International Viewpoint - online socialist magazine

Dissidents Among Dissidents

Kit Wainer — 2022-04-21T09:36:13Z

There is a common narrative in the West, which corresponds to the Kremlin's narrative, that the Russian government may be tyrannical but it is supported by the majority of Russian people, and the dissident minority, while brave, has no ability to change society. This fits the Vladimir Putin regime's view of itself as the inheritor of a thousand-year-old state.

- Reviews section / Russia, Reviews

The Power of Gulf Capitalism

Kit Wainer — 2020-01-23T09:07:56Z

ADAM HANIEH HAS produced a compelling and well-documented account of the modern evolution of capitalism in the Persian Gulf. Skillfully utilizing the Marxist categories of class, state, and mode of production he situates the role of Gulf capitalists, organized around the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), within the larger global capitalist economy. His concluding chapter ties the economic trends he details to an analysis of the political crises of the past decade.

- Reviews section / Saudi Arabia, Reviews, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait

Problems with an Electoral Road to Socialism in the United States

Kit Wainer, Mel Bienenfeld — 2020-01-23T07:35:00Z

In a welcome sign, the recent revitalization of the socialist left, particularly the spectacular growth of Democratic Socialists of America, has revived debate about the road to socialism. Also, fortunately, the discussion, which has partially played out in the pages of Jacobin, has gone beyond a simple revisiting of the old “reform versus revolution” argument of early twentieth-century social democracy. Vivek Chibber “Our Road to Power,” Jacobin, 5 December 2017) and Eric Blanc (most recently in his debate with Charlie Post, “Which Way to Socialism,” Jacobin, 21 July 2019) have raised important problems with applying a revolutionary model from the Russian Revolution of 1917 to modern industrial countries with parliamentary systems. Blanc's observation that “a government elected by universal suffrage has vastly more popular legitimacy than the tsarist autocracy” is particularly valid and important.

- Debate / United States (USA), Debate section

The Arab Revolutions: The Game's Not Over Yet

Kit Wainer — 2014-02-10T22:29:10Z

Long-time revolutionary activist, historian, and analyst Gilbert Achcar has produced a provocative assessment of the Arab Spring. In The People Want, Achcar develops a Marxist analysis of the roots of the Arab revolutions, traces their trajectories since December 2010, and draws a tentative balance sheet of what progress has been made and what possibilities remain.

- Reviews section / Arab Revolutions, Reviews