Articles
Sunday, March 27, 2022
The biggest target the US has in its sights is China. There are similarities between the stand off with Russia over Ukraine and the attempt by the US to manufacture a crisis over Taiwan. Here too it has ignored historic agreements, increased tensions through talking up threats of war, war-planning and stationing military forces in the region. Here too both geopolitical and economic factors are at work. The US wants to prevent a peaceful reunification of China, as a separate Taiwan gives it strategic power in the Asia Pacific region. And of course, Taiwan also has a highly advanced semiconductor sector which it does not want China to get access to.
Saturday, March 26, 2022
While people in Britain face numerous assaults on their living standards - inflation, soaring energy prices and cuts to benefits to name a few, workers in the garment industry face particularly bad conditions. Servicing the cut-throat fast fashion industry, they are virtually hidden from view in unsafe sweatshops or homeworking and earning much less than the minimum wage. Legislation is ineffective in improving workers conditions and trade unions find it hard to organise due to the vulnerability of workers who fear for their livelihoods. Such is the real world for a section of the working class in Britain today.
Friday, March 25, 2022
With Angela Merkel at the helm for 16 years, Germany became firmly established as the hegemon in the European Union. Her departure has implications for the balance of power within the EU and its ability to take on the many challenges facing it. the differences within it and with other countries are more likely to emerge.
Thursday, March 24, 2022
Venezuela has a robust and accountable voting system yet the results of its elections are constantly declared illegitimate by the enemies of of the Bolivarian revolution at home and abroad. With the fake president Juan Guaido now totally discredited the West is having to deal with the political realities in Venezuela, including the recent electoral victories of the United Socialist Party.
Wednesday, March 23, 2022
The UN Conference on Climate Change, COP26, took place in Glasgow 31st October – 13th November 2021, but it failed to tackle the fundamental issues which need to be addressed to halt climate change. Left alone, the vested interests of fossil capital will continue to block decarbonisation. State intervention is needed and governments must be forced to act. To this end, attention must be focused specifically on the owners and supporters of fossil capital.
Tuesday, March 22, 2022
Blackrock is the biggest finance company in the world yet few will have heard of it and its trillions of dollars of assets. The immense power of this ‘shadow bank’ is based on its control over a vast network of interests, giving it a hold over almost every sector of the economy. In the US, BlackRock is the controlling shareholder of all the major banks, big pharma, oil and tech giants, agribusiness, airlines, automotive companies, arms manufacturers and the media. It represents a dangerous new stage in the monopolisation of finance capital, the high degree of which makes for tremendous instability.
Monday, March 21, 2022
As Boris Johnson hangs on to his premiership, courtesy of the war in Ukraine, the manoeuvering round his fate sheds a light on the workings of the state and the media manipulation of the political agenda as different factions of the Tory Party fight it out. Meanwhile Labour leader, Keir Starmer is failing to offer an alternative, whilst eagerly embracing war-mongering and attacking the peace movement and the left.
Sunday, March 20, 2022
British farming is in dramatic decline and many hoped that leaving the EU and its Common Agricultural Police would signal a change of fortunes for the industry. however, the transition plans put in place by the Tories have failed to address the many problems faced by British agriculture.