Since Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine three years ago, a flood of lies has gushed forth from western governments and the billionaire press alike to obscure the real nature of this war.

[Click here for a comprehensive reading list on the background to the Ukraine war: https://marxist.com/top-reads-on-the-ukraine-conflict-war-and-imperialism.htm]

Painting it as a simple battle between good and evil, they have remained totally silent about the fact that behind Ukraine is the world's foremost imperialist power, which has led Ukraine to the slaughter in pursuit of its interests.

Moreover, in their attempt to paint Zelensky as a beloved hero of democracy and Putin as a tyrant, they have concealed the real cause of the war, which did not begin in February 2022 but is the product of the aggressive thrust of western imperialism into Ukraine in the wake of the collapse of the USSR.

Today, Ukraine is shattered. Tens of thousands of young Ukrainians have been massacred in the trenches. As people around the world begin to ask, ‘What was it all for?’, it is vital that communists can explain what lies behind the conflict.

To explain who was really responsible for the destruction of Ukraine, Jorge Martín and Hamid Alizadeh from the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International met for another episode of Against the Stream, the weekly current affairs podcast of the RCI.

This episode premiered on YouTube. Tune in every Thursday at 6pm GMT, or catch up on Spotify or Apple Music.Join us in building the Revolutionary Communist International! www.marxist.com/join

For the last century, the USA has been the undisputed master of the capitalist world. Now, all that is changing. Today, America is in decline and facing a new contender: China.

Over the last 30 years, China has exploded from an underdeveloped country, exploited by western capitalists for its cheap labour, to a cutting-edge capitalist power in its own right. Today, it accounts for 18 percent of the world's GDP and 29 percent of the world’s manufacturing, and leads the world in some of the most advanced technologies.

As a result of this stormy development, which has made China the second most powerful country in the world, it has been able to stand firm in the face of Trump’s tariff war, whereas all other countries have meekly submitted. But no matter the balance of forces, such a conflict between the world’s biggest markets cannot fail to have devastating consequences for the whole world economy. 

This trade war between the US and China – along with the negotiations over the fate of Ukraine, which are also discussed in this episode – show that we have entered a new epoch, one of economic crisis, heightened conflict between competing powers and, in consequence, class struggle. 

To explain where these developments are leading the world, Jorge Martín and Hamid Alizadeh from the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International met for another episode of Against the Stream, the weekly current affairs podcast of the RCI.

This episode premiered on YouTube. Tune in every Thursday at 6pm GMT, or catch up on Spotify or Apple Music.

Articles mentioned:

“I’ve seen many phoney trade wars come and go. This is the real thing”

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/apr/09/trade-war-donald-trump-us-china

“‘The Tsunami Is Coming’: China’s Global Exports Are Just Getting Started”

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/07/business/china-manufacturing-exports-trump-tariffs.html

“On the Question of Free Trade”

https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1888/free-trade/index.htm

“Trump’s tariff programme deepens protectionist tendencies in world economy”

https://marxist.com/trump-s-tariff-programme-deepens-protectionist-tendencies-in-world-economy.htm

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Last week, Trump’s tariffs delivered a shattering blow to the world economy, sending stock markets around the world into precipitous collapse. This week, he U-turned and paused the tariffs, with the exception of those on China, which now stand at 125 percent. What does this chaos mean for the world economy?

The reversal of the tariffs has provoked a sigh of relief from the capitalist class. But it is not over yet. With the two biggest economic forces on the planet – America and China – going head to head, the globalised world economy is going to be ripped apart. This will only bring closer and intensify the devastating recession that is looming over the capitalist system. 

For the working class of the world, this will be a catastrophe. They will be forced to pay the price, while the capitalist politicians will do everything they can to bail out the bankers and billionaires that got us into that mess. Unemployment and brutal cuts to living standards are coming. Already, in their dash to remilitarise, governments around the world are implementing brutal austerity programmes. The ripping apart of the world economy will only intensify matters and force capitalist governments to cut even deeper.

But, as we have already seen with the revolutions and mass movements in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Serbia, Greece and elsewhere, the working class will not take this lying down. The capitalist disaster is preparing a social explosion. Such chaos will force the working class to wake up to the fact that a dignified existence is incompatible with the continued rule of capitalism.

To explain how the anarchy of the market can be overthrown, Niklas Albin Svensson and Hamid Alizadeh from the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International met for another episode of Against the Stream, the weekly current affairs podcast of the RCI.

This episode premiered on YouTube. Tune in every Thursday at 6pm GMT, or catch up on Spotify or Apple Music.

Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff announcements have set the cat amongst the pigeons in the world market. In France, the hypocritical establishment is celebrating the sentencing of right-wing demagogue Marine Le Pen in court on flimsy charges. Meanwhile in the Middle East, the leader of the PKK has called on its Kurdish guerilla fighters to lay down their arms.

Globalisation is now rapidly unravelling, with tariffs threatening to dramatically tear up supply chains internationally. But any attempt by the US or other powers to export the burden of their crisis-ridden economies through protectionism will do nothing to solve the fundamental bankruptcy of the capitalist system.

Meanwhile, although the liberal establishment wax lyrical about the virtues of ‘democracy’, they have shown themselves time and again to be perfectly willing to give up on these treasured principles if it suits them. In the US, Romania and now also in France, maverick candidates outside of the traditional political elite have been targeted by legal campaigns and accusations of corruption. While we do not agree with Le Pen, communists have a duty to call out the rank hypocrisy of the liberals that accuse her and similar figures of threatening democracy.

For some time, the struggle for Kurdish self-determination has inspired many on the left internationally. The PKK, the main military and political force among Kurds, however, has now been called upon by its leadership to lay down their arms. This is an utter capitulation on the part of the PKK leaders and represents a policy of capitulation to capitalism and imperialism, rather than the struggle against them.

The greatest tools in a communist’s arsenal are our ideas. Without these it is too easy to get caught up in the constant whirlwind of events facing us in the world today. To untangle some of this week’s biggest news stories, and get to the essence of these events, Fred Weston and Hamid Alizadeh from the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International met for another episode of Against the Stream, the weekly current affairs podcast of the RCI.

This episode premiered on YouTube. Tune in every Thursday at 6pm GMT, or catch up on Spotify or Apple Music.

Articles mentioned:

https://meduza.io/feature/2025/03/17/otsyuda-vyhod-odin-trista-ili-dvesti

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-resumes-gaza-bombing-one-most-terrifying-nights-war

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/03/23/starmer-ukraine-peacekeeping-plan-political-theatre/

https://marxist.com/netanyahu-resumes-genocide-to-cling-to-power-2.htm

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In Gaza, Netanyahu has restarted the genocide. Already, hundreds have been killed by bombs, while thousands more are at risk of starvation. In Ukraine, which has essentially lost the war to Russia, youths are still being kidnapped and conscripted into the army to die in trenches. This is what capitalism has to offer in the 21st century.

Wars, genocides, and famines have accompanied capitalism since its birth. In fact, they are built into the very fabric of the system, which depends upon endless exploitation and plunder.

The capitalist class in the West is particularly responsible for these graveyards. From the beginning, they have fueled the war in Ukraine at the cost of tens of thousands of Ukrainian lives. Meanwhile, they have stood by Netanyahu through thick and thin, arming him with billions of dollars worth of bombs with which to carry out the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians.

Our job as communists is not to weep but to understand in order to change it. To explain how we can bring this horror to an end, Jorge Martín and Hamid Alizadeh from the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International met for another episode of Against the Stream, the weekly current affairs podcast of the RCI.

This episode premiered on YouTube. Tune in every Thursday at 6pm GMT, or catch up on Spotify or Apple Music.

YouTube: https://youtu.be/ljKETosTl9s

Join us in building the Revolutionary Communist International! www.marxist.com/join

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Timestamps

(0:00) Intro

(1:38) Gaza: The genocide resumes

(26:15) Gaza: What Hamas represents

(29:22) Ukraine: Russia and US ceasefire negotiations

(34:27) Ukraine: How Trump differs from the liberal establishment

(39:10) Ukraine: EU scrambling to continue war

(53:02) Ukraine: Stories from the frontlines

(1:20:05) Ukraine: Explaining the RCI's position on the war

(1:29:24) War abroad means austerity at home

(1:37:35) The working class has begun to move

Trump’s dramatic return to the White House has thrown the liberals into complete panic and confusion. They have been accusing Trump of being responsible for every ill in the world, and have flung whatever insults they can at him: from semi-fascist, to fascist, to neo-fascist.Shamefully, the perennially alarmed so-called 'Lefts' are dragging like a tail behind the liberals, spreading the same confusion and falling into the old trap of 'lesser evilism'. Against this alarmism, which really serves to justify the capitalist status quo, an understanding of the real nature of Trumpism is of paramount importance for revolutionaries so that they don’t get caught in the same camp as Genocide Joe and the rest of the hated US establishment. Meanwhile, totally unaffected by this shrill chorus, Trump is proceeding with business. This week he resumed talks with Russia over the fate of Ukraine, while on the frontlines, the Ukrainian offensive in Kursk has completely collapsed. At the same time, Netanyahu has torn up the ceasefire with Hamas and has restarted the war in Gaza, which will have explosive consequences for the Middle East.All of these not only pose big questions for the capitalist world order. Communists, more than anyone else, must understand what is really going on so that they can cut through the fog and fight against the system with a clear perspective.To explain how Marxists should understand and approach these phenomena, Alan Woods, the leading theoretician of the Revolutionary Communist International, joined Hamid Alizadeh for another episode of Against the Stream, the weekly current affairs podcast of the RCI.This episode premiered on YouTube. Tune in every Thursday at 6pm GMT.__Books mentioned in the episode can be purchased on: https://wellred-books.com/

The world capitalist system is beset on all sides by crisis. Debt is sky-high, economies are stagnating and society is more polarised than ever. To add to this mess, the tapestry of world relations – the ‘rules-based order’ – is unravelling. Tit-for-tat tariffs that seek to export the crisis threaten to turn into trade wars that will tear up world trade.The liberals see Trump as the wrecking ball causing the crisis. But is this true? By slashing the debt, raising tariffs and ditching the Ukraine war, he is actually trying to stabilise American capitalism, even if that comes at the expense of the rest of the world. His efforts, however, will be in vain. Every attempt to solve one crisis will simply exacerbate another. Ultimately, tariffs will push up inflation, whereas his reckless cuts will prepare a gigantic backlash of class struggle. There is no way out on a capitalist basis because capitalism itself is the root of the problem. For communists, therefore, the choice is not between tariffs or free trade. Rearmament and austerity are only ‘necessary’ as long as we accept the logic of the capitalist system. Our job, on the contrary, is not to tinker with the capitalist system, but to overthrow it. To explain the communist alternative, Fred Weston and Hamid Alizadeh of the international leadership of the RCI, met for another episode of Against the Stream, the weekly current affairs podcast of the Revolutionary Communist International.This episode was streamed on YouTube. Tune in every Thursday at 6pm GMT.

This week's row in the Oval Office between Trump and Zelensky served to dramatically underscore the fact that we are passing a seismic shift in world history. The old alliances and institutions are breaking down, and a realignment, reflecting the changed balance of forces, is taking place for all to see.The biggest losers of this transformation are the Europeans, who are gradually sobering up to their predicament. Without the US – upon which they have been reliant for 80 years – they will have to re-arm. In a situation of economic stagnation and sky-high debts, this means finding savings elsewhere. And that means cuts.But these cuts will have profound social consequences. Already the workers and youth of Europe have faced a decade of austerity. Now their imperialist governments are preparing to snatch away the last crumbs of social spending to turn into bombs and bullets. The general strike in Greece, in which over a million people went out on strike to protest their government's murderous role in the deaths of 57 young people in a rail disaster two years ago, is an indication of the kind of explosions we should expect to see in the future in Europe. To discuss the present capitalist chaos and its revolutionary implications, Jorge Martín and Hamid Alizadeh of the international leadership of the RCI, met for another episode of Against the Stream, the weekly current affairs podcast of the Revolutionary Communist International.This episode was streamed on YouTube. Tune in every Thursday at 3pm GMT, or catch up on Spotify or Apple Music.

This week, after claiming victory in the German election, Friedrich Merz declared that Germany would now stand up to the USA, Russia and China and make the EU into a ‘great power’. 

Similarly, Keir Starmer declared that Britain would stand by Ukraine for 100 years and threatened to put British troops on the group as a ‘peacekeeping force’, while Macron travelled to the White House in a ‘show of strength’ to Trump. 

Clearly, the liberal European establishment has gone mad. In reality, Europe is facing a catastrophic crisis. It is being outcompeted and squeezed between the real great powers, has been abandoned by its American protector, and is looking on helplessly as Russia claims victory in the Ukraine war, a war they have spent hundreds of billions of dollars prolonging. On top of that, the despised establishment parties across the continent are facing the meteoric rise of right-wing populist contenders. 

Their bragging and posturing could not be more out of touch with reality, for there is no way out of this mess on a capitalist basis.

To explain the method in the madness, Jorge Martín and Hamid Alizadeh of the international leadership of the RCI, met for another episode of Against the Stream, the weekly current affairs podcast of the Revolutionary Communist International.

This episode was streamed on YouTube. Tune in every Thursday at 3pm GMT, or catch up on Spotify or Apple Music.

This week, Trump went over the heads of Zelensky and the European leaders to embark on peace talks with Russia. At a stroke, the western order that has prevailed for over half a century has fractured.

This has major implications for Europe in particular. For decades, Europe has based its policy on its partnership with the undisputed imperialist master of the planet: the USA. But Trump’s latest move expresses the fact that US imperialism no longer has a particular interest in subsidising the defence of the continent. They are being dumped by their most important ally, which throws the whole of the liberal European order, including the EU and NATO, into question. 

This shambolic situation for European imperialism also comes at a time of acute economic, political and social crisis all across Europe. Energy prices are sky-high, factories are shutting down, the establishment has never been more despised, and right-wing populist parties are on the rise.

To explain all of this turmoil, Fred Weston and Hamid Alizadeh of the international leadership of the RCI, met for another episode of Against the Stream, the weekly current affairs podcast of the Revolutionary Communist International.

This episode was streamed on YouTube. Tune in every Thursday at 3pm GMT, or catch up on Spotify or Apple Music.

[Due to technical difficulties, part of today's episode is without video. Apologies!]