International Viewpoint - online socialist magazine

War, economic crisis, and discontent in Putin's Russia

Ashley Smith, Posle — 2026-06-08T13:24:41Z

Vladimir Putin's regime is beginning to show signs of frailty amidst its ongoing imperialist war on Ukraine. Kyiv has fought the regime to a standoff, Russia's casualties mount to about 1.2 million dead and wounded, and Russia's economy, despite the temporary sugar rush of increased oil prices, faces mounting problems. Here Tempest's Ashley Smith interviews the editors of Posle, a Russian socialist website, about Putin's war, regime, popular grievances, and the challenges of resistance under autocracy.

- Features / Russia

Faultlines in a new epoch of crisis: Imperial rivalry, authoritarianism, and resistance

Ashley Smith — 2026-05-11T16:44:28Z

“This new epoch of crisis, imperialist rivalry, authoritarianism, and resistance is opening up space for the construction of a new socialist Left. Indeed, all political organizations are now growing from reformism to neo-Stalinism and revolutionary socialism. The struggle is on to shape a new generation's politics, strategies, and tactics for an epoch of crisis and class struggle.”

- Features / United States (USA), World

Venezuela after the coup

Ashley Smith, Federico Fuentes — 2026-02-12T11:03:04Z

“Some … have argued that as the government is still largely intact, nothing has fundamentally changed. But … the balance of forces on which this government rests has fundamentally changed.”

- Venezuela 2026 / Venezuela

Trump's strategy to reassert U.S. dominance

Ashley Smith — 2025-11-30T11:27:27Z

Despite all the chaos, confusion, and faction fights, the Trump administration is united behind one project—escalating Washington's imperial rivalry with China.

- China November 2025 / United States (USA), China

The fight for democracy, social justice, and equality in the Caucasus

Ashley Smith, Collective — 2025-05-13T20:16:36Z

The country of Georgia, a small nation of 3.8 million people in the Caucasus, has been thrown into a profound crisis. Its people have risen up against the ruling party, Georgian Dream, over the passage of its Russia-style “foreign influence law,” homophobic anti-LGBTQ propaganda law, rigging of the recent election, and suspension of accession talks for membership in the EU.

- IVP604 - May 2025 / Georgia

Why have people of Georgia massively risen up against the Government?

Ashley Smith, Ilya Budraitskis — 2025-01-04T16:33:52Z

What do the protests mean for the left in Georgia and internationally? Posle and Tempest talk to Georgian activists and scholars about Georgia's mass protests

- IVP600 - January 2025 / Georgia

The U.S. hurtles toward political crisis

Ashley Smith — 2024-07-19T16:28:21Z

Ashley Smith analyzes the impact of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump on the deepening political crisis in the U.S. and the ever growing weakness of the Joe Biden campaign.

- IV594 - July 2024 / United States (USA)

Terrorist Attack and Election Pave Way for Putin to Intensify Repression and War

Ashley Smith, Ilya Budraitskis — 2024-04-01T12:38:00Z

“We should be clear that Putin took the decision to launch this invasion very seriously and is determined not to stop until he achieves his stated goals — the elimination of Ukraine as an independent nation-state and the imposition of a puppet government in Kyiv. If he does not achieve these goals, he will view it as a defeat, something he is not willing to accept.”

- IV591 - April 2024 / Russia

Ukrainian Activists Declare Solidarity With Palestine

Ashley Smith — 2023-11-24T15:53:25Z

Leftists in Ukraine are insisting on the urgent need to build solidarity without exception among oppressed peoples.

- IV586 - November 2023 / Palestine, Ukraine

Debt Abolition Activists Gear Up for Countersummit as World Bank and IMF Meet

Ashley Smith, Éric Toussaint — 2023-10-08T11:30:35Z

“At the same time, abolition of debt alone is not enough if domestic ruling classes maintain private ownership of the economy and natural resources. So, abolition of debt must be a key component of building a radical, anti-capitalist movement for system change in each country and globally.”

- IV585 - October 2023 / Economy, Morocco, Debt