While nation politics is not something communists like do to it is something that occasionally must be done. Restoring the 1846 Mexico-United States border would go a long way towards enriching the global south. Obviously there would still be the issue of Indigenous land rights, it would be the responsibility of Mexico to give these nations equal representation. But it would still be the United State’s responsibility to pay reparations in perpetuity should the United States still exist.
The island territories of the United States could easily become independent should the US military just leave. Coalitions would probably form in the Pacific and the Caribbean for the purpose of trade. Cuba would act as the defacto capital of any Caribbean union, southern Florida could become apart of a theoretical Caribbean nation and to a much lesser chance the Yucatan and the coastal region of Venezuela could join as well. The Pacific would be much less organized on account of its vastness, New Zealand would have a large amount of control if the white settler government could be expelled, but it’s control would be less than that Cuba would have. Hawaii would act as a defacto second capital since distances are so vast. Islands in the Pacific would have to be much more juche then any Caribbean union would have to be.
If the United States is to be broken up then a New Africa would probably emerge from the south. Indigenous nations within this New Africa would presumably be treated in the same way Mexico would be expected to treat its Indigenous nations within it (irl Mexico probably could do better but let’s just assume that there was some reform). New Africa would have territory that would span the entire area of where the confederacy once was and outside of it, negotiations between it and Mexico would have to be made where there territory would overlap. It would have a good 2/3’s of the Mississippi River in its control. It would control cities like Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Chicago. Its borders would have to extend into territory that wasn’t traditionally apart of the Black belt to avoid exclaves. DC would definitely join a Black nation if one formed in the US, which would necessitate relocating the US capitol should the US still exist in any form.
Assuming all this is done, what would be left of the United States would be just the North East, Midwest, and Northwest. But here’s the craziest idea from all of this. What if Canada annexed parts of the United States? Let them take everything below the 45th parallel. That would give them much of the great planes, it would give them Seattle, and parts of Maine, it would give them a land border with new Africa from the Chicago land area. Why should we destroy Canada? It can be reformed in ways the United States cannot be. What would be left of the United States would be a New England rump state, a Pacific north west rump state, and nothing else. It would still be coast to coast but it would be separated by land connection. The global south could tax the fuck out of that.
Also just for fun Alaska gets returned to Russia.
Balkanization doesn't form communist states, just look at the what it was named for. Any Balkanization that would happen in the US would lead to openly fascist states, imo, but let's explore your thought experiment. I'm gonna try to address a few major points.
Restoring the 1846 Mexico-United States border would go a long way towards enriching the global south.
I don't see a real scenario where this happens or why it would need to happen under a communist system. First there's the language barrier, English is by far the most spoken language. As someone who lives in this area that would go back to Mexico, even many of the Hispanic and Chicano people here don't speak great Spanish. It would instead make more sense IMO if a large swath of land from New Mexico to Alto California formed it's own rump state with extensive trade and economic ties to Mexico and Latam.
The island territories of the United States could easily become independent should the US military just leave......Hawaii would act as a defacto second capital since distances are so vast.
Yes they could be independent if the US military disappeared, but the population on all those islands these days rely on heavy imports of many goods. Sure they could go full Juche mode like you said, but isolation would very quickly result in a drop in quality of life and life expectancy. Assuming US islands went communist, why would they not join a trade union (or coalition) with a land partner? NK went Juche because they shared a land border with the puppet of the US empire and China wasn't yet in a position to help them enough. I think socialist states or whatever the scenario is need allies or coalition governments to prosper.
New Africa would probably emerge from the south
This is possible in some form, but it wouldn't be pretty. A socialist state that's official policy is to bring take down whitey isn't really a socialist society. I could buy a white ethno-nationalist state forming from the most right wing US elements/military/police and forming a state somewhere in the south, which cause the black population to flee en mass. If a white ethno-state existed in one part of the south while a black socialist revolution occurred in another part of the south, I could see the white and black splitting up along those lines. But if this is a "US collapses, communism rises" scenario without a fascist holdout state, then declaring all of the south a black nationalist still seems pretty ahistorical.
I don't know if this was your original intention, but I think this thought experiment is a great way to show the limits of nationalism when it comes to producing a socialist or communist project. Using nationalism makes sense for a communist/socialist revolution in historical cases where nationalism is a rally cry against colonial masters. Vietnam, Cuba, China, etc. In colonized nations, the entire population suffers from outside oppression (except for numerically small comprador class), so nationalism is useful for rallying everyone against a common enemy.
Nationalism in the imperial core is too tied to the imperialism that produced the state. A nation that was built as a settler colony that only exists because of massive genocide cannot be the rallying cry for the oppressed. Even in the parts of America where Chicano, Indigenous, or African American people are the ethnic majority, many people would consider themselves more American than AA or Hispanic. Any sort of communist revolution in America won't succeed if it's based off National identities, even on national identities of the oppressed. You need a mulit-ethnic workers revolution.
Look at the Black Panthers and the Young Lords of the 60s as examples of revolutionary activity in America. While the BP and the YL both promoted AA and Puerto Rican identity respectively on local projects (with great success on a local scale), they both realized they needed a Rainbow Coalition to get things done on a national scale. Because African Americans and Chicanos ARE Americans, they share in our history and in building this nation. Whatever social project that replaces the USA should be built by all it's inhabitants. Socialism broken into national lines won't work in America (especially since it's all stolen indigenous land).
Sorry if I'm misreading your third paragraph but I'm not sure if balkanization along strictly racial lines is either practical or desirable, except possibly to Turner Diaries types.
Why should we destroy Canada? It can be reformed in ways the United States cannot be.
What are you basing that on? IMHO the first thing that's going to happen if the US balkanizes is the Canadian government announces that Canada is willing to serve as a lifeboat for the American ruling elite.
I’m not the first person to suggest a nation comprised of Black Americans, this post was talking about it mostly in a way about how it would interact with other nations if the US balkanized. Assume it has communist policies on race, but a Black state is going to have Black nationalism. A nation created for the descendants of Black slaves is going to have a bit to say on race that would be unorthodox to current communist doctrine. I think it would be state policy to prevent white people from owning more property than a Black person can for example. Nations aren’t these permanent things, they change. And I would assume that a New Africa would have some form of capitalism until it could transition into a fully communist society. And that would require that white people have less access to capital as a matter of equity. It’s not perfect but neither was the transition from apartheid South Africa. But it was good.
As for Canada. They are more left leaning than the US government, it’s liberal, but it also recognizes indigenous land claims better than the United States. Canada is a place where I think electoralism could work to get communists in power, and for that reason alone I think Canada doesn’t need to be destroyed in the same way the USA does. I’m not defending Canada here, but Canada taking US land would make sense in a collapse. Yeah some libs would flee the terror there, but overall it’s better Canada is not an ally of the US in a war with the global south than is.
“Assume it has communist policies on race, but a Black state is going to have Black nationalism. A nation created for the descendants of Black slaves is going to have a bit to say on race that would be unorthodox to current communist doctrine“
Go back to 4chan Holmes.
Cuba would act as the defacto capital of any Caribbean union, southern Florida could become apart of a theoretical Caribbean nation
Nah, the gusanos would never accept that. They'd join the new Confederacy. And probably try to get slavery legalized.
