Against the Stream

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!]

Lenin once said that there are decades where weeks happen, and weeks where decades happen. We are living through the latter. A new era has begun, one characterised by capitalist crisis, imperialist war, immense turbulence in world relations and revolutionary upheavals.

On Against the Stream, the weekly current affairs podcast of the Revolutionary Communist International, Hamid Alizadeh and Fred Weston from the International Secretariat will be discussing the latest developments in the world crisis of capitalism from a Marxist perspective. 

This week, that includes Trump's announcement that he would be opening negotiations with Russia to end the Ukraine war, which has sent shockwaves through Europe; the precarious ceasefire in Gaza and Trump’s plan to expel the Palestinians so he can turn it into the ‘Riviera of the Middle East’; and the class struggle in America.

This podcast was streamed live onYouTube. Tune in every Thursday at 3pm GMT, or catch up onSpotifyorApple Music.

Trump has been in power for just over two weeks and already he has started to upend the liberal world order. With tariffs, deportations, the halting of all foreign aid, and his plan to turn Gaza into a “Rivera of the Middle East”, ‘allies’ and rivals alike have been thrown into panic. 

With breathtaking speed, the ‘rules-based order’ is being dynamited and destabilised, and the policy of ‘America First’ – and everyone else last – is coming into effect, with explosive and chaotic consequences for world affairs. 

To discuss these developments, which signal a transformation in world imperialist relations, Jorge Martín and Hamid Alizadeh met for another episode of Against the Stream.

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

Storm clouds are gathering over the world economy. Already, it is faced with slowing growth, rising interest and inflation rates, and astronomical debts. Now Trump’s ‘America First’ policy and his promise of tariffs threaten to make all of that worse.

As America wanes as the undisputed, dominant world power, the epoch of globalisation that it policed is coming to an end. Instead, an era of intense competition between hostile blocs of imperialist powers is opening up. All this cannot fail to have devastating consequences on the world economic situation, which is already headed towards a catastrophic crisis.

To break down these processes from a Marxist perspective, Hamid Alizadeh and Niklas Albin Svensson from the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International met for a special episode of Against the Stream all about the world economy and the gigantic crisis headed its way. 

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