Perspectives
The message of Wisconsin
By Patrick Martin, 7 April 2016
The American working class is moving sharply to the left, destabilizing the corporate-controlled two-party system and setting the stage for the eruption of major social struggles.
Imperialism, political corruption and the real face of capitalism
By Andre Damon, 6 April 2016
The publication of the “Panama Papers” has exposed the criminality that pervades the financial elite and its political representatives.
Greece’s Syriza: Full partner in historic crime against refugees
By Bill Van Auken, 5 April 2016
The police-state measures and summary deportations employed by the Syriza government against refugees are of a piece with its relentless attacks on the Greek working class.
The working class in France mobilizes against austerity
By Alex Lantier, 4 April 2016
The attempt to promote hysteria over terrorism to suppress popular opposition is failing in the face of a growing radicalization of workers and youth.
The social crisis and the US elections
By Barry Grey, 2 April 2016
Behind the phony economic “recovery,” the entire structure of employment in the United States is being radically altered to reduce the status of workers to that of a super-exploited casual labor force.
The drive to impeachment and the dangers facing the Brazilian working class
By Bill Van Auken, 1 April 2016
The attempt to oust Rousseff and the PT over corruption is driven by the demand of Brazilian and foreign capital for an acceleration of ongoing attacks on workers’ living standards.
War: The great unmentionable in the 2016 US elections
By Joseph Kishore, 31 March 2016
While it is not a topic of significant debate among the various candidates contending for the presidential nomination, the growing international war drive, spearheaded by the United States, looms over the election campaign.
Warnings of global arms race ahead of Nuclear Security Summit
By Andre Damon, 30 March 2016
As world leaders gather for this week’s nuclear summit in Washington, leading think tanks are warning of a “new arms race” and the need to plan for “Armageddon.”
Japan’s security laws: Another milestone in the drive to world war
By Peter Symonds, 29 March 2016
The implementation of the military legislation is a major step in the revival of Japanese militarism, encouraged by Washington as part of its war preparations against China.
Clinton primary contest losses intensify Democratic Party crisis
By Joseph Kishore, 28 March 2016
Sanders’ landslide victories in Washington state, Hawaii and Alaska are a further expression of the pent-up social anger directed at the entire political establishment.
Obama’s pivot to Latin America
By Bill Van Auken, 26 March 2016
Behind Obama’s empty human rights rhetoric, Washington is prepared to carry out new and bloodier crimes in Latin America in pursuit of US profit interests.
The Belgium bombing: Why the dots are not connected
By Alex Lantier and Andre Damon, 25 March 2016
The extent of state intelligence foreknowledge in the Brussels attack explodes the official narrative that intelligence agencies failed to “connect the dots.”
Corbyn’s six months as UK Labour leader: A record of capitulation and betrayal
By Robert Stevens, 24 March 2016
There is a stark symmetry between the treacherous and cowardly course of Corbyn’s tenure and the betrayal carried out by the Syriza government in Greece.
The terror bombings in Brussels
By Alex Lantier, 23 March 2016
This horrific attack targeted innocent people in no way responsible for the imperialist wars that have devastated the Middle East.
Obama in Cuba
By Bill Van Auken, 22 March 2016
Obama’s “human rights” masquerade is aided and abetted not only by the slavish US media, but also by the Castro government itself.
Trump and the Democratic Party
By Patrick Martin, 21 March 2016
The Democrats will run in the fall campaign as the party of the status quo, complacency and self-satisfaction, essentially conceding the economically discontented to Donald Trump.
The crimes behind the US lead water crisis
By Andre Damon, 19 March 2016
The revelation of widespread lead contamination in drinking water in the US, and the complete indifference of the government to it, have shown where the priorities of American capitalism lie.
Syrian war enters sixth year with graver dangers still ahead
By Bill Van Auken, 18 March 2016
The recent “cessation of hostilities” and partial withdrawal of Russian forces will not stop the escalation of US militarism in the region and beyond.
After the March 15 US primaries: The political role of the Sanders campaign
By Joseph Kishore, 17 March 2016
From the beginning, Sanders’ role has been to serve as a lightning rod for social discontent and direct it into the dead end of the Democratic Party.
What is behind the electoral success of the Alternative for Germany?
By Peter Schwarz, 16 March 2016
The Left Party created the conditions that enabled the right-wing nationalist AfD to tap into social frustration and anger and channel it in a reactionary direction.
Economic nationalism, war and the fight for international socialism
By Nick Beams, 15 March 2016
The end result of the program of economic nationalism can be seen in the experience of the 1930s, when it brought about social devastation and led to world war.
The Trump campaign: A new stage in the crisis of American democracy
By The WSWS Editorial Board, 14 March 2016
With the eruption of violence inside and outside rallies of billionaire Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, American politics has reached a turning point.
Violence, racism and the Trump campaign
By Patrick Martin, 12 March 2016
Republican front-runner Donald Trump’s thuggery and racist agitation against immigrants must be taken as a warning of the emergence of a fascistic movement out of the putrefaction of the American two-party system.
The refugee crisis and the polarization of Europe
By Peter Schwarz, 11 March 2016
Large sections of the population look on the brutal conditions of refugees with horror and disgust, but the official political debate takes place within a narrow spectrum ranging from the right to the ultra-right.
Sanders’ upset win in the Michigan primary
By Patrick Martin, 10 March 2016
The glaring failure of media polling to detect the shift in class sentiment is itself a demonstration of the chasm that separates the entire political establishment from the vast majority of the population.
The arrest of former President Lula and the crisis of rule in Brazil
By Bill Van Auken, 9 March 2016
The detention and questioning of the founder of the Workers Party and former president has dramatically intensified the crisis of Brazil’s ruling party.
US moves to harness India to anti-China “pivot”
By Keith Jones, 8 March 2016
Washington is determined to make India a “frontline state” in its drive to strategically isolate, encircle and potentially wage war against China.
The Flint water crisis and the US elections
By Jerry White, 7 March 2016
The economic nationalist policies promoted by Sanders complement the anti-immigrant racism and xenophobia of Republican front-runner Donald Trump.
TVA pension cuts: A new stage in the assault on American workers
By Niles Williamson, 5 March 2016
The attack on the pensions of federal employees is a warning that no section of the working class is exempt from the social counterrevolution being carried out in the interests of the financial aristocracy.
China and Brazil: Two expressions of the deepening capitalist breakdown
By Nick Beams, 4 March 2016
As the “BRICS model” of economic growth disintegrates, conditions are emerging for another financial crisis.
What political conclusions must be drawn from Trump’s Super Tuesday?
By David North, 3 March 2016
The emergence of Trump marks a new and dangerous stage in the crisis of American democracy.
Imperialism intensifies pressure on Russia and China
By Andre Damon, 2 March 2016
Leading strategists of US imperialism increasingly see the fomenting of national secessionist movements as a means to destabilize and subjugate the Eurasian land mass.
The Australian Defence White Paper and the drive to war
By James Cogan, 1 March 2016
The militarist agenda spelled out in the White Paper is incompatible with the democratic and social rights of the working class.
For an active boycott of the Brexit referendum!
Statement of the Socialist Equality Party, British section of the International Committee of the Fourth International
29 February 2016
The Republican debate and the degradation of US politics
By Patrick Martin, 27 February 2016
Thursday night’s Republican presidential debate was a demonstration of the degraded state of American politics and the intellectual and moral decay of the American ruling elite.
Perplexity and divisions mark G-20 meeting
By Nick Beams, 26 February 2016
The G-20 meeting in Shanghai is riven by the widening divisions between the major capitalist powers as the crisis of the global economy intensifies.
Sticking point in Syria truce: Washington’s support for Al Qaeda
By Bill Van Auken, 25 February 2016
Amid bitter recriminations over the “cessation of hostilities” brokered by the US and Russia, all the lies used to promote both regime-change in Syria and the “war on terror” are disintegrating.
The assault on encryption and the drive to expand police state spying
By Joseph Kishore, 24 February 2016
With its highly public court battle over access to an encrypted phone, the Obama administration is seeking to expand spying powers and counter the popular anger that followed the revelations by Edward Snowden.
Nationalism and “Brexit”
By Chris Marsden, 23 February 2016
The first responsibility of a socialist in the referendum on “Brexit” is to reject all appeals for working people to fall in behind one or another faction of the bourgeoisie fighting over which strategy best upholds the interests of British imperialism.
War and the 2016 US elections
By Joseph Kishore, 22 February 2016
There is no discussion in the US presidential campaign of the preparations of the ruling class for an immense escalation of war following the elections in November.
Once again on Sanders and socialism
By Barry Grey, 20 February 2016
Outside of a mass struggle that directly challenges the bases of capitalist rule—private ownership of the corporations and banks and the system of wage slavery—no genuinely progressive changes can be achieved.
White House steps up drive to outlaw encryption
By Andre Damon, 19 February 2016
Tuesday’s ruling by a US judge demanding that Apple create a “backdoor” to its mobile device operating system is part of the drive to weaken, or even criminalize, encrypted communications.
Europe at the breaking point
By Alex Lantier, 17 February 2016
France's denunciations of Germany's policy of accepting Middle Eastern refugees fleeing to Europe have exposed deep divisions within the EU.
The glorification of Antonin Scalia
By Tom Carter, 16 February 2016
The sickening tributes across the official US political and media spectrum to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who died suddenly on Saturday at the age of 79, are a barometer of the putrefaction of American democracy.
Inequality, class and life expectancy in America
By Barry Grey, 15 February 2016
The widening disparity in life expectancy between the poor and the rich is a stark commentary on the growth of social inequality and class polarization in the United States.
The detection of gravitational waves: A scientific milestone
By Bryan Dyne, 13 February 2016
The discovery of gravitational waves is a vindication of science and the ability of human reason to tackle and overcome the most complex problems.
The US “Plan B” for Syria and the threat of world war
By Bill Van Auken, 12 February 2016
With the war for regime change in Syria on the ropes, Washington and its allies are in feverish discussions over implementing a “Plan B” of direct military intervention.
The political role of the Bernie Sanders campaign
By Joseph Kishore, 11 February 2016
Sanders does not speak for the working class, but for a section of the ruling class and political establishment that views the growth of social opposition with fear and is seeking some way of containing it.
The looting of US workers’ pensions
By Andre Damon, 10 February 2016
The assault on the pension benefits of retirees is an escalation of the decades-long drive to reduce American workers to the conditions of life that existed in the 19th century.
A new stage in the global economic breakdown
By Nick Beams, 9 February 2016
The growing financial crisis in China, marked by capital flight and mounting concerns over debt levels, is accompanied by increasing doubts about the stability of the entire global banking system.
Detroit and Chicago teachers fight to defend public education
By Jerry White, 8 February 2016
The struggle to defend the right to education poses political questions that are critical for the entire working class.
Sanders and the left feint in capitalist politics
By Patrick Martin, 6 February 2016
Sanders is not the representative of a working class movement. He is rather the temporary beneficiary of a rising tide of popular opposition that is passing through only its initial stages of social and class differentiation.
UN panel condemns detention of WikiLeaks founder
Stop the persecution of Julian Assange!
By Bill Van Auken, 5 February 2016
Despite a ruling that Assange has been subjected to “arbitrary detention,” both the UK and Sweden vow to continue his persecution.
Pentagon budget: A blueprint for World War III
By Bill Van Auken, 4 February 2016
Defense Secretary Ashton Carter’s preview of the Pentagon budget spelled out Washington’s advanced preparations for war against both Russia and China.
The Sanders vote in Iowa
By Patrick Martin, 3 February 2016
The mass support for Sanders explodes the myth, peddled endlessly by the American media, that the American people are unalterably wedded to capitalism.
Geneva talks begin as US-backed war in Syria expands
By Bill Van Auken, 2 February 2016
The opening of the talks was overshadowed by a vicious bombing attack on a Shia shrine outside the Syrian capital of Damascus.
On eve of first presidential contest: US two-party system in crisis
By Patrick Martin, 1 February 2016
Tonight’s Iowa caucuses mark the first primary contest in a presidential election campaign already characterized by political convulsions in both corporate-controlled parties.
Wall Street celebrates mounting signs of US slump
By Andre Damon, 30 January 2016
The financial markets responded to a series of reports pointing to a sharp economic downturn in the US by staging a euphoric rally.
Pentagon prepares another war in Libya
By Bill Van Auken, 29 January 2016
Having first devastated Libya in the name of “human rights,” Washington is now about to attack it again on the pretext of fighting terrorism.
War and the destruction of social infrastructure in America
By Andre Damon, 28 January 2016
The water crisis in Flint, Michigan highlights the slashing of funds for public infrastructure to pay for war and the enrichment of the financial elite.
Sanders and socialism
By Barry Grey, 27 January 2016
The continued and growing support for Sanders has exploded a whole series of fictions about the American people and American politics.
US think tank outlines master plan for war with China
By Peter Symonds, 26 January 2016
The CSIS report represents the voice of the vast American military establishment, which regards China as the chief threat to untrammelled US strategic dominance in Asia.
Five years of the Egyptian Revolution
By Johannes Stern, 25 January 2016
The basic problem of the Egyptian Revolution was to establish the political independence of the working class from all of the different bourgeois forces.
The end of liberal Europe
By Peter Schwarz, 23 January 2016
The shift to the right by the European elites is rooted in explosive social, economic and political contradictions that have been building up since the collapse of the Soviet Union 25 years ago.
The roots of the crisis in Flint and Detroit
By Eric London, 22 January 2016
The catastrophe in Michigan, including the lead poisoning of thousands of residents in Flint, has provoked outrage across the country.
The political significance of the global economic turmoil
By Nick Beams, 21 January 2016
The turmoil on global markets is an expression of the breakdown of the mechanisms and structures that have sustained world capitalism over the past quarter-century.
The Flint water crisis and the criminality of American capitalism
By Jerry White, 20 January 2016
In a State of the State address, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder sought to cover up and evade responsibility for the poisoning of an American city.
The ruling class meets at Davos
By Andre Damon, 19 January 2016
This year’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland takes place against the backdrop of a deepening global crisis and soaring inequality.
What is driving the stock market panic?
By Barry Grey, 18 January 2016
After more than seven years of bailouts and trillions in virtually free cash for the banks and financial markets, the real economy has not only not recovered from the Wall Street crash of 2008, it is rapidly deteriorating.
Washington invokes hunger to promote war in Syria
By Bill Van Auken, 16 January 2016
Allegations that Syrian government forces are deliberately starving besieged villagers have become the basis for yet another propaganda campaign for regime change.
Flint, Michigan: Portrait of an American city
By Andre Damon, 15 January 2016
The man-made disaster in Flint has revealed the reality of social relations in America behind the official facade constructed by the media and politicians.
Obama’s State of the Union address and the breakdown of American democracy
By Eric London and Barry Grey, 14 January 2016
There is an objective significance to the reduction of the State of the Union address, an American political tradition that goes back to George Washington, to an empty and cynical media spectacle.
The Detroit teachers’ fight to defend public education
By Jerry White, 13 January 2016
It is no accident that social opposition is taking the form of a rebellion against the trade unions, which have long served as industrial police for the corporations and government.
German media incites racist hysteria
By Peter Schwarz, 12 January 2016
Unsubstantiated and racist allegations of mass sexual harassment are being used to witch-hunt immigrants and legitimize German preparations for an expanded military intervention in the Middle East.
Bowing to Trump’s racist agitation
Obama rejects pleas to halt deportations
By Patrick Martin, 11 January 2016
The White House has rebuffed pleas to call a halt to the summary deportations of women and children fleeing violence in Central America.
The lottery and social despair in America
By Andre Damon, 9 January 2016
For millions of people, the dream of winning the lottery has replaced the “American Dream” of living a decent life.
Lead poisoning in Flint, Michigan
By James Brewer and Jerry White, 8 January 2016
The poisoning of the population in the former manufacturing center for General Motors—and the cover-up by state officials—highlights the socially destructive character of American capitalism.
Crocodile tears from the commander-in-chief
By Patrick Martin, 7 January 2016
Obama professes to mourn for children killed by gun violence while presiding over a never-ending escalation of military violence around the world.
German Luftwaffe joins the Syrian war
By Johannes Stern, 6 January 2016
The entry of the Luftwaffe into the Syrian war, backed by some 1,200 German soldiers and a frigate, opens a new and ominous chapter in the resurgence of German militarism.
The New Year stock sell-off
By Barry Grey, 5 January 2016
The indicators of a deepening crisis in production sent shock waves through the financial markets because they portend the looming collapse of a vast speculative house of cards built up since the 2008 Wall Street crash.
The mass beheadings in Saudi Arabia
By Bill Van Auken, 4 January 2016
The barbaric killing spree carried out by the royal parasites in Riyadh was a calculated political act driven by both domestic and international objectives.
On the threshold of the New Year
By Joseph Kishore and David North, 31 December 2015
It is characteristic of a period of crisis that more and more the essential nature of capitalism—a system of exploitation, inequality, war and repression—comes into alignment with the everyday experiences of broad masses of people.
A New Year’s sense of foreboding over the global economy
By Nick Beams, 30 December 2015
Economic developments in 2015 were dominated by intensifying recessionary trends throughout the world economy.
US military to expand global operations in 2016
By Thomas Gaist, 29 December 2015
US imperialism is expanding its global Special Forces network, preparing new deployments of combat forces to confront Russia and China, and flooding every region of the world with advanced weaponry.
The fracturing of the European Union
By Peter Schwarz, 28 December 2015
In the last century, great power aspirations, nationalism and fascism made the continent the focus of two world wars, which claimed nearly 100 million victims. Now, these same tendencies are spreading once again.
No “peace on Earth” in 2015
By Andre Damon, 24 December 2015
The official promotion of the “Christmas spirit” collides against the reality of ever-expanding war, violence and social misery that dominate capitalist society.
Political issues in the Spanish election crisis
By Alex Lantier, 23 December 2015
Podemos, while posing as a populist opponent of austerity, will prove as hostile to the working class as Syriza in Greece.
WTO buries Doha Round: Another rupture in the post-war order
By Nick Beams, 22 December 2015
The decision to end the Doha Round signifies the end of the multilateralism that formed a crucial foundation of post-World War II economic expansion.
The US terror scare
By Patrick Martin, 21 December 2015
The US ruling elite is whipping up an atmosphere of panic after the killings in San Bernardino, laying the ground for a further military escalation in the Middle East and North Africa.
After Fed rate hike, global economic fault lines deepen
By Nick Beams, 19 December 2015
The growing turbulence in financial markets is a manifestation of deepening recessionary trends in the global economy.
Saudi Arabia and the “war on terror”
By Bill Van Auken, 18 December 2015
US officials hailed the Saudi monarchy’s proclamation of a Sunni sectarian alliance “against terrorism,” as the Saudi regime prepares another round of beheadings.
The French regional elections and the threat of dictatorship
By Alex Lantier, 17 December 2015
The ascendant neo-fascist National Front aims to win the 2017 presidential election and emerge atop the police state being built by the Socialist Party.
The climate crisis and imperialism
By Andre Damon, 16 December 2015
Far from fostering the international collaboration that would be required to reverse climate change, capitalist society is increasingly characterized by xenophobia, international conflict and war.
“Left” propagandists for escalation of imperialist war
By Bill Van Auken, 15 December 2015
A collection of pseudo-left groups that have promoted the CIA-orchestrated proxy war in Syria as a “revolution” are now agitating for a major escalation.
Junk bond panic signals new stage in crisis of world capitalism
By Barry Grey, 14 December 2015
The mounting crisis in the junk bond market has profound and convulsive implications for the entire credit system, in the US and internationally.
Social inequality and the disintegration of the American middle class
By David Walsh, 12 December 2015
The decline of the middle classes in America has profound and revolutionary implications.
The Venezuelan elections and the dead end of Latin America’s “turn to the left”
By Bill Van Auken, 11 December 2015
The defeat suffered by the ruling chavistas in Venezuela is part of a growing crisis of the so-called “left” bourgeois parties throughout Latin America.
Trump: The ugly reality of American politics
By Patrick Martin, 10 December 2015
The emergence of an open racist as the leading Republican presidential contender is a consequence of decades of imperialist war and the brutalization of American society.
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