International Viewpoint - online socialist magazine

• Japan
  

  The Political Landscape Surrounding the Snap General Election

  23 January, by Toshizo Omori

  Prime Minister Takaichi announced the dissolution of The House of Representatives and the general election at a press conference on January 19th. The general election is to be held on Sunday, February 8th. This brief essay will examine the current political situation, focusing on what the snap election means and why a new party, the Centrist Reform Coalition, was formed by the Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP) and the Komeito Party (Komeito).

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• USA
  

  Resisting Trump’s Assault on Democratic Rights and the Sovereignty of Nations

  22 January, by Kay Mann

  “The efforts to defend immigrants from ICE raids have all the markings of an authentic nascent social movement. ”

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• Portugal
  

  New neofascist advance in presidential elections

  21 January, by Jorge Costa

  “The reduction in the electoral strength of the left is an invitation for activists to reflect on the fragmentation of this camp. In the downward spiral of the last three years, the only time the left has made its mark on the public debate to contest popular opinion was during last December’s general strike, called jointly by the CGTP and UGT against the new labour laws that the government wants to impose.”

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• Big Tech
  

  Techno-feudal lords or oligarchy of data traffickers?

  20 January, by Françisco Louçã

  Intensive use of social networks, more than other forms of Internet presence, with the possible exception of games, generates behaviours comparable to other forms of drug addiction, such as excessive consumption and psychological, or even physical, hangovers. This article argues that this is the product sold by this new oligarchy.

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• Ukraine
  

  Kyiv in crisis: how wild capitalism is exacerbating the devastation

  19 January, by Vitaliy Dudin

  The year 2026 began with devastating Russian shelling of Kyiv’s infrastructure, which, in freezing conditions, brought the population to the brink of survival. The city, home to 3 million people, is experiencing an acute shortage of heat and water, and electricity is being supplied on a short-term basis. It has become clear that the authorities had no plan B in case of a catastrophic deterioration in the security and weather situation.

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...and the rest of the current issue

• USA

  Trump’s Occupation of Minnesota and the Resistance

• Europe

  Europe in 2025

• Burkina Faso

  The proper use of conspiracies

• Far right and academic freedom

  Academic freedom under attack

• Arab Spring

  From the Ashes of the Arab Spring

Recently posted Features

• Women’s liberation:? The Marxist tradition

  15 August 2014, by Sharon Smith

  “If women’s liberation is unthinkable without communism, then communism is unthinkable without women’s liberation.”

  —Russian revolutionary Inessa Armand

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• Series : Bretton Woods, the World Bank and the IMF: 70th anniversary (Part 4)

  SUNFED versus World Bank

  6 August 2014, by Éric Toussaint

  From 1950 to 1960, having no Marshall Plan to promote their growth, the developing countries proposed that a new UN body be created, based on a “one country, one vote” system designed to facilitate loans to their industries: SUNFED (Special United Nations Fund for Economic Development). The industrialized countries were fiercely opposed to this move, and successfully imposed a counter-proposal, the International Development Association (IDA), a branch of the World Bank, thus effectively putting an end to SUNFED. [1]

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• Series : Bretton Woods, the World Bank and the IMF: 70th anniversary (Part 3)

  Early conflicts between the UN and the World Bank/IMF tandem

  6 August 2014, by Éric Toussaint

  The World Bank and the IMF are specialized institutions of the UN, comparable in theory to the International Labour Organization (ILA) or the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). As such, they are supposed to cooperate closely with the various UN bodies and the other specialized institutions to achieve the objectives set out in the Charter and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

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• Series : 70 years since Bretton Woods, the World Bank and the IMF (Part 2)

  The World Bank assists the powerful witch-hunters

  28 July 2014, by Éric Toussaint

  Contrary to common belief, the mission of the World Bank is not to reduce poverty in developing countries. The Bank’s mission, as originally conceived by the victors of the Second World War, the United States and Great Britain in particular, was to help rebuild Europe, and secondarily to promote the economic growth of the countries in the South, many of which were still under colonial rule. It was this second mission that went by the name of “development” and which constantly increased in scope. The World Bank lent money first of all to the colonial powers (Great Britain, France, Belgium) to help them more effectively exploit their colonies. Then, when these colonies became independent, the Bank made them liable for the debt that had only been contracted by their former metropolis in order to better exploit their natural resources and their population.

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