Avsnitt
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World School of Communism 2026: https://schoolofcommunism.com/
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The United States and Iran have signed a deal to end the war. Looking through the fourteen points of the ‘Memorandum of Understanding’, it becomes clear that America has conceded everything Iran demanded, and Iran has given up nothing in return.
In this week's Against the Stream, Hamid Alizadeh and Ben Curry break down the deal point by point: the three hundred billion dollar reconstruction fund, the end of sanctions, Iran's new control over the Strait of Hormuz, the prospect of Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, and the collapse of America’s regime change agenda.
They explain the meaning of a defeat that many are calling worse than Vietnam, what it means for Israel, the Gulf states, China, Russia, and the world economy, and why this represents a turning point in America’s imperial decline.
New episodes of Against the Stream return in mid-September.
📖 Recommended reading 📖
Does Israel control the United States? – https://marxist.com/does-israel-control-the-united-states.htm
Israelis angry over U.S.-Iran peace deal lash out at Netanyahu – https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/israelis-argry-over-u-s-iran-peace-deal-lash-out-at-netanyahu
‘American Surrender’: Conservatives React in Horror to Formal Iran Deal Announcement – https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/american-surrender-conservatives-react-in-horror-to-formal-iran-deal-announcement/
Iran Is a Bigger Defeat Than Vietnam – https://foreignpolicy.com/2026/06/16/iran-vietnam-strategy-defeat/
⏱️ Timestamps ⏱️
0:00 Intro
2:15 The peace deal point by point
19:22 What does this mean for the US?
25:40 Splits in the MAGA-movement
33:26 Freedom of navigation no more
37:29 What does this mean for Israel?
58:40 What does this mean for Europe?
1:03:25 The impact on world relations
1:08:06 The impact on the world economy
1:13:57 Will the deal hold?
🫵 Join the Revolutionary Communist International: https://marxist.com/join-us.htm
📚 Marxist literature: https://wellred-books.com/
📸 Instagram: / revcomintern
💬 Twitter: https://x.com/revcomintern/
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Five hundred days of Trump in power. No more forever wars – except there is a war. The biggest paychecks in history – except hundreds of millions of Americans say the cost of living is the worst they can ever remember. And thirty-four percent of young Americans now hold a favourable view of communism.
In this week's episode of Against the Stream, Victor Murray and Fred Weston take stock of Trump's second term so far, discuss the shifting consciousness of the American working class, and how communists need to fill the vacuum on the left.
The episode traces the roots of Trump's appeal to the long-term decline of US capitalism, the betrayals of the Democrats, and the lessons of lesser-evilism in Italy and asks: with Minneapolis, Mamdani, and the growing RCA, is a genuine revolutionary alternative beginning to take shape in the belly of the beast?
New episodes of Against the Stream every Thursday at 6pm GMT on YouTube.
📖 RECOMMENDED READING 📖
Lesser-evilism, Italian style – and how it destroyed the left
🔗 https://marxist.com/lesser-evilism-italy.htm
Italy: Meloni becomes lame duck premier after referendum defeat
🔗 https://marxist.com/italy-meloni-becomes-lame-duck-premier-after-referendum-defeat.htm
The RCA’s third national congress: preparing for the next American revolution
🔗 https://marxist.com/the-rca-s-third-national-congress-preparing-for-the-next-american-revolution.htm
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS ⏱️
🌐 LINKS 🌐
🫵 Join the Revolutionary Communist International:
https://marxist.com/join-us.htm
📚 Marxist literature:
https://wellred-books.com/
🎧 Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/68nGNHz5lB8UZXICGIDMva?si=682ef70551644443
📱 Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/against-the-stream/id1777793987
📸 Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/revcomintern/
💬 Twitter:
https://x.com/revcomintern/
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Saknas det avsnitt?
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The Iran war has set off a cascade of crises working their way through the world economy. Oil reserves are at a twenty-year low, inflation is rising, bond yields are spiking, and the IMF is warning of a worldwide slump. But is there a way out on a capitalist basis?
In this week's Against the Stream, Hamid Alizadeh and Niklas Albin Svensson examine four of the proposed solutions for the crisis: the defence of liberal world order, protectionism and nationalism, Modern Monetary Theory, and a planned economy.
They explain why free trade and protectionism both lead to crises, why MMT cannot resolve a problem rooted in production by tweaking the circulation of money, and why a democratically planned economy is not utopia but the only rational way to organise the world's resources.
New episodes of Against the Stream every Thursday at 6pm GMT on YouTube.
📖 Recommended reading 📖
The economic consequences of the war in Iran – https://marxist.com/the-economic-consequences-of-the-war-in-iran.htm
Marxism vs Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) – https://marxist.com/marxism-vs-modern-monetary-theory-mmt.htm
Draft of an Article on Friedrich List’s book: Das Nationale System der Politischen Oekonomie – http://hiaw.org/defcon6/works/1845/03/list.html
On the Question of Free Trade – https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1888/free-trade/index.htm
⏱️ Timestamps ⏱️
00:00:00 Intro
00:00:49 The status quo (post-WWII liberal world order)
00:27:05 Protectionism and nationalism
00:47:19 Modern Monetary Theory (MMT)
01:08:57 Socialism
🫵 Join the Revolutionary Communist International: https://marxist.com/join-us.htm
📚 Marxist literature: https://wellred-books.com/
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revcomintern/
💬 Twitter: https://x.com/revcomintern/
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What will be the future of Israel and the Gulf countries? What is the possible order of the Middle East and Asia? Those questions are the starting point for this week's Against the Stream – a special Q&A episode where Hamid Alizadeh and Jorge Martín work through the best and toughest questions from our comment section.
Starting with the events in Iran, Hamid and Jorge explain that any end to the war will not be a compromise on Iran's part. Iran has achieved all of its aims while the United States has achieved none. The Gulf states are quietly making their own arrangements with Tehran. Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan, and Egypt are moving away from the American camp. China is positioned to broker the new regional order.
Next, they dig into one of the most common theoretical questions in our comment section: is China capitalist? For Marxists this is a concrete question that can only be answered by looking at the real development of China. The past thirty years paint a clear picture: privatisation, industrial capacity sitting idle, hundreds of millions in precarious work, youth unemployment, and more billionaires than any country on earth. Understanding why and how this happened is key to putting forward a programme for socialism in China and internationally.
From there the episode turns to Venezuela, and to a particular kind of argument that circulates on the left – that Western Marxists are too dogmatic, too Eurocentric, too theoretical to understand developments taking place in other continents. The answer lies in the facts. Since the kidnapping of Maduro, Venezuela has become a US protectorate. Its oil income goes into a Washington-controlled bank account. Chávez himself said in 2012 that the greatest mistake of the revolution was not taking it to its final conclusion. Only theory and an honest appraisal of events can give us foresight – and be an antidote to identity politics, which explains nothing at all.
Finally, Hamid and Jorge answer whether international revolution is actually on the agenda – and whether there is any point in joining a union today.
New episodes of Against the Stream every Thursday at 6pm GMT on YouTube.
📖 RECOMMENDED READING 📖
Revolution and counter-revolution in Venezuela:
https://marxist.com/book-the-venezuelan-revolution-marxist-perspective/revolution-andnbspcounter-revolution-in-venezuela.htm
China's long march to capitalism
https://marxist.com/china-long-march-capitalism021006.htm
Leon Trotsky: Trade Unions in the Epoch of Imperialist Decay (1940)
https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1940/xx/tu.htm
What is to be Done? How Lenin built a battle organisation
https://marxist.com/what-is-to-be-done-how-lenin-built-a-battle-organisation.htm
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS ⏱️
00:01:24 How will the Iran war impact the future of the Middle East?00:14:56 Is China really capitalist?00:32:26 If China is capitalist, why do many own their own homes?00:40:05 Will multipolarity make China move towards socialism?00:44:19 Will defeating US imperialism benefit the Chinese/Iranian masses?00:48:37 Does the RCI only support 'pure and perfect' revolutionary struggles?01:00:44 Is international revolution possible?01:07:32 Is there any use joining the unions?
🫵 Join the Revolutionary Communist International: https://marxist.com/join-us.htm
📚 Marxist literature: https://wellred-books.com/
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revcomintern/
💬 Twitter: https://x.com/revcomintern/
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Six prime ministers in ten years. Labour just lost fifteen hundred council seats. Has Britain become ungovernable?
In this week's Against the Stream, Hamid Alizadeh sits down with Adam Booth, editor of The Communist, the paper of the Revolutionary Communist Party in Britain, to give a Marxist answer to that question. And the answer is not what most commentators want to hear.
The episode traces the deep roots of the British crisis: from the deindustrialisation that began over a century ago, to the Thatcherite turn to financialisation and the City of London, to the mountain of debt that now costs Britain 110 billion pounds a year in interest payments alone. That is three point six percent of everything the British working class produces every year, going straight into the pockets of the banks.The episode explains why the revolving door of prime ministers is not a problem of individual incompetence but a symptom of the terminal decline of British capitalism. Trotsky predicted this degeneration a hundred years ago, and the process he described has only accelerated. Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Keir Starmer are not anomalies. They are the natural political products of a speculative, financialised economy with no industrial base left to speak of.
The episode also takes on the bond markets, the so-called vigilantes who now openly dictate who should lead the Labour Party. It explains concretely what a bond is, why the markets reacted the way they did to Liz Truss, and why no government, however well-intentioned, can simply ignore these mechanisms under capitalism.
And crucially, it goes through the left alternatives on offer, including Modern Monetary Theory, borrowing to invest, taxing the rich, and defaulting on the debt, and explains clearly why none of these, on their own, offer a way out. Not because they are too radical, but because they do not go far enough. The only real solution is democratic control over the commanding heights of the economy.
New episodes of Against the Stream every Thursday at 6pm GMT on YouTube.
🌐 Links 🌐
🫵 Join the Revolutionary Communist International:
https://marxist.com/join-us.htm
📚 Marxist literature:
https://wellred-books.com/
🎧 Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/68nGNHz5lB8UZXICGIDMva?si=682ef70551644443
📱 Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/against-the-stream/id1777793987
📸 Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/revcomintern/
💬 Twitter:
https://x.com/revcomintern/
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Trump is in Beijing. He thinks he has gone to negotiate from a position of strength, but in reality, he is negotiating from a position of weakness. That is the story of American imperialism in 2026.
In this week's episode of Against the Stream, Hamid Alizadeh and Jorge Martín give a Marxist analysis of what the Iran War has done to American power, what it means for China, and what it reveals about the deeper historical decline of US imperialism.
The episode covers a lot of ground. Analysing two extraordinary pieces from the American press – one by a MAGA theoretician in the New York Times, one by neocon hawk Robert Kagan in the Atlantic – it is clear that even parts of the American ruling class are now writing obituaries for American hegemony.
A CIA intelligence assessment confirms that Iran retains 70 percent of its pre-war missile stockpiles and 80 percent of its mobile launchers. Operation Freedom, the US attempt to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, lasted just 36 hours. American weapons stocks will take three to five years to replace. And Trump has, for the first time in US history, agreed to discuss arms deliveries to Taiwan with China.
Meanwhile, China has 1.2 billion barrels of oil in reserve and hasn't touched them. It controls 90 percent of global rare earth refining. It produces over 3.5 million STEM graduates a year – compared to 820,000 in the US. And it is now the go-to power for everyone from the Philippines to Venezuela who needs an alternative to Washington.
The episode also asks the deeper question: how did we get here? Is China just better run, or is something more fundamental going on? And is the decline of American imperialism actually a good thing for the working class of the world?
New episodes of Against the Stream air every Thursday at 6pm GMT on YouTube.
📖 Recommended reading
Opinion | America Is Officially an Empire in Decline - The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/03/opinion/iran-us-empire.html
Checkmate in Iran - The Atlantic
www.theatlantic.com/international/2026/05/iran-war-trump-losing/687094/
Ted Grant - Will There Be A Slump?
https://www.marxists.org/archive/grant/1960/slump.htm
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Europe was the birthplace of capitalism. Now it's in freefall.In this week’s Against the Stream, Hamid Alizadeh and Jorge Martín dive into the deepening crisis gripping the continent. Germany is launching a trillion-euro rearmament drive while simultaneously slashing 38 billion euros from pensions and healthcare. France can't pass a budget. The AfD is overtaking the CDU in the polls. And across Europe, the old political centre is collapsing.In reality, European rearmament has nothing to do with defending ordinary people. It's about defending imperialist interests, maintaining spheres of influence, and keeping up with a rising Russia that has won a proxy war against the whole of NATO in Ukraine.Then there's the economy. Energy prices have doubled or tripled since the war in Ukraine began. German industrial output in chemicals, steel and glass is nosediving. Europe is buying expensive American LNG while its industry bleeds out. And China is flooding world markets with cheap goods that European companies simply cannot compete with.The response from the European ruling classes all led to a dead end. While they might pay lip-service to EU integration, this is impossible under capitalism, as Lenin explained in 1915. The only real way out is the Socialist United States of Europe.New episodes of Against the Stream every Thursday at 6pm GMT on YouTube.
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Is AI a revolutionary leap forward for humanity – or the latest crisis capitalism has engineered for itself? In this episode of Against the Stream, Hamid Alizadeh and Fred Weston cut through the hype to give a Marxist analysis of the AI bubble, its roots in capitalist crisis, and what it means for the working class.
From the S&P 500's absurd tech valuations to OpenAI's pyramid-scheme economics, they expose how artificial intelligence – far from rescuing the global economy – is accelerating the same contradictions Marx diagnosed 150 years ago. The episode covers the AI stock bubble, the threat of mass unemployment, the de-skilling of the middle class, the collapse of European industry, the global debt crisis, and why the Luddites were right to be angry but wrong in their methods.
Most importantly the episode discussed why this technology could liberate humanity entirely – but only if it's taken out of the hands of the capitalists who own it.
New episodes of Against the Stream air every Thursday at 6pm GMT on YouTube.
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS ⏱️
0:00 — Intro
1:34 — AI bubble
15:37 — World economy on the brink
16:32 — Unemployment
36:03 — Alienation
44:59 — The Luddites
50:35 — The potential under communism
🌐 LINKS 🌐
✊ Join the Revolutionary Communist International:
https://marxist.com/join-us.htm
🎧 Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/68nGNHz5lB8UZXICGIDMva?si=682ef70551644443
📱 Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/against-the-stream/id1777793987
📸 Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/revcomintern/
💬 Twitter:
https://x.com/revcomintern/
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After a four-week break, Against the Stream is back!
Since our last episode, the world has been plunged deeper into crisis. With no end in sight for the Iran War, with energy prices and inflation rising, the global economy is teetering ever more precariously on the brink of a historic slump.
With each passing day, it is becoming clearer that Donald Trump – who believed Iran could be crushed by the naked force of American imperialism – has blundered. The humiliating defeat of the US and Israel in the region is pulling the rug out from under his feet. His approval ratings are now lower than ever.
At the same time, a sense of rage against the system is brewing in the US. Iranian propaganda videos are effectively tapping into the growing anti-war mood. In America, footage of a worker burning down their boss's warehouse has gone viral.
This war has brought about nothing less than a sea change in the global situation. Trump now appears like a man stuck in quicksand: unable to act without worsening his position. He is fanning the flames of the decline of US imperialism. The moment for fighting back could not be more opportune.
Tune in to this week’s episode, where Hamid Alizadeh and Jorge Martín discuss the world-historic events we are living through today and offer the way forward for the world working class.
📖 RECOMMENDED READING 📖
Iran War deals devastating collateral damage to Bangladesh
https://marxist.com/iran-war-deals-devastating-collateral-damage-to-bangladesh.htm
Trump’s defeat in Iran and its worldwide consequences
https://marxist.com/trump-s-defeat-in-iran-and-its-worldwide-consequences.htm
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS ⏱️
00:00 – Recap on Iran War
09:25 – What are America's options?
24:20 – Impact of US strategic defeat
30:19 – Looming economic crisis and food scarcity
38:55 – Brewing class anger
56:45 – How we can fight imperialism
🌐 LINKS 🌐
✊ Join the Revolutionary Communist International:
https://marxist.com/join-us.htm
🎧 Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/68nGNHz5lB8UZXICGIDMva?si=682ef70551644443
📱 Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/against-the-stream/id1777793987
📸 Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/revcomintern/
💬 Twitter:
https://x.com/revcomintern/
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All the warning lights are flashing. With the US and Israel relentlessly bombing Iran for nearly a month and the Strait of Hormuz remaining closed, the economic consequences of the Iran war are spelling serious trouble for economies worldwide. Stagflation, factory shutdowns, falling crop yields, and rising interest rates are no longer hypotheticals – they are unfolding in real time, and growing more severe by the day.
Who will be hardest hit by the fallout from this US-Israeli aggression? As with any imperialist war, it is the working class who are made to pay the price. An estimated 45 million people are already projected to fall into severe poverty, pushing the figures to record highs.
In the advanced capitalist economies, any gains made by ordinary people since the end of the pandemic are being wiped out in an instant. Serious bourgeois economists and commentators are growing anxious – not because their own fortunes are at stake, but because of the revolutionary implications of a new global slump.
In this week's episode of Against the Stream, Hamid and Jorge examine the enormous economic fallout of the Iran war, and take on a viewer's question about whether socialism can be achieved through parliament.
New episodes of Against the Stream air every Thursday at 6pm GMT on YouTube.
📖 RECOMMENDED READING 📖
International Debt Report 2025: When relief isn’t enough — LMICs face their largest external debt outflows in 50 years | World Bank
🔗https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/opendata/international-debt-report-2025--when-relief-isn-t-enough---lmics
Why the Middle East conflict threatens record levels of hunger | World Food Programme
🔗https://www.wfp.org/stories/why-middle-east-conflict-threatens-record-levels-hunger
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS ⏱️
00:00 – Intro
01:10 – Developments in the war
18:05 – Impact on world economy
33:15 – The impending food catastrophe
43:54 – The crisis of debt
53:57 – Poor countries are hit hardest
01:01:52 – Q: Revolution through parliament?
🌐 LINKS 🌐
✊ Join the Revolutionary Communist International: https://marxist.com/join-us.htm
🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/68nGNHz5lB8UZXICGIDMva?si=682ef70551644443
📱 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/against-the-stream/id1777793987
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revcomintern/
💬 Twitter: https://x.com/revcomintern/
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"Head-spinning betrayal." These are the words of dissident Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene – and they are undoubtedly echoed by millions of Trump voters across America, who have watched their 'peace president' turn warmonger while they foot the bill at the gas pump and the grocery store.
Three weeks into the war with Iran, the costs – both material and symbolic – are becoming an unsolvable problem for Donald Trump. As Hamid Alizadeh and Jorge Martín discuss on this episode of Against the Stream, what appeared to be a solid and unified bloc when Trump was elected, has always been an illusion. MAGA is revealing itself as a heterogeneous movement of conflicting class interests, and the conclusions being drawn by ordinary people are anything but insignificant. The consequences for the American class struggle in the period ahead will be colossal.
In this week's episode, Hamid and Jorge dig into the profound domestic fallout of the Iran war, while also turning their attention to another front in Trump's campaign of imperialist bullying: Cuba, which now finds itself in grave danger.
New episodes of Against the Stream air every Thursday at 6pm GMT on YouTube.
📖 RECOMMENDED READING 📖
The Economist – America’s friends must help extricate it from an unlawful war
🔗https://www.economist.com/by-invitation/2026/03/18/americas-friends-must-help-extricate-it-from-an-unlawful-war
The Guardian – UK security adviser ‘attended’ US-Iran talks and judged deal was within reach
🔗https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/17/uk-security-adviser-attended-us-iran-talks-and-judged-deal-was-within-reach
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS ⏱️
00:00 – Intro
01:25 – Iran war and its impact
37:23 – Do MAGA supporters want peace?
48:03 – Cuba update
🌐 LINKS 🌐
✊ Join the Revolutionary Communist International: https://marxist.com/join-us.htm
🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/68nGNHz5lB8UZXICGIDMva?si=682ef70551644443
📱 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/against-the-stream/id1777793987
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revcomintern/
💬 Twitter: https://x.com/revcomintern/
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As the war on Iran enters its third week, US imperialism finds itself mired in a deepening crisis. What Trump envisioned as a swift decapitation strike is rapidly proving to be the gravest blunder of his presidency – and perhaps one of the most catastrophic miscalculations in the history of American foreign policy.
Iran, meanwhile, is raising the stakes. Oil and gas prices are soaring, and the spectre of a new global economic slump looms ever larger. Ordinary people are watching these events unfold with a mixture of shock, bewilderment, and rage.
The question of how to fight back against imperialism and put an end to its unrelenting cycle of violence is weighing on the minds of millions.
In this episode of Against the Stream, Hamid Alizadeh and Fred Weston examine how communists must take up the struggle against US imperialism today, contrasting the Marxist approach with the positions of both the reformist left and so-called third-worldism.
New episodes of Against the Stream air every Thursday at 6pm GMT on YouTube.
📖 RECOMMENDED READING 📖
The war on Iran: where do communists stand?
🔗https://marxist.com/the-war-on-iran-where-do-communists-stand.htm
Trump’s massive Iran aggression gamble becoming a catastrophic miscalculation
🔗https://marxist.com/trump-s-massive-iran-aggression-gamble-becoming-a-catastrophic-miscalculation.htm
Financial Times – 'Iranians rethink the price of regime change'
🔗https://www.ft.com/content/4e048ed0-9bba-4392-8cee-7f1337c0b211
New York Times – 'Pace of Iran's retaliatory strikes appears to be slowing'
🔗https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/11/world/middleeast/iran-weapons-missiles-israel-gulf.html
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS ⏱️
00:00 – Intro and updates to the situation
15:15 – What is imperialism?
29:45 – The reformist 'solution'
48:55 – The 'Axis of Resistance'
🌐 LINKS 🌐
✊ Join the Revolutionary Communist International: https://marxist.com/join-us.htm
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revcomintern/
💬 Twitter: https://x.com/revcomintern/
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The United States and Israel have launched a war on Iran. Missiles and bombs are falling across Tehran and beyond, with strikes hitting schools, military installations, and government compounds throughout the country. Thousands of people are being killed and injured in yet another wave of imperialist bloodshed.
On today's episode of Against The Stream, Hamid Alizadeh is joined by Niklas Albin Svensson to analyse this major turning point in world events from a communist perspective. Already, things aren't going the way Trump had hoped, with Iran firing back, US munitions stretched thin, and the threat of a prolonged conflict the US cannot afford…
New episodes of Against the Stream air every Thursday at 6pm GMT on YouTube.
📖 RECOMMENDED READING 📖
The war on Iran: where do communists stand?
🔗https://marxist.com/the-war-on-iran-where-do-communists-stand.htm
Trump’s massive Iran aggression gamble becoming a catastrophic miscalculation
🔗https://marxist.com/trump-s-massive-iran-aggression-gamble-becoming-a-catastrophic-miscalculation.htm
Alliance of Political Forces of Iranian Kurdistan statement
🔗https://x.com/PDKIenglish/status/2028556271700549982
🌐 LINKS 🌐
✊ Join the Revolutionary Communist International: https://marxist.com/join-us.htm
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revcomintern/
💬 Twitter: https://x.com/revcomintern/
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Donald Trump is once again banging the war drums, threatening military action against Iran. He has now assembled the largest US naval build-up in the region since the 2003 invasion of Iraq – including two aircraft carriers and hundreds of fighter jets.
The recent kidnapping of Maduro appears to have emboldened Trump and the warhawks in Washington, convincing them they can dictate terms through sheer force. But a war with Iran would not be a simple show of strength; it would risk spiralling far beyond US control.
This looming conflict is not an isolated event, but the product of decades of US imperialist intervention that has sown chaos across the Middle East. As Ben Curry and Hamid Alizadeh discuss in this latest episode, new fault lines are opening, which threaten fresh and bloody clashes across the region. All this while crises at home, including the fallout from the Epstein files, expose the deep rot at the heart of American capitalism.Fittingly, this episode also tackles a key question sent in by a listener: will a revolution necessarily be violent
New episodes of Against the Stream air every Thursday at 6pm GMT on YouTube.
📖 RECOMMENDED READING 📖
Red Sea rift: US allies split into armed camps
🔗https://marxist.com/middle-east-divide-fault-lines.htmThe establishment has been rocked before.
Epstein is an existential threat
🔗https://www.thetimes.com/uk/royal-family/article/epstein-king-charles-british-monarchy-d7nxllfgq?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=AWEtsqfauVuwblbIy7ObbYJ5jMpOy4JSsVK2VWzBII0HGdoA2-CILWfjl88pZFz3PVE%3D&gaa_ts=69a06606&gaa_sig=VxBVBRNrLEXvVW-tWp7tZ0xwCM7-Z6MjuWqKNJGscxX_5bQsVJaV5_Q673BjJE7n-nCzvPxbFQGUzbDIRq9WVg%3D%3D
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS ⏱️
00:00 – Intro
01:15 – Iran military buildup
24:09 – Realignment of powers in the Middle East
46:48 – Epstein scandal out of control
01:04:16 – Question: do communists want violence?
🌐 LINKS 🌐
✊ Join the Revolutionary Communist International: https://marxist.com/join-us.htm
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revcomintern/
💬 Twitter: https://x.com/revcomintern/
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The Cuban revolution is in grave danger! Trump's oil blockade has cut off the island's fuel supplies, plunging the country into prolonged blackouts, halting public transport, and threatening a full-scale humanitarian crisis. With Venezuelan oil cut off and Mexico bowing to US threats, Trump is tightening the noose to asphyxiate the island after 67 years of relentless pressure.
The aim of the US is to crush a revolution that refuses to submit to imperialist domination. Trump demands Cuba sever ties with Russia and China, open its economy to US capital, and surrender its sovereignty. The stakes couldn’t be clearer: the survival of the revolution depends not on bourgeois governments, but on the mobilisation of the working class and oppressed worldwide.
In this episode of our Marxist current affairs podcast, Against the Stream, Jorgé Martín and Hamid Alizadeh analyse the latest developments in the imperialist siege and discuss the history of the Cuban Revolution and how it got where it is today. New episodes of Against the Stream air every Thursday at 6pm GMT on YouTube.
📖 RECOMMENDED READING 📖
Memorandum From the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs (Mallory) to the Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs (Rubottom)
🔗https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v06/d499
Cuba 50 years later – where is the revolution going?
🔗https://marxist.com/cuba-50-years-later.htm
Rise up with Cuba, peoples of the world!
🔗https://medium.com/la-tiza/lev%C3%A1ntense-con-cuba-pueblos-del-mundo-2cf19db7647c
"This is Not a Dress Rehearsal": U.S. Engaged in Massive Military Buildup as Threat To Bomb Iran Grows
🔗https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/iran-us-nuclear-military-buildup-trump-khamenei?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email&triedRedirect=true
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS ⏱️
00:00 – Intro
01:17 – What is going on in Cuba?
14:05 – Impact of blockade
23:58 – Why does the US care about Cuba?
27:50 – Is Cuba a socialist country?
46:51 – Iran
55:39 – Viewer's question: Why would people go to work under communism?
🌐 LINKS 🌐
✊ Join the Revolutionary Communist International: https://marxist.com/join-us.htm
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revcomintern/
💬 Twitter: https://x.com/revcomintern/
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Over the last month, we have seen shocking images come out of Syria. ISIS flags waving over Raqqa. Jihadist militants knocking over the gravestones of Kurdish fighters. When it was set up, the Kurdish statelet of Rojava inspired people worldwide. Later, they beat back ISIS. Now ISIS have returned, and the Kurds are fighting for their lives. How has it come to this?
Meanwhile, the world has been left aghast by the release of millions more files related to billionaire pedophile Jeffery Epstein. This is not only the exposure of the sordid dealings of a lone sex trafficker, but his friends: the most powerful people in the world. Here, for the whole world to see, is an unprecedented insight into the sociology and morality of the ruling class. Moreover, as the perpetrators walk scott free, the release of increasingly shocking dirt is stirring up a guillotine mood in society.
As communists, we more than anyone need to understand the significance and meaning of these events. In this episode of our Marxist current affairs podcast, Against the Stream, Fred Weston and Hamid Alizadeh sat down to do just that.
New episodes of Against the Stream air every Thursday at 6pm GMT on YouTube.
📖 RECOMENDED READING 📖
Donald Trump and the ‘Epstein Class’
🔗https://marxist.com/donald-trump-and-the-epstein-class.htm
Kurds under siege in Rojava
🔗https://marxist.com/kurds-under-siege-in-rojava-only-revolutionary-struggle-against-imperialism-can-prevent-a-massacre.htm
FT: The Epstein rot goes deep
🔗https://www.ft.com/content/3f8277cd-2b47-49ff-b264-fd7ce89c924f
Syria, Turkey, and the Oppression of the Kurds:
🔗https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivBJ4vpzsqs
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IMPORTANT NOTICE: This video was pre-recorded a week in advance. We will return to normal programming on Thursday 12th February.
A lot is said about Hugo Chávez and the Bolivarian Revolution. The billionaire-owned media cry out indignantly that was a dictator who ruined life for ordinary Venezuelans. But over the course of his presidency, he won a total of 19 democratic elections and referendums with record voter turnout – how many bourgeois politicians can claim the same?
In the meantime, the imperialists in Washington launched a number of coup attempts; all of which failed miserably, when brought face to face with the will of the organised masses. The power of the working class is like no other on Earth, and the Venezuelan Revolution offers an invaluable glimpse of what is possible when this power is unleashed.
What was it about Chávez’ methods and outlook that allowed him to lead the most important revolutionary movement of the 21st century? And what was it about those same methods and outlook that ultimately led to its defeat after his death?
Jorge Martín and Hamid Alizadeh answer these questions and more on this week’s episode of Against the Stream. Tune in every Thursday at 6pm GMT for a Marxist analysis of world events.
📖 RECOMMENDED READING 📖
'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised' – Documentary on the failed 2002 coup
🔗https://vimeo.com/513876099
Carry Out the Legacy of Hugo Chávez
🔗https://marxist.com/carry-out-the-legacy-of-hugo-chavez.htm
From Alan Woods' book 'The Venezuelan Revolution: A Marxist Perspective':
Encounters with Hugo Chávez
🔗https://marxist.com/book-the-venezuelan-revolution-marxist-perspective/encounters-with-hugo-chavez.htm
Marxists and the Venezuelan Revolution
🔗https://marxist.com/book-the-venezuelan-revolution-marxist-perspective/marxists-andnbspthe-venezuelan-revolution.htm
🌐 LINKS 🌐
✊ Join the Revolutionary Communist International:
https://marxist.com/join-us.htm
📸 Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/revcomintern/
💬 Twitter:
https://x.com/revcomintern/
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The movement against ICE in Minneapolis is not just any ordinary protest – it is a microcosm of the revolutionary events that will shake the United States in the period ahead. With their class struggle methods, culminating in the first general strike in America in 80 years, the workers of Minneapolis not only forced Trump to retreat, they have also inspired millions across the country and the world.
These events are a living and breathing lesson in the mechanics of revolution. They also show how, under the surface, the conditions for revolution – and particularly the consciousness of the classes – can develop undetected, before bursting to the surface in the form of dramatic events, which Trotsky described as the molecular processes of socialist revolution.
With more revolutionary shocks inbound, we as communists need to study and explain what is going on. In this episode of our Marxist current affairs podcast, Against the Stream, Fred Weston and Hamid Alizadeh delve into the events playing out in the US, and address how we can intervene in the struggle and prepare for the battles ahead.
New episodes of Against the Stream air every Thursday at 6pm GMT on YouTube.
📖 RECOMMENDED READING 📖
United States: the 2026 Minnesota general strike – a historic turning point
🔗https://marxist.com/united-states-the-2026-minnesota-general-strike-a-historic-turning-point.htm
Welcome to the American Winter – The Atlantic
🔗https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/01/minneapolis-uprising/685755/
Minneapolis Makes History: Now Spread the General Strike! [Podcast] – Revolutionary Communists of America
🔗https://youtu.be/nFi3sJCU1AY?si=r40nsT37QGFPZq1o
ICE Terrorizes Minneapolis: GENERAL STRIKE in the air [Podcast] – Revolutionary Communists of America
🔗https://youtu.be/EGBrOxhSqjs?si=5Eq9ycZ_E5xP7_qA
🌐 LINKS 🌐
✊ Join the Revolutionary Communist International: https://marxist.com/join-us.htm
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revcomintern/
💬 Twitter: https://x.com/revcomintern/
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Donald Trump has bulldozed his way into 2026. Now, he has put the acquisition of Greenland at the top of his new year’s wishlist, sending the Europeans into panic and jeopardising trans-Atlantic relations even further.
Why does Trump want Greenland? What would such a prospect mean for Europe on the world stage? And how are Trump’s actions abroad tied to the crisis at home, where the ICE murder of Renee Good has sparked an explosive movement. In this episode of our Marxist current affairs podcast, Against the Stream, Jorge Martín and Hamid Alizadeh discuss these questions and more, highlighting the underlying capitalist crisis that is driving all of these disasters.New episodes of Against the Stream air every Thursday at 6pm GMT on YouTube.📖 RECOMENDED READING 📖United States: anti-ICE rage surges in Minnesota — prepare for a general strike!https://marxist.com/united-states-anti-ice-rage-surges-in-minnesota-prepare-for-a-general-strike.htmAmerican imperialism increases pressure to take over Greenlandhttps://marxist.com/american-imperialism-increases-pressure-to-take-over-greenland.htm
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2026 is only a few weeks old, yet world events are already unfolding at breakneck speed. From Donald Trump’s kidnapping of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, to the killing of Renee Good and the protests against ICE in Minneapolis, and now the growing mass movement and the prospect of US intervention in Iran, huge events are shaking up the world situation.
In the first episode of the new season of our current-events podcast Against the Stream, Jorge Martín and Hamid Alizadeh unpack what these developments mean. They focus in particular on Iran: what is really happening on the ground, how today’s crisis is the product of centuries of imperialist meddling in the region, and what position communists should put forward in response.
Against the Stream is the Marxist current-affairs podcast of the Revolutionary Communist International. New episodes air every Thursday at 6pm GMT on YouTube.
📖 RECOMMENDED READING 📖
Iran:
Imperialists and Pahlavis – hands off Iran!
🔗https://marxist.com/imperialists-and-pahlavis-hands-off-iran.htm
After Ruining a Treasured Water Resource, Iran Is Drying Up - Yale E360
http://e360.yale.edu/features/iran-water-drought-dams-qanats
The effect of international sanctions on the size of the middle class in Iran - ScienceDirect
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0176268025001090
How Iran’s economic pain sparked explosion of unrest – Financial Times
http://www.ft.com/content/770dc40f-66be-4542-a584-3b6144117314
Venezuela:
Donald J Trump’s New Year’s gift to the world
🔗https://marxist.com/donald-j-trump-s-new-year-s-gift-to-the-world.htm
Trump’s attack on Venezuela: condemn this act of criminal aggression! – RCI statement
🔗https://marxist.com/condemn-criminal-us-attack-on-venezuela.htm
A week from US military aggression: where is Venezuela going?
🔗https://marxist.com/a-week-from-us-military-aggression-where-is-venezuela-going.htm
[Podcast] Hands off Venezuela
🔗https://marxist.com/podcast-hands-off-venezuela.htm
ICE:
United States: ICE murder of Renee Good – who are the real terrorists?
🔗https://marxist.com/united-states-ice-murder-of-renee-good-who-are-the-real-terrorists.htm
🌐 LINKS 🌐
✊ Join the Revolutionary Communist International:
https://marxist.com/join-us.htm
📸 Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/revcomintern/
💬 Twitter:
https://x.com/revcomintern/
- Visa fler
