Perspectives
Alabama abortion ban: Back to barbarism
By Patrick Martin, 16 May 2019
The purpose of the law is to give the new right-wing majority on the US Supreme Court the opportunity to overturn Roe v. Wade.
No to war against Iran!
By Bill Van Auken, 15 May 2019
The threat of all-out war in the Middle East is greater than at any time since the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, and the potential consequences are far graver.
A new stage in the US-China trade war
By Nick Beams, 14 May 2019
The fundamental and irresolvable contradiction of world capitalism, between world economy and the nation-state system, lies at the root of the accelerating US-China trade war.
The working class and the threat of dictatorship in the US
By Patrick Martin, 13 May 2019
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other top Democrats admit that there is a “constitutional crisis” but refuse to conduct a serious struggle against Trump’s authoritarian actions.
The Uber IPO: Billions for investors, increased exploitation for workers
By Shannon Jones, 11 May 2019
The global strikes and protests by Uber and Lyft drivers amid an orgy of stockholder enrichment underscore the need for workers to adopt an international socialist strategy.
Chelsea Manning released, faces new imprisonment for refusing to testify against Assange
By Niles Niemuth, 10 May 2019
Even before she was released on Thursday, Manning was served with a new subpoena to demand testimony before a different grand jury. She could be returned to jail as early as next week.
The social crisis and the global eruption of US imperialism
By Bill Van Auken, 9 May 2019
Washington’s brazen and reckless military threats and provocations on a world scale are driven by deep-going social and political crises within the US itself.
Trump floats proposal to cancel 2020 elections
By Eric London, 8 May 2019
Bourgeois politics has degenerated to such a degree that political and legal norms considered fundamental since the American Revolution are now challenged by presidential tweet.
US threatens Iran with war
By Keith Jones, 7 May 2019
The reckless and criminal character of Washington’s actions cannot be exaggerated. A US attack on Iran threatens to ignite a Mideast-wide war and rapidly draw in the other imperialist and great powers.
The nationalist “socialism” of Bernie Sanders
By Patrick Martin, 6 May 2019
Sanders presents Chinese workers, the largest single contingent of the international working class, as the enemy of American workers.
The imperialist “lie in the soul”
Politicians celebrate “World Press Freedom Day” as Julian Assange languishes in prison
By David Walsh, 4 May 2019
No one associated with UNESCO or World Press Freedom Day made mention of the persecution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange during this week’s events.
Media lies in service of war for regime change in Venezuela
By Bill Van Auken, 3 May 2019
As top Trump administration officials make increasingly explicit military threats, the corporate media acts as a propaganda service for imperialist intervention.
The sentencing of Julian Assange: A legal travesty
By Andre Damon, 2 May 2019
Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks publisher and journalist, was sentenced to almost a year in prison by a UK judge Wednesday, in what can only be called a show trial.
May Day 2019: The resurgence of the class struggle and the fight for socialism
By Joseph Kishore and David North, 1 May 2019
May Day 2019 takes place amidst the resurgence of the class struggle, growing opposition to capitalism, and the lurch of the ruling elites to the right.
Preparing for World War Three
Global military spending tops $1.8 trillion, highest on record
By Niles Niemuth, 30 April 2019
Nearly three decades after the end of the Cold War, the world’s capitalist elite, led by the United States, are preparing for a devastating conflict of global proportions.
Fascist gunman attacks California synagogue
By Patrick Martin, 29 April 2019
President Trump is the moral author of this latest expression of fascistic violence in America and internationally.
Amid mass beheadings, Wall Street scrambles for Saudi profits
By Bill Van Auken, 27 April 2019
With the blood of 37 men decapitated in public squares barely dry, top financiers rushed to Riyadh in search of deals with the ruling monarchy.
Hillary Clinton’s McCarthyite rant
By Joseph Kishore, 26 April 2019
In a column published Wednesday in the Washington Post, the former Democratic Party presidential candidate resurrects the conspiracy theories that were the staple of Cold War anticommunism.
The election of Zelensky in Ukraine and the way forward for the working class
By Clara Weiss, 25 April 2019
Comedian Volodymyr Zelenskyi won the Ukrainian presidential elections Sunday in a massive repudiation of the incumbent president and the imperialist-orchestrated coup that brought him to power.
US imperialism resurrects the Monroe Doctrine
By Bill Van Auken, 24 April 2019
The repeated invocation of the nearly two-century-old canon of US imperialist policy constitutes a warning that Washington is preparing for intensified military intervention in the region.
After terrorist bombings, Sri Lankan government imposes draconian national emergency
By K. Ratnayake and Peter Symonds, 23 April 2019
The World Socialist Web Site condemns the horrendous bombings, which indiscriminately killed innocent men, women and children, and have already provided the pretext for sweeping anti-democratic measures.
Chicago Symphony Orchestra strike
Socialism and the defense of culture
By Kristina Betinis, 22 April 2019
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra musicians, now in the seventh week of their strike, require the active support of the entire working class, in the United States and internationally.
The Mueller report and the campaign against Russia
By Joseph Kishore, 20 April 2019
An editorial in the New York Times makes clear that the central purpose of the Democrats’ campaign against Trump has been to demand more aggressive action against Russia.
Twenty years since the Columbine High School massacre
By David Walsh, 19 April 2019
The Colorado event, in which two high school seniors shot and killed 12 of their fellow students and one teacher before committing suicide, represented something qualitatively new and disturbing in American social life.
Behind Trump’s clash with the Fed: Looming economic crisis and class conflict
By Nick Beams, 18 April 2019
The American president, in demanding that the Fed intervene to drive up the stock market, has stated openly what the US central bank has been doing for decades.
The burning of Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris
By Alex Lantier, 17 April 2019
The inferno was caused by a horrific breakdown of fire safety in restoration work, for which the French government and ruling elite bear the responsibility.
An assembly of political bankrupts: Historical Materialism and Jacobin host “Socialism in Our Time” conference
By Joseph Kishore, 16 April 2019
A more accurate title for the event would have been, “Democratic Party Politics in Our Time,” or, perhaps, “Socialism not now, not ever.”
Stop the extraordinary rendition of Julian Assange!
By Eric London, 15 April 2019
What is being presented as an extradition request by the US is so loaded with illegality that it would be more precise to call it an extraordinary rendition.
Julian Assange’s life is in danger
By Eric London, 13 April 2019
The official indictment by the US government against Assange is a transparent lie, aimed at providing the UK with a legal cover to extradite the WikiLeaks founder.
Free Julian Assange!
By Statement of the World Socialist Web Site Editorial Board, 12 April 2019
The World Socialist Web Site emphatically condemns the forcible seizure and arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
The resurgence of the class struggle in Poland
By Johannes Stern and Alex Lantier, 11 April 2019
Thirty years after General Wojciech Jaruzelski’s Stalinist regime began to collapse, paving the way for capitalist restoration, Polish teachers are mounting a national strike.
Libya’s descent into civil war: The bitter fruit of the pseudo-left's pro-imperialism
By Bill Van Auken, 10 April 2019
The escalating civil war in Libya has served as one more demonstration of the criminal role played by the pseudo-left proponents of “humanitarian” imperialist intervention.
The dictatorial impulse behind Trump’s political purge
By Patrick Martin, 9 April 2019
The abrupt firing of the DHS secretary and Secret Service chief are part of an effort to surround Trump with a loyal praetorian guard.
Socialism haunts the American ruling class
By Andre Damon, 8 April 2019
Since Donald Trump vowed in his State of the Union address that “America will never be a socialist country,” the president has embraced anti-socialism as the defining theme of his 2020 reelection campaign.
America the Barbaric
By Niles Niemuth, 6 April 2019
If the conditions that exist in US prisons were exposed in Russia or China, there would be a hue and cry in the press and the halls of Congress for economic sanctions and “humanitarian” military intervention.
The political implications of the Corbyn/May Brexit talks
By Chris Marsden, 5 April 2019
The talks on an alternative Brexit deal between UK Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn decisively refute all claims that his election as leader of the Labour Party offered a way forward for working people.
Why aren’t Boeing executives being prosecuted for the 737 Max 8 crashes?
By Bryan Dyne, 4 April 2019
Not a single Boeing executive has been charged, much less arrested, for entirely avoidable tragedies that killed a total of 346 people.
The threat to close the US-Mexico border
By Bill Van Auken, 3 April 2019
The sealing of borders, the creation of concentration camps for refugees and the whipping up of xenophobic and fascist forces are all part of an international turn to reaction that echoes the darkest days of the 1930s.
Corruption probe engulfs top UAW executives
By Jerry White, 2 April 2019
Former UAW Vice President Norwood Jewell is expected to plead guilty today for taking tens of thousands in bribes in exchange for imposing a pro-company deal on 37,000 Fiat Chrysler workers in 2015.
Class struggle and socialism are the only answer to the Brexit crisis
By Chris Marsden, 1 April 2019
The answer to the Brexit crisis is a united mobilization of the millions of workers coming into struggle against Europe’s governments.
Trump rants against socialism, but his administration’s crisis deepens
By Barry Grey, 30 March 2019
Behind Trump’s fascistic tirades and his gloating at the expense of the Democrats lie desperation and fear at the growth of social opposition in the working class.
Xi Jinping tours Europe amid growing divisions between America and EU
By Alex Lantier, 29 March 2019
As bitter tensions erupt between Washington and the European Union over China’s policies in Eurasia, European imperialism is furiously rearming.
Free Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning!
By Andre Damon, 28 March 2019
The fate of these political prisoners must be a focus of attention of the entire working class and all those who defend democratic rights.
The media and the Mueller report
By Barry Grey, 27 March 2019
The Mueller report is a political debacle for the Democratic Party, the New York Times and the bulk of the corporate media, which day after day pumped out unsubstantiated claims and outright lies.
Trump recognizes Israeli annexation of Golan Heights: Green light for global war
By Bill Van Auken, 26 March 2019
Trump’s recognition of Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights sets the stage for far greater crimes by both Israel and its US imperialist patron.
Mueller report is a political debacle for the Democratic Party
By Andre Damon, 25 March 2019
The findings of the Mueller report cap two years of right-wing anti-Russia hysteria on the part of the Democrats, which has only strengthened the Trump administration.
Twenty years since the US bombing of Yugoslavia
By Bill Van Auken, 23 March 2019
The imperialist crime was launched by the Clinton administration—with the backing of the pseudo-left—under the hypocritical banner of “human rights.”
Macron sends the French army against anti-austerity protests
By Alex Lantier, 22 March 2019
The move is a major step toward the implementation of police-state forms of rule in France, as part of a global onslaught against democratic rights.
The Boeing disasters: 346 more victims of capitalism
By Bryan Dyne, 21 March 2019
In the wake of two deadly airplane crashes, it has become clear that Boeing subordinated considerations of safety to the dictates of profit and market share.
Trump, Bolsonaro and the danger of fascism
By Patrick Martin, 20 March 2019
Trump hailed the “shared values” between his government and that of a former military officer, who praises the Brazilian military dictatorship that jailed, tortured and murdered tens of thousands of workers and students.
UAW corruption scandal expands to Vice President Norwood Jewell, who rammed through 2015 sellout
By Jerry White, 19 March 2019
Norwood Jewell is the highest United Auto Workers official to be indicted to date in the corruption scandal engulfing the entire organization.
The New Zealand terrorist attack and the international danger of fascism
By Tom Peters, 18 March 2019
The gunman prepared and carried out the terrorist atrocity on behalf of an international network of fascists and white supremacists.
In vetoing bill to overturn national emergency, Trump makes fascist appeal
By Barry Grey, 16 March 2019
Trump is seeking to establish an authoritarian regime outside of the normal constitutional and political channels and largely independent of both traditional big-business parties.
VW, Ford, GM, Hyundai, Kia
Jobs bloodbath in the global auto industry
By Jerry White, 15 March 2019
Recently announced cuts by VW are part of an ongoing jobs bloodbath in the global auto industry, aimed at satisfying the rapacious appetite of the financial oligarchy.
The Youth Climate Strike and the fight against global warming
By Bryan Dyne, 14 March 2019
That the demonstration planned for Friday has evoked a broad response is an indication of both the serious nature of the ecological crisis and the radicalization of youth all over the world.
The working class enters into struggle in Algeria
By Alex Lantier, 13 March 2019
The eruption of mass workers protests against the Algerian regime vindicate the ICFI’s struggle against Pabloite tendencies that claimed this regime would build socialism.
A US budget for worldwide war
By Patrick Martin, 12 March 2019
The Trump administration is seeking a record $750 billion in military spending, more than the next 14 countries combined.
Free Chelsea Manning!
By Andre Damon, 11 March 2019
Chelsea Manning and WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange are class-war prisoners, whose freedom depends on the mobilization of the working class.
Some economic and political conclusions
The ten-year stock market bull run
By Nick Beams, 9 March 2019
Over the past decade, as a result of policies carried out by the US government, financial authorities and the US Federal Reserve, trillions of dollars have been pumped into financial markets, lifting the Dow and the S&P 500 by more than 300 percent.
Netflix’s Trotsky: A toxic combination of historical fabrication and blatant anti-Semitism
By David North and Clara Weiss, 8 March 2019
Netflix is currently presenting to its worldwide audience the virulently anti-Semitic television series, Trotsky, which was originally produced by the Russian state in 2017.
The shutdown of GM’s Lordstown plant
By Jerry White, 7 March 2019
The closing of the iconic factory, the site of a series of wildcat strikes and other militant struggles in the early 1970s, is the tragic outcome of a half century of betrayals by the United Auto Workers union.
The assault on Jeremy Corbyn is a warning that must be heeded
By Chris Marsden, 6 March 2019
The March 3 attack on the Labour Party leader is the latest in a series of far-right provocations in Britain, pointing to the clear and present danger posed by the growth of far-right and fascist parties throughout Europe.
The political lessons of the March 3 Free Assange rally
By the Socialist Equality Party (Australia) Political Committee, 5 March 2019
The demonstration in Sydney won broad support on the basis of mobilising the working class to defend democratic rights and class war prisoners such as Julian Assange.
Sanders launches his campaign with a blast of demagogy
By Patrick Martin, 4 March 2019
Bernie Sanders’ speech in Brooklyn was an exercise in demagogy, because there exists no relationship between the reforms he envisages and any realistic strategy for their implementation.
India and Pakistan tobogganing toward a catastrophic war
By Keith Jones, 2 March 2019
India and Pakistan are teetering on the brink of what would be the first-ever war between nuclear-armed states.
The Trump presidency: From the Manhattan underworld to the White House
By Patrick Martin, 1 March 2019
The day-long testimony by former Trump “fixer” Michael Cohen gave a glimpse of the gangsterism out of which the Trump presidency has emerged.
Reports document sexual abuse of immigrant children detained in US
By Eric London, 28 February 2019
The Trump administration’s assault on immigrants underscores the urgent need to oppose all attacks on democratic rights and due process.
Socialism and the case for expropriation
By Andre Damon, 27 February 2019
A growing movement of the working class confronts the entrenched power of a financial oligarchy intent on expanding its wealth and domination over society.
The global struggle of teachers
By Jerry White, 26 February 2019
Throughout the world, teachers have come to the forefront of the struggle against decades of austerity and levels of social inequality not seen since the 1920s.
US imperialism stages provocation on Venezuela’s borders
By Eric London, 25 February 2019
The threat of a disaster of world historic proportions looms as the US moves toward war in Venezuela.
The working class and the fight to free Julian Assange
By James Cogan, 23 February 2019
The persecution of Assange is the spearhead of a global offensive against freedom of speech and for censorship of oppositional voices on the internet.
Egypt hangs nine prisoners
State murder backed by imperialism
By Patrick Martin, 22 February 2019
The bloodstained dictatorship of General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has the support of both Washington and the European powers.
US missile treaty withdrawal sparks global nuclear arms race
By Andre Damon, 21 February 2019
A half-century after the Cuban Missile crisis brought humanity to within a hair’s breadth of destruction, Washington is fueling an even more dangerous global nuclear standoff.
Bernie Sanders announces 2020 presidential campaign
By Niles Niemuth, 20 February 2019
The senator from Vermont is reprising his role as a lightning rod to contain and defuse social opposition amid an upsurge of the international class struggle and growing interest in socialism.
The desecration of Marx’s grave: A warning
By Chris Marsden, 19 February 2019
The attack on Karl Marx’s grave is a significant warning of the growing danger to the working class across Europe and internationally from far-right forces that have been deliberately cultivated by the bourgeoisie and given succour by the mass media.
Imperialist conflicts dominate Munich Security Conference
By Peter Schwarz, 18 February 2019
The Munich Security Conference, which ended yesterday, laid bare a capitalist world order rapidly breaking apart and heading for disaster.
Trump’s state of emergency
A step towards presidential dictatorship
By Patrick Martin, 16 February 2019
No American president has so flagrantly usurped the constitutional prerogative of Congress to decide how public funds are to be spent.
War summit in Warsaw
By Bill Van Auken, 15 February 2019
While Netanyahu’s statement that this week’s conference in Warsaw was called to discuss “war with Iran” was treated by the media as a gaffe, it was nothing of the kind.
The show trial of the Catalan nationalists and the far-right danger in Spain
By Alex Lantier, 14 February 2019
In line with official politics across Europe, the ruling class in Spain is moving to build a police state and defending the legacy of 20th century fascism.
The Iranian Revolution—Forty Years On
By Keith Jones, 13 February 2019
It is the Stalinist Tudeh Party and the politics of Stalinism that were principally responsible for the tragic derailing of the Iranian Revolution.
The international upsurge of working class struggle in 2019
By Niles Niemuth, 12 February 2019
This year is witnessing a resurgence of class struggle that expresses the objective unity of workers in every part of the world.
Oppose the Democrats’ #MeToo witch-hunt against Virginia Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax
By Barry Grey, 11 February 2019
Once again, unsubstantiated and dubious sexual allegations are being used in a #MeToo operation driven by a right-wing political agenda.
The working class and socialism
By Andre Damon, 9 February 2019
Trump’s denunciation of socialism in his State of the Union speech reflects the ruling class’s fear over the growth of the class struggle within the United States.
France recalls its ambassador to Italy
By Alex Lantier, 8 February 2019
The decision to recall the French ambassador to Italy points to an accelerating collapse of relations between the major imperialist powers of Europe.
The reality of capitalism: GM makes $11.8 billion in profits while closing plants, eliminating 14,000 jobs
By Jerry White, 7 February 2019
The huge profits, side-by-side with the destruction of entire communities, expose the real character of the capitalist system and why the working class must abolish it.
State of Fear: Trump unleashes tirade against socialism
By Patrick Martin, 6 February 2019
The president’s claims of an economic “miracle” were belied by his denunciations of rising public support for socialism within the United States.
Hands off Venezuela!
By Bill Van Auken, 5 February 2019
With the aid of European and Canadian imperialism and the right-wing governments of Latin America, Washington is preparing to either invade Venezuela or plunge it into civil war.
The Governor Ralph Northam affair
By Patrick Martin, 4 February 2019
The Virginia governor is under mounting pressure to resign after a 35-year-old incident of his wearing blackface was made public.
The US scraps the INF treaty: Another step toward nuclear war
By Andre Damon, 2 February 2019
The US withdrawal from the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty marks a major escalation of US efforts to prop up its hegemony through military means.
February 9 demonstration against auto plant closures in Detroit
The program and strategy to defend jobs
By Joseph Kishore, 1 February 2019
The demonstration, called by the WSWS and the Steering Committee of the Coalition of Rank-and-File Committees, is the first organized expression of rank-and-file opposition to GM’s jobs massacre.
Fascists march in Auschwitz
By Clara Weiss, 31 January 2019
The sight of a rabble of Nazi trash desecrating the memory of those who perished in Auschwitz is sickening and must be answered. But the response must be informed by an understanding of the inextricable link between capitalism, the crisis of bourgeois democracy and fascist reaction.
French President Macron visits the hangman of Cairo
By Will Morrow and Alex Lantier, 30 January 2019
Macron’s visit to Egyptian dictator Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is a warning that his government intends to drastically step up repression of the “yellow vests” and broader popular opposition.
Afghanistan peace talks and the debacle of the war on terror
By Bill Van Auken, 29 January 2019
Whether Washington withdraws US troops remains to be seen; what is certain is that Afghanistan is viewed through the prism of preparations for far wider wars.
Strikes by Hungarian Audi workers, Mexican auto parts workers
The global struggle of autoworkers
By Jerry White, 28 January 2019
Autoworkers are striving to unite their struggles against the attack on jobs and living standards by GM, Ford, VW and other global corporations.
Fascist deputies disrupt Holocaust memorial in Germany
By Peter Schwarz and Andre Damon, 26 January 2019
On Wednesday, deputies from the neo-fascist Alternative for Germany walked out of a Holocaust remembrance ceremony in the state parliament of Bavaria.
Canada’s "diversity" imperialism
By Keith Jones, 25 January 2019
Justin Trudeau, presiding over what has been hailed as the most diverse cabinet in Canadian history, has signed on to Washington’s coup plot against Venezuela.
Washington engineers right-wing coup in Venezuela
By Bill Van Auken, 24 January 2019
The backing by governments in Latin America and internationally for the US-orchestrated coup attempt are part of a global drive toward the right and dictatorship.
The way forward for US government workers in the fight against the shutdown
By Niles Niemuth, 23 January 2019
The anger of US government workers locked out or forced to work without pay is growing, but neither the AFL-CIO nor the government employee unions has called for independent action by workers to fight the shutdown.
As global elites gather at Davos
Oxfam: 26 billionaires control as much wealth as poorest half of humanity
By Nick Beams, 22 January 2019
The UK-based charity Oxfam International has reported that the wealth of the world’s billionaires grew by $900 billion last year, a rise of 12 percent, while 3.8 billion people—half the world’s population—saw their wealth decline by 11 percent.
Matamoros strike threatens to shut down North American auto industry
By Eric London, 21 January 2019
The corporate media are blacking out coverage of the largest strike in North America in the last two decades.
Follow the WSWS