Far from marking the 'end of history' as Francis Fukuyama once put it so bluntly, the 1990s have witnessed yet more political and economic instability. The aftermath of Sept 11 has simply exposed the deep-seated grievances that lie beneath the surface of seemingly prosperous capitalist societies.

The cruel war currently being waged by the US and its puppy, Britain, against Afghanistan is the third such conflict that the world has had to face since 1991. The main objectives to the Gulf War, the attacks on Serbia and now the bombing of Afghanistan have been the continued assertion of US imperial power.

Put simply, US imperialism was deeply humiliated on Sept 11. American hegemony of world capitalist markets depends a great deal on its military might, and in order to restore its credibility, it must exact a public and savage revenge.

By attacking Afghanistan, and by disregarding every line of international law (let's not forget that America also vetoed any hopes for an international court of law), the US and its allies have set foot into a deeply unstable central Asia.

This is an area seething with conflicts, especially since the collapse of the Soviet block in 1989, where different armed and political groups seeks to advance their own political and material interests. Now the US finds that it has to return to the very quagmire that it once helped set up in the hopes of preventing the spread of communism.

The war in Afghanistan threatens to destabilise not only all the pro-Western regimes in the Middle East, but also the many countries stretching from India to Indonesia. Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt, Indonesia and now Afghanistan again lie on the brink of revolution, and as Robert Fisk puts it, they lie on the most "dangerous tectonic plate in the world" (The Independent, Oct 8).

An escalation of the war (for example, an attack on Iraq as is being demanded by Pentagon warmongers) could detonate a revolutionary crisis in a various places throughout the Arab and South Asian world.

In essence, this is a futile war that shows no immediate sign of succeeding in its so-called aim of capturing Osama bin Laden. At the same time, a deeply worrying humanitarian tragedy is unfolding before our very eyes - millions of Afghans fleeing the bombing have been turned away from the Pakistani border.

Millions more will suffer needlessly when winter sets in and food supplies begin to dwindle, especially if the US decides to continue bombing through Ramadan. At the same time, hundreds of Afghan refugees have been told that they will not be allowed to enter Australia.

There is also increasing scepticism regarding the motives of the richest countries in the world bombing one of the poorest. Perhaps most importantly, many people suspect neo-imperialism - oil in the Gulf, and Caspian oil pipelines that go through the Balkans and Afghanistan are now seen to have played a key role in the war.

Why does the 'civilised' world condemn terror everywhere but allow Ariel Sharon's government to send tanks into Palestinian towns, killing hundreds every week? Why are so many US allies, including Pakistan, repressive dictatorships? What of those who died at the hands of American terror, whether implicit or not - 500,000 in the Dominican Republic; 500,000 in Indonesia; more than three million in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos; 75,000 in El Salvador; 30,000 in Nicaragua; 5,000 in Grenada; 20,000 in Panama. And we still haven't begun to consider the thousands who have died at the hands of American tanks led by an Israeli government in Palestine, the more than 500,000 who have died in Iraq due to continued bombings and sanctions, and the hundreds who have lost their lives in Ireland.

There is hope at hand, however. The attack on Afghanistan is stimulating the development of a mass anti-war movement in all parts of the world. On Oct 13, demonstrations by 50,000 people took place in both London and Berlin. In Italy, 300,000 people took part in a peace march, while 30,000 demonstrated in New York itself.

Demonstrations have also taken place in Japan, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, throughout the Arab world, South Africa and elsewhere. These demonstrations have embraced a wide diversity of people - young and old, trade unionists and anti-capitalist activists, Asians (both Muslim and non-Muslim), peace campaigners and socialists.

If the Western world really is serious in its claim to root out terrorism, there are a number of simple steps they can take. Cut off aid to the state of Israel and its persecution of the Palestinian people. Stop Russia and the KGB from slaughtering and all but wiping out the people of Chechnya. Stop propping up dictatorships in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and those in South America and Asia.

Above all, instead of propagating the evils of capitalism and globalisation, war should instead be declared on the real evils of today's world - poverty, imperialism, AIDS and exploitation.