Capitalism and war have always been profoundly connected. Max Weber noted the important role that financing the wars of European states played in the development of early modern capitalism.1 The bond remains as tight as ever today. As the illusions… Continue Reading
The advance of the far right internationally has disturbing echoes of interwar Europe.1 Just before Hitler’s National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, NSDAP) came to power in 1933, the Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky wrote: Any serious analysis of… Continue Reading
We live in dangerous, disorientating times.1 The world was already a terrifying enough place before Donald Trump returned to the White House in early 2025: with Israel’s genocide in Gaza, a human meat grinder in Ukraine and sabre rattling between… Continue Reading
Donald Trump has won the United States presidency twice by channelling the anger of millions of mainly white Americans towards the neoliberal elite—despite being part of that elite. Conspiracy theories help address and obscure the contradiction between Trump articulating this… Continue Reading
Keir Starmer’s Labour is suffering an identity crisis. His government’s first year in office has combined a resurrection of old Blairite policies with an apparent rejection of Blairism’s embrace of globalisation, a turn to greater state intervention, and lurches to… Continue Reading
Forces on the British left are finally stirring. The announcement of Your Party, albeit long-awaited, organisationally fraught and with an uncertain future, has shown the strong support for socialist politics. At the time of writing, 900,000 people had signed up… Continue Reading
In April 2025, president of the United States Donald Trump shocked the world with the scale of the tariffs he threatened to impose on imports.1 In this article, I identify the factors motivating Trump and the likely consequences. His message,… Continue Reading
The working class is fragmented in its politics, including its support for different parties or no party at all.1 The existence of these divisions is not an accident of history that can be wished away. It reflects ideological currents rooted… Continue Reading
The British state’s assaults on the Palestine movement, Kurdish activists, Just Stop Oil members and others in 2024 and 2025 is a serious challenge to our right to protest and to organise.1 The arrests at the national demonstration for Palestine… Continue Reading
The global surge of attacks on abortion rights has been a wake-up call for pro-choice activists in Australia.1 In June 2022, thousands rallied in solidarity with women in the United States when Roe v Wade was overturned by the US… Continue Reading