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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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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 dr…
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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 pla…
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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.Por Socialist Correspondent
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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.Por Socialist Correspondent
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One of the main accusations leveled by capitalist ideologues against socialism is that it simply does not work. This is rather unconvincing coming from the system which has brought us close to the edge of climate catastrophe, decaying living standards and infrastructure, lower productivity and stagnating growth in western economies. And yet this cr…
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Advanced computing systems are now essential to all aspects of our daily lives. They are also increasingly important to capitalism's power and to the West's military domination. Microchips are the fundamental components of key systems and hardware and the US in particular is battling to keep control of this strategic resource. This fight over tech …
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In Britain we have seen a wave of strikes and massive demonstrations over Gaza. In response the Tory government has been passing multiple pieces of legislation designed to restrict free speech, the right to protest and the right to strike. This repressive agenda will give the government extraordinary tools to suppress opposition and represents a fu…
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There is always money to be made from war and Ukraine and Gaza are no exceptions. The arms industry has certainly benefited from both these current conflicts. Increasingly, however, electronic systems are vital to fighting wars. the US company Palantir has contracts in Israel, Ukraine and here in the NHS. It has been described as “…the AI arms deal…
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The miners' strike of 1984-85 demonstrated the power of the state acting in the interests of capital and against working people as jobs and mining communities were destroyed. That state power was no where more evident than the systematic attack on picketing miners at Orgreave with many injured and imprisoned. There were meticulous plans formulated …
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Politically and economically the war in Ukraine is becoming less sustainable, with no sign that pouring more arms in is bringing Ukraine any closer to winning and every sign that it is losing. However, the mantra of western politicians remains that “Ukraine must win”. This has led to talk of dangerous escalation, like sending more advanced weaponry…
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Israel has long defied international law and has been repeatedly censured by the United Nations, which has also supported the Palestinians. As the genocide in Gaza continues, Palestinians are now the front line of defence for international law and the United Nations as its institutional expression. The west does not talk about international law, bu…
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The news media and the Government seem intensely relaxed now the annual rate is “only” 4.2%. Yet vast sums have gone to the banks and corporations in the meantime, not least because higher interest rates, raised to bring inflation down, have speeded up the transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich. As a result, householders have permanently lost…
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The problems of advanced capitalist countries run even deeper than their desperate fight to cling onto global dominance. There are serious problems within the system itself. Throughout the G7 productivity is in decline - this is not a new phenomenon, nor is it a specifically British problem. As economic gurus have struggled to find an explanation f…
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Even with determined trade union action and winning pay increases, wages are still not keeping pace with inflation. However, given the determination of strikers over the recent past the government is taking steps to curb strike action. Defending the right to strike will now be an essential part of working class struggle. As will campaigns which gai…
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This year will see a general election in the UK. At present it looks like a safe bet that the Tories will lose and Labour will win. Is there any more to say? With media pundits taking up airtime and webpages with their endless, repetitious prognostications it will certainly feel like there is not. However, there are real questions about the directi…
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We should not doubt that the UK government sees the threats posed by protest against war and unrest against the decimation of living standards and services. In the last couple of years Parliament has passed three pieces of legislation which restrict freedom of speech, the right to protest and the right to strike. A fourth which would outlaw public …
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What shape is German imperialism in today? An imperialism that twice dared to reach for world power and thus triggered two world wars. Yet now its economy has been hard hit by US demands over Ukraine. It is suffering from increased fuel prices a result of the closure and sabotage of the Nord Stream pipeline from Russia and rocketing arms spending. …
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The West's response to its growing problems in the world is to threaten others and wage war. There is now a concerted build up towards more armed conflict including war with China. The question is, can the US and its allies be constrained? What are the forces driving the West to war and what might hold it back? The West now is less able to build co…
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The emergence of a multi-polar world is not welcomed by the US as it sees its interests and its world hegemony threatened. More oil sales are being transacted in non-dollar currencies and organisations such as BRICS are attracting new members, pulling away from the US orbit. The US will us its considerable military and economic power to remain domi…
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NATO's conventional war-fighting capabilities are very visible in the wars it has fought and its military build-up across the globe. Less visible but very important to NATO are activities such as its ideological efforts to win hearts and minds and it's development of cyber warfare capabilities.Por Socialist Correspondent
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More cash is being earmarked for weapons, including for the war in Ukraine, but are the people’s interests best served by sacrificing their living standards to the military build-up or would they be better served by Britain taking a different path? The world is shifting, with new alliances emerging in the global South, resisting western diktats. So…
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During the Ukraine conflict Poland has taken a confrontational stance and has been at the forefront of pushing for more weapons for Ukraine. This has included pressurising Germany to fall into line. It has also become the centre of NATO operations in Europe and has 10,000 US soldiers based there. It is an essential ally for the United States in its…
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Recent coups across west Africa have underlined the growing resistance in the global South to western domination. Each of these coups was led by military officers angered by the presence of French and US troops and by the permanent economic crises inflicted on their countries. Niger is a case in point with high levels of poverty in the country alon…
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As we remember the 50th anniversary of the coup in Chile it stands as a concrete example which exposes the myth that Britain and the US stand for democracy. Both actively subverted the democratically elected Popular Unity government and sponsored the brutal coup which lead to the torture, disappearance, imprisonment and murder of so many Chileans. …
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In October 1983 the US president Ronald Reagan ordered the invasion of the small Caribbean island of Grenada. The island was being governed by the socialist New Jewel Movement who had taken control away from the brutal dictator Eric Gairy in a bloodless coup four and a half years earlier. The invasion, illegal under international law, was condemned…
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BAE, as Britain's biggest arms manufacturer, enjoys immense financial privileges from both the British government and the USA. This relationship ensures the company receives massive state subsidies, providing high returns to its major investors Black Rock and Capital Group. BAE pushes to escalate the war in Ukraine to drive profits higher with its …
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The first so-called Pink Tide of progressive governments was rolled back by external pressure from the United States and reactionary forces on the continent. That is with the exception of Venezuela which continued to survived. Now here is a second wave of leftist governments, but what has been learned from the experiences of the recent past about c…
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The Windsor Framework, agreed between the UK government and the EU, is supposed to deal with problems caused by Boris Johnson's hastily agreed Protocol which was part of his Brexit deal, but it still leaves many unsatisfactory provision in place. Furthermore it is unlikely to address the concerns of Unionists who opposed the original arrangement. T…
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The wave of strikes currently still sweeping Britain has exposed not only the declining living standards of workers, especially in the public sector, but has also shone a light on the dire state of the NHS and other services. Just as cash wages have been decreasing so the social wage has also been under attack. One aspect is the housing crisis, whi…
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Yemen has been at war for eight years since the previous government was overthrown and Saudi Arabia intervened militarily to try to re-impose the former President. This received the backing of the West, which has provided arms. The United Arab Emirates is also fighting for control of the south of the country. Despite a partial truce the war is like…
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Voices advocating for a peaceful solution to the conflict in Ukraine have a big task and confront a substantial state-sponsored media machine. There are persistent untruths peddled by the mainstream media which, by their constant repetition, have a powerful effect on the public consciousness. These myths, for example, say that Russia was unprovoked…
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The implosion of the Scottish National Party provides an unparalleled opportunity to challenge the divisive constitutional wrangling which dominates Scottish politics and for the left to place unambiguous working-class demands at the centre of Scottish life.Por Socialist Correspondent
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The largest bank failure in the US since the 2008 crisis triggered a drop in share prices across the world and prompted central bank action to limit the spreading turmoil. Once more the fragility of the banking system has been exposed and reignited debates as to whether the world’s capitalist economies can continue riding successive financial storm…
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While China advances a plan for a ceasefire in the war in Ukraine and a possible path to peace, the West plans to prolong the war in order to effect a regime change in Russia.Por Socialist Correspondent
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Though they managed to wriggle out of the crisis caused by Liz Truss’ disastrous premiership, the Tories still face multiple problems. The party remains riven by divisions. Simply allowing public services to fall apart and taking a confrontational stance towards strikers doesn’t seem to be going down well. Many more people support the strikes than …
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In other parts of the world the United States’ attempts to bully countries into line over Ukraine have not had the same success as in Europe and the West. Countries representing nearly half of the world’s population have failed to support the US position on Ukraine at the United Nations. In return the United States is seeking to sanction African st…
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Whilst the fall out from the war in Ukraine has increased opposition to US policies in many parts of the world, the biggest, long-standing imperial powers have fallen into line behind its war aims. The UK has gone further than others in stoking up the war. After the United States it supplies the most resources to Ukraine, including vast amounts of …
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Israeli elections are usually a distraction from Palestinian self-determination. However, to the alarm of Israel’s mainstream and liberal apologists, the hard-right government emerging from the November 2022 election puts Palestine centre-stage. The extreme anti-Palestinian racism of parties in Netanyahu's coalition and their anti-liberal views are…
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The BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) countries are also among those taking issue with the US trying to impose its will on the world. Their alliance is one of a growing number of bi and multi-lateral agreements between countries of the global south which seek to develop trade and cooperation on a more equitable basis and now also c…
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The war in Ukraine has intensified rivalries between major imperialist powers. The US has forced its allies to impose anti-Russian sanctions which result in weakening Europe and strengthening itself. This is also raising tensions between Germany and France, the two major powers in the EU.Por Socialist Correspondent
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The UK government is prepared to pour billions into propping up private capital, billions that will materialise as shareholder dividends, but is not prepared to pay public sector workers a decent wage.Por Socialist Correspondent
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Special Economic Zones (SEZs) exist across the world, where national laws and rights are suspended and companies operating in them are more or less free to do as they please. SEZs – sometimes referred to as ‘open zones’ – take different forms; freeports and charter cities are both forms of SEZ. All this means bigger profits for the companies operat…
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Western media and politicians continue to assert that Russia intendeds to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, but there is no real evidence to support these claims. On the other hand the United States continues to plan to use of nuclear weapons in conflicts and remains the only country ever to have deployed them.…
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The sanctions imposed at the behest of the United States have hit European economies hard, particularly the German economy. It is not only gas supplies that are affected, sanctions on Russia will also impact heavily on its key automotive industry. The severe blow to Germany’s economy will weaken its dominance of the EU and strengthen the influence …
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The Tories are at risk of turning economic struggles by workers to stave off destitution into a political fight which could have unwanted consequences for the ruling class.Por Socialist Correspondent
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The Solomon Islands in the Pacific are being threatened with military intervention by the USA and Australia to prevent the enactment of a security pact agreed between China and the Solomon Islands nation. This makes these islands a flashpoint where a US war with China could begin.Por Socialist Correspondent
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The island of Taiwan is part of China. It is a principle agreed upon by the UN and 181 countries including the US, the UK, Europe, Japan and Australia. While the US and UK officially support the One China principle, they are doing all they can to destroy it in practice.Por Socialist Correspondent
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While people at home face a horrendous cost of living crisis the UK government is pouring arms into Ukraine as well providing training to its armed forces. This includes British military personnel being present in Ukraine itself. This is not entirely new, however, and is an extension of long term collaboration between the two countries.…
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For propaganda effect NATO is routinely described in the mainstream media as a defensive alliance, but the reverse is the case. It was founded to confront the Soviet Union militarily and since then it has engaged in wars of aggression and military interventions across the world. This included breaking the post World War 2 peace in Europe by bombing…
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The Covid pandemic brought to light problems with South African health care which is plagued by weaknesses in the system and corruption. Despite this frontline workers showed their care and dedication to their jobs and there have been some positives. Wider lessons, however, can be learned from this experience about the need to combat corruption and…
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