International Viewpoint, the monthly English-language magazine of the Fourth International, is a window to radical alternatives world-wide, carrying reports, analysis and debates from all corners of the globe. Correspondents in over 50 countries report on popular struggles, and the debates that are shaping the left of tomorrow.
‘The people have, through their own fault, lost the confidence of the government...Wouldn’t it then be simpler for the government to dissolve the people and elect another?’ Bertolt Brecht, ‘The Solution’, 1953
read article...[This article was written hours before the mass terrorist act that targeted Hezbollah members through pagers in the afternoon of 17 September, thus enhancing its title’s topicality.]
read article...In an angry, determined, yet festive action, with music blaring, airhorns blasting, and fireworks shooting into the sky, 33,000 Boeing workers walked out on strike at plants in Washington, Oregon, and California on September 13, stopping production of the Boeing 737 plane and other aircraft. The Boeing strike by the International Association of Machinists (IAM), the biggest strike of this year so far, is principally over wages and pensions.
read article...Despite the confusion that accompanied the announcement of the recent presidential elections’ results in Algeria, one thing is clear and certain: the Algerian people overwhelmingly reject military rule, after having devoted their Hirak [movement] five years ago to demanding an end to this rule and its replacement with a democratic civilian authority. Indeed, the confusion itself is a direct result of this fact, which emerged through what were the real stakes in these elections, as no one could have the slightest doubt about the victory of the military establishment’s candidate, Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
read article...The Israeli NGO Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHRI) was founded during the first Intifada by a group of Palestinian and Jewish doctors. The PHRI Prisoners and Detainees Department deals with all prisoners who are under the control of different Israeli forces. In this interview, Oneg Ben Dror recounts his observations in this hell.
read article...The protesters that started gathering on Kyiv’s main square (‘maidan’) almost ten months ago were driven by a certain kind of ‘occidentalism’ (if I may introduce this term by analogy with orientalism). Europe, which stood as an epitome of Occident for them, presented a generalized image of Ukraine relieved from all evils: corruption, poverty, economic backwardness. However, this vacuous image formed by the desires of the protesting masses, was filled by the content provided by political passions of groups, organizations and parties that struggled to dominate the protest. For liberals it was the Europe of bourgeois democracy, free trade and developed financial markets, for national democrats it was the Europe of elusive ‘European values’ opposed to ‘the Asian horde’, for the far right it was the ‘Fortress of Europe’ and for the few left-wing groups it was the Europe of social struggle. While the brightest dreams of the Maidan coalesced in the image of Europe, the worst nightmares were projected towards Ukraine’s East: Ukraine’s own eastern regions, the stronghold of the then ruling elite, and its eastern neighbor, Russia. [1]
Most accounts of the conflict in Ukraine reproduce the familiar Cold War binary. For the Russian government-controlled TV channels, Maidan (Ukraine’s revolution of the winter 2013–2014) was a fascist coup that overthrew the legitimate government with the US imperialist support. For the liberal media in the West, Ukraine, and Russia, Maidan was a popular democratic uprising against an authoritarian regime that was rooted in the Soviet past. Both these accounts claim to draw on real facts and each obscures much in the real situation.
The following statement on Ukraine was agreed by the International Committee of the Fourth International in Amsterdam in February 2015.
Below is a short note on the first results of the parliamentary elections of 26 October.
There then follows an article by Alexandr Volodarsky, a Ukrainian anarchist who is a native of Luhansk, a city which is at present occupied city by militias armed by Russia, and who took part in the battles of the Maidan. This article dates from the beginning of July. I have accompanied it by notes, either to update or to add elements of reflection or information. These notes naturally reflect my point of view and not necessarily that of the author.
V.P.
The last days of August saw the 14th edition of the Summer University of Anticapitalistas with the slogan ‘A new internationalism in the face of war and climate barbarism’ with the just over 750 people attending. This year there was a significant increase in the number of young people as a result of the work to establish the student movement, the role played in promoting solidarity with Palestine and the intervention around the queer question.
- read article...This solidarity statement was adopted by the 39th edition of the Fourth International youth camp in France in July 2024.
- read article...The People’s Struggle Alliance (PSA—Jana Aragalaya Sandanaya/Makkal Poraata Munnani) is a newly formed movement of Left political organisations and individuals active in the 2022 people’s uprising (‘Aragalaya/Poraatam/Struggle’) in Sri Lanka who are advancing and deepening its demand for ‘system change’. The Socialist People’s Forum (SPF), supporters of the Fourth International in Sri Lanka, is among its founders.
- read article...Anti*Capitalist Resistance statement on far right violence sweeping Britain and Northern Ireland in August 2024
- read article...International Viewpoint is published under the responsibility of the Bureau of the Fourth International. Signed articles do not necessarily reflect editorial policy. Articles can be reprinted with acknowledgement, and a live link if possible.
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