International Viewpoint - online socialist magazine

What Will an American Pope Mean for the US?

Dan La Botz — 2025-05-12T20:07:00Z

The conclave of cardinals has for the first time elected a pope from the USA, a man who has been critical of the policies of President Donald Trump and Vice-president J.D. Vance. What will the choice of this American to be head of the Catholic Church mean for the US?

- IVP604 - May 2025 / United States (USA), Religion

Francis. The Pope Who Spoke Softly—and Carried the Same Big Stick

Adam Novak — 2025-05-12T11:52:05Z

Pope Francis was better than his predecessors. He integrated climate change into the Church's concerns and widened space for discussion of social justice. His reign as Pope left the Catholic Church a marginally better place for the poor and the weak. He named more Cardinals from the Global South, where most Catholics live.

- Features / Religion

The Unexpected Pope

Michael Löwy — 2025-05-12T11:51:46Z

The Marxist scholar proposes a reading of the ruptures that marked Francis's papacy, particularly his commitment to the poor and his ecological sensitivity. Was Bergoglio merely a parenthesis in the long history of the Catholic Church or the beginning of a different path?

- Features / Ecology and the Environment, Religion

Christian fundamentalism: a reactionary crusade in Africa

Paul Martial — 2023-06-12T11:17:50Z

“In countries where a growing proportion of the population is faced with poverty, insecurity and a lack of prospects, evangelical churches serve as spiritual and sometimes material refuges.”

- IV581 - June 2023 / Africa, Religion, Uganda

How the Assad regime feigns ‘secularism' while strengthening conservatism

Joseph Daher — 2022-02-08T07:43:18Z

“Secularism is a first step towards challenging these various forms of discrimination and is therefore a major part of demanding democracy.”

- IV565 - February 2022 / Syria, Religion

We need a large movement from below!

Joseph Daher — 2017-08-20T12:02:04Z

Joseph Daher was interviewed about his book Hezbollah - The Political Economy of Lebanon's Party of God (published by Pluto Press, London in October 2016) on the occasion of a visit to Berlin to speak about it.

- IV511 - August 2017 / Religion, Lebanon, Arab Revolutions

The March 22 attacks and their shadows

Mauro Gasparini — 2016-06-11T18:15:34Z

“It has happened”. Many Brussels inhabitants experienced that feeling on March 22, 2016, when terrorist attacks struck the capital of Belgium, inasmuch as people had been prepared for it. In November 2015 already, the famous lockdown of Brussels, when the city was declared in a state of alert and under an “imminent” threat by the government and intelligence services, had halted all life for four long days, a real dress rehearsal for a state of emergency.

- Paris, Brussels, responding to the attacks / Belgium, Religion, Far Right, Debate section

Fatema Mernissi: A Pioneering Arab Muslim Feminist

Zakia Salime — 2016-06-10T13:27:13Z

Zakia Salime is associate professor in the Department of Women's and Gender Studies at Rutgers University. This tribute is to Fatema Mernissi: mentor, insightful teacher, organic intellectual, incisive feminist, powerful voice, charismatic presence, craftswoman, generous host, and friend. It appeared on Jadaliyya and is reprinted here with the permission of the author and Jadaliyya.

- Feminism / Obituary, Women, Morocco, Religion

Escalation of terror in Lahore – We live in the same world

Pierre Rousset — 2016-06-07T05:46:32Z

A bombing in Lahore on Easter Sunday (the end of March) targeted Christians, but also children and Muslims sharing together a popular place of conviviality. The similarity in targets and modality reminds us of earlier events in Brussels and Paris.

- Features / Pakistan, Religion

On “Jihadist” terror: The radical Left after the Brussels attacks - The silence of the sectarian English-language blogosphere and equivocation of the radical Left in France - What's the right approach?

Pierre Rousset — 2016-06-05T17:05:53Z

The following piece was written in the days following the March 22nd Jihadist terror attacks in Brussels. While it may require updating to take account of changes in some organizations' thinking and public statements, its main arguments remain valid.

Since January 2015, the scale and momentum of “Jihadist” terror attacks in Europe have been without precedent. In spite of this, a large section of the English-speaking radical Left refuses to grasp the significance of what has happened. In France, much remains to be done to consider the implications of this new situation. What's the right approach?

- Paris, Brussels, responding to the attacks / Belgium, France, Religion, Debate section