Perspectives
The US escalation in Syria and the threat of world war
By Bill Van Auken, 21 June 2017
The seriousness of the rising tensions between Washington and Moscow was underscored Tuesday with Australia’s announcement that it is grounding its planes that have been flying over Syria.
The New York Times steps up its anti-Russia campaign
By Patrick Martin, 20 June 2017
An editorial in Sunday’s Times on the investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential election is an exercise in disinformation aimed at whipping up support for war with Russia.
Social inequality and the Grenfell Tower inferno
By Chris Marsden, 19 June 2017
Thousands have met Prime Minister May’s promise to hold a public inquiry with denunciations of yet another cover-up, while Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn gives his full support.
Corporate mass murder in London
By Robert Stevens, 17 June 2017
Thousands protested in London Friday to demand justice and the punishment of those responsible for mass murder in the worst housing fire in modern British history.
The political significance of the shooting attack on US congressmen
By Eric London, 16 June 2017
The tragedy of Hodgkinson’s life is that he saw no way out from a political system dominated by the super-rich and no way to address his grievances through the existing organizations.
Washington’s war crimes in Syria
By Bill Van Auken, 15 June 2017
UN war crimes investigators found that the US military has inflicted a “staggering loss of civilian life” with its relentless airstrikes in and around the Syrian city of Raqqa.
Marching toward a wider war in the Middle East
By Bill Van Auken, 14 June 2017
Behind the bitter political warfare in Washington and the endless claims of Russian interference in the election, very real wars in the Middle East are threatening to coalesce into a regional or even global conflagration.
Palace coup or class struggle: The political crisis in Washington and the strategy of the working class
By Joseph Kishore and David North on behalf of the Socialist Equality Party Political Committee, 13 June 2017
The working class cannot remain a bystander in the fight between Trump and the Democrats. Rather, it must develop its struggle against Trump under its own banner and with its own program.
The Russians are coming! The Russians are coming!
By Patrick Martin, 12 June 2017
Thursday’s appearance by fired FBI Director James Comey before the Senate Intelligence Committee has raised the anti-Russian hysteria in the US media to a new level.
Britain’s general election: A new stage in the class struggle
By Chris Marsden and Julie Hyland, 10 June 2017
To those now inclined to accept the portrayal of Corbyn by pseudo-left groups in Britain as the natural leader of the working class, we say: Remember Alexis Tsipras and Syriza.
Comey’s Senate testimony: A political circus in Washington
By Eric London, 9 June 2017
There is nothing progressive in the Democratic Party’s campaign to bring down Trump on the basis of anti-Russian propaganda.
Understanding the geopolitics of terrorism
By Bill Van Auken, 8 June 2017
While the media routinely portrays terrorism as a manifestation of evil and the work of madmen, there are definite geopolitical relations and aims underlying these acts.
Britain’s crisis election and the tasks facing the working class
By Chris Marsden, 7 June 2017
Britain is being destabilised economically, politically and socially as world capitalism descends into its deepest crisis since the end of World War II.
The Saudi offensive against Qatar and the global intensification of geopolitical conflict
By Keith Jones, 6 June 2017
Backed by Egypt and its closest Gulf State allies, Saudi Arabia has announced a series of measures against Qatar, a tiny, energy-rich neighbor, that stop just short of war.
Official account of London terror attack unravels
By Robert Stevens and Chris Marsden, 5 June 2017
Within 24 hours of Saturday’s terror attack at London Bridge, the official narrative presented by British Prime Minister Theresa May has begun to fall apart.
Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris agreement: The socialist solution to climate change
By Bryan Dyne, 3 June 2017
A serious response to the dangers posed by climate change is not possible within the framework of the capitalism and the nation-state system.
The Great Unraveling: The crisis of the post-war geopolitical order
By Alex Lantier, 2 June 2017
The rapid shifts in international politics since President Trump’s visit to Europe point to the disintegration of institutions that have shaped global politics for decades.
Senator McCain solicits support in Australia for Trump’s removal
By Andre Damon and David North, 1 June 2017
Speaking in Australia before high-ranking state and military officials, Senator John McCain delivered a damming indictment of Donald Trump and called upon the Australian government to defy his administration.
Manuel Noriega and US militarism
By Bill Van Auken, 31 May 2017
The December 1989 US invasion of Panama and toppling of Noriega set the pattern for the escalating series of US wars and interventions that were to follow.
Behind the US war drive against North Korea
By Peter Symonds, 30 May 2017
A war to destroy the Pyongyang regime would be aimed at weakening and undermining China, which has always regarded North Korea as an important buffer.
The rift between Germany and America: A “watershed” moment
By Nick Beams, 29 May 2017
While there have been divergences at previous G7 meetings, this year the participants were unable to paper over their differences in the final communiqué.
War clouds over South Asia
By Keith Jones, 27 May 2017
South Asia is becoming more and more geo-politically polarized between an India allied with US imperialism and a Pakistan backed by Beijing.
Conflict between Europe and America dominates NATO summit
By Johannes Stern, 26 May 2017
The first trip by US President Donald Trump to Europe has exposed the deep rift in the transatlantic alliance.
Official account of Manchester suicide bombing unravels
By Julie Hyland, 25 May 2017
It took less than 24 hours for Prime Minister May’s claim that Manchester suicide bomber Salman Ramadan Abedi was known to British intelligence only “up to a point” to be exposed as a lie.
UK government deploys military following Manchester suicide bombing
By Chris Marsden, 24 May 2017
It has already been confirmed that the suicide bomber, Salman Ramadan Abedi, was known to security services but supposedly not considered a threat.
Trump calls for $1.7 trillion in social cuts
By Kate Randall, 23 May 2017
The budget proposal marks a new stage in the bipartisan assault on what remains of programs to fight poverty and hunger and provide health care for millions of workers.
Washington Post and New York Times urge pullback on calls for Trump impeachment
By Patrick Martin, 22 May 2017
The two newspapers have served as the main mouthpieces for opposition to Trump within the military-intelligence apparatus.
Sweden’s investigation into Julian Assange was a political frame-up from the outset
By David Walsh, 20 May 2017
The entire affair was aimed at discrediting and paralyzing WikiLeaks and creating conditions under which Assange could be extradited or abducted to the US, to be executed or condemned to a lifetime in prison.
Democrats appeal to military in campaign against Trump
By Andre Damon, 19 May 2017
Amid the deepening factional struggle gripping Washington, sections of the political establishment are calling for the military to step in.
Chelsea Manning released amid growing attacks on democratic rights in the US
By Bill Van Auken, 18 May 2017
Manning’s seven-year imprisonment at the hands of the US military was the most draconian sentence ever served for leaking classified documents.
The working class must intervene with its own program in the political crisis in Washington
By Joseph Kishore, 17 May 2017
A conflict is unfolding across the United States of a very different character than the crisis gripping Washington—a conflict between the working class and the capitalist class.
The global ransomware attack and the crimes of the US spy agencies
By Andre Damon, 16 May 2017
The cyberweapons created by the NSA are aimed not only against the geopolitical targets of US imperialism, but the populations of the United States and the entire world.
Trump’s firing of Comey: A breakdown of constitutional government
By Patrick Martin, 15 May 2017
Decades of social and political reaction, unending war and the artificial suppression of class conflict are coming to a head.
The political and social roots of the Democratic Party’s anti-Russia hysteria
By Andre Damon, 13 May 2017
The crisis surrounding the firing of FBI Director James Comey has been seized on by the Democratic Party and much of the media to escalate their anti-Russian campaign.
Washington’s political crisis over the Comey firing: A harbinger of revolutionary upheavals
By Joseph Kishore, 12 May 2017
The political crisis gripping the Trump administration has far-reaching consequences and implications for both the United States and the entire world.
Trump’s firing of Comey: A new stage in the crisis of class rule
By Patrick Martin, 11 May 2017
The working class must adopt a standpoint of complete opposition to both of the warring factions of the ruling elite.
Three years after the lead poisoning of Flint, residents face water shutoffs, home foreclosures
By Jerry White, 10 May 2017
Three years after the decision to switch Flint’s water supply to the polluted Flint River, nothing has been done to address the catastrophic health consequences of the lead poisoning of tens of thousands of working-class residents.
What way forward in the struggle against Macron?
By Alex Lantier, 9 May 2017
Macron’s actions have rapidly exposed the fraudulent claims of his media and political supporters that he would defend democracy and block the rise of neo-fascism.
A new stage in the US health care counterrevolution
By Patrick Martin, 8 May 2017
The passage of the American Health Care Act by the House of Representatives sets the pace for devastating cuts in health care for working people, to fund a windfall for the financial oligarchy.
On the eve of the French presidential election
By Alex Lantier, 6 May 2017
Class conflict of revolutionary dimensions is being prepared in France as social anger builds against both presidential candidates.
The human cost of the US-Mexico border: More than 6,000 bodies found since 2000
By Eric London, 5 May 2017
The mass casualties along the US-Mexico border are the outcome of deliberate policies of the US government, both Democrat and Republican, going back at least two decades.
Dangerous developments in Germany
Neo-Nazi network in German army exposed
By Peter Schwarz, 4 May 2017
The arrest of a German army officer suspected of plotting the assassination of leftist politicians and high-ranking state officials has exposed the operations of neo-Nazi forces at the highest levels of the German military.
Why did Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party lose the 2016 election?
By Eric London, 3 May 2017
Speaking in New York City on Tuesday, Hillary Clinton blamed misogynistic voters and Russian interference for her defeat in November, but recent poll data shows otherwise.
A political appraisal of the ICFI’s 2017 International May Day Online Rally
By Joseph Kishore, 2 May 2017
The 2017 May Day Online Rally, held Sunday, April 30, marks a significant development in the building of the Fourth International as the World Party of Socialist Revolution.
May Day 2017: Lessons of history and the fight for socialism
By David North, 1 May 2017
This speech was delivered by WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North to open the 2017 International May Day Online Rally, held on April 30.
Obama’s $400,000 speeches: Unabashed. Shameless. Provocative.
By David Walsh, 29 April 2017
The two speaking fees alone put the former candidate of “change” into the top one percent of income earners in the US—in fact, one of them would almost have done the trick.
The Trump tax plan: More money for the oligarchs
By Barry Grey, 28 April 2017
With the people of America and the world facing ever worsening social conditions and the looming threat of world war, the top priority of the US political establishment is to hand over trillions more to the financial elite.
No to Macron and Le Pen! For an active boycott of the French election!
By Political Committee of the Parti de l'égalité socialiste, 27 April 2017
The arguments put forward to try to blackmail the French people into voting for Macron, the preferred candidate of finance capital, against the neo-fascist Le Pen are a combination of sophistries and lies.
Trump summons the Senate to the White House
By Andre Damon, 26 April 2017
The entire US Senate will go to the White House today to be briefed by military officials on preparations for a possible military strike against North Korea.
The double-execution horror in Arkansas
By Kate Randall, 25 April 2017
The world looked on in horror last night as two death row inmates were put to death in the first double-execution since 2000.
IMF meeting signals descent into global trade war
By Nick Beams, 24 April 2017
Pledges to “resist protectionism,” long included in statements issued by the world’s major global economic institutions, are now regarded as too controversial.
France’s election at gunpoint
By Alex Lantier, 22 April 2017
As tens of millions of voters prepare to go to the polls Sunday, an intervention by elements in the French state machine is underway to swing the elections to the right.
Washington threatens war against Iran
By Bill Van Auken, 21 April 2017
Secretary of State Tillerson made clear that Tehran’s compliance with the nuclear agreement would do nothing to prevent US military aggression.
The issues posed by the worldwide March for Science
Science and Socialism
By the Socialist Equality Party, 20 April 2017
Hundreds of thousands of scientists and other professionals, together with students and working people, will take part this Saturday in the worldwide March for Science.
Snap UK general election called amid continuing Brexit crisis
By Chris Marsden, 19 April 2017
Events in Britain are unfolding at a time of a build-up to a possible US war against North Korea and unending anti-Russian propaganda.
Washington pushes world to brink of nuclear war
By Bill Van Auken, 18 April 2017
Statements from US officials have laid bare the recklessness of the tactics being pursued by Washington, threatening a war on the Korean peninsula involving the use of nuclear weapons and the deaths of millions.
Trump administration recklessly escalating the conflict with Korea
By Joseph Kishore and David North, 17 April 2017
Not since the height of the Cold War has the danger of a nuclear war been so great.
Media, political establishment treat dropping of biggest bomb since Hiroshima as nonevent
By Barry Grey, 15 April 2017
The first-ever use in combat of the most destructive nonnuclear weapon in the US arsenal evoked no significant protest from either the media or the political establishment in the US and Europe.
US drops largest non-nuclear weapon on Afghanistan: A crime against humanity
By Bill Van Auken and David North, 14 April 2017
Even as the US government and media churned out war propaganda over the fabricated “chemical weapons” attack in Syria, Washington was preparing to drop its largest non-nuclear weapon.
What would a US-European-Russian war look like?
By Barry Grey, 13 April 2017
There is virtually no discussion in the mass media of the catastrophic consequences of a war involving the United States, the European powers and Russia.
While US media promotes CIA chemical weapons claims to push for war
Deaths from US bombings triple in Syria, Iraq
By Patrick Martin, 12 April 2017
A new report shows that American bombing has killed far more civilians in Iraq, including children, than reportedly died in last week’s alleged chemical attack in Syria.
Pseudo-left endorses imperialist onslaught against Syria
By Andre Damon, 11 April 2017
The middle-class political parties with roots in the anti-war protest movement of the 1960s have become cheerleaders for US imperialism.
The airstrikes in Syria and the war drive of American imperialism
By Joseph Kishore, 10 April 2017
A relentless logic of military escalation is taking over in Washington, dominated by demands for the overthrow of Assad and a confrontation with Russia.
The US attack on Syria: A prelude to wider war
By Andre Damon, 8 April 2017
The United States’ blatantly illegal attack on Syria has immediately drawn demands for further escalation from leading Democrats and the media.
The bombing of Syria: A new chapter in the US drive for global hegemony
By Bill Van Auken, 7 April 2017
Once again the United States has concocted a pretext to justify the violation of another country’s sovereignty.
Syria’s alleged gas attack: An imperialist provocation
By Bill Van Auken, 6 April 2017
The events in Syria’s Idlib province have all the earmarks of a US intelligence provocation designed to provide the pretext for a new military intervention in the Middle East.
World teeters on the brink of war
By Andre Damon, 5 April 2017
The threat of a major US escalation in North Korea and Syria represents just two of many global flashpoints threatening to lead the world into a conflict between nuclear-armed powers.
Trump threatens China with war on North Korea
By Peter Symonds, 4 April 2017
The Trump administration has threatened to launch a war that will not only be catastrophic for the people of the Korean peninsula but could drag in other major powers, including China, Russia and Japan.
Washington rolls out red carpet for the butcher of Cairo
By Bill Van Auken, 3 April 2017
Trump’s embrace of General el-Sisi expresses not only Washington’s criminal US policy in the Middle East, but also its deep affinity for the methods he has employed to crush the Egyptian revolution.
Senate committee hearing blames Russian “information warfare” for social discontent in the US
By Joseph Kishore, 1 April 2017
The line promoted by the political reactionaries speaking at the hearing is that mass political and social discontent is largely attributable to the malevolent actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Pentagon exercises free rein in global military escalation
By Bill Van Auken, 31 March 2017
The relentless bombing of civilians in Iraq and Syria, the expanding intervention in Yemen and the open threats of military confrontation with Iran are all being carried out by the Pentagon with no public debate and the full complicity of the Democrats.
UK officially begins process of exiting the European Union
By Chris Marsden, 30 March 2017
The centrifugal forces tearing apart the EU reveal the failure of any attempt to overcome, within the framework of the capitalist system, the national antagonisms that gave rise to two world wars.
Washington protests proposal for nuclear disarmament
By Andre Damon, 29 March 2017
After having killed millions of people in the name of preventing the proliferation of “weapons of mass destruction,” the US and its allies denounced a UN proposal to ban nuclear arms.
After defeat of Obamacare repeal, Democrats offer a helping hand to Trump administration
By Patrick Martin, 28 March 2017
In the wake of Trump’s failure to repeal Obamacare, Democratic Party congressional leaders have offered to work with the White House on health care and tax cuts.
The massacre in Mosul
By James Cogan, 27 March 2017
In February, the Trump administration let it be known that it would sharply escalate the onslaught on Mosul—regardless of how many innocent lives would be lost.
The freeing of Hosni Mubarak and the lessons of the Egyptian Revolution
By Johannes Stern, 25 March 2017
How is it possible that six years after the Egyptian revolution, nothing appears to be left of it, and Mubarak, the ugly face of the old regime, is free once again to show himself in public?
Japanese imperialism rearms
By Peter Symonds, 24 March 2017
The acquisition of offensive weapons for the first time since the end of World War II would be another major step toward Japan’s rearmament.
Democratic Party floats proposal for a palace coup
By Andre Damon, 23 March 2017
An 'open letter' by Times columnist Thomas Friedman gives voice to tendencies in and around the Democratic Party that are prepared to welcome a palace coup that would impose a military/intelligence/corporate junta on the American people.
The return of the US-German conflict
By Johannes Stern, 22 March 2017
President Trump’s refusal to shake German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s hand during their photo-op in the Oval Office expressed the deepening tensions between the US and Germany.
Democrats’ anti-Russia hysteria prepares the ground for war
By Patrick Martin, 21 March 2017
The real target of Monday’s House Intelligence Committee hearing was Russia, not the Trump administration.
Thirteen sentenced to life imprisonment in India
Free the framed-up Maruti Suzuki workers!
By International Committee of the Fourth International, 20 March 2017
Thirteen Maruti Suzuki workers have been condemned to life in prison as the result of a monstrous frame-up mounted by the automaker, the police and judicial authorities, with the full complicity of India’s principal political parties.
US threats against North Korea and the danger of war in Asia
By Andre Damon, 18 March 2017
As the Trump administration charts a course toward war in the Asia-Pacific, there is no discussion within the American media or political establishment of the catastrophic consequences.
The UAW’s corporatist alliance with Trump
By Niles Niemuth, 17 March 2017
UAW President Dennis Williams’ appearance Wednesday with President Donald Trump and the Big Three auto bosses to promote “American First” nationalism is further confirmation of the anti-working class character of the unions.
US health care debate: A bipartisan drive to lower life expectancy
By Jerry White, 16 March 2017
The current debate obscures the basic motivation guiding both big business parties: to restrict access to affordable health care and sharply reduce the lifespan of American workers.
The Dutch elections and the danger of fascism
By Peter Schwarz, 15 March 2017
The fascistic Geert Wilders has set the tone for the entire spectrum of Dutch politics, from the conservative government of Prime Minister Mark Rutte to the ex-Maoist Socialist Party.
US ruling elite moves to repeal the 1960s
By Patrick Martin, 14 March 2017
With only token opposition from the Democrats, the Trump administration and congressional Republicans are eviscerating what remains of the gains of the working class dating from the last period of social reform.
Is the US preparing for war against North Korea?
By Peter Symonds, 13 March 2017
Amid a shrill media campaign inflating the threat posed by North Korea, the Trump administration is considering “all options” against Pyongyang.
A socialist policy for universal health care
By Niles Niemuth, 11 March 2017
Under the cover of a struggle over Obamacare, the bipartisan attack on health care for working people in America is being intensified.
FBI director: “No such thing as absolute privacy in America”
The WikiLeaks exposures and the CIA’s threat to democratic rights
By Patrick Martin, 10 March 2017
Media discussion of the WikiLeaks revelations about CIA cyberweapons takes for good coin the agency’s claim that these would never be used against Americans.
The WikiLeaks revelations and the crimes of US imperialism
By Andre Damon, 9 March 2017
The WikiLeaks documents expose the US as the greatest “rogue state,” carrying out spying, hacking, exploitation and disinformation operations all over the world in order to further the interests of the US ruling elite.
WikiLeaks reveals vast CIA spying, cyberwar operation
By Bill Van Auken, 8 March 2017
Amid Democrats’ claims of Russian hacking in support of Trump and Trump’s charge that he was bugged by Obama, WikiLeaks has revealed a vast CIA operation directed against the people of the US and the world.
India becomes “frontline” state in US war plans against China
By Deepal Jayasekera and Keith Jones, 7 March 2017
After decades of “non-alignment,” India has become a service hub for the US Seventh Fleet, marking a new stage in its integration into US imperialism’s military-strategic offensive against China.
Trump administration escalates campaign of fear and terror against immigrants
By Patrick Martin, 6 March 2017
As stories proliferate of brutal arrests and deportations, the Trump administration is planning the deliberate separation of mothers and their children as a “deterrent” to immigrants.
Sweden brings back the draft
By Johannes Stern, 4 March 2017
The reintroduction of forced military conscription in Sweden is taking place as the major imperialist powers are militarizing in preparation for a new world war.
The Snap IPO: Trump agenda fuels an orgy of speculation
By Nick Beams, 3 March 2017
The massive rise in Snap Inc. stock took place amidst a surge in US markets, which has seen $3 trillion added to share values since the election of Trump.
Wall Street, media celebrate Trump’s address to Congress
By Patrick Martin, 2 March 2017
Wall Street soared to record highs as media commentators praised Trump’s speech, which promised tax cuts for businesses, the slashing of workplace and anti-pollution regulations, and a massive military build-up.
Behind the anti-Semitic and racist attacks in the US
By Patrick Martin, 1 March 2017
The coming to power of the Trump administration has encouraged the most reactionary, racist and backward forces in American society.
The Trump administration and the crisis of American capitalism
By Joseph Kishore, 28 February 2017
It is impossible to separate the fight against the Trump administration from the fight against the social and economic order that has produced it: capitalism.
The assault on immigrants and the specter of a US police state
By Bill Van Auken, 27 February 2017
Boasting of having “taken the shackles off” of ICE and Border Patrol agents for a crackdown against immigrants, the Trump administration is preparing police state measures against the working class as a whole.
Capitalism and America’s addiction epidemic
By Andre Damon, 25 February 2017
The precipitous rise in drug overdoses is among the sharpest expressions of the profound social crisis gripping the United States.
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