International Viewpoint - online socialist magazine

“We must Defeat Mahinda's fascist politics”

Vickramabahu Karunarathne — 2015-08-31T12:36:52Z

Sri Lanka held parliamentary elections on August 17. The result saw Wickremesinghe's United National Front for Good Governance (UNFGG), in which his United National Party plays a significant role win 106 seats - an increase of 46 since the 2010 elections - but fail to win a majority. Wickremesinghe was however able to form a government with the support of MPs from the main opposition United People's Freedom Alliance who are supporters of the President Maithripala Sirisena. This interview with Bahu was conducted by the Lanka Daily Mirror before the elections.

- IV487 - August 2015 / Sri Lanka

IV487 - August 2015 PDF

robm — 2015-08-31T07:31:00Z

IVP487 August 2015

- IV487 - August 2015 / PDF

Oaxaca Braces for Conflict

Dan La Botz — 2015-08-30T07:06:10Z

Teachers fight on virtually alone: a militant minority whose interests seem selfish to some and whose tactics seem violent to others. Yet a great many teachers feel they fight not only for themselves, but for their union, their communities, and for Mexican democracy.

- IV487 - August 2015 / Mexico, Trade unions/workplace organizing

The Iran Deal: Up, Down or Sideways?

David Finkel — 2015-08-27T12:44:18Z

Even while the rhetoric around the P5+1 nuclear deal with Iran seems to be reaching reactor-grade “critical” level, signs are emerging that the fix just may be quietly in.

- IV487 - August 2015 / United States (USA), Iran

Capitalism vs. Democracy in Europe

Michael Löwy — 2015-08-26T08:17:56Z

Let us begin with a quote from an essay on bourgeois democracy in Russia, written in 1906, after the defeat of the first Russian revolution:

“It is highly ridiculous to believe that there is an elective affinity between grand capitalism today, as it is presently imported into Russia, and well established in the United States (…) and â€˜democracy' or â€˜liberty' (in all the possible meanings of the word); the real question should be : how are these things even â€˜possible,” on long term, under capitalist domination ?”1
Who is the author of this insightful comment? Lenin, Trotsky, or perhaps the early Russian Marxist Plekhanov? In fact, it is from Max Weber, the well known bourgeois sociologist. Although Weber never developed this insight, he is suggesting here that there is an intrinsic contradiction between capitalism and democracy.

- IV487 - August 2015 / Europe, Greece, European Union

Between peace and war

Christian Kutzin and Olena Varakina — 2015-08-25T12:16:46Z

Three months after the signing of the Minsk-2 agreements, it is clear that the road to peace still seems very long. Ukraine today is characterized by very strong contrasts between the majority of the country, which has not experienced war, and the Donbass, where since April 2014 the forces of Kiev have confronted pro-Russian separatists, powerfully aided by Russia.

- IV487 - August 2015 / Ukraine

An Explosion of Bureaucratic Capital : On the Tianjin Blast

Au Loong-Yu — 2015-08-24T13:57:33Z

On the 19th August, 2015, the Xinhua News Agency released an interesting report on last week's Tianjin Ruihai International Logistics storage explosion. While indirectly denying that Li Liang, the nominal chief shareholder of the company, is the nephew of Li Ruihuan, former Standing Committee member of the Politbureau, it confirmed that another chief shareholder, Dong Sheqian, is the son of the former chief of Tianjin Police. It also revealed that the real boss of the company is Yu Xuewei, although his background is still not clear.

- IV487 - August 2015 / China

Catalonia - Exit stage Left?

Josep María Antentas — 2015-08-24T07:45:53Z

The independence movement in Catalonia is gaining steam. Incorporating anti-austerity and democratic demands is the next step. Since September 11, 2012 â€” the National Day of Catalonia â€” the Catalan independence movement has burst onto the scene. The independence movement has steadily displayed its strength, from that year's gigantic 11S demonstration, to the historic human chain known as VÃa Catalana (or Catalan Way), which spanned the country on September 11, 2013, and finally the mass protest in the form of a “V” (as in victory and vote) last September.

- IV487 - August 2015 / Spanish state, Catalonia

Sanders and Black Lives Matter: The Great Debate of Our Time

Dan La Botz — 2015-08-23T09:59:22Z

For the first time in decades a great debate about the priorities and the program of the American people is taking place not among small groups of leftists but in society at large. The debate between Sanders and Black Lives Matterâ€”on social media, on TV and radio, in the newspapers, and on the streetâ€”is one of the most important discussions of our time and could if it is deepened help us all to find a way forward against both capitalism and racism. What appears to some only as conflict could lead to the construction of a new analysis and lay the basis for a new and broader social movement. We should all become involved in this debate and help to further it toward the common goal of a society of equality, democracy, and solidarity.

- IV487 - August 2015 / United States (USA), Racism and Islamophobia

“Popular Unity” is born

Stathis Kouvelakis — 2015-08-21T20:01:44Z

Early this morning, 25 Syriza MPs left the parliamentary group of the party to create a new group under the name of “Popular Unity”. Most of these MPs are affiliated to the Left Platform, but some others also joined like Vangelis Diamantopoulos or Rachel Makri, a close collaborator of Zoe Kostantopoulou.

- IV487 - August 2015 / Greece