World Socialist Web Site

3 September 2009

Obama’s poll numbers plummet

By Jerry White, 3 September 2009

A series of new public opinion polls reveal that the euphoria which greeted Obama’s election has largely evaporated in the nearly eight months since the Democratic president took office.

Germany: Federal Grand Coalition parties lose support in North Rhine-Westphalia local elections

By Sybille Fuchs, 3 September 2009

Germany’s two largest political parties—the Christian Democratic Union and the Social Democratic Party—suffered significant losses in local elections held last Sunday in the country’s most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia.

Deepening crisis surrounds Middle East talks

By Jean Shaoul, 3 September 2009

Media claims that President Barack Obama is close to brokering a deal between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) ignore the deepening political crisis in the Middle East.

Obama cuts pay raise for federal workers

By Tom Eley, 3 September 2009

Invoking the “national emergency” declared after 9/11, Obama has declared he will reduce scheduled pay increases for 1.3 million federal workers.

Afghanistan war escalation: The Nation seeks to “protect” the Obama administration from itself

By David Walsh, 3 September 2009

The war in Afghanistan is increasingly taking center stage in American political life. The Nation and other liberal elements continue to apologize for Barack Obama, who is now preparing a major escalation of the conflict.

Australian companies write down $47 billion

By Alex Messenger, 3 September 2009

There have been massive corporate write-downs in the mining and property sectors, yet economists say that the downturn has already come and gone.

UK helped protect wealth of former Chilean dictator Pinochet

By Robert Stevens, 3 September 2009

Britain’s financial sector was instrumental in hiding and protecting the ill-gotten wealth of former Chilean military dictator, General Augusto Pinochet.

US: Government study finds widespread mercury contamination

By Dan Brennan, 3 September 2009

Mercury is polluting streams across the country with alarming frequency, according to a study published last month by US Geological Survey.

New in German

Japans neue Regierung: Wahlversprechen und Wirklichkeit

3 September 2009

Nach dem erdrutschartigen Sieg von Yukio Hatoyama in Japan wird sich die Kluft zwischen den Wahlversprechen der Demokraten und der sozialen Realität der arbeitenden Bevölkerung schnell zeigen.

Warum wir eine rot-rote Regierung ablehnen

Von Ulrich Rippert (PSG-Kandidat zur Bundestagswahl), 3. September 2009

Die Linkspartei wird gebraucht, um die bürgerlichen Verhältnisse unter Bedingungen zunehmender sozialer Konflikte zu stabilisieren.

Die Zukunft von Opel bleibt völlig offen

Von Marianne Arens und Peter Schwarz, 3. September 2009

Der Plan, die europäischen Teile von General Motors aus dem Mutterkonzern herauszulösen und an den österreichisch-kanadischen Autozulieferer Magna zu verkaufen, steht vor dem Scheitern.

New in French

« Le socialisme dans un seul pays » et les débats sur l'économie soviétique des années 1920
Première partie

par Nick Beams, 3 septembre 2009

Ce serait une erreur de croire que les questions qui surgirent dans ce qu'on appelle les débats économiques en Union soviétique, culminant dans le conflit à propos du socialisme dans un seul pays, se soient cantonnées simplement aux questions économiques.