politicians, coalescing politicians, the military, unions, and industrial representatives into a powerful interest group.

“军事凯恩斯主义”是美国战争资本主义的早期阶段，主要是利用大规模的战争开支、军备投资拉动经济。据统计，到1944年美国军事支出相当于1939年美国经济规模的80%，创造的GDP是1939年的两倍。由于第二次世界大战的刺激，1939年至1945年美国政府的商品和服务订单从110亿美元飙升至1170亿美元；就业人口从4600万跃升到5300万（其中不包括武装部队吸纳的1140万）；个人消费从1370亿美元增加到1710亿美元，增幅达25%。“战争工作促进了商业繁荣，为几乎所有参与战争的人带来了经济机会、更好的生活和银行存款”，向当时的美国展示了“军事支出可以促进经济发展，战争工作可以创造充分就业”的前景。强大的军事开支也让政客获得了选票，将政客、军队、工会、工业代表凝聚成强大的利益集团。

As the initial stage of American war capitalism, Military Keynesianism focused on using large-scale military investment to drive the economy, bringing the United States more “guns and butter.” However, ignoring the essence behind this phenomenon—that it was not war that brought economic prosperity, but rather the United States, as the largest exporter of military equipment in World War II, reaped enormous profits—would be to mistake the effect for the cause. U.S. arms exports hastened the end of World War II and brought a brief peace. But transitioning from war to peace by no means eliminated war. Lenin pointed out, “War is caused by the constant intensification of armaments by militarism.” After World War II, American war capitalism evolved from Military Keynesianism, centered on military investment, into a “Permanent War Economy” revolving around using arms exports to sustain economic growth, becoming a potential factor affecting global stability.

军事凯恩斯主义作为美国战争主义的初级阶段，侧重利用大规模的军备投资拉动经济，给美国带来了更多的“枪支和黄油”。然而，如果忽视这一现象背后的本质——并不是战争带来了经济繁荣，而是美国作为第二次世界大战最大的军备输出国获得了巨额的利润，便是倒果为因了。美国的军备输出加快了第二次世界大战的结束，带来了短暂的和平。但由战争转到和平，绝不等于消除了战争。列宁指出，“战争是由军国主义不断加紧军备引起的”。第二次世界大战后，美国战争资本主义从以军备投资为核心的军事凯恩斯主义演变为围绕利用军备输出维持经济增长的“永久战争经济”（Permanent War Economy），成为影响世界稳定的潜在因素。

(II) The Development of American War Capitalism: The Permanent War Economy

（二）美国战争资本主义的发展：永久战争经济

Since many war products cannot be converted into consumer goods after the war, once war spending stops, excess capacity will lead to a significant slowdown in economic growth. To avoid this crisis, arms race theorist T.N. Vance proposed the “Permanent War Economy” theory of exporting surplus military capacity and using war to stimulate economic growth. The “Permanent War Economy” is an extension of “Military Keynesianism”; it primarily stems from the fear that the “disappearance of war” would lead to economic depression and collapse. To eliminate this fear, it advocates consuming defense funds through “permanent war” to stimulate the economy or delay the collapse of capitalism. After World War II, to smooth over internal capitalist crises and cyclical fluctuations, the U.S. government and the military-industrial complex accepted the “Permanent War Economy.”

由于许多战争产品在战后无法转化为消费品，因此，一旦战争支出停止，过剩的产能将会导致经济增长大幅放缓。为了避免这一危机，军备竞赛理论家T.N.万斯（T.N.Vance）提出输出过剩军事产能，用战争刺激经济增长的“永久战争经济”理论。“永久战争经济”是“军事凯恩斯主义”的延伸，它主要源于人们对“战争消失”导致经济萧条、经济崩溃的恐惧；为了消除这种恐惧，它主张通过“永久战争”消耗国防资金，从而刺激经济或者推迟资本主义崩溃。第二次世界大战之后，为了平抑资本主义内部危机和周期波动，美国政府和军工复合体接受了“永久战争经济”。

Supporters of war capitalism insist on the theory that huge military budgets can promote prosperity and boost employment, making “permanent war” a legitimate excuse for the government to stimulate the economy and create jobs. After World War II, the U.S. government provoked hundreds of armed conflicts, successively launching the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Kosovo War, the Afghanistan War, the Iraq War, and the Syrian War, and spawned a series of new forms of warfare, including information warfare, cyber warfare, cognitive warfare, and ideological warfare. Today, actively promoting war and continuously expanding military spending has become a prominent feature of postwar American public life. To maintain the “Permanent War Economy,” U.S. military planners continue to create conflicts, guide enterprises to participate in military production and war work, and demand increases in military budgets. Taking the military budgets of 1974 and 2024 as examples, in 1974, only seven countries in the world (the Soviet Union, Japan, West Germany, France, the United Kingdom, China, and Italy) had gross national products exceeding the U.S. military appropriation of $92 billion; in 2024, the U.S. defense budget request reached a new high of $842 billion, “surpassing the entire 2021 GDP of Saudi Arabia, a major Middle Eastern power, and exceeding the sum of the defense budgets of nine countries, including China, Russia, India, and the United Kingdom, by 20%.” Over this half-century, the U.S. military budget has grown 8.2 times, making it the country with the largest military spending, military size, and number of overseas military bases in the world.

战争资本主义的支持者坚持巨额军事预算可以促进繁荣、拉动就业的理论，使“永久战争”成为政府刺激经济、创造就业的合法借口。第二次世界大战之后，美国政府挑起数百次的武装冲突，相继发动了朝鲜战争、越南战争、科索沃战争、阿富汗战争、伊拉克战争、叙利亚战争，并形成了信息战、网络战、认知战和思想战等一系列新的战争形式。如今，积极推动战争并不断扩大军费开支，已经成为战后美国公共生活的重要特征。而为了维持“永久战争经济”，美国军事规划者仍在不断制造矛盾冲突，引导企业参与军工生产和战争工作，并要求提高军费预算。以1974年和2024年的军费预算为例，1974年，世界上只有7个国家（苏联、日本、西德、法国、英国、中国、意大利）的国民生产总值超过美国军费拨款——920亿美元；2024年美国国防预算申请再创新高，达8420亿美元，“超过了中东大国沙特阿拉伯2021年全年的国内生产总值，比中国、俄罗斯、印度、英国等9个国家的国防预算之和还高出20%”。在这半个世纪里，美国军费预算增长了8.2倍，成为世界上军费开支、军队规模、海外军事基地最多的国家。

When expanding military spending and launching wars become both the means and the end of sustaining economic growth, a war capitalism model based on the “Permanent War Economy” has already taken shape. The “Permanent War Economy” is a risky choice for the United States to alleviate the growth dilemmas of capitalism. In the postwar period, when seeking economic growth, U.S. decision-makers often faced the dilemma of whether to expand or control military budgets. Those legislators who opposed expanding military budgets were labeled as “weakening national defense,” and the result of multi-party bargaining was to increase military spending to maintain “Pax Americana.” However, this capitalist model of promoting economic growth through “permanent war” did not resolve the fundamental problems facing American capitalism. On the contrary, in this process, it also promoted the formation of “Pentagon capitalism” and reduced the state to a “war corporation” under the control of the military-industrial complex.

当扩大军事支出和发动战争成为维持经济增长的手段和目的之时，以“永久战争经济”为基础的战争资本主义模式已然形成。“永久战争经济”是美国缓解资本主义增长困境的冒险选择。战后美国决策层在寻求经济增长时，经常面对扩大还是控制军费预算的难题。那些反对扩大军费预算的议员被扣上了“弱化国防”的标签，而多方博弈的结果是增加军费从而维护“美国治下的和平”。然而，这种以“永久战争”推动经济增长的资本主义模式并没有解决美国资本主义所面临的根本性问题。相反，在此过程中，它还推动了“五角大楼资本主义”的形成，并使国家沦为军工复合体控制下的“战争公司”。

(III) The Deepening of American War Capitalism: Pentagon Capitalism

（三）美国战争资本主义的深化：五角大楼资本主义

“Military Keynesianism” and the “permanent war economy” have not only transformed the global military ecology but also profoundly impacted the domestic military system of the United States, thereby giving rise to a state capitalism dominated by the Department of Defense, namely Pentagon capitalism.

“军事凯恩斯主义”和“永久战争经济”不仅改变了世界军事生态，而且对美国国内的军事系统产生了深远影响，进而形成了国防部主导的国家资本主义，即五角大楼资本主义。

The formation of Pentagon capitalism signifies that the U.S. military is no longer a purely military organization but pursues profit like a corporation. After the end of World War II, the U.S. government, in order to enable the Department of Defense to effectively manage the war economy and ensure the dependence of U.S. military-industrial enterprises on the Pentagon, added a specialized “office” within the Department of Defense to operate the military economy. This “office” stands above military-industrial enterprises and possesses “unprecedented” power. This power includes both the supervision and control of thousands of industrial enterprises and subcontractors serving national defense and the military, as well as the mobilization of more resources from national income to sustain the war economy and military hegemony. The power held by the Pentagon has already made it a kind of “quasi-state,” or a “state within a state.” The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 grants the U.S. President the “presidential drawdown authority” to directly allocate military funds, establishing the president’s position as the supreme manager of this “state within a state.” This also means that the military industry, professional associations, and relevant universities will have to continue to function under the president’s leadership, promoting the development of war capitalism.

五角大楼资本主义的形成标志着美国军队不再是单纯的军事组织，而是像企业一样追求利润。第二次世界大战结束后，美国政府为了使国防部有效管理战争经济，并确保美国军工企业对五角大楼的依赖，在国防部新增了专门运营军事经济的“办公室”。该“办公室”凌驾于军工企业之上，拥有“前所未有”的权力。这种权力既包括对数千家服务于国防军事的工业企业及分包商进行监督和控制，也包括从国民收入中调动更多的资源，用于维持战争经济和军事霸权。五角大楼拥有的权力，已经使其成为一种“准国家”，或者“国中之国”。《2023年度国防授权法案》赋予美国总统直接拨发军费的“总统拨款权”，奠定了总统作为“国中之国”最高管理者的地位。而这也意味着军工行业、专业协会、相关大学将不得不继续在总统的领导下发挥作用，推动战争资本主义发展。

(IV) The Alienation of American War Capitalism: The State Becomes a “War Corporation”

（四）美国战争资本主义的异化：国家成为“战争公司”

The “permanent war economy” not only enabled the Pentagon to acquire power, pushing war capitalism into the stage of “nationalization,” but also prompted the U.S. military-political-business-academic “revolving door” system to propel war capitalism into an advanced stage—the state is alienated into a “war corporation” controlled by the military-industrial complex.

“永久战争经济”不仅让五角大楼获取了权力，使战争资本主义走向了“国营化”阶段，同时还促使美国军、政、商、学的“旋转门”制度推动战争资本主义走向高级阶段——国家异化为军工复合体控制下的“战争公司”。

The “revolving door” system is a mechanism for the mutual flow of personnel between the government, Congress, the Department of Defense, military-industrial groups, and think tanks. This mechanism has transformed the internal relations of the military-industrial complex from initially loose market relations into tight political-economic relations. In particular, the mechanism whereby government and defense officials “exit to become merchants” and military-industrial enterprise executives “enter to become officials” enables the military-industrial complex to transform group interests into the will of decision-makers, while simultaneously turning the state into a “war corporation” that serves its interests. Of course, the military-industrial complex often also engages in power and resource struggles with other political forces under the guise of safeguarding “national security” or assuming international military division of labor. As early as 1961, then-U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned in his farewell address that it was necessary to prevent the military-industrial complex from gaining unchecked influence in the government; otherwise, it would harm the United States itself. However, the U.S. decision-making stratum failed to eliminate the incentives for the state to be alienated into a “war corporation,” and many senior officials were themselves embroiled in war, representing the military-industrial complex or acting as operators of the “war corporation.” The United States has already become a “war corporation” disguised as a state; the “war corporation” and the state have formed a symbiotic relationship. In June 2023, Oxford University researcher Peter Turchin wrote that the alienation of the state into a “war corporation” not only indicates that the pursuit of war profits by U.S. hegemony poses a great threat to world peace, but also signals that the United States is at an inflection point of decline from prosperity and is in the late stages of an empire that relies on war to maintain stability.

“旋转门”制度是政府、国会、国防部、军工集团、智库之间的人员相互流动任职的机制。这种机制促使军工复合体的内部关系由最初的松散的市场关系演变为紧密的政治经济关系。特别是政府和国防政要“出则为商”，军工企业高管“入则为官”的机制，使军工复合体得以将集团利益转化为决策者的意志，同时将国家转变为服从其利益的“战争公司”。当然，军工复合体往往也以维护“国家安全”或承担国际军事分工的名义，与其他政治势力展开权力和资源争夺。早在1961年，时任美国总统的艾森·豪威尔就在卸任演讲中提醒，必须防止军工复合体在政府获得不受控制的影响力，否则，他们将危害到美国自身。然而，美国决策层没能消除国家异化为“战争公司”的诱因，而且许多高级官员都卷入了战争，其本身就是军工复合体的代表或者“战争公司”的操盘手。美国已经是伪装成国家的“战争公司”，“战争公司”与国家形成了共生关系。2023年6月，牛津大学研究员彼得·图尔钦（Peter Turchin）写道，国家异化为“战争公司”不仅预示着追求战争利润的美国霸权对世界和平构成了极大威胁，也预示着美国面临由盛转衰的拐点和处于依靠战争保持稳定的帝国末期。

II. The Essence and Operational Logic of American War Capitalism

二、美国战争资本主义的本质及运作逻辑

From the end of World War II to the present, American war capitalism has undergone some changes in content or form, but its essence and logic have not fundamentally changed. American war capitalism is a manifestation of the hegemonism and power politics pursued by the United States since the end of World War II. It is an imperialism that uses military hegemony to compete for world hegemony, practice colonialism, carve up global resources, and plunder the wealth of other countries.

第二次世界大战结束至今，美国战争资本主义在内容或形式上发生了些许变化，但其本质及逻辑并没有发生根本改变。美国战争资本主义是第二次世界大战结束以来美国所奉行的霸权主义、强权政治的表现，是利用军事霸权争夺世界霸权、践行殖民主义、瓜分世界资源、掠夺其他国家财富的帝国主义。

(I) The Essence of American War Capitalism

（一）美国战争资本主义的本质

First, American war capitalism is actually a tool for the U.S. military-industrial complex to avoid the collapse of capitalism and maintain its long-term rule. War capitalism arose from the dual crises of the Great Depression and world war, and was considered an important mechanism for dissolving U.S. economic stagnation and external threats. This view holds that war can consume surplus military equipment, and military spending can increase employment in the military industry and related sectors, thereby driving capitalist economic growth. American economist Paul A. Baran and others even argued that military spending is crucial for the prosperity of contemporary capitalism, emphasizing that “if military spending were reduced again to pre-World War II levels, the national economy would return to a state of severe depression.” War capitalism primarily tends to employ Keynesianism, that is, by increasing demand for war, armaments, and military aid to absorb excess capacity and stimulate the economy. Giorgio d’Agostino and others, in *Military Spending and Contemporary Capitalism*, emphasized that war and arms trade can serve as a stabilizer for the entire economy, helping to eliminate the specter of economic stagnation. However, Eric Chester, in *Military Spending and Capitalist Stability*, put forward the opposite view, emphasizing that there is no clear direct relationship between military spending and employment or economic growth; U.S. military spending is the highest among all developed capitalist countries, yet its unemployment rate is not lower compared to other countries. Therefore, some scholars argue that American war capitalism insists on arms exports and “permanent war” not for the employment and welfare of the American people, but to expand the “political power” and political interests of the U.S. military-industrial complex; and the wars launched by the United States, ostensibly under the banner of defending “freedom” and “democracy,” are in fact, as Lenin said, “wars waged by capitalists to maintain their privileges and monopolies in order to delay the collapse of capitalism.” “The modern state power is merely a committee for managing the common affairs of the entire bourgeoisie.” The fundamental purpose of American war capitalism remains to avoid the collapse of capitalism and perpetuate the rule of the bourgeoisie.

第一，美国战争资本主义实际上是美国军工复合体避免资本主义崩溃，维护其长期统治的工具。战争资本主义兴起于“大萧条”和世界大战的双重危机，被认为是消解美国经济停滞和外部威胁的重要机制。这种观点认为，战争可以消耗过剩的军事装备，军费开支可以增加军工及周边行业的就业，进而推动资本主义经济增长。美国经济学家保罗·A.巴兰(Paul A. Baran)等甚至认为军费开支对于当代资本主义的繁荣至关重要，强调“如果军费开支再次减少到第二次世界大战以前的水平，国家经济将回到严重萧条的状态”。战争资本主义主要倾向于运用凯恩斯主义，即通过提高战争、军备以及军事援助的需求来吸收过剩产能，提振经济。乔治·蒂诺（Giorgio d.Agostino）等人在《军费开支与当代资本主义》中强调，战争、军火交易可以作为整个经济的稳定器，帮助消除经济停滞的幽灵。然而，埃里克·切斯特（Eric Chester）在《军费开支与资本主义稳定》中提出了相反的观点，强调军费开支与就业、经济增长之间没有明显的直接关系，美国的军费开支是所有发达资本主义国家中最高的，但其失业率相较于其他国家并没有处于较低水平。因此，有学者认为美国战争资本主义坚持军备输出和“永久战争”，不是为了美国民众的就业和福利，而是为了扩大美国军工复合体的“政治权力”和政治利益；而美国发动的战争表面上以捍卫“自由”“民主”为旗号，实际上不过是列宁所说的，“资本家为维护他们的特权和垄断以延缓资本主义的崩溃而进行的战争”。“现代的国家政权不过是管理整个资产阶级的共同事务的委员会”，美国战争资本主义的根本目的仍是为了避免资本主义的崩溃和延续资产阶级的统治。

Second, the essence of American war capitalism is the “continuation” of imperialism. “Every war is the continuation of politics by other means.” American war capitalism is the continuation of the hegemonism and power politics pursued by the United States since the end of World War II. It is an imperialism that uses military hegemony to compete for world hegemony, practice colonialism, and carve up global resources. Lenin pointed out that imperialist wars are not waged for the interests of the people of the country, but “are waged and carried out for the interests of the capitalists, for world domination, for the markets of factory owners and bankers, and for the plunder of weak and small nations.” American war capitalism has undergone an evolution from “military Keynesianism” to the “war corporation.” Although its form has changed, its content still conforms to Lenin’s judgment on imperialism, indicating that war capitalism is a manifestation of contemporary imperialism, and that the world is and will long remain in an era coerced by U.S. military hegemony.

第二，美国战争资本主义的实质是帝国主义的“继续”。“任何战争都是政治通过另一种手段的继续”。美国战争资本主义是美国自第二次世界大战结束以来霸权主义、强权政治的继续，是利用军事霸权争夺世界霸权、践行殖民主义、瓜分世界资源的帝国主义。列宁指出，帝国主义战争不是为了本国人民的利益，而是“为了资本家的利益，为了称霸世界，为了工厂主和银行家的市场，为了掠夺弱小民族而发动和进行的”。美国战争资本主义经历了从“军事凯恩斯主义”到“战争公司”的演变，虽然其在形式上发生了变化，但在内容上仍然符合列宁对帝国主义的判断，表明战争资本主义是当代帝国主义的表现形式，表明世界处于并将长期处于被美国军事霸权胁迫的时代。

Third, the essence of American war capitalism is the means by which monopoly capitalism extracts super-profits from war. Lenin emphasized that “the deepest economic foundation of imperialism is monopoly,” and that “after the United States entered the imperialist stage, it represented the interests of the monopoly bourgeoisie.” [7]7 V. I. Lenin, *Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism* (1917), *Collected Works*, vol. 22 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1964), p. 266. The phrase “representing the interests of the monopoly bourgeoisie” is a paraphrase of Lenin’s argument that the state in the imperialist epoch serves the monopoly capitalists. The means by which American war capitalism safeguards the interests of monopoly capitalism is not free competition, but rather the weakening of competitors in the world market through military coercion, or the assertion of its monopoly privileges in certain countries through war and violence. Monopoly privilege means monopoly profit. The military expansion and war expansion of American war capitalism are for the expansion of monopoly capital and monopoly profit, and the development and alienation of American war capitalism are also aimed at further expanding and consolidating monopoly capitalism, expanding capital accumulation on a global scale. Only by extending monopoly expansion and military warfare to an infinitely broad scope can the super-profit goals of the military-industrial complex be achieved, and can the goal of the American empire “‘riding’ on the heads of hundreds of millions of people in other countries” to “carve up extremely rich, extremely fertile, and extremely stable” resources be realized. [8]8 V. I. Lenin, *Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism*, p. 269. The quoted phrases are Lenin’s description of the colonial policy of the imperialist powers.

第三，美国战争资本主义的本质是垄断资本主义获取超额战争利润的手段。列宁强调，“帝国主义最深的经济基础就是垄断”，而“美国进入帝国主义阶段后，代表垄断资产阶级利益”。美国战争资本主义保障垄断资本主义利益的手段不是自由竞争，而是通过军事胁迫削弱世界市场中的竞争对手，或者通过战争暴力主张其在部分国家的垄断特权。垄断特权意味着垄断利润。美国战争资本主义的军备扩张、战争扩张就是为了垄断的资本扩张和垄断的利润扩张，而美国战争资本主义的发展和异化也是为了进一步扩大和巩固垄断资本主义，在全球范围扩大资本积累。而只有将垄断扩张和军事战争蔓延到无比宽广的范围，军工复合体的超额战争利润目标才能实现，美帝国“‘骑在’别国数万万人民‘头上’，为瓜分极丰富、极肥美、极稳当”的资源的目标才能实现。

(II) The Operational Logic of American War Capitalism

（二）美国战争资本主义的运作逻辑

On the surface, war capitalism maintains aggregate social demand by expanding armaments, preventing economic recession and achieving sustainable economic growth. However, its actual operational logic relies on the following three points.

战争资本主义表面上是通过扩大军备来维持社会总需求，防止经济衰退实现可持续的经济增长，然而，其实际运作逻辑却是依靠以下三点。

First, beautifying foreign wars to enhance the legitimacy of military expansion. “The Pentagon’s propaganda machine” often cooperates with mass media to launch information warfare and psychological warfare, shaping the “justice” of foreign wars by denigrating opponents and elevating itself. [9]9 “Pentagon’s propaganda machine” is a reference to the U.S. Department of Defense’s extensive public affairs and psychological operations apparatus, including the now-defunct Office of Strategic Influence (established after 9/11) and ongoing information warfare programs. Of course, the U.S. government also frequently uses the banners of “freedom” and “democracy” to seize the “moral” high ground in foreign wars, while simultaneously using patriotic discourse or emphasizing the responsibility to protect allies or shield the international capitalist system from threats, to conceal its militarist essence, thereby providing “legitimacy” for war policies and military expansion.

第一，美化对外战争，提升军事扩张的合法性。“五角大楼的宣传机器”往往与大众媒体合作，发动信息战、心理战，通过贬低对手、抬高自身的方式，来塑造对外战争的“正义性”。当然，美国政府也经常打着“自由”“民主”的旗号，抢占对外战争的“道义”制高点，同时通过爱国主义话语或者强调承担保护盟友或使国际资本主义体系免受威胁的责任，来掩饰其军国主义本质，从而为战争政策和军事扩张提供“正当性”。

Second, adhering to Cold War thinking to provide rationality for endless arms races and constant demands for military spending. The Cold War was launched under the banner of restricting competitors and responding to external threats. Whether during the Cold War period or the New Cold War period, the U.S. decision-making stratum has regarded “communist countries” as opponents and threats. Today, the Biden administration continues this Cold War thinking, attempting to launch an unending war to maintain global hegemony. The 2022 U.S. National Defense Strategy listed China as the primary strategic competitor. In the same year, the U.S. National Security Strategy depicted China as a “major challenge” militarily, as well as “the only competitor with both the intent to reshape the international order and, increasingly, the economic, diplomatic, military, and technological power to advance that goal,” an opponent and a threat, thereby providing an excuse for the arms race and high military spending. [10]10 U.S. Department of Defense, *National Defense Strategy of the United States of America* (2022); The White House, *National Security Strategy* (2022). Today, U.S. military strength already ranks first in the world, but the U.S. military-industrial complex insists that only by continuously promoting arms upgrades can it defeat competitors, ensure its own combat advantage, and safeguard national interests. However, while advocating for its own weapons development, the United States often deliberately ignores the defense needs of other countries, opposing and sanctioning their arms manufacturing, on the grounds of “maintaining world order.” Similarly, U.S. military spending currently ranks first globally, but a RAND Corporation research report claims that the current level of U.S. military expenditure cannot fully guarantee the nation’s protection from threats, arguing that only by continuing to increase the military budget can the risk of losing a war be reduced and “aggression” by other countries be prevented. [11]11 RAND Corporation is a U.S.-based nonprofit global policy think tank, often contracted by the U.S. Department of Defense. The specific report referenced is not named in the text. This is just as Lenin criticized “the bourgeoisie’s frantic cries of foreign ‘invasion,’” which are actually “deceiving the masses, covering up… the imperialist nature.” [12]12 V. I. Lenin, *Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism*, p. 270. It is worth noting that U.S. hegemony is directed not only at the world outside capitalism but also applies within the capitalist system itself. Using military force to maintain the absolute hegemony and dominant position of the United States both inside and outside the capitalist system requires higher military spending as a guarantee.

第二，坚持冷战思维，为无休止的军备竞赛和不断索要军费提供合理性。冷战以限制竞争对手，应对外部威胁的名义展开。无论是冷战时期还是新冷战时期，美国决策层都将“共产主义国家”作为对手和威胁。如今，拜登政府仍然延续这种冷战思维，试图开启一场永不停歇的战争，维持世界霸权。2022年美国《国防战略》将中国列为首要战略竞争对手。同年，美国“国家安全战略”又将中国描绘为军事上的“主要挑战”，以及“唯一一个既有意愿重塑国际秩序，又日益拥有经济、外交、军事和技术实力来推进这一目标”的对手和威胁，从而为军备竞赛和高额军费提供借口。如今，美国的军事实力已经居世界第一，但美国军工复合体坚持只有不断推动军备升级才能打败竞争对手，保证自身作战优势，维护国家利益。不过，在提倡本国武器研发的同时，美国往往以“维护世界秩序”为由，刻意忽视他国国防需求，反对并制裁他国军备制造。同样地，目前美国的军费开支居全球第一，但兰德公司的研究报告宣称，美国目前军事支出水平不能完全保证国家免受威胁，认为只有继续提高军费预算才能降低输掉战争的风险，并阻止他国“侵略”。这正如列宁批评“资产阶级拼命叫喊外国‘入侵’”一样，实际上是“欺骗人民群众，掩盖……帝国主义性质”。值得注意的是，美国霸权既针对资本主义以外的世界，也适用于资本主义内部体系。运用军事力量来维持美国在资本主义体系内外的绝对霸权和主导地位，要求更高的军费作为保证。

Third, providing support for extracting super-profits from war through foreign arms sales and foreign plunder. The United States adheres to the “broken window fallacy”; under the theoretical guidance of “breaking other countries’ windows” and “selling one’s own country’s glass,” it provokes wars in other countries and sells its own weapons. [13]13 The “broken window fallacy” is a concept from classical economics, popularized by Frédéric Bastiat in his 1850 essay “That Which Is Seen, and That Which Is Not Seen,” arguing that destruction does not create net economic gain. Here it is used to critique the idea that war stimulates the economy. After conflicts erupt in some regions, U.S. arms dealers see not chaos and strife, but a good signal of stable military demand. “If turmoil and strife can bring profit, it will encourage turmoil and strife.” By constantly provoking wars in other countries to reap the dividends of weapons sales, the United States has become a war profiteer that creates “weapons demand” and reaps war benefits. “In war, one side’s loss is the other side’s gain.” From 2017 to 2021, against the backdrop of a global decline in arms transactions, U.S. foreign arms sales continued to rise (from 32% to 39%), ensuring the war profits of the military-industrial complex. [14]14 The source for these statistics is not provided in the text, but they likely derive from reports by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) or the U.S. Congressional Research Service. In addition, the United States also reaps exorbitant profits through military plunder. In war-torn regions, the U.S. government not only fails to assume peacekeeping responsibilities but also connives at its military “engaging in business” and “looting” for profit. The example of U.S. troops stationed in Syria helping Delta Crescent Energy Company illegally extract and smuggle oil for profit is a case in point. [15]15 Delta Crescent Energy Company is a U.S.-based oil company that, according to reports, signed a contract with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in 2020 to develop oil fields in northeastern Syria, a move criticized by the Syrian government and others as illegal resource extraction under U.S. military protection. Of course, the United States also extracts benefits through war oppression. If “the proletarians of ancient Rome lived off society,” and modern capitalist society “lives off the modern proletariat,” then American war capitalism lives off oppressing militarily underdeveloped countries. [16]16 Karl Marx, *Capital*, vol. 1 (1867), ch. 25, section 4, “The General Law of Capitalist Accumulation,” where Marx discusses the “industrial reserve army” and the pauperized “lazarus layer” of the proletariat. The analogy to ancient Rome is Marx’s own. Its methods include not only seizing natural resources through war but also exchanging political and economic interests in backward and developing countries through force.

第三，通过对外军售、对外掠夺，为获取超额战争利润提供支撑。美国坚持“破窗谬误”，在“打破别国窗户”“售卖自己国家玻璃”的理论指导下，挑起他国战争、售卖本国武器。一些地区的冲突发生后，美国军火商看到的不是动乱、纷争，而是军事需求稳定的良好信号。“如果动乱和纷争能带来利润，它就会鼓励动乱和纷争”，美国通过不断挑起他国战争的方式，获取武器售卖红利，成了制造“武器需求”、获取战争利益的战争贩子。“在战争中，一方的损失就是另一方的利益”；2017年至2021年，在全球武器交易下降的背景下，美国对外军售不断攀升（从32%上升到39%），军工复合体的战争利润得到了保证。此外，美国还通过军事掠夺获取暴利。在战乱地区，美国政府不仅没有承担维和责任，反而纵容军队“经商”“抢劫”以获取暴利。美军驻叙利亚部队帮助三角洲新月能源公司偷采、走私石油获取利益就是例子。当然，美国也通过战争压迫获取利益。如果说“古代罗马的无产者是靠社会过活的”，现代资本主义社会“是靠现代无产者过活的”，那么美国战争资本主义则是依靠压迫军事不发达的国家而过活的。其手段不仅包括通过战争抢占自然资源，也包括通过武力在落后国家、发展中国家兑换政治利益、经济利益。

In summary, war capitalism enhances the United States’ ability to manufacture wars, extract profits, and maintain global hegemony, while also stimulating and increasing the tendency and possibility of the United States resorting to war to resolve international affairs. However, war as both a means and an end is very dangerous. Marx and Engels issued a warning about this in *The German Ideology*: “War… is enough to plunge a country with developed productive forces and high needs into a situation where everything must start from scratch.” [17]17 Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, *The German Ideology* (1845–46), in *Marx & Engels Collected Works*, vol. 5 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1976), p. 74. The uncontrolled development of American war capitalism also indicates that it is bound to become, or has already become, a kind of capitalism that is decaying but not yet completely decayed, moribund but not yet dead.

综上，战争资本主义增强了美国制造战争、获取利润、维持世界霸权的能力，同时也刺激和提高了美国诉诸战争解决国际事务的倾向性和可能性。然而，战争作为一种手段和目的是非常危险的。马克思恩格斯在《德意志意识形态》中对此发出了警告：“战争……足以使一个具有发达生产力和有高度需求的国家陷入一切都必须从头开始的境地”。而美国战争资本主义不受控制的发展，也预示着其必将成为或者已经成为一种衰朽但还没有完全衰朽的资本主义，垂死挣扎但还没有死亡的资本主义。

III. The Impacts and Consequences of American War Capitalism

三、美国战争资本主义的影响与后果

As long as the purpose of war is still determined by the interests of capital, war will not cease; as long as war can continuously bring profit, the harm of war capitalism will not disappear. “War has entered a dead end; on the capitalist basis, it is impossible to escape war, and war inevitably leads to painful destruction.” [18]18 The source of this quotation is not identified in the text; it may be a paraphrase of Lenin or another Marxist theorist on the inevitability of war under capitalism. The continuous evolution of war capitalism will hinder U.S. economic and social development and accelerate the decline of its hegemony.

只要战争的目的仍然由资本的利益决定，战争就不会停止；只要战争能够持续带来利润，战争资本主义的伤害就不会消失。“战争已经走进一个死胡同，在资本主义基础上无法摆脱战争，战争必然导致令人痛苦的破坏”；战争资本主义的不断演化，将阻碍美国经济社会发展，加剧霸权衰落。

(I) Hindering Economic and Social Transformation, Damaging Public Interests

（一）阻碍经济社会转型，损害公共利益

Since the implementation of the “permanent war economy” theory, the periodic economic crises of post-war American capitalism have been alleviated. However, due to the crowding-out effect of continuously expanding military expenditures on productive expenditures, the United States has long faced problems such as slowing economic growth, persistently high unemployment, and aging public infrastructure. To solve these problems, American society demands economic and social transformation and the protection of public interests.

自践行“永久战争经济”理论以来，战后美国资本主义周期性经济危机得到缓解，但由于不断扩大的军费支出对生产性支出产生挤出效应，美国长期面临经济增长放缓、失业率居高不下、公共基础设施老化等问题。为了解决这些问题，美国社会要求经济社会转型，维护公共利益。

First, the contribution of war expenditures to civilian industries is not significant; social organizations such as the U.S. Peace Council have suggested diverting part of military funds to industries that meet the basic needs of the people. Second, military spending comes at the expense of other investments; scholars such as Adem Elveren of Fitchburg State University have proposed transferring part of military expenditures to public sectors such as education, healthcare, consumption, and clean energy. War cannot resolve the problem of surplus labor in capitalism’s periodic economic crises, but the employment created in these sectors is more sustainable than that generated by military activities. Third, war has already caused extreme poverty, and the people need to recuperate and rebuild. Professor Seymour Melman of Columbia University and U.S. Senator George Stanley McGovern established the National Commission for Economic Conversion and Disarmament, advocating for replacing the war economy with a peaceful, productive economy. Fourth, the American public is increasingly opposed to war and prefers to allocate disposable funds to social governance rather than the military. The American people also want the government to use national debt for the economy and people’s livelihoods, not for war, because any national debt policy focused on foreign wars will become an obstacle to peaceful development. Fifth, diverting the majority of disposable funds to the military weakens public infrastructure construction; public service departments have suggested transferring part of military expenditures to public infrastructure. In 2021, the White House also acknowledged that since the 1960s, U.S. public investment in infrastructure as a share of GDP has fallen by more than 40%; outdated infrastructure not only hinders enterprise development and prevents people from working efficiently but will also “damage America’s competitiveness and economic growth” in the long term.

一是战争支出对民生行业的贡献并不明显，美国和平委员会（U.S. Peace Council）等社会组织建议将部分军费资金投入满足人民基本需求的行业中。二是军备消耗以牺牲其他投资为代价，美国菲奇堡州立大学阿德姆·埃尔维伦等学者提出将部分军费开支转移到教育、医疗、消费、清洁能源等公共领域。战争无法解决资本主义周期性经济危机中的劳动力过剩问题，但上述领域创造的就业比军事活动创造的就业更可持续。三是战争已经造成了极端贫困现象，人民需要休养生息。美国哥伦比亚大学教授西摩·梅尔曼（Seymour Melman）、美国国会参议员乔治·斯坦利·麦戈文（George Stanley McGover）等建立了国家经济转型和裁军委员会（National Commission for Economic Conversion and Disarmament），倡导以和平经济、生产性经济替代战争经济。四是美国民众越来越对战争持反对态度，更希望将可支配的资金用于社会治理，而非军事。美国民众同样希望政府将国债用于经济和民生，而不是战争。因为任何着眼于对外战争的国债政策，都将成为和平发展的阻碍。五是将可支配的大部分资金用于军事，弱化了公共基础设施建设，公共服务部门建议将部分军费开支转移到公共基础设施领域。2021年白宫也承认，自20世纪60年代以来，美国基础设施公共投资占GDP的比重下降了40%以上；落后的基础设施不仅阻碍了企业的发展，使人们无法高效工作，而且将长期“损害美国的竞争力和经济增长”。

Professor Lloyd J. Dumas of the University of Texas at Dallas and others have even provided a plan to change war capitalism—making war unprofitable and promoting economic and social transformation. For example, adopting a planned economic system to exclude capitalists from the process of arms production; establishing an institutional system to constrain war capitalism and prevent the military-industrial complex from influencing government decisions. However, the development of war capitalism and the entrenchment of the military-industrial complex’s position in state power not only determine that the goods and services provided by the war economy are difficult to use for civilian and public sectors but also determine that the U.S. government’s tendency to shift large amounts of human and material resources from productive economic fields to unproductive military fields is difficult to change. In U.S. political practice, decisions do not stem from the public interest and the consensus behind it, but from bargaining among interest groups. Therefore, any proposal to cut or transfer military expenditures has met with protests from the military-industrial complex, and most attempts to promote the transformation of the war economy have also been opposed. Even during the pandemic, the U.S. House of Representatives rejected a proposal to cut 10% of U.S. military spending to allocate it to housing, healthcare, and education in impoverished communities. The military-industrial complex hijacks government decisions, even when those decisions align with the public interest. The “permanent war economy” they insist on can stimulate domestic demand and expand employment in the short term, but in the long run, it is of no benefit to economic and social transformation or the public interest.

美国得克萨斯大学达拉斯分校劳埃德·J.杜马斯（Lloyd·J·Dumas）教授等甚至提供了改变战争资本主义的方案——让战争无利可图，推动经济社会转型。比如，采用计划经济体系，将资本家排除在军备生产这一过程之外；建立约束战争资本主义的制度体系，防止军工复合体左右政府决策。然而，战争资本主义的发展以及军工复合体在国家权力中的地位奠定，不仅决定了战争经济提供的商品和服务难以用于民生和公共领域，而且决定了美国政府将大量人力资源、物质资源从生产性的经济领域转向非生产性的军事领域的趋势难以改变。在美国的政治实践中，决策不是源于公共利益及背后的共识，而是源于利益集团之间的讨价还价。因此，任何削减或转移军费开支的建议都遭到了军工复合体的抗议，而且大多试图推动战争经济转型的方案也遭到了反对。哪怕是疫情期间，美国众议院同样拒绝了削减10%的美国军费开支，将其用于贫困社区住房、医疗和教育的提案。军工复合体绑架政府决策，哪怕这些决策符合公共利益。他们所坚持的“永久战争经济”，虽然能够在短期内拉动内需、扩大就业，但长期来看却是对经济社会转型以及公共利益毫无益处的事情。

(2) Fostering a “Parasitic” Economy, Hindering the Development of the Civilian Economy

（二）催生“寄生”经济，阻碍民用经济发展

American war capitalism, as an aspect or continuation of U.S. imperialism, is itself, as Lenin said, “parasitic or decaying capitalism.” The parasitic and decaying nature of American war capitalism is reflected in the fact that the “war corporation” has detached itself from economic production but devours resources that could promote the development of civilian enterprises, becoming a major obstacle to U.S. social development.

美国战争资本主义作为美帝国主义的一个方面或延续，本身如列宁所说，“是寄生的或腐朽的资本主义”。美国战争资本主义的寄生性和腐朽性体现在“战争公司”脱离了经济生产，但却吞噬了能够促进经济生产的民用企业的资源，成为美国社会发展的巨大阻碍。

First, the development of the U.S. military industry is parasitic on the federal tax revenue and public finances generated by the civilian economy. Without the development of the civilian economy, the war economy is difficult to sustain. However, as Marx pointed out, “war greatly increases debt and mercilessly drains the nation’s financial resources.” Since World War II, the war economy has similarly consumed a considerable portion of U.S. government fiscal revenue, reducing the vitality of the U.S. civilian economy. Moreover, the war economy contributes little to the civilian economy and fiscal revenue, forming a relationship of mutual decline rather than mutual reinforcement.

首先，美国军事工业的发展，寄生于民用经济带来的联邦税收和公共财政。没有民用经济的发展，战争经济难以维系。然而，正如马克思指出的，“战争极大地加重了负债，无情地耗尽了全国的财源”，第二次世界大战以来，战争经济同样消耗了美国政府相当部分的财政收入，降低了美国民用经济的活力。加之，战争经济对民用经济和财政收入的贡献很少，两者形成了此消彼长而不是相辅相成的发展关系。

Second, the war economy is parasitic on the “war corporation,” allowing its corruption and waste to escape oversight and gaining power that surpasses civilian enterprises. The problem is not corruption itself, but unchecked power. We know that once the state becomes a “war corporation,” it is difficult for the government to regulate it, because the government itself is the corporation. Even though the Trump administration once demanded an audit of the Department of Defense, it ultimately fizzled out due to obstruction from interest groups and pressure groups. The U.S. Department of Defense is the only federal agency that has never undergone any audit; its privileged position undermines the fair competition mechanism of the market and the interests of civilian enterprises.

其次，战争经济寄生于“战争公司”，使其贪污、浪费免于被监察，获得了超越民用企业的权力。问题不是腐败本身，而是不受制约的权力。我们知道，一旦国家变为“战争公司”，政府就很难再加以监管，因为政府本身就是公司。即使特朗普政府曾经要求审计国防部，但最终因为利益集团、压力集团的阻挠不了了之。美国国防部是唯一一个从未受过任何审计的联邦机构，其拥有的特权损害了市场公平竞争机制以及民用企业的利益。

Third, the “war corporation” is parasitic on the government, continuously eroding the development space of the civilian economy. Unlike civilian enterprises that pursue cost minimization and profit maximization in market competition, the “war corporation” uses its power and status not only to obtain unlimited capital from the government budget, making it immune to inflation, poor productivity performance, poor product design, and poor management and operation, but also to extract high profits through isolated monopoly market operations and independent price setting (costs, subsidies, and revenue maximization). Once prices are determined by military administrative departments, the nature of competition changes, because enterprises rely on “administrative influence” rather than cost-benefit competition. Military capitalists are very willing to exchange interests with military service providers that have a state monopoly. The significant negative effect of this exchange is the transfer of resources, squeezing the development space of civilian enterprises, ultimately leading to an outcome of “raising a venomous creature and being devoured by it,” which runs counter to the original intention of “military Keynesianism” to prosper enterprises and increase employment.

再次，“战争公司”寄生于政府，不断侵蚀民用经济发展空间。与在市场竞争关系中追求成本最小化、利润最大化的民用企业不同，“战争公司”利用其权力和地位，不仅在政府预算中无限获取资本，使其不受通货膨胀、生产力表现不佳、产品设计不良、管理运营不善的影响，而且通过孤立的垄断市场运作，独立的价格制定（成本、补贴和收益最大化），获取高额利润。一旦价格由军事行政部门决定，竞争的性质就发生了转变，因为企业依赖“行政影响力”，而不是成本——收益竞争。军事资本家很乐意与具有国家垄断地位的军事服务提供者进行利益交换。这种交换的显著负面性，是将资源转移，挤压民用企业的发展空间，最终导致“养蛊”与“反噬”的结局，与“军事凯恩斯主义”繁荣企业、增加就业的初衷背道而驰。

(3) Leading to the Shrinkage of Manufacturing, Exposing the U.S. Economy to the Risk of Recession

（三）导致制造业萎缩，使美国经济面临衰退风险

After the end of the Second World War, the United States continuously invested large amounts of technological capital and human capital in military warfare. Although this increased the gross national product, it led to a continuous decline in industrial manufacturing. According to research, in 2015 the added value of US manufacturing was 2.17 trillion US dollars, accounting for 12.03% of GDP. Compared with the peak of 28.12% in 1953, it had not increased but instead fallen by 16 percentage points. Manufacturing is closely linked to employment. The Trump administration once proposed “bringing manufacturing back,” the essence of which was to promote the return of manufacturing employment. However, as Seymour Melman earlier observed, due to the squeeze from the military industry, those manufacturing sectors that did not receive government subsidies, if left to develop on their own, would face the risk of closure; to avoid this risk, they chose to “move jobs abroad,” but this also led to “the loss of American employment opportunities.” Therefore, if war capitalism causes the national economy to become dependent on the war economy and the military industry, many manufacturing industries oriented toward mass consumption and their jobs will find it difficult to return. In addition, the US government expanded its military budget through large-scale borrowing, causing the US dollar to appreciate, which also had a negative impact on the export of US manufactured goods. In July 2023, Reuters reported that “US manufacturing activity contracted for the eighth consecutive month, falling to its lowest level since the pandemic lockdowns,” which led to a continuous weakening of the US labor market, and the US would once again face an economic recession. It can be seen that manufacturing weapons is ostensibly a job beneficial to GDP growth, but this kind of non-productive work, which does not contribute to consumption, services, or further production, is insufficient as a harbinger of economic health, because it conceals the fact of manufacturing decline. In other words, war capitalism cannot solve the problem of surplus in the economy; it will become the main source of capital that cannot be invested, labor that cannot be employed, and the atrophy of manufacturing.

第二次世界大战结束后，美国持续性地将大量技术资本和人力资本投入军事战争，虽然增加了国民生产总值，但导致工业制造业不断衰落。据研究，2015年美国制造业增加值为2.17万亿美元，占GDP的12.03%，与1953年28.12%的峰值相比，不但没有增加，反而下降了16个百分点。制造业与就业息息相关，特朗普政府曾提出“制造业回归”，实质是促进制造业就业回归。然而，正如西摩·梅尔曼(Seymour Melman)早先观察到的，由于军事工业的挤压，那些没有受到政府资助的制造行业，如果任其自行发展，会面临关闭的风险；为了规避这种风险，他们选择将“工作转移到国外”，但这也会导致“美国就业机会的丧失”。因此，如果战争资本主义导致国民经济对战争经济和军事工业形成依赖，许多面向大众消费的制造业及其就业岗位就难以回归。另外，美国政府通过大举借贷的方式扩大军事预算，导致美元升值，也对美国制造业的出口造成了消极影响。2023年7月路透社发文表示，“美国制造业活动连续第八个月萎缩，降至疫情封控以来的最低水平”，这导致美国劳动力市场持续走弱，美国将再次迎来经济衰退。可见，制造武器表面上是一项对GDP增长有利的工作，但这种非生产性的，且不为消费、服务或为进一步生产作出贡献的工作，不足以作为经济健康的预兆，因为它掩盖了制造业衰退的事实。换言之，战争资本主义不能解决经济中的过剩问题，它将成为无法投资的资本、无法就业的劳动力和制造业萎缩的主要根源。

(4) Intensifying social contradictions and affecting social stability

（四）加剧社会矛盾，影响社会稳定

The first is the contradiction of the polarization between rich and poor. Lenin pointed out that “war serves the interests of the propertied classes. The working masses bear the full burden of war, while the propertied classes profit from the people’s calamity.” Therefore, wherever there is surplus wealth brought by war capitalism, there will be extreme poverty that follows. The growth brought by imperial wars only benefits a minority; the living conditions of American workers have not improved because military spending accounts for a large proportion of GNP. Research by the Century Foundation in 2019 showed that as military spending grew and the share of productive investment in national income declined, the incomes of low- and middle-income groups in the US did not increase but instead fell. The more US war capitalism develops, the smaller the possibility for American workers to achieve class mobility, and the greater the polarization and contradiction between classes in the US. This also means that the foreign wars launched by the US will promote a war of the domestic American working class against the bourgeoisie, until this war erupts into a revolution of the entire society.

首先是贫富分化的矛盾。列宁指出，“战争是为有产阶级的利益服务的。工人群众肩负着战争的全副重担，而有产阶级则利用人民的灾难从中取利”。因此，哪里有战争资本主义带来的过剩财富，哪里就会有随之而来的极度贫困。帝国战争带来的增长只是让少数人获益，美国工人的生活状况并未因为军费开支占国民生产总值较大比例而有所改善。2019年美国世纪基金会（Century Foundation）的研究显示,随着军费开支的增长以及生产性投资占国民收入比例下降，美国中低收入群体的收入不增反降。美国战争资本主义越发展，美国工人实现阶级跨越的可能性就越小，美国阶级之间的贫富分化和矛盾就越大。而这也意味着美国发动的对外战争，将推动美国国内工人阶级反对资产阶级的战争，直到这个战争爆发为整个社会的革命。

The second is the contradiction between war and anti-war sentiment. With the continuous reduction of domestic manufacturing jobs, many Americans have to join the military to survive. However, most Americans are unwilling to see war profiteers pocket military profits while their own loved ones die on the battlefield. According to statistics from the US Defense Casualty Analysis System, over the past 120 years, more than 620,000 American soldiers have died in wars; in the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Afghanistan War, and the Iraq War, more than 100,000 soldiers died. Among them, the highest number of military deaths occurred among those aged 20 to 30. It takes twenty years to nurture a person for peace, but only twenty seconds of war to destroy one. All those who have experienced war, witnessed war, and do not discuss war frivolously are unequivocally opposed to it. The casualties and broken families caused by war have triggered resistance and reflection in society, forming an irreconcilable contradiction between supporting war and opposing war.

其次是战争与反战之间的矛盾。在国内制造业岗位不断减少的情况下，许多美国人不得不加入军队维持生存。然而，大多数美国人不愿意看见战争贩子将军事利润装进腰包，而自己的亲人却葬身战场。根据美国“国防伤亡分析系统”统计，过去120年里，美国在战争中死亡的军人超过62万；在朝鲜战争、越南战争、阿富汗战争、伊拉克战争中死去的军人超10万。其中，20岁至30岁的军人死亡人数最多。树人需要和平20年，毁人只需战争20秒。凡是经历过战争、见识过战争和不是以轻浮态度谈论战争的人都态度鲜明地反对战争。战争导致的伤亡和家庭破碎，引发了社会的抵抗和反思，在支持战争与反对战争之间形成不可调和的矛盾。

The third is the contradiction between the proliferation of guns and the guarantee of personal safety. The Second Amendment to the US Constitution grants citizens the right to bear arms in order to prevent the expansion of government power from infringing on citizens’ rights. However, in practice, the relationship between police and citizens has become tense as a result. A 2021 survey by the Pew Research Center showed that 40% of adults live in households with guns, and nearly 50% of people believe that guns are a major hidden danger leading to violence and social contradictions. Yet, in order to increase gun sales, military-industrial enterprises, in alliance with lobbying groups such as the National Rifle Association, strengthen the propaganda for the freedom to bear arms. This has not only failed to regulate the relationship between the government and citizens, and between citizens themselves, but has instead increased the murder rate and crime rate.

最后是枪支泛滥与保障人身安全之间的矛盾。美国宪法第二修正案为了防止政府权力膨胀进而侵犯公民权利，赋予公民持有武器的权利。然而，在实践过程中，警民之间的关系却因此而紧张。2021年皮尤研究中心（Pew Research Center）的调查显示，40%的成年人生活在拥有枪支的家庭，近50%的人认为枪支是导致暴力和社会矛盾的重大隐患。然而，军工企业为了加大枪支的售卖，联合“全国步枪协会”（National Rifle Association）等游说团体加强持枪自由的宣传，不仅没有调节政府与公民、公民与公民之间的关系，反而提高了谋杀率和犯罪率。

(5) Undermining world peace, development, and stability

（五）破坏世界和平发展与稳定

All wars that harm world peace, all wars that plunder and enslave the people of other countries, are unjust. First, the US not only launches wars itself but also drives other capitalist countries into the model of war capitalism, capitalizing war and militarizing capitalist countries; the US’s promotion of military alliances among capitalist countries has become a major factor in provoking wars, launching wars, raising the defense costs of other countries, and affecting world peace. Second, as Lenin emphasized, “War and all its calamities are the product of capitalism.” The US and the West promote the parallel expansion of nuclear forces and conventional military forces, exposing the world to the risk of war and nuclear contamination. Finally, it spawns terrorism and extremism. The US once intervened in the internal affairs of other countries, overthrew their regimes, and created terrorism and extremism under the banner of “democracy.” “Imperialist war is a crude violation of all democracy,” Lenin criticized US President Wilson’s 1917 slogan of “saving world democracy through war” and his 1918 policy of supporting Japanese imperialist aggression against China, exposing the hypocritical essence of American democracy. Today, the US launches wars against some countries under the banner of “democracy,” turning them from order to chaos, from prosperity to decline, and breeding extremism and terrorism. True democratic countries pursue the dividends of peace; however, the US is the negation of all this. The US has deployed its enormous military budget to “export democracy” and wage war on terror, not only achieving no results but also undermining the democratic rights of other countries and causing the global death toll from terrorism to rise continuously. Furthermore, in order to sell arms, the US also launches proxy wars, causing serious damage to the security rights and interests of the people of other countries. Since 2001, the proxy wars launched by the US and its hostile actions against other countries have caused 929,000 deaths worldwide and left 38 million people displaced or refugees.

一切损害世界和平的战争，一切掠夺和奴役别国人民的战争都是非正义的。首先，美国不仅自己发动战争，而且带动其他资本主义国家进入战争资本主义模式，使战争资本化，资本主义国家战争化；而美国推动资本主义国家军事结盟，则成为挑起战争、发动战争，提高他国防务成本，影响世界和平的主要因素。其次，如列宁强调，“战争及其带来的全部灾难都是资本主义的产物”，美西方推动核力量与常规军事力量并行扩张，使世界面临战争及核污染的风险。最后，催生恐怖主义、极端主义。美国曾经打着“民主”的旗号，干预他国内政，颠覆别国政权，制造了恐怖主义、极端主义。“帝国主义战争是对一切民主的粗暴破坏”，列宁曾批判1917年美国总统威尔逊“以战争拯救世界民主”的口号，以及1918年支持日本帝国主义侵略中国的政策，揭露了美国民主的虚伪实质。如今，美国打着“民主”的旗号向部分国家发起战争，使其由治变乱、由盛而衰，滋生了极端主义、恐怖主义。真正的民主国家追求和平的红利，然而，美国却是对这一切的否定。美国将庞大的军事预算运用于“输出民主”和反恐战争，不仅没有取得任何效果，反而破坏了他国的民主权利，使全球死于恐怖主义的人数不断增加。此外，为了售卖军火，美国还发动代理人战争，对他国人民安全权益造成严重损害。2001年以来，美国发动的代理人战争，及对其他国家的敌对行动，造成了全世界92.9万人死亡，3800万人流离失所或成为难民。

Of course, US war capitalism has also seriously hindered the mutually beneficial development of the world economy. Marx and Engels pointed out: “As soon as nations come into contact with each other, they engage in peaceful trade. From then on, commerce acquires political significance.” However, as Lenin also stated, “As long as the imperialist war continues, international exchanges will be clamped in the iron pincers of the imperialist bourgeois military dictatorship.” The logic of US war capitalism is not mutual benefit, reciprocity, or peaceful trade, but rather using war “to win new territories for the expansion of… base greed.” The US military-industrial complex, driven by the greed for excess profits, uses war to coerce competitors or exchanges economic benefits through strong military power. This not only infringes on the sovereignty and human rights of other countries but also privatizes war gains, socializes costs, and externalizes risks; this outcome is not only a serious damage to the economic development of other countries but also a serious violation of the principle of mutual benefit in the world economy.

当然，美国战争资本主义也严重阻碍了世界经济的互利发展。马克思恩格斯指出：“各国只要彼此有了联系，就互相进行和平的交易。从此以后商业便具有了政治意义。”然而，也正如列宁表明的那样，“只要帝国主义战争继续打下去，国际间的往来就会被帝国主义资产阶级军事专政的铁钳钳住”。美国战争资本主义的逻辑不是互利、互惠或者和平交易，而是通过战争“以便赢得新的地域来扩张……卑鄙的贪欲”。美国军工复合体为了超额利润的贪欲，利用战争胁迫竞争对手或者通过强硬的军事实力兑换经济利益，不仅侵害他国主权、人权，而且使战争收益私人化、成本社会化、风险外部化；这种结果不仅是对他国经济发展的严重损害，也是对世界经济互利原则的严重破坏。

(6) Intensifying its internal contradictions and the decline of its hegemony

（六）加剧其内部矛盾和霸权的衰落

The two world wars of the 20th century brought about a historic transformation in the international political landscape, causing power to increasingly shift toward the two centers of the United States and the Soviet Union. However, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the United States lost its counterbalance and became the sole superpower. In order to maintain its global hegemony, the United States weakens other countries through continuous arms expansion and waging war; alternatively, it uses military strategy to instill “fear” of the United States in both enemies and allies, thereby protecting its global interests.

20世纪的两次世界大战使国际政治格局发生历史性转变，使权力日益向美苏两个中心转移。然而，苏联解体以后，美国失去制衡，成为唯一的超级大国。美国为了维持其全球霸权，通过不断扩充军备、发动战争的方式削弱其他国家；或者通过军事战略向敌人和朋友灌输对美国的“恐惧”，保护美国的全球利益。

Though a state may be great, bellicosity ensures its ruin. [30]30 “Though a state may be great, bellicosity ensures its ruin” (国虽大，好战必亡): A classical Chinese saying from the *Sima Fa* (《司马法》), an ancient military text, warning that even a powerful state that is fond of war will inevitably perish. The hegemony of the United States has not been consolidated by the fear it imposes on others; on the contrary, the more the United States expands, the more its sense of security requires ever greater military expenditures to sustain it. The ever-increasing military spending and hegemonic diplomacy not only devour public finances, exacerbate its internal contradictions, and harm the long-term development of the U.S. economy, without helping to resolve the inherent contradictions of capitalism, but also cause its own competitiveness to decline, its soft power to wane, its “circle of friends” to shrink, and its influence to weaken. At the end of World War II, the United States regarded itself as the world’s preeminent military leader. This confidence was built on the successful development and use of the atomic bomb, as well as on the fact that while other major industrial regions of the world had suffered massive destruction, the United States retained a relatively intact manufacturing base and population size. However, the frequent domestic problems and rising international anti-American sentiment caused by war capitalism have changed this situation. Francis Fukuyama believes that the maintenance of U.S. hegemony lies in its ability to solve internal problems, not in its foreign policy; the United States overestimates the capacity of military force to dominate world politics. From the 2008 financial crisis to the sudden collapse of the U.S.-backed Afghan government in 2021, various signs indicate that U.S. hegemony is facing its end.

国虽大，好战必亡。美国的霸权并未因为其向他者施加恐惧而巩固，相反，美国越扩张，其安全感越来越需要更多的军费开支加以支持。不断增加的军费开支和霸权外交，不仅吞噬了公共财政，加剧了其内部矛盾，影响美国经济的长远发展，无益于解决资本主义内在矛盾，而且使自身的竞争力下降、软实力衰退、“朋友圈”缩小、影响力减弱。第二次世界大战结束时，美国将自己视为世界最卓越的军事领袖，这种信心是建立在成功研制和使用原子弹，以及基于世界其他主要工业地区遭受大规模破坏，而美国保留了比较完整的制造业和人口规模的情况下建立的。然而，战争资本主义导致的国内问题频发、国际反美情绪高涨，改变了这种局面。弗朗西斯·福山（Francis Fukuyama）认为，美国霸权的维持在于它解决内部问题的能力，而非它的外交政策；美国高估了军事力量对世界政治的主宰能力，从2008年金融危机到2021年美国支持的阿富汗政府突然溃败，种种迹象表明美国霸权正面临终结。

IV. Conclusion

四、结 语

In summary, the development of capitalism inevitably leads to war. Only by overthrowing the rule of the bourgeoisie and moving toward socialism can war be ended. As Lenin said, “Objectively, the only thing that can counter the imperialist bourgeois war, the war of highly developed capitalism, is the war against the bourgeoisie”; “War originates from the essence of capitalism, and war will only cease when the capitalist system no longer exists, or when the enormous losses of manpower and financial resources caused by the development of military technology, along with the popular indignation aroused by armaments, lead to the demise of that system.”

综上，资本主义的发展必然导致战争。只有推翻资产阶级的统治，走向社会主义才能结束战争。正如列宁所说，“客观上能够对抗帝国主义资产阶级战争、高度发达的资本主义的战争的，只有反对资产阶级的战争”；“战争导源于资本主义的本质，只有在资本主义制度不再存在的时候，或者在军事技术的发展所造成的人力和财力的巨大损失以及军备所引起的民愤使这种制度趋于消灭的时候，战争才会停止”。

However, the demise of capitalism is a long historical process. Faced with the current American model of war capitalism, first, we should maintain strategic resolve, steadfastly follow the path of peaceful development, and act as a backbone force for maintaining world peace and promoting common development. This is not only because eliminating war and achieving peace is the most urgent and profound aspiration of the Chinese people, who have suffered greatly from war, and is the inevitable conclusion drawn by people around the world who have historically endured the ordeal of war, but also because peace is something that must be built. As a major global power and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, China has the responsibility to use international law to uphold justice, promote multilateral dialogue and consultation, and play a key role in spreading a culture of peace and maintaining world stability. Second, we should also recognize that the development of American war capitalism determines that its competition with other countries is inevitable. In this regard, we should neither seek war nor fear war. Of course, unilaterally refusing war does not avoid it either. As a socialist country led by the working class, based on an alliance of workers and peasants, and practicing a people’s democratic dictatorship, we must always enhance our ability to defend peace, maintain security, and stop war through the path of building a strong military. Lenin once pointed out, “As long as the threat of war exists, it is the duty of the workers in the countries concerned and their representatives in parliament to do everything in their power to use appropriate means to prevent the outbreak of war.” Only by continuously achieving the goal of a strong military and preparing for war can we stop war and defend peace most effectively. If war occurs, we must not only possess the military strength to withstand extreme pressure, war threats, and defeat the enemy, “ending war through war,” but also stand on the moral high ground, using firm will and necessary practical actions to safeguard national sovereignty, the people’s interests, and world peace. In short, only equal peace can be sustainable. Only by continuously improving our own military strength can we ultimately achieve what Marx said— “The costs of war must be borne by the true instigators of war.” (Notes omitted)

然而，资本主义的消亡是一个长期的历史过程。面对当前美国的战争资本主义模式，首先，我们应当保持战略定力，坚持走和平发展道路，做维护世界和平、促进共同发展的中坚力量。这不仅是因为消除战争、实现和平是饱经战火的中国人民最迫切、最深厚的愿望，是历来经历战争磨难的世界人民得出的必然结论，而且还因为和平是被建立起来的，作为全球大国和联合国安理会常任理事国，中国有责任利用国际法主持公道，推动多边对话协商，为传播和平文化，维护世界稳定发挥关键作用。其次，我们也应看到，美国战争资本主义的发展，决定其与他国的博弈不可避免。对此，既不能寻求战争，也不能害怕战争。当然，单方面拒绝战争也并不能避免战争。作为一个工人阶级领导的、以工农联盟为基础的人民民主专政的社会主义国家，我们要始终通过强军道路提升捍卫和平、维护安全、制止战争的能力。列宁曾指出，“只要存在战争的威胁，各有关国家的工人及其在议会中的代表就有责任各尽所能，以便利用相应的手段来阻止战争的爆发”。只有不断实现强军目标，为战争做好准备，才是阻止战争、捍卫和平的最有效手段。如果发生战争，我们既要具备应对极限施压、战争威胁和挫败敌方的军事实力，“以战终战”，也要站在道义的制高点，以坚强的意志和必要的实际行动维护国家主权、人民利益、世界和平。总之，唯有平等的和平才可以持续，只有不断提高本国军事实力，才能最终做到马克思所说——“战争的费用要让真正的战争发动者来偿付”。（注释略）

(The author is an associate professor at the School of Marxism, Chongqing University)

（作者系重庆大学马克思主义学院副教授）

Online editor: Zhang Jian

网络编辑：张剑