World Socialist Web Site

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Published by the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI)

27 March 2009

Washington escalates “drug war” intervention in Mexico

By Bill Van Auken, 27 March 2009

With its reinforcement of federal agents on the border, increased aid to the Mexican military and visits by Secretary of State Clinton and other top US officials, the Obama administration is escalating its intervention in Mexico’s “drug war.”

EU president declares US economic policy is the “road to hell”

By Stefan Steinberg, 27 March 2009

One day after being ousted as head of the Czech government Mirek Topolanek, who currently holds the revolving chair of the European Union, openly criticised the financial policy of the US government, telling European parliamentary deputies that America was on the “road to hell”.

Czech government ousted as economy flounders

By Stefan Steinberg, 27 March 2009

The Czech government led by Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek narrowly lost a vote of confidence in parliament March 24 and the government coalition will be forced to step down.

Obama administration calls for changes in financial regulation

By Andre Damon, 27 March 2009

Tim Geithner, US Treasury secretary, testified before the House Financial Services Committee Thursday, proposing to overhaul the US financial regulation system.

Australia: The political issues behind the jailing of former Federal Court judge Marcus Einfeld

By Patrick O’Connor and Richard Hoffman, 27 March 2009

Many serious questions surrounding the Einfeld affair remain unanswered. But the timing and nature of the media and police investigations into his speeding infringement point to the distinct possibility that they were motivated by a political desire, on the part of the former Howard government, to blacken Einfeld’s name and undermine his professional credibility.

Turkish municipal elections dominated by economic, political crisis

By Sinan Ikinci, 27 March 2009

Municipal elections scheduled for March 29 in Turkey are bringing into sharp relief the impact of the global economic crisis and the internecine warfare between two factions of the ruling elite, the Islamists and Kemalists.

New in German

Deutscher Reifenhersteller kündigt Fabrikschließungen in Europa an

Von Kumaran Ira, 27. März 2009

Die Entscheidung des deutschen Reifenherstellers und Autoteile-Zulieferers Continental AG, Werke in Frankreich und Deutschland zu schließen, löste in Frankreich auf breiter Front Opposition und Kontroversen aus.

Einsturz des Kölner Stadtarchivs wäre zu verhindern gewesen

Von Sybille Fuchs, 27. März 2009

Immer deutlicher wird, dass der Einsturz alles andere als ein nicht vorhersehbares Naturereignis war. Es gab mehrfache Warnungen, die aber im Interesse von Profiteuren beim U-Bahnbau und der Stadtentwicklung von den verantwortlichen Behörden und Firmen ignoriert wurden.

New in Russian

1968: Всеобщая забастовка и восстание студентов во Франции
Часть 8: Центристская линия OCI (4)

Петер Шварц, 27 марта 2009 г.

Данная статья является седьмой в серии статей, посвященных событиям мая-июня 1968 года во Франции.

New in French

La réintégration de la France dans l’OTAN

Par Alex Lanthier, 27 mars 2009

Le 17 mars, l’Assemblée nationale française a voté en faveur de la politique étrangère du président Nicolas Sarkozy et du premier ministre François Fillon. Ce vote incluait l’approbation du projet de Sarkozy d’un retour complet de la France dans le commandement militaire de l’OTAN. Cette décision annulera celle prise en 1966 par le président Charles De Gaulle de retirer les officiers français de plusieurs organes de commandement de l’OTAN.

Perspective

The return of Hoovervilles

27 March 2009

While the Obama administration dispenses with trillions of dollars to the finance industry, homeless encampments—reminiscent of the “Hoovervilles” of the Great Depression—have reemerged in a number of American cities.

Earlier Perspectives »

Political Analysis

The capitalist crisis and the return of history

By David North, 26 March 2009

David North, the national chairman of the Socialist Equality Party (US), spoke last week at San Diego State University (March 19) and University of California, Berkeley (March 22) on “The Capitalist Crisis and the Return of History.” We publish here the notes upon which his lectures were based.

Download in PDF

Socialist Equality Party

Special announcement
Nick Beams to speak at WSWS/SEP conferences in US

Nick Beams, the national secretary of the Socialist Equality Party (Australia) and leading expert in Marxist political economy, will speak at conferences in the US on “The World Economic Crisis, the Failure of Capitalism, and the Case for Socialism.”

G20 summit protest: A socialist answer to the global crisis is needed

Statement by the Socialist Equality Party (Britain), 27 March 2009

Saturday’s mass protest in London directed towards the G20 summit raises fundamental questions of political perspective.

SEP public meeting launches provincial election campaign

By our correspondents, 27 March 2009

The Socialist Equality Party in Sri Lanka held its first public meeting on March 24, as part of the party’s campaign for the Colombo district in the Western Provincial Council election on April 25.

ISSE meeting in Wellington, New Zealand
The world economic crisis and the socialist alternative

26 March 2009

The world economy is experiencing its greatest crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Amidst the breakdown of the global financial system, industrial production and world trade are falling dramatically. The US and the rest of the world, including New Zealand, face the spectre of mass unemployment and poverty.

Arts Review

Duplicity: The essential unseriousness of it

By David Walsh, 27 March 2009

After the relatively critical edge of Michael Clayton, filmmaker Tony Gilroy appears to offer an olive branch to Hollywood in the form of the trivial, unengaged Duplicity.

Workers Struggles

Reject CAW sellout at Chrysler! Mobilize autoworkers across North America to defend all jobs and oppose all concessions!

Statement of the Socialist Equality Party (Canada), 27 March 2009

If Chrysler workers are not to be blackmailed into paying for the losses of the Detroit Three, they must reject the nationalist and pro-capitalist perspective of the CAW and fight to mobilize the strength of autoworkers across North America in a struggle against all concessions, layoffs and plant closures.