International Viewpoint - online socialist magazine

Where is Ahmad al-Chareh's Syria heading?

Jean Batou, Joseph Daher — 2026-02-11T20:01:48Z

“Daher provides an update on the worrying developments under Ahmad al-Chareh's new government. He also highlights the opportunities opening up for working people and social movements, provided they prove capable of resisting sectarianism and ethnic discrimination.”

- IVP613 - February 2026 / Syria

The social history of a virus named Zika

Jean Batou — 2016-04-20T17:56:59Z

Infection by the Zika virus is usually not followed by any symptoms; in one case in five, it seems like a not very severe flu; exceptionally, it may lead to a more serious auto-immune disease, the Guillain-Barré syndrome. But the most serious consequence of this disease appears to affect pregnant women, some of whom give birth to children with unusually small heads or are sometimes blind. However, an unequivocal link between Zika and these malformations is not established in an absolutely certain way.

- IV495 - April 2016

Past and present imperialisms: Putin, the War in Ukraine, and the Far Right

Jean Batou — 2015-08-01T05:19:55Z

Putin's Russia is an imperialist state dominated by a capitalist oligarchy that controls the state and that has developed a bellicose attitude toward its neighbors, whom the oligarchy reproaches for having taken advantage of the collapse of the Soviet Union in order to escape its century-long tutelage. Embracing an ultra-nationalist ideology that gives a good deal of space to racism, anti-Semitism, and homophobia, its authoritarian neoconservatism has become a veritable standard for the European extreme right. For those of us dedicated to fighting Western imperialism, be it American or European, an understanding of the Russian state's imperial nature, of its expansionist tendencies, and of the real nature of its contest with the West is essential. [1]

- IV486 - July 2015 / Russia, Ukraine

Hunter-gatherers: gender equality, a key factor in human evolution?

Jean Batou — 2015-06-05T21:53:29Z

The social organization of humanity before the advent of agriculture tells us a lot about the context in which our species evolved over tens of thousands of years. It is in fact distinguished from that of primates by a more intense collaboration between individuals, which allows the development of a "cumulative culture." Researchers have just shown why gender equality may explain this propensity to associate a higher number of individuals coming from different groups (M. Dyble et al., "Sex equality can explain the unique social structure of hunter-gatherer bands ", Science, 15 May 2015).

- Sexual politics / Women, Sexual politics

Amnesia and the Armenian Genocide

Jean Batou — 2015-05-06T09:49:56Z

The demand for recognition of the Armenian Genocide is inseparable from the defense of democratic freedoms in Turkey.

- IV484 - May 2015 / Turkey, Historical events and figures, National question

The soaring Swiss franc and class politics

Jean Batou — 2015-02-22T13:15:13Z

On Thursday, January 15, at 10.30 pm, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) decided to abandon the ceiling exchange rate of 1.20 Swiss francs for â‚¬1 that it had defended since 6 September 2011 at a cost of 300 billion francs (of which around 100 billion, it seems, were spent in the last two weeks). This thunderclap preceded by six days the expected decision of the European Central Bank (ECB) to buy in particular the public debts of member states to the amount of â‚¬60 billion per month over 19 months, and by ten days the widely announced victory of Syriza in the Greek elections on 25 January.

- IV481 - February 2015 / Economy, Switzerland

Who are the architects of death and how can we combat them?

Jean Batou — 2014-10-18T06:26:34Z

According to the latest predictions of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), if the Ebola pandemic continues to progress at the current rhythm, it could affect 1.4 million people in Liberia and Sierra Leone between now and January 2015, leading to the deaths of 700,000 in a year, and thus making Ebola the third leading cause of death from infectious diseases in Africa, after AIDS and respiratory diseases. The two countries most seriously affected could suffer the loss of 10 percent of their populations in a year, if one takes into account the impact of such a catastrophe on food production and the overall health of the populations involved. Our understanding of the causes then is urgent in order to avoid the worst and to prevent similar tragedies in other regions of the global South.

- IV477 - October 2014 / Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone

The redeployment of French imperialism in Africa and the humanitarian daze of the left

Jean Batou — 2014-09-12T18:25:42Z

The military operations decided by Paris in Libya (from March 2011), Mali (in January 2013) and the Central African Republic (CAR) (in December 2013), to which must be added the decisive intervention of the Licorne force to oust Gbagbo in the Ivory Coast (April 2011), have contributed to reviving the debate on the current strategy of French imperialism in Africa. What in fact are the causes of this increased warlike activism?

- IV476 - September 2014 / Africa

The green banner of Mohamed and the expansion of world trade

Jean Batou — 2010-09-15T18:27:28Z

“A century after the date when Muhammad, an obscure camel driver, had begun to gather around him in his house a few poor Meccans, his successors dominated the approaches of the Loire and the lands beyond the Indus, from Poitiers to Samarkand”. ... from now on, Islam – which was then the ideology of modernity - would govern the expansion of markets, and do so “from the decline of the Eastern Roman Empire until the rise of Venice, and even of England”.

- IV428 - September 2010 / MENA (Middle East/North Africa), Religion