In previous issues of International Socialism, we have covered in some detail events in Syria—the initial uprising in 2011, the interventions of rival imperialisms and regional sub-imperialisms, the fracturing of Syrian politics, the ultimate overthrow of the Bashar al-Assad regime… Continue Reading
Alasdair MacIntyre, who died on 21 May 2025, aged 96, was an influential philosopher. His most famous book, After Virtue, first published in 1981, is a landmark in moral philosophy. MacIntyre converted to Catholicism several decades ago but, in an… Continue Reading
The January-February issue of New Left Review, the latest to reach us, is among the most interesting editions in recent years. It includes a short update on Donald Trump’s return to power by the editor, Susan Watkins. The emphasis here… Continue Reading
The July issue of Science & Society (volume 88, number 3) contains an interesting and timely symposium on “Imperialism, Anti-imperialism and the Global Class Struggle”. It was provoked by a couple of earlier pieces by William Robinson, who contributed an… Continue Reading
An excellent May-June issue of New Left Review contains several strong articles. They include a fabulous interview of Rashid Khalidi, editor of the Journal of Palestine Studies, conducted by the veteran socialist activist and writer Tariq Ali. The discussion goes… Continue Reading
Authors associated with International Socialism have played an outsized role in theorising the relationship between the rank and file and the bureaucracy in the trade union movement. An article by Alexis Vassiley, “Once More on the Rank and File-Union Bureaucracy… Continue Reading
Andreas Bieler and Adam David Morton have an interesting article, entitled “Reframing the geopolitics of global capitalism”, in the 2024 edition of the journal Socialist Register. Although framed in a somewhat obscure discussion of the philosophy of form or content,… Continue Reading
Dave Lyddon, who published a history of resistance to anti-strike laws in our autumn 2023 issue, has produced another article, developing arguments around the same themes for the Workers of the World journal (volume 1, number 11). Entitled, “Three Hundred… Continue Reading
An interesting debate has been taking place within and around the journal New Left Review. This was provoked by a piece in the November-December issue, by Robert Brenner and Dylan Riley, entitled “Seven theses on American politics” (https://newleftreview.org/issues/ii138/articles/dylan-riley-robert-brenner-seven-theses-on-american-politics). While making… Continue Reading
Far too many important figures in our tradition have been lost in recent months. The editors of International Socialism were deeply saddened to hear of the death of Martin Upchurch, a member of our editorial board, as we were preparing… Continue Reading