Marxism in International Relations (IR) emerged as a critique of the traditional realist and liberal approaches, emphasizing the role of economic structures, class relations, and modes of production in shaping global politics. Rooted in the ideas of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, Marxist theory views the international system as inherently hierarchical and exploitative, shaped by the interests of dominant economic classes and capitalist powers. Unlike realism, which prioritizes the struggle for power and security among states, Marxism foregrounds economic inequality and the global capitalist system as the principal drivers of international interactions. In this perspective, states are not independent actors making rational decisions solely for security or power; they are instruments of the ruling class, reflecting the broader economic interests of global capitalism. Marxist scholars argue that the international system is structured around exploitation, where developed capitalist states dominate and extract surplus from less developed countries, creating persistent inequality and underdevelopment. One of the core contributions of Marxist theory to IR is its analysis of imperialism and economic dependency. Early Marxist thinkers like Vladimir Lenin extended classical Marxism to the global stage, arguing that imperialism is the highest stage of capitalism, where capitalist states seek new markets, resources, and labor to sustain domestic economic growth. Lenin’s theory suggests that conflicts between great powers are not merely about territorial or strategic considerations but are rooted in economic competition and the need to secure resources for capitalist accumulation. This framework helps explain historical patterns of colonization, wars, and economic exploitation, emphasizing that political and military interventions often serve underlying economic motives rather than purely strategic or ideological ones. Marxism also informs dependency theory, which critiques the persistent underdevelopment of peripheral states in the global system. Dependency theorists, such as Andre Gunder Frank and Immanuel Wallerstein, argue that the wealth and development of core states are systematically linked to the poverty and exploitation of peripheral states. According to this perspective, the international system reproduces structural inequalities where peripheral nations are trapped in a cycle of dependency, supplying raw materials, cheap labor, and markets to more developed states while remaining economically subordinate. This structuralist approach highlights that development is not a linear process but one shaped by historical exploitation and the global capitalist order. Marxist IR theory, therefore, stresses the systemic and structural determinants of global politics rather than the agency of individual states or leaders. Critics of Marxism