The Syrian Revolution and the crisis of the anti-war movement
Suddenly, everyone is talking about Syria. Saturday’s demonstration will be in solidarity with all refugees, but a Syrian refugee is one of the key organisers. Campaigners from the Syria Solidarity Movement UK and Stop the War Coalition are among those involved in the planning, along with many other organisations. Everyone should welcome this commitment to […]
As Middle East goes nuclear, climate change goes critical. Part 3: Imperialism and climate
In the final part of Brian Parkin’s article, he shows that imperialist wars, arrested development and impending climate catastrophe are all linked through industrial capitalism’s continuing dependence on oil. He argues we need to replace capitalism before it causes any more irreparable damage to our societies and our world. (See parts 1 and 2. See […]
As Middle East goes nuclear, climate change goes critical. Part 2: Saudi Arabia
Here we publish the second part of Brian Parkin’s article, where he looks at Saudi Arabia’s own nuclear ambitions, and an emerging reconfiguration of imperial alliances in the Middle East. (See part one here.) The regional nuclear domino effect: Saudi Arabia and ‘friends’. To a large extent eclipsed by Iran’s more controversial bid for nuclear […]
As Middle East goes nuclear, global warming goes critical. Part 1: Iran
Over the next three days we will be publishing a major new article by Brian Parkin exploring the inextricable links between climate catastrophe, capitalist crisis and imperial competition. The three parts taken together form a single argument with serious ramifications for our approach to the international climate talks this autumn, and to the continuing bloody […]
The fear of Islamism and the terror of the state
Peter Hill on the ‘power of nightmares’ from Syria to India and the UK. The ‘war on terror’ has seen a revival since the rise of ISIS, aka Da’esh, in Iraq and Syria, and now beyond. Like the original ‘war on terror’ against al-Qaeda several years ago, it has also provided a pretext for authoritarian […]
Stopping Elbit’s death factory
Outside a small factory in Shepstone, we were acting at one with protestors outside other plants in the UK and in Melbourne, Australia.
A tree without roots
Zakir Gul argues that the axing of ‘community languages’ at A level reveals the government’s contempt for Britain’s ethnic minorities and their heritages. White just got whiter. Examination boards AQA and OCR have decided to axe several essential languages at A level. The list includes Bengali, Punjabi, Gujarati, Polish, Turkish and Persian. The British government’s […]
Climate catastrophe in the South Pacific
Cyclone Pam has caused devastation on the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu. Struggling with the legacies of British and French colonialism and current forms of neo-colonialism, the people of Vanuatu are now faced with the consequences of catastrophic climate change, writes Nick Evans. “We see the level of sea rise … The cyclone seasons, […]
ISIS, sexual violence and killing gay men
Nancy Lindisfarne and Jonathan Neale look at the evidence for widespread rape and homophobic attacks in Syria and Iraq. This post was originally published on their Sexism Class Violence website. There are now many press and internet reports of rape by the Islamic State (ISIS). There are also reports of ISIS killing gays. These reports […]
Peace scarf “wraps up” MoD at anti-nuke protest
Amy Gilligan reports Thousands of people encircled the Ministry of Defence in London yesterday with a giant, pink knitted peace scarf. The “Wrap up Trident” protest was called by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) to send a message that Trident, Britain’s nuclear weapons system, must be scrapped, not replaced. MPs are set to vote on […]
The roots of Israeli apartheid
What does it mean to say that Israel is an apartheid state? Sølvi Goard unpacks a history of vicious segregation and ethnic cleansing
“The United States of America is awesome”
A report on the CIA’s use of torture between 2001 and 2006 was released on December 9, after five years of investigation, $40 million and heavy redactions. Cc. image courtesy of The U.S Army In an act of confession, the government of the United States has released a 500-page report describing torture carried out by the […]
Book review: paramilitarism and neoliberalism in Colombia
Neoliberalism and extreme violence go hand in hand in Colombia – Olivia Arigho Stiles reviews an important contribution to debates about Latin America. Jasmin Hristov Paramilitarism and Neoliberalism: Violent Systems of Capital Accumulation in Colombia and Beyond Pluto Press, 2014 £45 In recent years Latin America has formed the locus of debates over neoliberalism, while also […]
Village by village, town by town – how Zionists tried to destroy Palestine in 1948
In the sixth and final part of his series on Zionism, imperialism and the Palestinians, Neil Rogall describes the Nakba – the establishment of the Israeli state and catastrophe for Palestine. 1948 was a year of horror. The majority of the Palestinian people were violently evicted from their homes and their communities. Families were broken […]
Crisis in Argentina: China and Russia in the USA’s backyard
As vulture capitalists continue to deepen Argentina’s economic crisis, China and Russia are showing increasing interest in strengthening their economic, military and cultural influence over the country. Argentinian socialist David Justo asks what this new situation means for anti-imperialist politics in Latin America. In the so-called “multipolar world”, with the USA losing its hegemonic dominance, […]
The bombs won’t work: they’ll make things worse.
Hanif Leylabi writes on why we should oppose the latest British military adventure in Iraq
The Russian far right and its role in the Ukraine conflict
Moscow based socialist and rs21 member Nestor Bakunin has written an article at The Project detailing the state of Russia’s far right and its involvement in the Ukraine conflict. He writes: While those on the left who consider Kiev to have a fascist government depict the separatist movement as an “antifascist” resistance, there are others who […]
The changing face of imperialism
Ukraine and Syria have put imperialism back at the top of the political agenda. Rob Owen traces the theory of imperialism and charts the trajectory of US imperialism in recent years.
Autumn rs21 magazine out now
The new edition of the rs21 magazine is out now. Since the last issue of the rs21 magazine came out there has been an explosion of protest globally in response to Israel’s latest assault on Gaza. In this issue a series of authors attempt to grapple with the question of what imperialism means today and […]
No To Nato: joining the dots between Palestine and Western imperialism
The Nato summit due to take place in Newport and Cardiff will be met by a week of demonstrations. rs21 spoke to Adam Johannes, secretary of Cardiff Stop the War Coalition, about the protests. So what exactly is this Nato Newport summit? Who is going to turn up and what will they be getting up […]
ISIS, Iraq and Syria: Peering into the faultlines
Sam Charles Hamad has written a detailed response on the IS Network site to Andy Cunningham’s article earlier this month on ISIS, Iraq and imperialism. Sam stresses the role played by Iraq’s outgoing prime minister Nouri al-Maliki in carving out Iraq’s Sunnis from the government, alienating the former Sahwat militias and thereby creating conditions for the rise of ISIS […]
Video: Rusting Assassins
The documentary Rusting Assassins explores the largely forgotten legacy of the American War in Vietnam.
Border barbarism: the case of Tilbury Docks
Meet Singh Kapoor and his travelling companions are the victims of a barbaric system of border controls, argues Matthew Carr. On 16 August a 40-year-old Afghan Sikh named Meet Singh Kapoor was found dead in a container at Tilbury Docks. Kapoor was travelling with his wife and sons with a group of 35 migrants, including […]
Statement of solidarity with the Syrian revolution
The Syrian revolution is at a crossroads, and Syrian revolutionaries are in desperate need of support as they fight on several fronts.
Netanyahu: Wanted for War Crimes
Israel has been bombing Gaza for three weeks now. Over a thousand Palestinians are dead, including many children.
World War One: The main enemy was at home
Karl Liebknecht’s burning words of opposition to the imperialist slaughter of World War One.
Isolate Israel to end this horror
We are seeing a huge wave of protest around the world, in many cases involving direct action to an extent we have not seen before.
Gaza demonstration – rolling coverage
Reports and updates from today’s #GazaJ19 demo in defence of Gaza. 5.30pm – And at long last, after many complaints, here’s the BBC report. 4.40pm – Palestine Solidarity announces next protests are at 5.30 on Tuesday at the Israeli Embassy, and then next Saturday from Whitehall. 4.30pm – Thousands have marched through Glasgow in the […]
Retribution in Iraq
by Jack Farmer If you like a laugh, it’s always worth looking up what Tony Blair has to say about events in the Middle East. In his latest intervention he insisted that the current crisis in Iraq had nothing to do with the US-British led invasion of 2003: “We have to liberate ourselves from the notion […]
