The Socialist Correspondent attempts to get to the truth behind events. Using Marxist principles, it shines a light on those responsible for war, terrorism and exploitation and reports and analyses the struggles of working people across the globe. The Socialist Correspondent is partisan. It unashamedly supports those fighting for peace, justice and socialism.
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Elections were held in Bangladesh in February 2026 which was won by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party with the Islamist Jamaal-e-Islami party coming second and forming the opposition. Prior to this the Bangladesh Awami League, the country's oldest party, had been in power between 2009 and 2024 but was banned from taking part in the election by the unelected interim administration. There have been…
The UK's famously unwritten constitution means the country is effectively governed by the Privy Council and its executive committee in the Cabinet, composed of what John Mclean called 'The Old Gang' in his open letter to Lenin in 1921. Its longevity is testament to the continuities of class rule in this country.
Israeli weapon systems and tactics , touted and priced as "battle tested" on Palestinians, are being applied in their current war on Iran and Lebanon, employing a strategy aimed at destroying the resistance and its social and material basis as was trialled in Gaza.
Keir Starmer and his leadership team do not pretend to be socialists, or even reformists. They are advocates of the status quo, establishment managerialists of a socio-economy in enduring crisis, and a foreign policy in service to British imperial interests. Like previous administrations they want to off-load the crisis onto the working classes, at home and abroad.
Europe is weaker relative to the US now than at any time since the end of World War 2 – the result of deliberate US strategy to subordinate its allies in order to create a disciplined bloc ready for major war against China. The Iran war has accelerated Europe’s difficulties.
On 28th February the United States and Israel launched an unprovoked military aggression against Iran, assassinated its Supreme Leader and many more of its political and military leadership. Operation Epic fury had the openly stated intention to overthrow the Iranian regime and bring about the total disintegration of the Iranian state. This ongoing aggression has already claimed the lives of…
The West’s multifaceted crisis is undermining the established norms of power, alliances and economic systems. This has been exposed and made worse by the United States and Israel’s war against Iran and all its unintended consequences. No one can predict the longer term implications of Donald Trump’s miscalculation over launching the war or whether it will mark a decisive point in US decline.…
A poem by Tawfiq Zayyad (1929-1994) who was a Palestinian leader and member of the Israeli Communist Party. He was elected to the Knesset in 1973, representing Rakah and later Hadash until his death in 1994. He was elected mayor of Nazareth in 1975 and served in that role until he died. Between 1958 and 1962 he spent long periods under arrest in Israeli prisons and later was the target of several…
Many difficulties face contemporary lorry drivers, from working within a complex employment network disconnected from their clients to being closely watched and managed by GPS, digital tachographs, and advanced driver assistance programs to keep them in line.
How China foresaw the unravelling of the post war liberal international order many years ago and set about protecting itself from the expected increase in aggression from the the USA.
Neither truth nor honestly held opinion are defences against prosecution under the current anti terror legislation which seeks to stifle public debate about Palestine and other matters under alleged national security concerns.
Jurors are temporary actors in a judicial system designed to protect property and profit. At the same time, they are admitted into that system in a role that accords them real powers as well as access to privileged information that exposes the workings not just of the British state's legal apparatus but also of the world it serves.
Podcast 152 - Latin America - The United States and China by Socialist Correspondent
Trumps radical foreign policy marks a seismic shift in US strategy and leaves the pretence of a rules based order reeling.
The world is more dangerous than it's ever been. The US has escalated a campaign of reckless violence across the globe to try to offset its long-term decline. This strategy is not a Trumpist aberration but is fully backed by the whole American machine. The extreme adventurism we are witnessing is more dangerous than US warmongering up to now, not only because it's so widespread, fire-raising in…
Class division remains a key element of Britain's political picture, but in a new way. Whereas working class people once formed the heart of the class structure and the focal point of political competition they now lack representation.
Celebrating the 70th Anniversary of the South African Freedom Charter, adopted on 26 June 1955 by the Congress of the People at Kliptown, near Soweto, South Africa.
For centuries the Caucasus region has been fought over by various empires, most recently under the influence of the Soviet Union. The region comprises Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan, along with the autonomous republics Nakhichevan, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia. Current US actions and the expansion of NATO have threatened the sovereignty and security of the region.
The Department of War Studies at Kings College London is ostensibly a university department but the function it performs for the British State goes well beyond the academic study of military science and strategy.
In a climate of austerity, stagnation, and uncertainty about the future, along with the Tories and Labour both trying to draw support back from those now attracted to the Reform party, hostility towards immigrants has risen as have harsher attitudes towards them.
European powers have dramatically increased theirs arms budgets under pressure from the US. Europe's focus is on supporting the war in Ukraine while the US concentrates on China.
Labour and the Tories, both parties of the political establishment, are mired in problems they have failed to address. They cannot resolve the contradictions of neo-liberalism that alienate them from the electorate and halt the decline in living standards and decaying services whilst they also vigorously support a drive to war.
The challenges and successes of a planned economy focussing on the experience of the Soviet Union.
The US government under Donald Trump has recently been escalating its campaign to destabilise South Africa including false charges against the South African government as regards its treatment of the Africana population and fake videos claiming genocide against the white population. Trump is supported in these strategies by a group of ultra wealthy US individuals of South Afican origin who are…
A review of BAE systems, a private company in which the UK government holds a 'golden share' which gives it a veto over decisions. Its principle business is with the US, the UK and Saudi Arabia and it operates in all sectors of the defence market. With growing global tensions and rising military budgets the BAE share price is rising ever upward as the world gears up for war.
The current global trade war initiated by the US government is having a serious impact on European economies and other nations but has not managed to weaken its main target, China, which has demonstrated it can resist caving in to any sanctions the US tries to impose. As China moves towards achieving self reliance in energy and parity in technological innovation we will witness the West's two…
While the UK economy stagnates at home, the government plans to increase military spending to 3% per annum. To pay for this funds will be taken away from social welfare services and further austerity measures seem inevitable. Claims that increasing military expenditure is necessary to defend the UK in a hostile world lack credibility. The reality is that it is an attempt to maintain and strengthen…
Britain's relationship with Russia abruptly changed with the ousting of Ukraine's President Yanukovych in 2014 from one of close trade and investment partnership to naming Russia as Britain's principal enemy. This sudden pivot is tied to the struggle to secure access to Ukraine's valuable mineral assets. In promoting and prolonging the war in Ukraine Britain also hopes to promote its global arms…
Although German Democratic Republic (GDR) ended 35 years ago its achievements demonstrate what is possible in a society committed to the welfare of its citizens. It did this against enormous odds. It was economically disadvantaged after the end of the second world war and faced the West's attempts to isolate it from the rest of the world. Significantly it was determined that war would never again…
There is a long history behind the West’s objective of destroying the government in Syria. The long campaign of military action and sanctions which eventually led to Assad’s defeat. His overthrow will have a profound impact on future prospects for Syria and the region, including the Palestinians whose cause has been weakened by these events. The West backs the terrorists who now control the…
The threat from China to the US and the West is real but it is not a military one, as the media would have us believe, which is used as the pretext for increased arms spending. In fact, it is the US that has threatened to annex Canada, take over Greenland, take back the Panama Canal (which it has partly succeeded in) take over Ukrainian mineral resources and redevelop Gaza ethnically cleansed of…
Although Trump is notoriously erratic, beneath the surface of this and his egregious, insulting behaviour there are consistencies. One is that he will continue to support Israel as the bastion of US interests in the Middle East and Palestinians who continue to suffer from Israel’s genocidal actions both in Gaza and the West Bank. One bright spot in a rather grim political landscape in Britian has…
Trump is motivated by a desire to ensure US supremacy in the face of China which is developing rapidly. No other country poses such a threat and he wants to clear the decks for that fight, hence his attempt to end the war in Ukraine on terms favourable to the United States. Other aspects of Trump’s imperial agenda – his designs on Greenland and Panama and also relate to his desire to prevent China…
Although Trump is notoriously erratic, beneath the surface of this and his egregious, insulting behaviour there are consistencies. One is that he will continue to support Israel as the bastion of US interests in the Middle East and Palestinians who continue to suffer from Israel’s genocidal actions both in Gaza and the West Bank. One bright spot in a rather grim political landscape in Britian has…
The Labour government has made reform of the planning system central to its efforts to increase growth. There are problems with the system which has become increasingly fragmented and dominated by the private sector in recent decades. However Labour's response does not address the central problems and some of its proposals are quite negative, like changing the designation of green belt lad so that…
On a recent visit to Russia this commentator found a society that was functioning well with decent services and a sense of social cohesion. There was a sense of normality despite the war. Although people did not talk a lot about it, he found that people wanted peace, but not at any price.
Russia is routinely accused of interfering in democracy in other countries. While these accusations have been insubstantial, there is a growing body of evidence of Israeli interference in British politics. Both in the United States and in the UK pro-Israel groups have channeled cash into defeating pro-Palestine law-makers and funding a wide range of Members of Parliament. In the UK some of these…
The current homelessness crisis can trace its roots back 40 years to the "right to buy" policy of the conservative Government that took council housing out of public ownership and into private hands. Subsequent governments have done nothing to reverse this trend and additionally a lot of social housing has been hived off to housing associations. Increasingly individuals and families find it hard…
State intervention and planning are not capitalism’s preferred ways of working, yet the need for state and globally agreed action is essential to tackling global warming. Yet if there is no viable planet then there is no capitalism either. Could this existential threat force capitalism to deal with the climate crisis? Having posed the question and put forward demands for achieving progress, we…
The BRICS alliance of Emerging Markets and Developing Countries took a major step forward at its 16th summit held in the Russian city of Kazan on October 22-24. Following decisions taken at last year’s summit in South Africa, a total of nine countries took part as full members for the first time, with Ethiopia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Iran joining Brazil, Russia, India, China and…
Frontex, the EU border agency is armed and is the only EU body to have a uniform. It's task is to guard the EU's borders and to implement the aggressive push back of migrants trying to escape war and poverty to reach Europe. With an increasing budget it also operates unaccountably. But as the EU tries to maintain "Fortress Europe" it's own system designed to maintain free-movement of labour within…
What will the prospects for the world be with Donald Trump back in the White House? It is not entirely certain how Trump will approach the war in Ukraine, but there is an increasing shift in the establishment towards the realistic view that Ukraine cannot win on the battlefield and that there should be negotiations. Other things are clearer. Trump will maintain a firm support for Israel’s genocide…
The tasks of the peace movement in Britain are urgent, as people continue to suffer poverty, cuts to services and crumbling infrastructure yet the government plans to increase arms spending to 2.5%of GDP or £87.1 billion including massive expenditure on replacing the Trident nuclear weapons system. This has nothing to do with self-defence and everything to do with Britain playing its part in…
The Danger of direct conflict between the great powers have recently multiplied. The US has refused to accept its declining supremacy, to compromise or negotiate. Ongoing conflicts in the Ukraine and the Middle East are in danger of reaching a point of no return.The growing appetite for change, away from war ,sham democracy, and climate catastrophe indicates that millions of people are…
One aspect of the build up for war with China is the rearmament and increasingly aggressive military posture of Japan. Imperialists in Japan have long sought to shed the constraints placed on it as a defeated nation after the Second World War and now they have been given the green light to do this by the United States, which wants Japan to be part of the military encirclement of China and of…
Israel is continuously escalating its genocidal war against the Palestinians in Gaza and increasingly in the West Bank too. It has no interest in ceasefires or negotiations as it seeks to turn Palestine into an uninhabitable wasteland which it can permanently occupy. On the contrary it is now seeking to expand its aggression to Lebanon and Iran and to provoke a regional war.
In August the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina resigned. On the surface, and as reported in mainstream media outlets, she was forced to step down due to student protests, but there were deeper geopolitical reasons behind her ousting. Not least she had raised US ire by refusing to host a United States military base in Bangladesh and by drawing closer to China and the BRICS countries. The…
Despite the dangers to Europe and the world, the West continues to press on with its disastrous war in Ukraine. Even with the evident failures on Ukraine’s part to make progress in the war, including its incursion into Kursk and despite the suffering on all sides, the West is determined to double down on war. It has peremptorily dismissed peace plans and calls for negotiations. On the contrary,…
Can the African National Congress renew and recover in the face of declining support from the electorate who are dissatisfied with rising poverty and a failure to address corruption.
The new Labour government opens up new opportunities and also faces massive challenges. We will have to wait and see whether the movement can achieve real progress for working people in Britain.
