The problem that people have with Rockhill is, that all his work has led him to the conviction, that imperialism is the principal contradiction of today. So that explains all of this controversy around his work. It has been here long before and it is simply the controversy between the anti-imperialist left and, well, the rest.

Imperialist left, compatible left, western left. These are only so many synonyms for the same thing. There is no question about the centrality of imperialism except among “leftists” in the core. This makes Rockhill one of a very small group of American intellectuals worth listening to. On the other hand, anyone who downplays imperialism shouldn’t be allowed to claim Lenin.