Socialist correspondent

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 storms.

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.

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 oppose them, with striking nurses achieving over 6...

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 states who do business with Russia through its “Coun...

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 military equipment. The UK’s active involvement no...

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 causing concern among supporters of Israel abroad...

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 circumventing the restrictions which the United Sta...

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.

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.

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 operating in these zones and worse conditions for worker...

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.

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 and control of the US in Europe. Ironically China’...

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 Yugoslavia in 1999. Its hostile expansion eastwar...

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 building a developmental state, much closer to th...

There is extraordinary bias in the reporting of the war in Ukraine. Nothing which deviates in the slightest from the UK/US official positions is being reported and there is widespread censorship of information from the war zone. Dubious Ukrainian sources being uncritically reported. Sites are being closed down and users are prevented from accessing others, but there is alternative information out...

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 Yugoslavia in 1999. Its hostile expansion eastwar...

The news about Ukraine is selective, biased, emotive and rigorously censored. No alternative views are permitted not even the slightest criticism or questioning can be heard on the airwaves. The combination of the media onslaught, the lack of alternative views and being placed on the defensive by the unexpected Russian intervention has disarmed the left and the peace movement. There is a danger th...

The sanctions regime against Russia being imposed at the behest of the United States demonstrates its role in determining the direction of the war in Ukraine. It has expressed no interest in negotiations and wants to prolong the war to debilitate Russia as far as possible. The major loser, however, is unlikely to be Russia, which has alternative financial systems and markets to get round the effec...

One view of the Ukraine war is that it is a struggle between two imperialist poles. But that suggests the US and Russia are evenly matched adversaries as Germany and Britain were in 1914 whereas America is clearly the world's military hegemony, with all of NATO's power under its sole command, while Russia is a regional capitalist power, challenging the US, but with nothing like the same reach or i...

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.

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, agribusines...