Perspective
Perspective
Perspective
The failed coup in Russia: Causes and consequences
A coup attempt led by Evgeny Prigozhin, the chief of the Russian Wagner mercenary force, collapsed in the evening hours of Saturday, local time.
Top Stories
The American logistics giant is throwing down the gauntlet to its 340,000 workers, who voted earlier this month to strike by 97 percent.
Tom Hall•
The 1,400 striking workers want an end to tiers and significant wage gains after enduring a 4-year pay freeze.
Shannon Jones•
The reports to the meeting met with a strong response and provoked an intense discussion of the political issues raised.
Humboldt University IYSSE•
The SEP calls on working people to oppose the state-supported, far-right campaign to silence all anti-war voices through slander and threats of violence.
Socialist Equality Party (Canada)•
West’s moralistic rhetoric, pragmatic maneuvering and a healthy dose of showmanship add up, when all is accounted for, to a vast pragmatic muddle.
Joseph Kishore•
On Thursday members of the Michigan Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee spoke to Stellantis autoworkers at Warren Truck to build unity against education cuts.
Zac Corrigan, Renae Cassimeda•
The possibility that OceanGate’s Titan submersible would fail at extreme ocean depths was warned of by numerous experts years before the catastrophic implosion that instantly killed all five people on board in the North Atlantic last Sunday.
Kevin Reed•
The Modi government is stoking baseless claims of deliberate sabotage to cover its own responsibility for the disaster, which claimed almost 300 lives.
Arun Kumar•
The recent series of job actions on the West Coast, in defiance of a union-backed “no strike pledge,” has prompted the ruling class to develop open legal repression against workers as the next line of defense.
Jesus Ugarte•
In interviews and comments with the WSWS, dockworkers expressed anger over the proposed tentative agreement and denounced the involvement of the Biden administration.
Joshua Rodriguez•
The massacre could not have happened without the criminal involvement of the security apparatus, which is being empowered by “left” President Xiomara Castro.
Andrea Lobo•
A slew of enemies confronts the working class in the upcoming elections. There is no political alternative representing the interests of workers, setting up the widely hated ND for another four years in office.
Robert Stevens•
Leon Trotsky and the Struggle for Socialism in the Twenty-First Century
The essays in this book, though written over the span of more than 40 years, are connected by a central argument: Leon Trotsky was the most significant figure in the history of socialism during the first four decades of the twentieth century, and his legacy remains the critical and indispensable theoretical and political foundation of the ongoing contemporary struggle for the victory of world socialism.
Order your print or epub version of the book from Mehring Books today.
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One year since the US Supreme Court’s abolition of the constitutional right to abortion
The Dobbs ruling is the illegitimate outcome of a far-right conspiracy backed by billionaire fascists to pack the courts with bigots and ideologues who are totally hostile to democratic rights.
Barry Grey•
Esteban Volkov, grandson of Leon Trotsky, has died
The International Committee of the Fourth International is deeply saddened by the passing on the evening of June 16 of Esteban Volkov, the grandson of Leon Trotsky. He was 97 years old.
Statement of the International Committee of the Fourth International•
Biden leads Washington in feting Modi, India’s far-right prime minister
Even as it pursues war with Ukraine, American imperialism is girding itself for a violent confrontation with China, which it has identified as its principal strategic rival.
Keith Jones•
Two episodes at sea: The submersible Titan and hundreds of refugees drowned in the Mediterranean
The nonstop media coverage of the North Atlantic episode is vastly different from the treatment devoted to last week’s terrible tragedy off the Greek coast.
David Walsh•
Jerry White•
Tom Hall•
Andre Damon•
Patrick Martin•
Marcus Day•
Ukrainian counteroffensive falters amid mass casualties
Despite billions of dollars in weapons and training, Ukraine’s vaunted counteroffensive continues to falter as tens of thousands of soldiers are sent to their deaths.
Jason Melanovski•
The destruction of an independent judiciary in Ukraine
In this article, Ukrainian socialist Maxim Goldarb describes the systematic destruction of an independent judiciary by the Zelensky government and the transformation of the courts into tools for the suppression of democratic rights and dissent.
Maxim Goldarb•
Are nuclear weapons the next red line NATO will cross in Ukraine?
Facing the failure of Ukraine’s “spring counteroffensive,” the United States is moving to escalate its own intervention in the conflict.
Andre Damon•
“Spring offensive” produces bloodbath for Ukraine
Ukraine’s “spring counteroffensive,” hailed for months in the American media as a turning point in the war, has produced a bloody debacle.
Andre Damon•
Johannes Stern•
Clara Weiss•
Martin Nowak, Clara Weiss•
Joseph Kishore, David North•
Andre Damon•
Strike ballot at Deutsche Bahn: Vote for strike and build action committees independent of the unions
A call from the Transport Workers Action Committee to Deutsche Bahn colleagues: Only by taking action yourselves and uniting independently can you ensure a strike happens and improve your real wages and working conditions.
Transport Workers Action Committee•
The Royal Mail dispute
Ward and Furey’s live Q&A: Browbeating by the Communication Workers Union to impose a betrayal
In the meeting, CWU leader Dave Ward stated repeatedly that he was not “apologising” as he justified the surrender terms offered to Royal Mail, skirting over what he described as “difficult elements” and pleading poverty on behalf of the company.
Tony Robson•
More Royal Mail workers write to denounce Communication Workers Union
The World Socialist Web Site continues to be sent comments by Royal Mail workers ahead of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) ballot finally arranged for June 22-July 11.
Our reporters•
Workers Struggles: Asia, Australia and New Zealand
India: Tamil Nadu construction workers hold state-wide protest for improved benefits; Pakistan Railways workers demand overdue salaries; Australia: Maritime workers on vessels servicing offshore oil and gas facilities still on strike
Richard Tyler•
Tania Kent•
Statement of the Warren Truck Rank-and-File Committee•
Margot Miller•
Tony Robson, Steve James•
A Small Light: Miep Gies and the struggle to save Anne Frank and her family
It is a drama of resistance to fascism and Nazism, at a time when those political abominations have once more lifted their heads.
Joanne Laurier•
Cormac McCarthy (1933-2023): Chronicler of American carnage
His works are so permeated with misanthropy and a hostility to human progress that his literary output represents a step back from the great American writers of the 20th century.
Eric London•
Los Angeles march for striking writers reveals major support, but union officials prepare betrayal
While film and television writers remain determined to fight against the major studios, and in some cases, the capitalist system, union bureaucrats continue to preach a false “solidarity,” while isolating striking workers from their class brothers and sisters.
Jacob Crosse, Marc Wells•
Glenda Jackson (1936–2023): “The best theatre is about trying to find and tell the truth”
Her acting was self-critical and unsentimental, driven, director Charles Marowitz said, by a “loathing for lame and easy effects.”
Paul Bond•
Penny Smith•
Tomas Castanheira•
Elliott Murtagh, Erik Schreiber•
David Walsh•
Richard Phillips•
The Royal Mail dispute
Ward and Furey’s live Q&A: Browbeating by the Communication Workers Union to impose a betrayal
In the meeting, CWU leader Dave Ward stated repeatedly that he was not “apologising” as he justified the surrender terms offered to Royal Mail, skirting over what he described as “difficult elements” and pleading poverty on behalf of the company.
Tony Robson•
More Royal Mail workers write to denounce Communication Workers Union
The World Socialist Web Site continues to be sent comments by Royal Mail workers ahead of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) ballot finally arranged for June 22-July 11.
Our reporters•
More UK universities deduct academic workers’ pay as marking boycott continues
What was a national dispute of 50,000 workers at 150 universities has been splintered by the UCU bureaucracy into a marking boycott and several smaller, isolated strikes.
Ioan Petrescu•
Podemos electoral debacle in Spain exposes bankruptcy of Revolutionary Left (IR) group
IR’s complaint that “the ‘progressive’ management of capitalism has gone very wrong” amounts to an exposure of this party’s decade-long support for the anti-worker Podemos party.
Santiago Guillen•
Thomas Scripps•
Kevin Jordan, Marianne Arens•
Justus Leicht•
Chris Marsden•
Paul Bond•
Toronto’s mayoral campaign: a “dog and pony show” prelude to huge cuts to public and social services
With provincial law forbidding municipalities from running a deficit, the election has quickly devolved into a lying contest amongst the major candidates on what they will cut, how much they will tax and what increasingly improbable government bailouts they will wrangle.
Carl Bronski•
Millions losing Medicaid coverage, other benefits, after Biden-Republican deals
The dumping of people off the government program that provides health insurance for low-income adults and children is a direct result of the bipartisan budget deal approved by Biden last December.
Kate Randall•
Democrats continue attacks on immigrants in Chicago and Illinois
Far from providing sanctuary to immigrants, Democrats in Chicago and Illinois are attacking their rights and leaving them to languish in unsanitary conditions with little access to food while health care and housing assistance benefits are cut.
Jessica Goldstein•
Stop the criminalization of nurses!
Scapegoated nurse RaDonda Vaught fights for reinstatement of nursing license
As nurses warned, Vaught’s persecution has opened the door for increased attacks on healthcare workers made to pay for dangerous short staffing and conditions in hospitals driven by profit interests.
Liz Cabrera•
Claude Delphian•
Niles Niemuth•
John Conrad•
Michael Anders•
James Clayton•
New Zealand sinks into recession
With international financial institutions paying close attention, the country’s Labour-led government is carrying out a far-reaching assault on jobs and living standards.
John Braddock•
Sri Lankan government intensifies witch-hunting of Ceylon Petroleum Corporation union leaders and activists
The ongoing persecution CPC workers, along with the victimisation of two Insurance General Employees Union officials is part of a wider crackdown on the working class by the Wickremesinghe government.
Wimal Perera•
Pakistan on the brink of default as IMF pushes for still more austerity
The Pakistan government has complained that the IMF has repeatedly shifted the “goal posts” for it accessing the desperately needed bailout loan, despite it agreeing to and imposing the US-dominated agency’s savage austerity diktats.
Sampath Perera•
Australian authorities blocking prosecutions over lawyer who spied on clients
For a decade, Victoria Police brazenly violated the most basic legal and democratic rights, using a criminal barrister as a secret informant. No one will be held to account.
Oscar Grenfell•
Oscar Grenfell•
Rohantha De Silva, Keith Jones•
Peter Symonds•
Gabriel Black •
Mike Head•
Washington Post reveals
Biden Justice Department sought to avoid investigation of Trump over January 6 coup
The lengthy exposé has been met with virtual silence from the White House, congressional Democrats and the corporate media as a whole.
Patrick Martin•
Hunter Biden plea deal intensifies political warfare in Washington
The plea deal with federal prosecutors is both a cover-up of Hunter Biden’s profiteering from the political connections of his father and fuel for false Republican and far-right claims of a legal double standard in comparison to the recent federal indictment of Donald Trump.
Kevin Reed•
Texas Governor Abbott ships 42 migrants from Rio Grande to Los Angeles by bus
In a cruel political stunt aimed at whipping up anti-immigrant hysteria in the US, Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott sent 42 migrants from Central and South America by bus to Los Angeles, California.
Kevin Reed•
Largest House Republican group backs increase in Social Security retirement age to 69
The decision is the latest step in a bipartisan campaign to target entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare for massive cuts, including the reduction of benefit levels.
Patrick Martin•
Patrick Martin•
Patrick Martin•
Jacob Crosse•
Alex Findijs•
Patrick Martin•
Australia records 205 COVID deaths, highest weekly figure since February
With no public health measures in place, very low levels of vaccine-induced immunity, and a bubbling “variant soup,” ordinary people now confront an unending cycle of infection and reinfection.
Martin Scott•
Six months after the lifting of Zero-COVID
China’s second wave of COVID infections, deaths, Long COVID, and government lies: Conclusion
The mass suffering and deaths from China’s second COVID-19 wave has been met with virtually complete silence in the corporate media and pseudo-left outlets internationally.
Lily Zhao, Evan Blake•
Journalist who promoted false Iraqi WMDs narrative now endorses claims that Chinese researchers were first COVID-19 patients
On Tuesday, journalist Michael R. Gordon, who helped launch the Iraq war by claiming Saddam Hussein was using aluminum tubes to build nuclear weapons, legitimized unsubstantiated claims that world-renowned researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology were among the first people to be infected with COVID-19.
Andre Damon•
Study finds that COVID-19 could cause brain cells to fuse, leading to permanent damage
Scientists believe that the fusion of nerve cells in the brain might be the cause of “brain fog” and other neurological symptoms associated with Long COVID.
Philip Guelpa, Evan Blake•
Lily Zhao•
Benjamin Mateus•
Benjamin Mateus•
Oscar Grenfell•
Carolyn Kennett•
Sri Lankan SEP/IYSSE to hold memorial meeting for lifelong Trotskyist Jerani Ratnayake
The SEP memorial meeting will discuss the significant political lessons from Jerani’s decades-long struggle for Trotskyist principles that are vital for the current generation of workers and youths in their fight against capitalism.
Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka)•
Sri Lankan SEP demonstrates in Colombo against privatisation and government repression
The protest was part of the SEP’s campaign to mobilise the working class against the government’s austerity measures on the basis of a socialist program.
Our reporters•
Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation boss cites WSWS article, warning union leaders not to give information to websites
SLIC’s disciplinary action against union officials for using the company’s email service and for allegedly providing information to the media and the WSWS is a dire warning and must be opposed by all SOE workers and the entire working class.
Saman Gunadasa•
Sri Lankan workers back SEP campaign against sweeping privatisation
The SEP interventions are revealing growing working-class opposition to the government’s IMF-dictated austerity measures and anger over the treacherous role being played by the trade unions.
Our reporters•
M. Thevarajah•
Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka)•
Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka)•
Vilani Peiris•
Tisara Senanayake, Kamal Mahagama•
Israel’s settlers, army and far-right government attack the Palestinians on all fronts
Far-right forces have repeatedly demanded the annexation of the West Bank—as has Netanyahu himself—in defiance of international law, in pursuit of their aim of establishing a Jewish Supremacist state in both Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.
Jean Shaoul•
Media outlets claim Iran-US close to a temporary “understanding”
That the agreement would be unwritten indicates its very limited and fragile nature in a region destabilized by decades of imperialist-stoked conflicts.
Jean Shaoul•
El-Sisi dictatorship plunges Egyptians into poverty, steps up repression
General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who overthrew the elected government of Muslim Brotherhood affiliated President Mohammed Morsi in a bloody coup in July 2013, has ruled the country with an iron fist ever since.
Jean Shaoul•
Political lessons of the 2023 Turkish presidential elections
The 2023 Turkish elections exposed all the pseudo-left groups that supported Kılıçdaroğlu as a supposedly “left” or “democratic” candidate against Erdoğan.
Sosyalist Eşitlik Grubu•
Ulaş Ateşçi•
Alex Lantier•
Ulaş Ateşçi•
Jean Shaoul•
Ulaş Ateşçi•
Clarios workers return to work, angered over UAW sellout of their strike
The United Auto Workers shut down the powerful 40-day strike after pushing through a concessions-laden contract, which workers had decisively rejected two times before.
Jerry White•
UAW President Shawn Fain falsely touts “massive gains” as his administration sells out Clarios and other strikes
It has taken less than three months for UAW President Shawn Fain and his administration to demonstrate conclusively where they stand: on the side of the corporations and opposed to the interests of the workers they claim to represent.
Marcus Day•
UAW rams through sellout deal, shuts down 40-day Clarios strike
The sabotage by the United Auto Workers bureaucracy of the courageous strike by workers at the Toledo, Ohio, area auto battery plant is a warning to autoworkers facing their own contract battle this September.
Jerry White•
Vote NO on the UAW-Clarios sellout contract! Reject corporate slavery and launch a workers’ counteroffensive throughout the auto industry!
It is already clear that the deal is nothing more than a repackaging of the first two sellout agreements brought back by the UAW bureaucracy, which workers courageously voted down by overwhelming margins.
WSWS Autoworker Newsletter•
Jerry White•
Jerry White•
Jerry White•
Jerry White•
Shannon Jones•
Guatemalan government launches witch-hunt against journalists, judges and prosecutors
This witch hunt and Washington’s complicit silence represent a stark warning. Four decades after the brutal US-backed junta that killed over 200,000, Guatemala’s ruling elite is turning once again to dictatorial methods.
Andrea Lobo•
Colombia’s President Petro warns of “soft coup” attempt
It did not take long for Colombians to conclude that Petro was not going to impinge upon the wealth of the financial, corporate and landowning elites.
Andrea Lobo•
Strikes and mass protests led by teachers erupt across Argentina
New legislation outlawing strikes and mass protests by teachers, healthcare employees and other sections of the working class signals a return to dictatorial methods of rule.
Rafael Azul, Andrea Lobo•
Jacobin promotes defeatist politics of Salvador Allende after far right wins vote in Chile
The publication aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America mythologizes Allende to justify its support for both the Boric and Biden administrations.
Andrea Lobo•
Don Knowland•
Tomas Castanheira•
Bill Van Auken•
Rafael Azul•
Andrea Lobo•
This week in history: June 19–25
This column profiles important historical events which took place during this week, 25 years ago, 50 years ago, 75 years ago and 100 years ago.
Introduction to Lawrence Porter’s Marcus Garvey and the Reactionary Logic of Racialist Politics
Mehring Books is pleased to announce the publication of Marcus Garvey and the Reactionary Logic of Racialist Politics by Lawrence Porter, assistant national secretary of the Socialist Equality Party (US).
Tom Mackaman•
As Clarios strike ends second week:
Lessons of the 1984-1985 AP Parts strike in Toledo
The 285-day strike by Toledo AP Parts workers was the longest in the history of the city and bears important lessons for autoworkers today.
Shannon Jones•
Zelensky’s wartime visit to Berlin and Germany’s new “Drive to the East”
Zelensky’s visit to Berlin marks a new stage in the intervention of German imperialism in the war in Ukraine. It continues a dark tradition. Already in the 20th century, German imperialism tried twice to subdue Russia militarily and failed. Now the ruling class is trying a third time.
Johannes Stern•
Peter Schwarz•
Johannes Stern•
Chris Marsden•
Paul Bond•
Paul Bond•
Fed faces a dilemma as it meets to set interest rates
At present the betting in financial markets is that the Fed will try to thread the needle, announcing a “pause” in rate increases at this meeting while indicating that further rises may take place and ruling out any cuts this year even as the US economy continues to slow.
Nick Beams•
China slowdown drives Saudi oil production cut
The latest OPEC+ meeting was held just two months after the cartel announced production cuts in order to sustain prices which have proved largely ineffective in halting the slide.
Nick Beams•
China growth rate falters as youth unemployment rises
The youth jobless rate has reached a record high of more than 20 percent with around 11.5 million graduates entering the labour force in coming months.
Nick Beams•
What next in the growing dollar crisis?
Sanctions imposed by the US and the major imperialist powers against Russia at the start of the Ukraine war have produced some unintended consequences, most notably attempts to shift away from dependence on the dollar as the global reserve currency.
Nick Beams•
Jacob Crosse•
Nick Beams•
Nick Beams•
Patrick Martin•
Nick Beams•
British High Court rejects Assange appeal: Extradition an imminent threat
Assange has only one option of appeal remaining within the British legal system and it could be rejected next week.
Oscar Grenfell•
FBI appears to be continuing investigation of Julian Assange
On Thursday it was reported that FBI agents are trawling around, apparently seeking dirt on Assange despite him being locked up in a maximum-security British prison for the past four years.
Oscar Grenfell•
Oppose the detention of Kit Klarenberg! End British state intimidation of anti-NATO journalists!
The precedent for Britain’s arbitrary detention of journalists and publishers was set by the seizure and imprisonment of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
WSWS International Editorial Board•
Australian war crimes whistleblower David McBride demands freedom for Julian Assange
Assange faces life behind bars for revealing war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan as a publisher. McBride could be jailed indefinitely for exposing the same atrocities as a whistleblower.
Richard Phillips, Oscar Grenfell•
Richard Phillips, Oscar Grenfell•
Oscar Grenfell•
Our reporters•
Oscar Grenfell•
Oscar Grenfell•
May Day 2023: For the international unity of the working class against national chauvinism and war!
The following is the text of the opening report delivered by David North, chairperson of the International Editorial Board of the World Socialist Web Site, to the International May Day Online Rally 2023, held Sunday, April 30.
David North•
The ICFI’s May Day 2023 online rally: A milestone in the building of a global, working class movement against war
Together, the speakers set out a political programme capable of uniting the international working class and mobilising its immense social power in a struggle against the world’s major corporations and governments.
Thomas Scripps•
The developing struggle to bring down the Macron government in France
This is the report delivered by Alex Lantier, national secretary of the Parti de l’égalité socialiste (PES), to the 2023 International May Day Online Rally held on April 30.
Alex Lantier•
The struggle for a Democratic and Socialist Congress of Workers and Rural Masses in Sri Lanka
This is the report delivered by Deepal Jayasekera, the General Secretary of the Socialist Equality Party in Sri Lanka, to the 2023 International May Day Online Rally held on April 30.
Deepal Jayasekera•
Stepan Geller, Andrei Ritsky•
Andre Damon•
Joseph Kishore•
Tom Peters•
Keith Jones•
20 years since the 2003 US invasion of Iraq
March 20 marks 20 years since the beginning of the US invasion of Iraq, launched on the basis of lies. At the time of the initial invasion, the WSWS published many statements on the background of the war, its history and its implications. This page features some of the most important statements.
Read
Jacobin covers for DSA betrayal of U-M grad students’ strike
The Jacobin interview unintentionally provides a damning exposure of the GEO’s betrayal of the strike and the DSA’s role in supporting and covering up this betrayal.
Luke Galvin, Matthew Brennan•
For a socialist movement against war! Vote the IYSSE into Humboldt University’s student parliament on July 4!
The International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) is standing five candidates in this year's Student Parliament (StuPa) elections at Berlin’s Humboldt University. The following is the IYSSE election manifesto.
Humboldt University IYSSE group•
Sydney’s Macquarie University refuses to affiliate IYSSE club, despite it meeting all requirements
The refusal to affiliate the IYSSE, based on entirely false claims, forms part of a broader crackdown on anti-war opposition amid the danger of a global conflagration.
Eric Ludlow, Oscar Grenfell•
Support builds for IYSSE anti-war Toronto meeting in face of right-wing censorship campaign
Workers and young people have spoken out powerfully in defence of the IYSSE’s right to hold its anti-war meeting in opposition to the threats and intimidation from the far-right UCC and its allies within the Canadian state.
Our reporter•
Gwen Lee•
Luke Galvin•
Gregor Link•
Our Reporters•
A new interpretation regarding the origin of Homo sapiens
Our species, Homo sapiens, evolved not from a single, local population but from a broadly distributed, “stem” of genetically and culturally interacting populations.
Philip Guelpa•
Uncrewed SpaceX rocket Starship explodes after launch
The company’s CEO, Elon Musk, claims the spacecraft will one day ferry humans to Mars.
Bryan Dyne•
New insight into the possible origin of chipped stone tool technology
The use of a hammer-and-anvil technique to crack nuts by monkeys and chimpanzees may represent the precursor of human stone tool technology.
Philip Guelpa•
Preview release of ChatGPT shows potential of artificial intelligence
ChatGPT, released as a free prototype by the research laboratory OpenAI last November, is a powerful artificial intelligence technology with socially transformative potential that is being used under capitalism to eliminate jobs, increase exploitation and automate warfare.
Kevin Reed•
Frank Gaglioti•
Frank Gaglioti•
Benjamin Mateus•
Benjamin Mateus•
Benjamin Mateus•
On the 25th anniversary of the World Socialist Web Site
Twenty-five years ago, the International Committee of the Fourth International began posting the World Socialist Web Site. In this video, WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North explains the background to the WSWS, reviews its record and contemporary significance and makes an appeal to all readers to donate to the WSWS and expand its readership.
Watch now
Oath Keeper founder Stewart Rhodes sentenced to 18 years in prison for 2021 attack on US Capitol
While the sentences are two of the longest handed down so far in the January 6 cases, both judgments are well under the prosecutors’ request and recommended minimum sentencing guidelines.
Jacob Crosse•
Washington D.C. police lieutenant indicted for tipping off, obstructing investigation into convicted Proud Boys leader
Shane Lamond, the former supervisor of the MPD intelligence division during the January 6 coup, exemplifies the support Trump’s coup had and still retains within the police-intelligence apparatus.
Jacob Crosse•
Navy reservist and intelligence contractor sentenced to four years in prison for storming Capitol with Proud Boys
Hatchet Speed, who spent more than 20 years in the US Navy as a cryptologic technician and intelligence analyst, was previously sentenced to three years in prison for stockpiling illegal silencers, which he planned on using in a kidnapping and assassination plot targeting Trump’s political enemies and Jewish people.
Jacob Crosse•
January 6 conspiracy trial: Prosecutor alleges Proud Boys saw themselves “as Donald Trump’s army”
US Assistant attorney Conor Mulroe told jurors that the Proud Boys were a “violent gang” fighting to “keep their preferred leader in power no matter what the law or the courts had to say about it.”
Jacob Crosse•
David North, Jacob Crosse•
Jacob Crosse•
Jacob Crosse•
D. Lencho•
Jacob Crosse•
Statement of the Editorial Board
For a Global Workers’ Inquest into the COVID-19 Pandemic
The Inquest is necessary to break through the cover-up, lies and misinformation that have been used to justify policies responsible for the avoidable deaths of millions.
Find out more
Enthusiastic response by Sri Lankan workers and students to upcoming international May Day online rally
“Nowadays May Day is used as political propaganda by the trade unions and the capitalist parties. In fact, May Day belongs to the workers and it should be a day that brings together workers in struggle in every country.” –Kandy Hospital nurse
our reporters•
SEP (Australia) holds well-attended post-election public meeting
The SEP held an important meeting Sunday afternoon entitled: “After the NSW Elections—How to fight AUKUS, War & Austerity!”
Our reporters•
World Socialist Web Site launches its Ukrainian-language edition
The Ukrainian edition of the WSWS will publish critical historical and programmatic documents that will create the foundations for a Ukrainian section of the ICFI.
World Socialist Web Site Editorial Board•
Watch SEP online memorial meeting: A Tribute to Regina Lohr – Australian Trotskyist
The SEP held an online memorial meeting to pay tribute to the life of Regina Lohr, who passed away on October 10 at the age of 66.
Socialist Equality Party (Australia)•
Our reporters•
2023: The global capitalist crisis and the growing offensive of the international working class
In 2022 the accumulating pressure of these intersecting elements of the world capitalist crisis attained the equivalent of critical mass: that is, they have reached the point where the dynamic of crisis has passed beyond the ability of governments to control the movement toward a social cataclysm.
Read statement
Japan dispatches military to evacuate citizens from Sudan
Japan’s involvement in Africa is above all aimed at securing access to resources while promoting remilitarization.
Ben McGrath•
Sudan fighting provokes mass exodus
United Nations figures show that more than 420 people have been killed, including at least 256 civilians, and more than 3,500 wounded since fighting broke out on April 15.
Jean Shaoul•
South Africa roiled by global crisis of capitalism
South Africa, in comparison to its most important trading partners, is a leaf in the gale-force maelstrom of the global economy.
Iqra Qalam•
Sudan fighting erupts between rival military factions backed by external powers
Violence broke out amid increased army deployment, security measures and jockeying for public and international support over the planned integration of various militia groups into the Sudanese army.
Jean Shaoul•
Kipchumba Ochieng•
Kipchumba Ochieng•
Kipchumba Ochieng•
Jean Shaoul•
Jean Shaoul•
NOW AVAILABLE
COVID, Capitalism, and Class War: A Social and Political Chronology of the Pandemic
Mehring Books, the publishing arm of the Socialist Equality Party (US), is proud to announce the publication of Volume 1 of COVID, Capitalism, and Class War: A Social and Political Chronology of the Pandemic, a compilation of the World Socialist Web Site's coverage of this global crisis.
Read the introduction
Will Lehman responds to Department of Labor decision denying access to former UAW President Ray Curry’s election protest
On Saturday, rank-and-file candidate for UAW president Will Lehman wrote to Thomas Murray, Detroit-Milwaukee District Director of the Department of Labor’s Office for Labor-Management Standards, objecting to the withholding of Curry’s election protest.
Will Lehman•
DSA leaders of U-M grad students’ strike promote top UAW sellouts Shawn Fain and Bob King
The outbreak of the campus strikes in New Jersey and Illinois threatens to break through the isolation imposed by the AFT bureaucracy and its local enforcers on the strike by U-M grad student instructors. This makes all the more sinister the promotion by the GEO leadership at U-M, dominated by the DSA, of the phony “reform” wing of the United Auto Workers bureaucracy headed by newly installed UAW president Shawn Fain.
Barry Grey, Tim Rivers•
UAW Monitor conflict of interest exposed: Jenner & Block and Crowell & Moring are longstanding lawyers for General Motors and auto corporations
UAW presidential candidate Will Lehman’s complaint to the Department of Labor, filed March 29, reviews the UAW monitor’s conflict of interest, which Lehman said is a ground to re-run the election in its own right.
Will Lehman•
Fear of rank-and-file rebellion looms on last day of UAW convention
In a report on the 2021 Deere strike, UAW Vice President Chuck Browning said officials had faced a “serpent” of opposition from workers.
Jerry White•
Shannon Jones•
Jerry White•
Eric London•
Will Lehman•
A call to youth throughout the world: Build a mass movement to stop the Ukraine war!
The International Youth and Students for Social Equality—the student and youth movement of the Socialist Equality Parties, the national sections of the International Committee of the Fourth International—calls for the building of a mass global movement of young people to end the reckless escalation toward World War III.
Read statement
NSW election: Australian workers and youth speak about COVID, war and social crisis
One worker said: “I think it’s a good idea to have an international movement for the working class against war and for democratic rights, for workers to unite, it makes sense.”
Our reporters•
Australia: After media lies about a Labor landslide, NSW election likely to result in minority government
The media misinformation was aimed at covering up the crisis of the two-party system and trying to ensure a “stable” government to implement budget austerity.
Oscar Grenfell•
SEP (Australia) election campaign finds intense opposition to war and austerity in northern NSW
Among those who spoke out were victims of last year’s floods in Lismore, a regional city, where thousands of residents are still living in substandard accommodation more than a year after the floods.
Mike Head•
Australia: NSW election sees further crisis of Liberals, but no landslide to Labor
Contrary to media claims, the result is no ringing endorsement of Labor. Instead it expresses a deepening of the crisis of the two-party set-up.
Oscar Grenfell•
Our reporters•
Socialist Equality Party (Australia)•
Our reporters•
Max Boddy, SEP candidate for Bankstown in NSW•
Oscar Grenfell•
The definitive left-wing critique of the 1619 Project. This volume includes interviews with eminent historians and essays from the World Socialist Web Site exposing the New York Times’ racialist falsification of history.
Former Montgomery, Alabama teacher testifies about the forced reopening of schools in 2020-21
In this interview, Tynisa Williams, former teacher in Montgomery, Alabama, describes the experience of being forced to teach in-person in the fall of 2020 and winter of 2021. She and her coworkers waged a courageous struggle to stop the deadly return to in-person learning that cost the lives of eight educators in the district.
Emma Arceneaux, Evan Blake•
Accomplices to social murder
The international pseudo-left and the lifting of Zero-COVID in China: Part 1
The pseudo-left’s hostility to public health and support for imperialism found sharp expression in their universal demand—echoing that of the Western corporate media and political establishment—that China abandon its Zero-COVID strategy.
Evan Blake•
Accomplices to social murder
The international pseudo-left and the lifting of Zero-COVID in China: Part 2
The pseudo-left’s hostility to public health and support for imperialism found its sharpest expression in their demand—echoing that of the Western corporate media and political establishment—that China abandon its Zero-COVID strategy.
Evan Blake•
Immunocompromised mother in Manhattan speaks to Global Workers’ Inquest into the COVID-19 Pandemic
Melanie, whose children attend public schools in New York City, spoke to the WSWS about the toll the “let it rip” policy toward the pandemic has taken on her and her family.
Tim Avery•
George Kirby•
Tom Peters•
Dylan Lubao•
Evan Blake•
Tom Peters•
Timothy Snyder’s Bloodlands: Right-wing propaganda disguised as historical scholarship
This five-part series and historical timeline exposes Snyder’s Bloodlands as a work of falsification, aimed at justifying the imperialist proxy war against Russia in Ukraine and the alliance of US imperialism with the Ukrainian far-right.
Read
The Wuhan lab lie: “Weapons of mass destruction” redux
In an uncanny instance of history repeating itself, the lies used to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq based on false claims about “weapons of mass destruction” are being used to promote the United States’ unprecedented military buildup around China.
Andre Damon•
A discredited conspiracy theory about the origins of COVID-19
The Wuhan Lab Leak slander being resurrected to bolster US war drive against China
The Wall Street Journal disclosed that the Department of Energy has shifted its opinion on the origin of the coronavirus to it being most likely a result of a lab leak. However, unnamed sources who have read the report indicate the evidence is of low confidence.
Benjamin Mateus•
Republicans revive discredited Wuhan Lab Leak theory and call Anthony Fauci to testify
Republicans have demanded Former Biden chief medical advisor Dr Anthony Fauci testify on the Wuhan lab leak theory.
Benjamin Mateus•
Anthony Fauci gives aid and comfort to COVID-19 “lab leak” conspiracy theory
Fauci’s aim in lending credence to the conspiracy theory, which he knows to be a lie, is to distract attention from the antiscientific policies carried out under the Trump and Biden administrations that led to the deaths of over a million Americans.
Andre Damon•
Andre Damon•
Benjamin Mateus•
Kevin Reed•
Frank Gaglioti•
Timeline of thirty years of war: The historical background to the US-NATO conflict with Russia
This interactive timeline presents some of the most important events that have brought humanity to the brink of World War III. It includes links to critical articles and statements produced by the International Committee of the Fourth International over the past 30 years.
View the Timeline
The 1619 Project and the New York Times’ promotion of the racialist ideology of Ukrainian nationalism
The racialist historical revisionism of the Times and the racialist ideology of the Ukrainian neo-Nazis share a common premise: the mythological reimagining of history as a struggle of “the nation” and “the race.”
Tom Carter•
Oppose political censorship of antiwar views at Howard University!
We call on all students, faculty and staff members at Howard University to oppose this censorship and demand that the IYSSE be allowed to hold its planned meeting on campus.
International Youth and Students for Social Equality•
Marcus Garvey and the reactionary logic of racialist politics
More than one hundred years after the formation of his Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), Marcus Garvey's legacy remains highly relevant in the struggle to overcome efforts to divide the working class along racial lines.
Lawrence Porter•
1619 Project creator Nikole Hannah-Jones was paid over $1 million to speak about race at colleges in 2022
The race-obsessed middle class layers which Hannah-Jones epitomizes are fundamentally fearful of and hostile to the growing movement of the working class. The last thing they want is for the party to end when there is yet so much money to be made.
Dominic Gustavo•
Tom Mackaman•
Douglas Lyons•
Tom Mackaman•
Tom Mackaman•
Tom Mackaman•
Report to Seventh Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US)
The historical and political principles of the socialist opposition to imperialist war and the Putin regime
This report was given by Clara Weiss to the Seventh Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US) in support of the resolution, “Mobilize the working class against imperialist war!”
Clara Weiss•
Report to Seventh Congress of Socialist Equality Party (US)
The historical background of the COVID-19 pandemic and the fight for global elimination
This report was given by Evan Blake to the Seventh Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US) in support of the resolution titled “The COVID-19 pandemic and the fight for socialism”
Evan Blake•
America’s “New World Order”— The historical and social roots of US plans for war with Russia and China
The following is a report given by Andre Damon to the Seventh Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US) in support of the resolution titled “Mobilize the working class against imperialist war!”
Andre Damon•
Report to Seventh Congress of Socialist Equality Party (US)
Build rank-and-file committees, the organs of 21st century working class struggle!
This report was given by Eric London to the Seventh Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US) in support of the resolution titled “Build the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees! For a global counteroffensive of the working class!”
Eric London•
Ulaş Ateşçi•
Tom Peters•
Keith Jones•
Tomas Castanheira•
Forty-five years since the assassination of Tom Henehan (1951-1977): A Revolutionary Life
October 16 marked the 45th anniversary of the assassination of Tom Henehan, a member of the Political Committee of the Workers League—the predecessor of the Socialist Equality Party in the US. We are republishing here a tribute delivered by David North at a meeting in 1997.
WSWS readers demand Facebook reverse ban on SEG in New Zealand
Readers have expressed outrage at the social media company’s anti-democratic censorship of the Trotskyist Socialist Equality Group in New Zealand.
Facebook blocks Socialist Equality Group in New Zealand from advertising
We call on readers to oppose Facebook’s blatant political censorship of the Trotskyist movement in New Zealand.
Tom Peters•
Elon Musk’s Twitter abruptly reverses ban on promotion of alternative social media platforms
After instituting a ban on sharing links from competitive social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and Mastodon, Elon Musk canceled the policy less than 24 hours later.
Kevin Reed•
Musk continues to ban from Twitter journalists who criticize him
Twitter owner and fascistic billionaire Elon Musk acknowledged late Thursday that he had shut down the accounts of numerous prominent journalists earlier in the day, claiming falsely that they had violated a new policy on the platform against “doxxing."
Kevin Reed•
Kevin Reed•
Dominic Gustavo•
Eric Ludlow•
Our reporter•
Kevin Reed•
Wije Dias: A fighter for Trotskyism (1941-2022)
Comrade Wije Dias, the longtime general secretary of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), died in Colombo on July 27, 2022. This exhibit includes two tributes to Wije by WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North as well as a selection of Wije’s most significant articles and speeches.
A historic advance in the fight for Trotskyism
The International Committee of the Fourth International accepts application of the Sosyalist Eşitlik Grubu to become its section in Turkey
The June 19 decision followed extensive discussions with representatives of the International Committee in Istanbul on the development of the fight for Trotskyism in Turkey and the Aegean and Black Sea regions.
Read more
An interview with Harvard anthropology Professor John Comaroff—Part one
We spoke recently to South African-born John Comaroff, the Hugh K. Foster Professor of African and African-American studies and of Anthropology, and Oppenheimer Research Fellow in African Studies, Harvard University.
David Walsh•
Harvard UAW, pseudo-left groups organize provocation against professor John Comaroff
The right-wing witch-hunt of John Comaroff at Harvard University continued Tuesday with a stage-managed protest during his first class of the semester.
Mike Ingram•
Defend Harvard professor John Comaroff against the right-wing witch-hunt!
This shameful campaign reached new heights Tuesday when concerted efforts were made to prevent Comaroff from teaching. Provocations were organized both inside and outside the classroom.
Socialist Equality Party (US), International Youth and Students for Social Equality•
The politically driven campaign against Harvard anthropologist John Comaroff
The attack on Harvard anthropology professor John Comaroff has taken to a new level the campaign to purge American colleges and universities on the basis of anti-democratic identity politics.
David Walsh•
David Walsh•
James McDonald, Sam Wayne•
Mike Head•
Matthew Brennan, Barry Grey•
Barry Grey•
The fight for Trotskyism and the political foundations of the World Socialist Web Site
The WSWS is publishing the report delivered by David North 25 years ago, on February 1, 1997, motivating the proposal to end publication of the SEP’s printed newspaper and replace it with an international website; as well as North’s reply to the National Committee ‘s discussion of the proposal.
Russia downs British-supplied long-range missile as Zelensky and Sunak declare “jets coalition”
Central to NATO’s plans to defeat Russia and force regime change in Moscow is aerial supremacy over the Ukrainian battlefield. Speaking to reporters after the talks, Zelensky said, “We want to create this jet coalition.”
Robert Stevens•
Pentagon national strategy document targets China
The US military published a series of documents Thursday outlining US plans for war with Russia and China, and asserting the central role of nuclear weapons in US warfighting.
Andre Damon•
Australia dispatching military “trainers” to aid the US-NATO war against Russia
Australia, already the largest non-NATO funder of the war in Ukraine, is escalating its involvement amid warnings that the conflict could result in a nuclear catastrophe.
Oscar Grenfell•
German President Steinmeier delivers war speech to the nation
Steinmeier's remarks to invited soldiers, journalists, think tank representatives and leading politicians can only be described as a “war speech to the nation.” The focus was de facto a declaration of war on Russia and the Russian population.
Johannes Stern, Christoph Vandreier•
Jordan Shilton•
Tom Peters•
Jean Shaoul•
Peter Symonds•
Tom Peters•
Peace activist sentenced for criticizing German war policy in Ukraine
The Berlin-Tiergarten District Court has sentenced peace activist Heinrich Bücker for a speech he gave on the anniversary of Nazi Germany’s invasion on the Soviet Union.
Justus Leicht•
Large-scale raid against right-wing terrorist network reveals the extent of the fascist danger in Germany
Around 3,000 officers from the special police forces stormed 137 locations in 11 federal states on Wednesday morning and arrested 25 people. Another 27 people are being investigated. The state prosecutor has accused them of being members or supporters of a terrorist organisation.
Peter Schwarz•
German secret service operates hundreds of far-right social media profiles
Regardless of whether the pending investigations can demonstrate that the agents gave the impetus to the planned terrorist attacks, a picture emerges of a right-wing extremist milieu organized and controlled by the state.
Christoph Vandreier•
German Interior Minister Faeser wants to fight climate change activists “with all her might”
While right-wing extremist terrorist networks operate unhindered in Germany’s state apparatus and are covered up by the highest authorities, federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (Social Democrats) has called for a fight against alleged “left-wing extremists” and young climate change activists.
Christoph Vandreier•
Justus Leicht•
Statement of the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei•
Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee (UK)•
Peter Schwarz•
Christoph Vandreier•
WSWS Review
Thirty years since the dissolution of the USSR
Review the most critical essays, lectures and letters produced by the ICFI in the course of its intervention in response to the crisis of Stalinism and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Read more
The failed coup in Russia: Causes and consequences
A coup attempt led by Evgeny Prigozhin, the chief of the Russian Wagner mercenary force, collapsed in the evening hours of Saturday, local time.
Statement of the WSWS International Editorial Board•
One year since the US Supreme Court’s abolition of the constitutional right to abortion
The Dobbs ruling is the illegitimate outcome of a far-right conspiracy backed by billionaire fascists to pack the courts with bigots and ideologues who are totally hostile to democratic rights.
Barry Grey•
Biden leads Washington in feting Modi, India’s far-right prime minister
Even as it pursues war with Ukraine, American imperialism is girding itself for a violent confrontation with China, which it has identified as its principal strategic rival.
Keith Jones•
Two episodes at sea: The submersible Titan and hundreds of refugees drowned in the Mediterranean
The nonstop media coverage of the North Atlantic episode is vastly different from the treatment devoted to last week’s terrible tragedy off the Greek coast.
David Walsh•
Jerry White•
Andre Damon•
Patrick Martin•
Andre Damon•
Johannes Stern•
Eighty years since the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union
The WSWS has published a feature page incorporating a selection of essential essays from its own archives, and other documents produced contemporaneously by the Fourth International.
Read more
New Zealand police extend investigation into Pike River mine disaster until the end of 2023
Police are delaying their decision on whether to lay charges over the 2010 Pike River mine disaster that killed 29 people, until after the October election.
Tom Peters•
Nine dead, 44 still missing in mine collapse in China
The disaster tragically exposes the brutal working conditions faced by miners in China in the reckless drive for profits ahead of lives and safety.
Jack Wang•
New Zealand: Court action over Pike River mine disaster
The fathers of two of the 29 workers killed in the 2010 Pike River mine disaster are campaigning for the release of documents and correspondence relating to a 2013 decision to drop charges against Pike River CEO Peter Whittall.
Tom Peters•
New Zealand police to drill more boreholes at Pike River mine
Police have made no guarantee that there will be any prosecution for the 2010 Pike River coal mine disaster, which killed 29 workers.
Tom Peters•
Tom Peters•
Tom Peters•
Socialist Equality Group (New Zealand)•
Tom Peters•
Tom Peters•
Cliff Slaughter: A political biography (1928-1963)
By David North
Cliff Slaughter died on May 3, 2021, in Leeds, England, at the age of 92. His enduring contribution in the 1960s to the defense of Trotskyism stands in tragic contrast with his subsequent political opportunism and repudiation of revolutionary Marxism.
Cormac McCarthy (1933-2023): Chronicler of American carnage
His works are so permeated with misanthropy and a hostility to human progress that his literary output represents a step back from the great American writers of the 20th century.
Eric London•
Author Elizabeth Gilbert suspends novel’s publication due to protests by Ukrainian nationalists
Gilbert explained she was “removing the book from its publication schedule” because of complaints about its Soviet-Russian setting.
David Walsh•
John McWhorter’s Woke Racism: An argument about how to secure privilege
McWhorter's book offers biting criticism of racialism, but it explains neither where this ideology comes from nor how to combat it.
Andrea Peters•
A Hell Called Ohio: The working class and American fiction
A Hell Called Ohio centers on the life of its narrator, Warrell Swanson, a worker in a metal factory on the Maumee River in Defiance, in northwest Ohio.
James McDonald•
Sandy English•
Margaret Rees•
Sandy English•
James McDonald•
Tom Mackaman•
Sylvia Ageloff and the assassination of Leon Trotsky
With David North and Eric London
North and London discussed the significance of the latest revelations of the the Security and the Fourth International investigation into Trotsky’s assassination.
Watch the video