Liberals Don’t Understand the American Empire
The Trump presidency briefly made liberals critics of US actions around the world — but now he’s gone, they’re back to believing America is the solution to the destruction it creates.
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Revolutionary Mexico Tried to Transform the World Economy
In the twentieth century, the post-revolutionary Mexican government drew up ambitious plans to transform the world economic system for the benefit of the Global South. Their failure helped turn Mexico itself into a laboratory for neoliberalism.
Australia Is Enabling State Violence in the Philippines
Australia has a long history of meddling in the affairs of its Pacific neighbors. In the Philippines, right-wing strongman Rodrigo Duterte’s “war on drugs” amounts to state terror — which Australia's government has enthusiastically supported through military aid and legal advice.
9/11 Was a Disaster for the People of Iraq
The Bush administration was already planning to invade Iraq before 9/11, but the attacks supplied the necessary pretext. The catastrophic war that followed turned Iraq into an ungovernable wasteland.
Brazil Has Just Experienced Another “Lost Decade”
In Brazil’s worst decade in more than a century, unemployment, precarious and informal work, poverty, and inequality are all sharply on the rise. In a crisis stoked by a far-right government, fixing the country’s economy can only happen with a political reckoning from the Left.
The US Lost in Afghanistan. But US Imperialism Isn’t Going Anywhere.
The United States suffered grave losses in Iraq and Afghanistan, just as it did in Vietnam. But we shouldn’t mistake revisions of US military strategy after calamitous failures for a turn away from US imperialist ambitions.
Revolutionary Cuba and the Legacy of Fidel Castro
Cuba is facing a new set of challenges as a post-Castro leadership confronts the pandemic and its economic fallout. But Cuban socialism has repeatedly shown its capacity for survival and adaptation since the revolution of 1959.
The Southern Slaveholders Dreamed of a Slaveholding Empire
Antebellum slaveholders weren't content with an economic and social system based on trafficking in human flesh in the South alone. They wanted to expand slaveholding territory outward, to the American West and even beyond the borders of the United States.
You Can’t Be Against “Forever Wars” Without Cutting the Military Budget
These days, a lot of politicians say they’re against “forever wars” — and that’s a good thing. But the acid test for genuine opposition to the national security state is support for cutting the military budget.
Emmanuel Macron’s Africa Policies Are Still Rooted in French Colonialism
Today’s Africa-France summit is a typical show of French president Emmanuel Macron’s imperial grandstanding. But it wouldn’t be possible without business leaders and intellectuals who paint France’s interference in its old colonies in a humanitarian light.
How Neoliberalism Embraced Human Rights
The intellectual godfathers of neoliberalism knew they needed to attach a philosophy of high-minded ideals to the vicious free-market system they wanted to spread around the globe. They found such a philosophy by perverting the idea of human rights.
Bolsonaro Massacred Brazilians. Brazil’s Senate Wants to Try Him for Crimes Against Humanity.
Far-right Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro’s refusal to act over COVID-19 doomed the country to a 600,000 death toll. This week, the Brazilian Senate voted to put him on trial — bringing hope he’ll finally be held to account for his murderous actions.
Why Viktor Orbán Could Survive His Embarrassing Ties to Moscow
Sunday’s Hungarian election will decide if far-right premier Viktor Orbán can continue his already decade-long rule. A united opposition damns Orbán for his lawbreaking and ties to Vladimir Putin — yet has struggled to articulate an alternative of its own.
Alabama Miners Are Still on Strike After 8 Months
The courts have attacked their right to picket, and the company has engaged in a campaign of misinformation. But 1,000 union miners in Alabama are still on strike after eight months, fighting for decent compensation and humane work schedules.
No, Automation Isn’t Going to Make Work Disappear
Talk of a great technological replacement suggests that automation is rendering most workers obsolete. But innovation isn’t simply replacing human workers — rather, it’s created a battle over whose interests the new technologies will serve.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s Campaign Shows That the French Left Can Still Win
Rising poll scores bring Jean-Luc Mélenchon ever closer to making the runoff in April’s presidential election. France Insoumise’s Manon Aubry tells Jacobin how the Left is challenging the neoliberal and far-right stranglehold over the country’s politics.
A Party Fighting for Socialism Has to Put Workers Front and Center
Set to win 18 seats in parliament, the Workers’ Party of Belgium is the fastest-growing force on the European left. Newly elected leader Raoul Hedebouw tells Jacobin how his comrades built an explicitly Marxist party with mass appeal.
Canada Has Long Been an Accomplice to America’s Imperialist Wars
Rooted in Cold War anti-communism, the military alliance between the US and Canada is responsible for bloody conflicts around the globe. An antiwar movement in Canada would challenge the strategic pact between the two nations.
Humanitarian Intervention Is a Cloak for Military Aggression
Despite the disastrous outcomes in Iraq and Afghanistan, supporters of US-led military intervention still claim war can be a humanitarian project. It can't.
The Don Gives 2021 a Barely Passing Grade
Jacobin troll Donald Hughes sent in 18,000 words grading major events in 2021. What follows are brief selections from his treatise. The verdict: 2021 sent in some poor work, but he's letting it through.