A full-scale invasion of Africa is under way. The United States is deploying troops in 35 African countries, beginning with Libya, Sudan, Algeria and Niger. Reported by Associated Press on Christmas Day, this was missing from most Anglo-American media.
The invasion has almost nothing to do with “Islamism”, and almost everything to do with the acquisition of resources, notably minerals, and an accelerating rivalry with China. Unlike China, the US and its allies are prepared to use a degree of violence demonstrated in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Palestine. As in the cold war, a division of labour requires that western journalism and popular culture provide the cover of a holy war against a “menacing arc” of Islamic extremism, no different from the bogus “red menace” of a worldwide communist conspiracy. [Read More...]
Recent articles
Marxism, feminism and women’s liberation
Sharon Smith, author of the soon-to-be-republished Women and Socialism: Essays on Women’s Liberation, examines how the Marxist tradition has approached the struggle to end women’s oppression, including its attitude toward other theories, in this article based on a talk given at the Socialism 2012 conference in Chicago. INESSA ARMAND, the first leader of the women’s department of [...]
Militant Classics: Ka Whawhai Tonu Matou
Ka Whawhai Tonu Matou by Ranginui Walker (revised edition 2004) Ranginui Walker presents a history of Aotearoa/New Zealand from the perspective of Maori fighting for self-determination. In this way the book has a ‘bottom up’ or ‘people`s history’ feel too it – it is an indispensable resource for activists today. Walker has been an engaged intellectual, [...]
The year the masks fell: Egyptians against the alliance of the Brotherhood, military and capital
The Egyptian people’s great revolution, which threw the dictator and his cronies into prison, is still aflame as it marks its second anniversary. It has already toppled several failed governments, and forced the Military Council to quit after elections which brought Mohamed Mursi and the Muslim Brotherhood to power.
On “Australia Day” / Invasion Day
Black Panther Billy X Jennings and Aboriginal activist Gary Foley will be speaking at Marxism 2013 28-31 March in Melbourne. Jeremy Gibson introduces these two anti-racist heroes. In the wake of Invasion Day on the 26th of January, questions of racial identity and racial discrimination in Australia have once again been thrown into the spotlight of discussion. Despite [...]
The roots of France’s war in Mali
FRANCE, THE former slave power of West Africa, has poured into Mali with a vengeance in a military attack launched on January 11. French warplanes are bombing towns and cities across the vast swath of northern Mali, a territory measuring some 1,000 kilometers each, from south to north and east to west. French soldiers in [...]
Oppose attacks on the disability benefit
This year the National government will be implementing changes to the disability benefit based on a similar system being used in the UK. The welfare reforms in 2008 in the UK brought in a work capability assessment. A healthcare company is contracted to do these assessments. This company is currently Atos and its performance in [...]
Order Prevails in Berlin! Remembering Rosa Luxemburg
94 years ago today Rosa Luxemburg was murdered. She was one of the great leaders in the history of the socialist movement internationally – a fierce opponent of imperialist war, suffering in jail for her opposition to the carnage of World War One, an original and innovative economist, a theorist of workers’ democracy. Her book [...]
Socialist Summer Readings: the best of 2012
We asked some left-wing writers, journalists and performers, as well as some Socialist Review writers and readers, to tell us about their highlights from 2012. Whether you’re interested in novels, theater, films or texts, we have you covered.
From the archive
History catches up with Tongan King
Tonga, once a sleepy island kingdom sunk in tradition and religion, was rocked by riots on Thursday 16 November 2006, as frustration with the royal government hit boiling point. Almost overnight, Australian and New Zealand troops appeared on the scene patrolling the scarred streets of the capital Nuku’alofa and controlling its airport.
