Against the Stream

When Trump returned to the White House, the liberal media lamented the “return of imperialism”, as if the rules-based order had been free of it. Now that Trump has been crushed in the midterms, the same voices are telling us that a return of the Democrats will bring a more peaceful era. But that is not the case…In this episode of Against the Stream, Victor Murray is joined by Jorge Martín of the I...

On Tuesday, Donald Trump and the Republicans lost both the House and the Senate in a crushing midterm defeat. Less than two years after he was sworn in, seemingly all-powerful, the dream of Trumpism has been shattered in the minds of millions. In this episode of Against the Stream, Victor Murray is joined by Fred Weston to look at what lies behind the result. Texas now has a Democrat in every stat...

In this episode of Against the Stream, Victor Murray is joined by Ben Curry of the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International to look at three elections of the past week. In Brazil, Flávio Bolsonaro led the first round, with the markets banking on a win. Then the youth took the campaign out of the hands of the official parties. A million marched in São Paulo, close to t...

The times we are living in are anything but ordinary. In the last twelve months alone, more than 57 countries have seen significant anti-government protests. Right now, France is at the centre of the storm. On Saturday 17 October, hundreds of thousands took to the streets in the biggest day yet of the movement against education cuts. The state answered with more than 19,000 stun grenades in a sing...

Europe is the weak link of world capitalism. From Madrid to Paris to Berlin, young people and workers are on the move. In this special episode of Against the Stream, we talk to comrades of the Revolutionary Communist International on the ground in Spain, France, and Germany about what’s happening, and about the huge potential for building the forces of communism. Today’s youth have grown up with n...

Occupations; general strikes; riot police tear-gassing school students. The streets of Madrid and Paris have exploded in revolt. Hundreds of thousands of youth and workers have risen up – against unbearable housing costs in Spain and an education system gutted by austerity in France. In this episode of Against the Stream, Victor Murray is joined by Josh Holroyd of the International Secretariat of...

This week the interest rate on 10-year US government bonds hit 5.3 per cent, and borrowing costs in Britain, France, Germany and Japan are at levels not seen in decades. For ordinary people, that means higher costs at the petrol station, on their energy bills, in their rent and mortgage payments, and public services being cut to balance the books. In this episode of Against the Stream, Victor Murr...

Against the Stream is back. After a summer break, Victor Murray joins Jorge Martín of the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International to take stock of the key processes shaping the world situation. The US-Iran memorandum collapsed just a few weeks after the end of our last season. Now Trump is back to threatening annihilation of Iran. In reality, his stubborn doubling do...

On 18 June, the Cuban National Assembly approved a sweeping package of economic reforms. If implemented, they mean the end of the planned economy and the full restoration of capitalism on the island, which is currently under extreme pressure as the United States tightens a near-total blockade that has caused twenty-two-hour electricity cuts, food shortages, and the suspension of non-emergency surg...

World School of Communism 2026: https://schoolofcommunism.com/ - The United States and Iran have signed a deal to end the war. Looking through the fourteen points of the ‘Memorandum of Understanding’, it becomes clear that America has conceded everything Iran demanded, and Iran has given up nothing in return. In this week's Against the Stream, Hamid Alizadeh and Ben Curry break down the deal p...

Five hundred days of Trump in power. No more forever wars – except there is a war. The biggest paychecks in history – except hundreds of millions of Americans say the cost of living is the worst they can ever remember. And thirty-four percent of young Americans now hold a favourable view of communism. In this week's episode of Against the Stream, Victor Murray and Fred Weston take stock of Trump's...

The Iran war has set off a cascade of crises working their way through the world economy. Oil reserves are at a twenty-year low, inflation is rising, bond yields are spiking, and the IMF is warning of a worldwide slump. But is there a way out on a capitalist basis? In this week's Against the Stream, Hamid Alizadeh and Niklas Albin Svensson examine four of the proposed solutions for the crisis:...

What will be the future of Israel and the Gulf countries? What is the possible order of the Middle East and Asia? Those questions are the starting point for this week's Against the Stream – a special Q&A episode where Hamid Alizadeh and Jorge Martín work through the best and toughest questions from our comment section. Starting with the events in Iran, Hamid and Jorge explain that any end...

Six prime ministers in ten years. Labour just lost fifteen hundred council seats. Has Britain become ungovernable? In this week's Against the Stream, Hamid Alizadeh sits down with Adam Booth, editor of The Communist, the paper of the Revolutionary Communist Party in Britain, to give a Marxist answer to that question. And the answer is not what most commentators want to hear. The episode traces...

Trump is in Beijing. He thinks he has gone to negotiate from a position of strength, but in reality, he is negotiating from a position of weakness. That is the story of American imperialism in 2026. In this week's episode of Against the Stream , Hamid Alizadeh and Jorge Martín give a Marxist analysis of what the Iran War has done to American power, what it means for China, and what it reveals...

Europe was the birthplace of capitalism. Now it's in freefall. In this week’s Against the Stream, Hamid Alizadeh and Jorge Martín dive into the deepening crisis gripping the continent. Germany is launching a trillion-euro rearmament drive while simultaneously slashing 38 billion euros from pensions and healthcare. France can't pass a budget. The AfD is overtaking the CDU in the polls. And across E...

Is AI a revolutionary leap forward for humanity – or the latest crisis capitalism has engineered for itself? In this episode of Against the Stream, Hamid Alizadeh and Fred Weston cut through the hype to give a Marxist analysis of the AI bubble, its roots in capitalist crisis, and what it means for the working class. From the S&P 500's absurd tech valuations to OpenAI's pyramid-scheme economics...

After a four-week break, Against the Stream is back! Since our last episode, the world has been plunged deeper into crisis. With no end in sight for the Iran War, with energy prices and inflation rising, the global economy is teetering ever more precariously on the brink of a historic slump. With each passing day, it is becoming clearer that Donald Trump – who believed Iran could be crushed by the...

All the warning lights are flashing. With the US and Israel relentlessly bombing Iran for nearly a month and the Strait of Hormuz remaining closed, the economic consequences of the Iran war are spelling serious trouble for economies worldwide. Stagflation, factory shutdowns, falling crop yields, and rising interest rates are no longer hypotheticals – they are unfolding in real time, and growing mo...

"Head-spinning betrayal." These are the words of dissident Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene – and they are undoubtedly echoed by millions of Trump voters across America, who have watched their 'peace president' turn warmonger while they foot the bill at the gas pump and the grocery store. Three weeks into the war with Iran, the costs – both material and symbolic – are becoming a...

As the war on Iran enters its third week, US imperialism finds itself mired in a deepening crisis. What Trump envisioned as a swift decapitation strike is rapidly proving to be the gravest blunder of his presidency – and perhaps one of the most catastrophic miscalculations in the history of American foreign policy. Iran, meanwhile, is raising the stakes. Oil and gas prices are soaring, and the spe...

The United States and Israel have launched a war on Iran. Missiles and bombs are falling across Tehran and beyond, with strikes hitting schools, military installations, and government compounds throughout the country. Thousands of people are being killed and injured in yet another wave of imperialist bloodshed. On today's episode of Against The Stream, Hamid Alizadeh is joined by Niklas Albin...

Donald Trump is once again banging the war drums, threatening military action against Iran. He has now assembled the largest US naval build-up in the region since the 2003 invasion of Iraq – including two aircraft carriers and hundreds of fighter jets. The recent kidnapping of Maduro appears to have emboldened Trump and the warhawks in Washington, convincing them they can dictate terms through she...

The Cuban revolution is in grave danger! Trump's oil blockade has cut off the island's fuel supplies, plunging the country into prolonged blackouts, halting public transport, and threatening a full-scale humanitarian crisis. With Venezuelan oil cut off and Mexico bowing to US threats, Trump is tightening the noose to asphyxiate the island after 67 years of relentless pressure. The aim of t...

Over the last month, we have seen shocking images come out of Syria. ISIS flags waving over Raqqa. Jihadist militants knocking over the gravestones of Kurdish fighters. When it was set up, the Kurdish statelet of Rojava inspired people worldwide. Later, they beat back ISIS. Now ISIS have returned, and the Kurds are fighting for their lives. How has it come to this? Meanwhile, the world has been le...