This week, in a dramatic turn of events, Trump – who campaigned on the promise to end US ‘forever wars’ – decided to get involved in Israel’s war on Iran by dropping bombs on its nuclear facilities.
Now, after an attack on a US base and some strong words, Trump has enforced a ceasefire between the warring parties. In the aftermath, Trump has celebrated his ‘12 day’ war as a stunning success, which “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear programme.
However, this chaotic escalation of the situation in the Middle East is bound to have consequences on the stability not only of the region, but the entire world. Reports are coming out that show Iran’s nuclear programme is still very much intact. Oil prices have been on a rollercoaster ride. And, in America, Trump has been faced by a barrage of criticism from the very people that brought him to power.
To explain the consequences of this latest adventure by US imperialism, Jorge Martín and Hamid Alizadeh from the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International sat down for a special, bonus episode of Against the Stream, the weekly current affairs podcast of the RCI. This episode premieres on YouTube at 6pm London time.
To focus on the upcoming world congress of the Revolutionary Commnuist International, Against the Stream plans to take a break until the first Thursday of September. Until then, you can catch up on all our analysis on YouTube, Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Join us in building the Revolutionary Communist International! www.marxist.com/join
[Read Alan Woods' analysis of Israel's attack on Marxist.com]
This week, the turmoil in the Middle East reached new heights as Israel launched a series of attacks on Iran, targeting its military leadership and striking several of its nuclear facilities. This has since escalated dramatically with further attacks on Iran and Iranian retaliations against Israel.
Israel’s latest war represents a dramatic turn in the situation both in the Middle East and globally, as Trump is currently weighing up US involvement in the strikes against Iran. Despite a layer of the Republican establishment frothing at the mouth over the chance to deal a blow to a longstanding enemy, many prominent voices within Trump’s camp oppose US intervention as a betrayal of his initial promise to be the ‘peace President’ and bring an end to US support for ‘forever wars’.
With splits emerging within Trumpism over the future of US foreign policy, it is unclear how these events in the Middle East will develop. As Marxists, we cannot predict the course of events with absolute certainty, but this makes it all the more crucial to engage in a meticulous study of such twists and turns in the world situation.
For this reason, this week’s episode of Against the Stream welcomes Fred Weston and Hamid Alizadeh from the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International, to pick apart this week’s developments and what they mean for the situation in the Middle East and the US.
This is the last episode of Against the Stream until the first week of September. Catch up on all of our previous episodes on YouTube, Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Chapters:
0:00 – Israel attacks Iran
1:01 – Trumpism begins to unravel
1:19 – Why we produce Against the Stream
This week, thousands of workers flooded onto the streets of LA in response to ICE agents raiding workplaces and neighbourhoods. Since then, Trump has tried to crush the movement by calling in the Marines and the National Guard. But in so doing, he risks provoking a mass movement similar to Black Lives Matter, which forced him into hiding in the White House bunker five years ago.
The democrats have attempted to attach themselves to this wave of protests. Posing as the ‘resistance’ and a friend to immigrants, they are attempting to direct it into safe channels. But the truth is, they are just as much enemies of immigrants as Trump’s republicans. Like all capitalist politicians, they use immigrants as scapegoats while exploiting them as extremely vulnerable labourers.
Trump is not only facing opposition from workers. The richest man in the world, Elon Musk, this week entered into a public feud with Trump over the ‘big beautiful bill’. With the American economy stagnating and debt piling up, this spat reveals the fact that Trump is in an impossible position: he cannot fulfil the promises he has made to American workers and their bosses at the same time.
To break down how communists should approach these problems, Jorge Martín and Hamid Alizadeh from the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International sat down to discuss world perspectives on a special episode of Against the Stream, the weekly podcast of the RCI, giving you a Marxist analysis of world affairs.
Against the Stream, weekly current affairs podcast of the Revolutionary Communist International, at 6pm every Thursday to discuss the latest developments in the world crisis of capitalism.Join us in building the Revolutionary Communist International! www.marxist.com/join
Articles mentioned:ICE out of LA! Workers defend themselves against Trump’s raids -- https://marxist.com/ice-out-of-la-workers-defend-themselves-against-trump-s-raids.htmA Veteran, a Construction Worker, a Communist: The Many Faces of the L.A. Protests -- https://www.wsj.com/us-news/a-veteran-a-construction-worker-a-communist-the-many-faces-of-the-l-a-protests-e429894a?mod=hp_lead_pos8Theses on the Eastern Question -- https://www.marxists.org/history/international/comintern/4th-congress/thesis-on-eastern-question.htmThe mounting pressure on bond markets -- https://www.ft.com/content/a07d5a72-2691-4da5-aee0-4af5136f737e
2025 marks a turning point in world history.
The tectonic plates of international relations are shifting, the globalised world economy is being torn apart, and the entire capitalist order is being shaken to its foundations by political, economic, environmental and social crises. An unstable new epoch – an epoch of war, revolution and counter-revolution – has opened up.
In preparation for the first congress of the Revolutionary Communist International, Jorge Martín and Hamid Alizadeh from the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International sat down to discuss world perspectives on a special episode of Against the Stream, the weekly podcast of the RCI, giving you a Marxist analysis of world affairs.
Against the Stream premieres weekly on YouTube. Tune in every Thursday at 6pm London time, or catch up on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Articles mentioned:
Monopoly capitalism, imperialism, and the world economy – Marxist.com
Debt is crushing the developing world – Financial Times
Matthew Miller lying compilation – X
Pakistan: URGENT SOLIDARITY APPEAL – release arrested leaders of the Awaami Action Committee Gilgit Baltistan! – Marxist.com
Pakistan: protests continue for the release of comrades in Gilgit Baltistan despite state repression – Marxist.com
0:00 Intro
1:51 The changing world relations
16:11 Ukrainian drone attack
26:32 Why Russia is winning
32:50 Sabotaging peace negotiations
36:30 Biden spokesman admits Israel commits war crimes
39:48 Gaza has unmasked Western capitalism
53:34 Austerity at home, warfare abroad
58:16 The world economy in 2025
1:11:09 Renewed interest in communism
1:14:50 Comrades in Pakistan under attack
1:24:00 Get organised!
Against the Stream, weekly current affairs podcast of the Revolutionary Communist International, at 6pm GMT every Thursday to discuss the latest developments in the world crisis of capitalism.
For a year and a half, the western imperialists have not only been defending Israel's right to massacre, starve and ethnically cleanse the population of Gaza – they have been selling them the weapons to do it. Now, all of a sudden, they’re criticising the “intolerable” suffering that Israel is causing. Does this mean that the imperialists have gained a conscience?
Certainly not. At a time when Netanyahu is escalating the genocide and explicitly declaring that Israel plans to conquer the territory and expel the Palestinians, what these blood-soaked hypocrites fear are the revolutionary implications of being associated with yet more horror. The consequences in the Middle East and beyond of Netanyahu’s policy – of recklessly dragging out the war to cling on to power – are forcing even Trump to look for other points of support in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, Trump and Putin have continued to haggle over the fate of Ukraine. In the western media, Putin has been depicted as a stubborn obstacle to peace. In reality, it is Zelensky and the Europeans who have resisted the negotiation of an end to the war, for they refuse to concede what is becoming apparent to all: that Ukraine has lost.
Finally, in Pakistan-occupied Gigit Baltistan, leaders of the Awami Action Committee – including several members of the Pakistani section of the Revolutionary Communist International – have been scandalously arrested. In response to this brazen attack, which is an attempt to behead a growing mass movement against the Pakistani regime, the Revolutionary Communist International have launched an international campaign demanding that these political prisoners be set free.
To explain where these events are leading the world, Jorge Martín and Hamid Alizadeh from the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International met for another episode of Against the Stream, the weekly current affairs podcast of the RCI.
The Revolutionary Communist International is fighting capitalism in over 60 countries – join us! www.marxist.com/join
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0:00 Intro
1:43 Shooting of Israeli embassy staff
16:15 Rift between the West and Israel
35:46 Kneecap member charged with terrorism
42:04 Ukraine peace negotiations
1:10:27 Comrades arrested in Pakistan
War between India and Pakistan. Revolutionary crisis in Serbia. Escalation of the genocide in Gaza. These are just a few of the mighty events piling up on one another at a breathtaking pace. Against the Stream is here to help revolutionaries navigate these tumultuous events. In Kashmir, India and Pakistan – both nuclear powers – once again briefly went to war. The countries have been in conflict since the partition of the subcontinent by British imperialism in 1947, but tensions have burst into the open again because of the profound change in the international balance of forces, and because both regimes are seeking to cut across the crises and class struggle they are facing on the home front. Against the atrocious position taken by the ‘communist’ parties of India, which have lined up behind their respective ruling class under the banner of ‘national unity’, genuine communists understand that this war serves no one but the rich, and that the elites of both countries must be overthrown if war is to be done away with altogether.Meanwhile, Israel’s genocidal imperialist rampage has escalated, with Netanyahu’s cabinet now explicitly declaring that they aim to conquer Gaza and to expel the Palestinians. Trump, however, has thrown a spanner in the works by moving to distance himself from Netanyahu. Having demoted Mike Waltz, who was one of the biggest advocates of Israel’s plan to bomb Iran, Trump is now touring the Middle East in an attempt to draw closer to the other Arab regimes.In the often rapid and complicated twists and turns in the situation, what underlies Trump’s strategy? And what position does this place Netanyahu in?In Serbia, on the other hand, a revolutionary crisis has erupted. From the student protests which emerged in response to the deaths of 16 people after the collapse of the concrete canopy at a major railway station, a powerful movement has developed which is now establishing Zborovi across the country: assemblies of students, and in some cases of workers too.These represent embryonic organs of popular power, as emerged on a higher level in the course of the Russian Revolution in the form of soviets. In embryo, as organs of power opposed to the capitalist government, they threaten the rule of not only Vučić, but the entire Serbian regime.To explain what attitudes communists should take to these dramatic events, Francesco Merli and Hamid Alizadeh from the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International met for another episode of Against the Stream, the weekly current affairs podcast of the RCI.____The Revolutionary Communist International is fighting capitalism in over 60 countries - join us! www.marxist.com/join____Articles mentioned:On the CPI, the CPIM and the war: no to Modi’s ‘national unity’!https://marxist.com/on-the-cpi-the-cpim-and-the-war-no-to-modi-s-national-unity.htmIndia and Pakistan enter another war: only class war can end all warshttps://marxist.com/india-and-pakistan-enter-another-war-only-class-war-can-end-all-wars.htmNeither India or Pakistan – for a Socialist Federation by Ted Granthttps://marxist.com/neither-india-or-pakistan-for-a-socialist-federation.htmRevolutionary crisis in Serbiahttps://marxist.com/revolutionary-crisis-in-serbia.htm___0:00 Intro2:30 Trump-Netanyahu clash21:53 India-Pakistan war48:28 Revolutionary movement in Serbia
Last week's byelections in the UK were an earthquake in British politics. For the first time since the rise of the Labour Party 100 years ago, the two-party system has been upended. Now, a new contender for power has decisively entered the race: Reform.It has been less than a year since the last general election in Britain. Since then, the Labour party has collapsed in popularity as a result of Starmer’s repeated attacks on the poor – chiefly his savage cut to winter fuel payments for pensioners and disability benefits. The Tory party, meanwhile – the oldest and most successful political party in the world – has continued to sink into irrelevance.In the meantime, Nigel Farage’s right-wing party, Reform, has shot up in popularity, and is now polling level with – even above – what have been the two main parties for at least a century. What is behind this upset? Does it mean that British people are getting more racist, more right-wing?
As this episode of Against the Stream explains, the resurgence of Farage is a product of the miserable state of broken Britain. For decades, the establishment parties have presided over austerity, privatisation and deindustrialisation. Boarded-up high streets, food banks, ambulance queues and pensioners freezing in their homes have become commonplace in Britain in 2025. As a result, anger is building against the politicians who have presided over this mess. For the time being, this anger is finding its outlet in the party of the only mainstream anti-establishment politician: Nigel Farage.
And this is not just the case in Britain. Similar right-wing populist figures like Trump, Weidel of the AfD, and Le Pen are popping up all across the western world and are gaining steam as the liberal establishment becomes more and more reviled.To uncover what is behind the rise of Reform, Niklas Albin Svensson and Hamid Alizadeh from the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International met for another episode of Against the Stream, the weekly current affairs podcast of the RCI.Join us in building the Revolutionary Communist International!
www.marxist.com/join
Since Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine three years ago, a flood of lies has gushed forth from western governments and the billionaire press alike to obscure the real nature of this war.
[Click here for a comprehensive reading list on the background to the Ukraine war: https://marxist.com/top-reads-on-the-ukraine-conflict-war-and-imperialism.htm]
Painting it as a simple battle between good and evil, they have remained totally silent about the fact that behind Ukraine is the world's foremost imperialist power, which has led Ukraine to the slaughter in pursuit of its interests.
Moreover, in their attempt to paint Zelensky as a beloved hero of democracy and Putin as a tyrant, they have concealed the real cause of the war, which did not begin in February 2022 but is the product of the aggressive thrust of western imperialism into Ukraine in the wake of the collapse of the USSR.
Today, Ukraine is shattered. Tens of thousands of young Ukrainians have been massacred in the trenches. As people around the world begin to ask, ‘What was it all for?’, it is vital that communists can explain what lies behind the conflict.
To explain who was really responsible for the destruction of Ukraine, Jorge Martín and Hamid Alizadeh from the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International met for another episode of Against the Stream, the weekly current affairs podcast of the RCI.
This episode premiered on YouTube. Tune in every Thursday at 6pm GMT, or catch up on Spotify or Apple Music.Join us in building the Revolutionary Communist International! www.marxist.com/join
For the last century, the USA has been the undisputed master of the capitalist world. Now, all that is changing. Today, America is in decline and facing a new contender: China.
Over the last 30 years, China has exploded from an underdeveloped country, exploited by western capitalists for its cheap labour, to a cutting-edge capitalist power in its own right. Today, it accounts for 18 percent of the world's GDP and 29 percent of the world’s manufacturing, and leads the world in some of the most advanced technologies.
As a result of this stormy development, which has made China the second most powerful country in the world, it has been able to stand firm in the face of Trump’s tariff war, whereas all other countries have meekly submitted. But no matter the balance of forces, such a conflict between the world’s biggest markets cannot fail to have devastating consequences for the whole world economy.
This trade war between the US and China – along with the negotiations over the fate of Ukraine, which are also discussed in this episode – show that we have entered a new epoch, one of economic crisis, heightened conflict between competing powers and, in consequence, class struggle.
To explain where these developments are leading the world, Jorge Martín and Hamid Alizadeh from the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International met for another episode of Against the Stream, the weekly current affairs podcast of the RCI.
This episode premiered on YouTube. Tune in every Thursday at 6pm GMT, or catch up on Spotify or Apple Music.
Articles mentioned:
“I’ve seen many phoney trade wars come and go. This is the real thing”
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/apr/09/trade-war-donald-trump-us-china
“‘The Tsunami Is Coming’: China’s Global Exports Are Just Getting Started”
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/07/business/china-manufacturing-exports-trump-tariffs.html
“On the Question of Free Trade”
https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1888/free-trade/index.htm
“Trump’s tariff programme deepens protectionist tendencies in world economy”
https://marxist.com/trump-s-tariff-programme-deepens-protectionist-tendencies-in-world-economy.htm
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Last week, Trump’s tariffs delivered a shattering blow to the world economy, sending stock markets around the world into precipitous collapse. This week, he U-turned and paused the tariffs, with the exception of those on China, which now stand at 125 percent. What does this chaos mean for the world economy?
The reversal of the tariffs has provoked a sigh of relief from the capitalist class. But it is not over yet. With the two biggest economic forces on the planet – America and China – going head to head, the globalised world economy is going to be ripped apart. This will only bring closer and intensify the devastating recession that is looming over the capitalist system.
For the working class of the world, this will be a catastrophe. They will be forced to pay the price, while the capitalist politicians will do everything they can to bail out the bankers and billionaires that got us into that mess. Unemployment and brutal cuts to living standards are coming. Already, in their dash to remilitarise, governments around the world are implementing brutal austerity programmes. The ripping apart of the world economy will only intensify matters and force capitalist governments to cut even deeper.
But, as we have already seen with the revolutions and mass movements in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Serbia, Greece and elsewhere, the working class will not take this lying down. The capitalist disaster is preparing a social explosion. Such chaos will force the working class to wake up to the fact that a dignified existence is incompatible with the continued rule of capitalism.
To explain how the anarchy of the market can be overthrown, Niklas Albin Svensson and Hamid Alizadeh from the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International met for another episode of Against the Stream, the weekly current affairs podcast of the RCI.
This episode premiered on YouTube. Tune in every Thursday at 6pm GMT, or catch up on Spotify or Apple Music.
Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff announcements have set the cat amongst the pigeons in the world market. In France, the hypocritical establishment is celebrating the sentencing of right-wing demagogue Marine Le Pen in court on flimsy charges. Meanwhile in the Middle East, the leader of the PKK has called on its Kurdish guerilla fighters to lay down their arms.
Globalisation is now rapidly unravelling, with tariffs threatening to dramatically tear up supply chains internationally. But any attempt by the US or other powers to export the burden of their crisis-ridden economies through protectionism will do nothing to solve the fundamental bankruptcy of the capitalist system.
Meanwhile, although the liberal establishment wax lyrical about the virtues of ‘democracy’, they have shown themselves time and again to be perfectly willing to give up on these treasured principles if it suits them. In the US, Romania and now also in France, maverick candidates outside of the traditional political elite have been targeted by legal campaigns and accusations of corruption. While we do not agree with Le Pen, communists have a duty to call out the rank hypocrisy of the liberals that accuse her and similar figures of threatening democracy.
For some time, the struggle for Kurdish self-determination has inspired many on the left internationally. The PKK, the main military and political force among Kurds, however, has now been called upon by its leadership to lay down their arms. This is an utter capitulation on the part of the PKK leaders and represents a policy of capitulation to capitalism and imperialism, rather than the struggle against them.
The greatest tools in a communist’s arsenal are our ideas. Without these it is too easy to get caught up in the constant whirlwind of events facing us in the world today. To untangle some of this week’s biggest news stories, and get to the essence of these events, Fred Weston and Hamid Alizadeh from the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International met for another episode of Against the Stream, the weekly current affairs podcast of the RCI.
This episode premiered on YouTube. Tune in every Thursday at 6pm GMT, or catch up on Spotify or Apple Music.
Articles mentioned:
https://meduza.io/feature/2025/03/17/otsyuda-vyhod-odin-trista-ili-dvesti
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-resumes-gaza-bombing-one-most-terrifying-nights-war
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/03/23/starmer-ukraine-peacekeeping-plan-political-theatre/
https://marxist.com/netanyahu-resumes-genocide-to-cling-to-power-2.htm
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In Gaza, Netanyahu has restarted the genocide. Already, hundreds have been killed by bombs, while thousands more are at risk of starvation. In Ukraine, which has essentially lost the war to Russia, youths are still being kidnapped and conscripted into the army to die in trenches. This is what capitalism has to offer in the 21st century.
Wars, genocides, and famines have accompanied capitalism since its birth. In fact, they are built into the very fabric of the system, which depends upon endless exploitation and plunder.
The capitalist class in the West is particularly responsible for these graveyards. From the beginning, they have fueled the war in Ukraine at the cost of tens of thousands of Ukrainian lives. Meanwhile, they have stood by Netanyahu through thick and thin, arming him with billions of dollars worth of bombs with which to carry out the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians.
Our job as communists is not to weep but to understand in order to change it. To explain how we can bring this horror to an end, Jorge Martín and Hamid Alizadeh from the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International met for another episode of Against the Stream, the weekly current affairs podcast of the RCI.
This episode premiered on YouTube. Tune in every Thursday at 6pm GMT, or catch up on Spotify or Apple Music.
YouTube: https://youtu.be/ljKETosTl9s
Join us in building the Revolutionary Communist International! www.marxist.com/join
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Timestamps
(0:00) Intro
(1:38) Gaza: The genocide resumes
(26:15) Gaza: What Hamas represents
(29:22) Ukraine: Russia and US ceasefire negotiations
(34:27) Ukraine: How Trump differs from the liberal establishment
(39:10) Ukraine: EU scrambling to continue war
(53:02) Ukraine: Stories from the frontlines
(1:20:05) Ukraine: Explaining the RCI's position on the war
(1:29:24) War abroad means austerity at home
(1:37:35) The working class has begun to move
Trump’s dramatic return to the White House has thrown the liberals into complete panic and confusion. They have been accusing Trump of being responsible for every ill in the world, and have flung whatever insults they can at him: from semi-fascist, to fascist, to neo-fascist.Shamefully, the perennially alarmed so-called 'Lefts' are dragging like a tail behind the liberals, spreading the same confusion and falling into the old trap of 'lesser evilism'. Against this alarmism, which really serves to justify the capitalist status quo, an understanding of the real nature of Trumpism is of paramount importance for revolutionaries so that they don’t get caught in the same camp as Genocide Joe and the rest of the hated US establishment. Meanwhile, totally unaffected by this shrill chorus, Trump is proceeding with business. This week he resumed talks with Russia over the fate of Ukraine, while on the frontlines, the Ukrainian offensive in Kursk has completely collapsed. At the same time, Netanyahu has torn up the ceasefire with Hamas and has restarted the war in Gaza, which will have explosive consequences for the Middle East.All of these not only pose big questions for the capitalist world order. Communists, more than anyone else, must understand what is really going on so that they can cut through the fog and fight against the system with a clear perspective.To explain how Marxists should understand and approach these phenomena, Alan Woods, the leading theoretician of the Revolutionary Communist International, joined Hamid Alizadeh for another episode of Against the Stream, the weekly current affairs podcast of the RCI.This episode premiered on YouTube. Tune in every Thursday at 6pm GMT.__Books mentioned in the episode can be purchased on: https://wellred-books.com/
The world capitalist system is beset on all sides by crisis. Debt is sky-high, economies are stagnating and society is more polarised than ever. To add to this mess, the tapestry of world relations – the ‘rules-based order’ – is unravelling. Tit-for-tat tariffs that seek to export the crisis threaten to turn into trade wars that will tear up world trade.The liberals see Trump as the wrecking ball causing the crisis. But is this true? By slashing the debt, raising tariffs and ditching the Ukraine war, he is actually trying to stabilise American capitalism, even if that comes at the expense of the rest of the world. His efforts, however, will be in vain. Every attempt to solve one crisis will simply exacerbate another. Ultimately, tariffs will push up inflation, whereas his reckless cuts will prepare a gigantic backlash of class struggle. There is no way out on a capitalist basis because capitalism itself is the root of the problem. For communists, therefore, the choice is not between tariffs or free trade. Rearmament and austerity are only ‘necessary’ as long as we accept the logic of the capitalist system. Our job, on the contrary, is not to tinker with the capitalist system, but to overthrow it. To explain the communist alternative, Fred Weston and Hamid Alizadeh of the international leadership of the RCI, met for another episode of Against the Stream, the weekly current affairs podcast of the Revolutionary Communist International.This episode was streamed on YouTube. Tune in every Thursday at 6pm GMT.
This week's row in the Oval Office between Trump and Zelensky served to dramatically underscore the fact that we are passing a seismic shift in world history. The old alliances and institutions are breaking down, and a realignment, reflecting the changed balance of forces, is taking place for all to see.The biggest losers of this transformation are the Europeans, who are gradually sobering up to their predicament. Without the US – upon which they have been reliant for 80 years – they will have to re-arm. In a situation of economic stagnation and sky-high debts, this means finding savings elsewhere. And that means cuts.But these cuts will have profound social consequences. Already the workers and youth of Europe have faced a decade of austerity. Now their imperialist governments are preparing to snatch away the last crumbs of social spending to turn into bombs and bullets. The general strike in Greece, in which over a million people went out on strike to protest their government's murderous role in the deaths of 57 young people in a rail disaster two years ago, is an indication of the kind of explosions we should expect to see in the future in Europe. To discuss the present capitalist chaos and its revolutionary implications, Jorge Martín and Hamid Alizadeh of the international leadership of the RCI, met for another episode of Against the Stream, the weekly current affairs podcast of the Revolutionary Communist International.This episode was streamed on YouTube. Tune in every Thursday at 3pm GMT, or catch up on Spotify or Apple Music.
This week, after claiming victory in the German election, Friedrich Merz declared that Germany would now stand up to the USA, Russia and China and make the EU into a ‘great power’.
Similarly, Keir Starmer declared that Britain would stand by Ukraine for 100 years and threatened to put British troops on the group as a ‘peacekeeping force’, while Macron travelled to the White House in a ‘show of strength’ to Trump.
Clearly, the liberal European establishment has gone mad. In reality, Europe is facing a catastrophic crisis. It is being outcompeted and squeezed between the real great powers, has been abandoned by its American protector, and is looking on helplessly as Russia claims victory in the Ukraine war, a war they have spent hundreds of billions of dollars prolonging. On top of that, the despised establishment parties across the continent are facing the meteoric rise of right-wing populist contenders.
Their bragging and posturing could not be more out of touch with reality, for there is no way out of this mess on a capitalist basis.
To explain the method in the madness, Jorge Martín and Hamid Alizadeh of the international leadership of the RCI, met for another episode of Against the Stream, the weekly current affairs podcast of the Revolutionary Communist International.
This episode was streamed on YouTube. Tune in every Thursday at 3pm GMT, or catch up on Spotify or Apple Music.
This week, Trump went over the heads of Zelensky and the European leaders to embark on peace talks with Russia. At a stroke, the western order that has prevailed for over half a century has fractured.
This has major implications for Europe in particular. For decades, Europe has based its policy on its partnership with the undisputed imperialist master of the planet: the USA. But Trump’s latest move expresses the fact that US imperialism no longer has a particular interest in subsidising the defence of the continent. They are being dumped by their most important ally, which throws the whole of the liberal European order, including the EU and NATO, into question.
This shambolic situation for European imperialism also comes at a time of acute economic, political and social crisis all across Europe. Energy prices are sky-high, factories are shutting down, the establishment has never been more despised, and right-wing populist parties are on the rise.
To explain all of this turmoil, Fred Weston and Hamid Alizadeh of the international leadership of the RCI, met for another episode of Against the Stream, the weekly current affairs podcast of the Revolutionary Communist International.
This episode was streamed on YouTube. Tune in every Thursday at 3pm GMT, or catch up on Spotify or Apple Music.
[Due to technical difficulties, part of today's episode is without video. Apologies!]
Lenin once said that there are decades where weeks happen, and weeks where decades happen. We are living through the latter. A new era has begun, one characterised by capitalist crisis, imperialist war, immense turbulence in world relations and revolutionary upheavals.
On Against the Stream, the weekly current affairs podcast of the Revolutionary Communist International, Hamid Alizadeh and Fred Weston from the International Secretariat will be discussing the latest developments in the world crisis of capitalism from a Marxist perspective.
This week, that includes Trump's announcement that he would be opening negotiations with Russia to end the Ukraine war, which has sent shockwaves through Europe; the precarious ceasefire in Gaza and Trump’s plan to expel the Palestinians so he can turn it into the ‘Riviera of the Middle East’; and the class struggle in America.
This podcast was streamed live onYouTube. Tune in every Thursday at 3pm GMT, or catch up onSpotifyorApple Music.
Trump has been in power for just over two weeks and already he has started to upend the liberal world order. With tariffs, deportations, the halting of all foreign aid, and his plan to turn Gaza into a “Rivera of the Middle East”, ‘allies’ and rivals alike have been thrown into panic.
With breathtaking speed, the ‘rules-based order’ is being dynamited and destabilised, and the policy of ‘America First’ – and everyone else last – is coming into effect, with explosive and chaotic consequences for world affairs.
To discuss these developments, which signal a transformation in world imperialist relations, Jorge Martín and Hamid Alizadeh met for another episode of Against the Stream.
This podcast was streamed live on YouTube. Tune in every Thursday at 3pm GMT, or catch up on Spotify or Apple Music.
