Europe

The right-wing coalition government of Varadkar and Martin has decided that now is the time to test the water on ditching so-called Irish ‘neutrality’. No doubt they would love to bounce Ireland into NATO, finally ending decades of sham neutrality in favour of open recognition of the 26-county state’s actual position: that of a pawn of western imperialism.

On 15 May 2011, a tremendous movement erupted all over Spain: the indignados. Within a few years, it found a political expression in the rise of Podemos. But the upcoming elections this month are set to confirm the terminal decline of this party, led into a dead end by its leadership. This represents the end of a political cycle. It might seem that we have returned to square one. But the end of this cycle is preparing the ground for a new revolutionary upturn of the mass movement, on a higher level, enriched by the whole experience of the past decade.

NATO’s latest summit in Vilnius is being heralded by its members as a great success and a new step in the process of strengthening the military alliance. But then, they wouldsay that. We need to separate the facts from the press conference statements. If you peek into the goings on behind the scenes, you might get a glimpse of the actual divisions, rifts and challenges facing the imperialist organisation.

The Dutch government has collapsed. The fourth Mark Rutte cabinet (consisting of VVD, CDA, D66, ChristenUnie) fell after a year and a half, brought down by disagreements over asylum and migration policies. The VVD (right-wing liberals) clashed head on with the ChristenUnie (‘social’ Christians) about a plan to restrict family reunification for refugees. None of the parties gave ground, leading to an unexpected collapse of the fourth (and final) Rutte government.

Last week, a French policeman shot an unarmed French-Algerian teenager (Nahel M.) in the chest after a traffic stop. Before pulling the trigger, Nahel was told “I will lodge a bullet in your head”. A video of the brutal slaying was uploaded to social media, resulting in a massive outpouring of rage that swept the country.

At the time of writing, the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, is delighted with the results of the fifth consecutive night of riots, which was “calmer thanks to the resolute action of the forces of the 'order' [the police].” This statement is very relative. In response, let's put things into perspective. The fifth night was perhaps "quieter" than the fourth and, above all, than the third. But in relation to the “100 days of appeasement” announced by Emmanuel Macron on 17 April, it was still very agitated! (Note: this article was originally published 29 June and has since been updated. ...

The English Revolution of the 17th Century stands as one of the first great bourgeois revolutions in history. In only a few decades, it shattered the rotting feudal system and paved the way for the development of capitalism worldwide. For Marxists, these decades are full of lessons.

The recent Greek elections on 25 June saw SYRIZA take a hammering, with leader Alexis Tsipras announcing his resignation today. SYRIZA’s collapse has granted victory to the right-wing New Democracy. Coupled with the reentry of a fascist party into parliament, this has caused many on the left to claim that Greek society is shifting to the right, and is even threatened with the rise of fascism. This is a superficial conclusion that ignores the main trend: a surge in abstention, and disillusionment with the institutions of bourgeois democracy.

Between 22 May and 12 June, teachers all across Romania took on the government in a three-week general strike, principally over the issue of low salaries. This strike represented a tremendous display of militancy on the part of the Romanian working class. It has profoundly shaken the government, forcing them to make major concessions, and has acted like a jolt to the consciousness of millions of workers, demonstrating the latent power of the working class when it moves in a militant and united fashion. 

Around 100 members of Révolution, the French section of the International Marxist Tendency (IMT), gathered in Paris on 16 and 17 June, for our 2023 National Congress. Attendees came from Paris, Toulouse, Marseilles, Lyon, Montpellier, Grenoble, Brest, Morlaix, Lille and Rambouillet. We also welcomed comrades from the IMT’s sections in Switzerland and Belgium, and were joined by Fred Weston from the International Secretariat of the IMT.

The events of the last weekend in Russia have given rise to all sorts of speculation. On Friday evening, the head of the Wagner mercenary army, the oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin, launched a “march for justice” with the stated aim of removing the head of the Armed Forces and the Minister of Defence. By Saturday, he had taken control of Rostov-on-Don and was marching with a heavily-armed column towards Moscow. Putin denounced him as a traitor and promised those involved would be dealt with accordingly. However, by the end of the day, suddenly, Prigozhin’s column turned back and a deal was announced, brokered by Belarusian President Lukashenko. The motivation behind the actions of the

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We have received the following resolution by the Organisation of Communist Internationalists, written earlier today, after Wagner PMC Chief Yevgeny Prigozhin declared a rebellion, and moved columns of troops in the direction of Moscow. The situation has now somewhat receded: Wagner troops halted their advance and it has been announced that Prigozhin will enter exile, following hasty negotiations. As the comrades write, this episode was a struggle between two sections of the Russian oligarchy. Yet again, the oligarchs have proven that they have no interests in developing Russian society or in improving the conditions of the Russian masses. Their sole concern is to maintain themselves by

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Thursday 1 June saw the first public meeting of the Hungarian group of the IMT, Fáklya (Torch) at the Gólya Co-operative Centre in Budapest with 30 in attendance. This is an important breakthrough for the forces of Marxism in Hungary, the first of many to come.