IV476 - September 2014

August, 1914 was truly a world-historical moment for European socialism. Forced to choose between its internationalist principles and the pull of nationalism, the movement collapsed as the latter sentiment revealed itself to be a much more powerful force than most socialists had expected. Their division over the war would prove of immeasurable importance to the future of Europe and the world.

An interview from LeftEast with Anej Korsika a political scientist, a member of the Marxist think tank, Institute for Labour Studies in Ljubljana and a member of the socialist party Initiative for Democratic Socialism conducted by James Robertson for LeftEast

On July 29, after national and international outcry against shutting off the water of thousands of Detroit residents, governor-appointed emergency manager Kevyn Orr turned over management of the Detroit Water and Sewage Department to mayor Mike Duggan. Under legislation that has been overturned by Michigan voters in the last election but nonetheless passed once again (this time with an appropriation attached so it cannot be challenged by another referendum vote), the Emergency Manager holds all power, and chooses what he delegates to the Mayor.

Gilbert Achcar spoke to Brian Ashley of the South African maqazine Amandla! in August 2014.

Suzi Weissman spoke with professor Hisham Ahmed, in the midst of the catastrophe in Gaza and the Israeli-Occupied West Bank, for the July 25, 2014 broadcast of her program “Beneath the Surface” on Pacifica radio KPFK in Los Angeles. An abridged version was published in Against the Current which we are republishing here.

In a European context of recession and even deflation, war in the East of the continent and the rise of the forces of the right and extreme right, France has a singularity: the country combines the rise of an extreme right of fascistic origin and acute political crisis at governmental and institutional levels.

Energy systems across the planet are in accelerating transition towards sun and wind sourced production, driven by recognition of the catastrophic threat of climate change (caused by burning fossil fuels) and by the increasing cost advantages of renewable technologies.

Since the US Federal Reserve System (the Fed) hinted in May 2013 that it would gradually normalize its policy, the negative impact on the so-called "emerging" economies immediately triggered off. What were the proposed changes?

The September 21 Peoples Climate March and related activities — notably, the September 19-20 NYC Climate Convergence Conference — make a timely occasion to look at the dimensions of the global environmental crisis and how to confront it.

On 18 September 2014 one of the most important votes in the history of the British state will take place when people living in Scotland have the opportunity to vote on whether the country should become independent from the rest of Britain.