Ireland’s neutrality policy has a complex history, but it has blocked Irish participation in disastrous wars and enabled some positive interventions in world affairs. We should resist pressure to scrap neutrality, whether or not it means formally joining NATO.
War is nothing but organized killing, and there can be no justification for it. Today we must do what we can to support Ukrainian refugees and to show our solidarity with the brave protesters across Russia who insist that war is not carried out in their name.
Russia’s atomized citizenry and dysfunctional economy are often blamed on a unique national psyche. Yet the social breakdown in modern Russia is best explained in terms of its recent history, and the Soviet leadership’s failed response to its crises.
Opposing Vladimir Putin’s horrific war in Ukraine is no reason to target ordinary Russians or Russian culture. Anti-Russian bigotry won’t bring peace to Ukrainians.
Perry Anderson’s critical analysis of the European Union is a devastating indictment of liberal complacency. The EU is undemocratic by design, and we will have to confront it in order to transform a Europe riddled with inequality and exploitation.
Keir Starmer’s latest round of attacks on the Left should come as no surprise. He has made his career as a lackey for American imperialism and an opponent of socialists, inside and outside of the Labour Party.
Washington’s long-standing hostility to the International Criminal Court undermines any future war crimes prosecutions over Ukraine. If for no other reason, the US must join the rest of the world in accepting the court’s jurisdiction.
In a new interview, Noam Chomsky discusses the hypocrisies of US empire and why, if we really wanted to build a decent society, we’d immediately slash the massive military budget.
The media isn’t conveying how serious the Taiwan situation is. China is willing to fight for the island — possibly with tactical nuclear weapons — and if war comes to the Taiwan Strait, the US has a high chance of losing.
As Donald Trump tramples over the norms of the postwar liberal order, centrist political leaders are only too keen to accommodate him. Global liberalism is collapsing, while the battle over what replaces it is just beginning.
The Czech elections handed victory to the Trump-like billionaire Andrej Babiš last weekend. The neoliberal right-wing incumbents did little to curb the high cost of living and again lost to a candidate who promised to do something about it.
Faced with the return of great power rivalry between the US and China and its own economic stagnation, the European Union seems as divided as ever.
In Russia, mounting authoritarianism and the wartime crackdown on dissent have hobbled trade unions. A five-day strike by food couriers showed that at least some workers are refusing to be muzzled.
The anniversary of the Iraq War has led to widespread discussion of the US’s “mistaken” invasion. But the deeper problem is Washington’s continued claim to be judge, jury, and executioner for the rest of the world — bringing international law to its knees.
In Germany, public discussion of Victory Day has mostly revolved around the ban on Russian officials attending commemorations. The dispute risks losing sight of the real history of World War II — and how relevant it remains in an era of growing far-right threats.
Almost a year into Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, the state is cracking down ever harder on all signs of dissent. Today exiled or jailed, the Russians who spoke out against the war are key to rebuilding a peaceful, democratic society.
In the 1962 US-Soviet nuclear showdown over Cuba, there was no shortage of voices calling for escalation or decrying “appeasement.” But there was always broad support for the kind of talks that ended up saving the world — something frighteningly absent today.
This past weekend’s attempted insurrection in Russia is a reminder of the self-defeating stupidity of Vladimir Putin’s invasion. It should also be a reminder of the profound dangers of attempting to carry out regime change.
Since Belarus’s disputed election, both President Alexander Lukashenko and the liberal opposition have recognized the importance of strike actions in deciding what happens next. But while there have been protests across Belarus’s major workplaces, a long-shackled labor movement faces an uphill struggle to advance a political agenda of its own.
In Russia, signs of opposition to the war in Ukraine haven’t developed into a mass movement. State repression has closed off the avenues of mass politics, forcing dissidents into mainly symbolic protests.