Joe Biden’s political appointments and domestic policies are the backdrop to the United States strategy to maintain its world dominance. These policies are being forged by veteran Washington insiders - key figures who were also prominent in the Obama era. Domestically policies are aimed at stabilising the US economy post-pandemic and preventing social dislocation and potential further unrest. This includes a big stimulus package for the economy and progressive measures on trade union rights and policing in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. But the Republicans will block much of this and the left will need to push Biden and Harris to fight for these policies. Though Biden’s rhetoric is different from Trump’s, he has appointed foreign policy hawks to his cabinet and will continue with the policies of Obama and Trump aimed at confronting the rise of China and Russia on the world stage. To be able to focus on that more effectively, however, the US is seeking to get out of major military commitments in the Middle East, which have proved a quagmire and instead to use proxies as a more effective way of achieving its ends.

Podcast 41 - Biden shores up domestic defences for global push

One view of the Ukraine war is that it is a struggle between two imperialist poles. But that suggests the US and Russia are evenly matched adversaries as Germany and Britain were in 1914 whereas America is clearly the world's military hegemony, with all of NATO's power under its sole command, while Russia is a regional capitalist power, challenging the US, but with nothing like the same reach or influence.

Podcast  64 - War in Ukraine and the competition to win the 21st century

There is extraordinary bias in the reporting of the war in Ukraine. Nothing which deviates in the slightest from the UK/US official positions is being reported and there is widespread censorship of information from the war zone. Dubious Ukrainian sources being uncritically reported. Sites are being closed down and users are prevented from accessing others, but there is alternative information out there.

Podcast 68 - Ukraine , not in the western media

While people at home face a horrendous cost of living crisis the UK government is pouring arms into Ukraine as well providing training to its armed forces. This includes British military personnel being present in Ukraine itself. This is not entirely new, however, and is an extension of long term collaboration between the two countries.

Podcast 71 - Britain stokes the fires of war in Ukraine

The Solomon Islands in the Pacific are being threatened with military intervention by the USA and Australia to prevent the enactment of a security pact agreed between China and the Solomon Islands nation. This makes these islands a flashpoint where a US war with China could begin.

Podcast 73 - Solomon Islands challenge to US domination in Pacific

Israeli elections are usually a distraction from Palestinian self-determination. However, to the alarm of Israel’s mainstream and liberal apologists, the hard-right government emerging from the November 2022 election puts Palestine centre-stage. The extreme anti-Palestinian racism of parties in Netanyahu's coalition and their anti-liberal views are causing concern among supporters of Israel abroad and buliding Palestinian resistance and solidarity.

Podcast 81- The Israeli Election - Is It An Own Goal

The emergence of a multi-polar world is not welcomed by the US as it sees its interests and its world hegemony threatened. More oil sales are being transacted in non-dollar currencies and organisations such as BRICS are attracting new members, pulling away from the US orbit. The US will us its considerable military and economic power to remain dominant in this new world.

Podcast 100 - A More Dangerous World

The West's response to its growing problems in the world is to threaten others and wage war. There is now a concerted build up towards more armed conflict including war with China. The question is, can the US and its allies be constrained? What are the forces driving the West to war and what might hold it back? The West now is less able to build coalitions as potential allies do not want to have their vital interests sacrificed in support of Western objectives. In addition, there is some increase in anti-war sentiment within Western countries.

Podcast 101 - Is Global War Inevitable

What shape is German imperialism in today? An imperialism that twice dared to reach for world power and thus triggered two world wars. Yet now its economy has been hard hit by US demands over Ukraine. It is suffering from increased fuel prices a result of the closure and sabotage of the Nord Stream pipeline from Russia and rocketing arms spending. Discontent is fueling the far right, while the left remains relatively weak. There have been bans on pro-Palestinian protests. To achieve change common struggles based on class and for peace are essential.

Podcast 102 - Germany, Growing Militarism And Attacks On The Working Class

We should not doubt that the UK government sees the threats posed by protest against war and unrest against the decimation of living standards and services. In the last couple of years Parliament has passed three pieces of legislation which restrict freedom of speech, the right to protest and the right to strike. A fourth which would outlaw public bodies from boycotting Israel is currently making its way through Parliament. Anti-democratic repression goes hand in hand with the militarist, anti-working class agendas of our rulers.

Podcast 103 - Growing Wave Of Protest Faces Real Risk Of Repression

This year will see a general election in the UK. At present it looks like a safe bet that the Tories will lose and Labour will win. Is there any more to say? With media pundits taking up airtime and webpages with their endless, repetitious prognostications it will certainly feel like there is not. However, there are real questions about the direction of Labour and the future of the Tories.

Podcast 104 - General Election Looms

Israel has long defied international law and has been repeatedly censured by the United Nations, which has also supported the Palestinians. As the genocide in Gaza continues, Palestinians are now the front line of defence for international law and the United Nations as its institutional expression. The west does not talk about international law, but rather the rules based order – by which it means its rules and its order. Whilst the United Nation has not always been progressive – the security council has an inbuilt western bias – yet it has always been an arena of struggle for anti-imperialist forces. South Africa’s bold move taking Israel to the International Court of Justice has proved a rallying call for supporters of Palestine and upholding the international law which Israel flaunts. Seeing the danger of the UN becoming a real force to counter western aggression Israel and the US have launched attacks on UN institutions, especially those which offer practical support to the Palestinians, like UNRAW. The global south, South Africa and the Palestinians are taking the lead in defending international legal norms from the west.

Podcast 108 - US And Israel Attack The UN And International Law

One of the main accusations leveled by capitalist ideologues against socialism is that it simply does not work. This is rather unconvincing coming from the system which has brought us close to the edge of climate catastrophe, decaying living standards and infrastructure, lower productivity and stagnating growth in western economies. And yet this critique of socialism is routinely accepted without examining the evidence of the achievements of the Soviet Union and other socialist countries. When these are set out they reveal the opposite - growing economies and improvements in the well-being of the citizens of those countries. This should give us confidence and hope that there is an alternative to the dire reality of our capitalist world.

Podcast 114 - The Soviet model and the economic cold war - Part 1

The new Labour government opens up new opportunities and also faces massive challenges. We will have to wait and see whether the movement can achieve real progress for working people in Britain.

Podcast 115 -  A Labour Government - What Next

In August the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina resigned. On the surface, and as reported in mainstream media outlets, she was forced to step down due to student protests, but there were deeper geopolitical reasons behind her ousting. Not least she had raised US ire by refusing to host a United States military base in Bangladesh and by drawing closer to China and the BRICS countries. The student movement, as has happened in similar situations in other countries, provided leverage for the US regime change agenda.

Podcast 118 - Regime change in Bangladesh

One aspect of the build up for war with China is the rearmament and increasingly aggressive military posture of Japan. Imperialists in Japan have long sought to shed the constraints placed on it as a defeated nation after the Second World War and now they have been given the green light to do this by the United States, which wants Japan to be part of the military encirclement of China and of Russia in the East. However, as the only country which has experienced the use of nuclear weapons at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there is also a strong peace movement in Japan which rejects these moves.

Podcast 120 - Militarism Rises Again In Japan

The Danger of direct conflict between the great powers have recently multiplied. The US has refused to accept its declining supremacy, to compromise or negotiate. Ongoing conflicts in the Ukraine and the Middle East are in danger of reaching a point of no return.The growing appetite for change, away from war ,sham democracy, and climate catastrophe indicates that millions of people are disillusioned with the entire system. The promotion of a socialist alternative is vital.

Podcast 121 - The danger of world war - can it be stopped ?

The tasks of the peace movement in Britain are urgent, as people continue to suffer poverty, cuts to services and crumbling infrastructure yet the government plans to increase arms spending to 2.5%of GDP or £87.1 billion including massive expenditure on replacing the Trident nuclear weapons system. This has nothing to do with self-defence and everything to do with Britain playing its part in fighting wars and imposing military power across the globe. Not only could this money be better spent elsewhere but Britain’s active involvement in wars such as Ukraine make this country a target. But there is an alternative to an imperialist, warmongering UK. We could take the path of non-alignment and join with others, like BRICS, to have a more secure and prosperous future.

Podcast 122 - The fight for peace and disarmament

What will the prospects for the world be with Donald Trump back in the White House? It is not entirely certain how Trump will approach the war in Ukraine, but there is an increasing shift in the establishment towards the realistic view that Ukraine cannot win on the battlefield and that there should be negotiations. Other things are clearer. Trump will maintain a firm support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza and ramp up hostility towards China as a prelude to war. But why was Trump able to win and Kamala Harris lose the Presidential election. Breaking down the statistics of where the Democrats lost ground it can be seen that the conscious neglect of core voters led to a drop in support for the Democrats through abstention, with Trump also capitalising on this disaffection. A failure by the Democrats to address the needs of working class Americans as well as alienation on the issue of Gaza were among the factors at work.

Podcast 123 -  Trump's Election, How It Happened And What It Could Mean For The World

Frontex, the EU border agency is armed and is the only EU body to have a uniform. It's task is to guard the EU's borders and to implement the aggressive push back of migrants trying to escape war and poverty to reach Europe. With an increasing budget it also operates unaccountably. But as the EU tries to maintain "Fortress Europe" it's own system designed to maintain free-movement of labour within the Schengen Agreement area is beginning to fall apart. There are increasing numbers of instances of restrictions by individual countries on the Agreement's operation or of its suspension. The massive contradictions at the heart of the EU's management of migration are becoming impossible to ignore.

Podcast  124 - Policing The Borders Of Paradise As Schengen Disintegrates

The BRICS alliance of Emerging Markets and Developing Countries took a major step forward at its 16th summit held in the Russian city of Kazan on October 22-24. Following decisions taken at last year’s summit in South Africa, a total of nine countries took part as full members for the first time, with Ethiopia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Iran joining Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. BRICS now represents nearly half of the global population. A total of 36 countries participated in the summit, along with the leaders of six international organisations, which included Antonio Guterres, United Nations General Secretary. BRICS has announced its intention to challenge the Western domination of the bank transfer system by introducing BRICS Pay as and alternative to SWIFT. This was a key announcement at the summit which showed a determination to continue to strengthen relationships between BRICS members.

Podcast  125 - BRICS -  Strengthening Multilateralism For Just Global Development And Security

State intervention and planning are not capitalism’s preferred ways of working, yet the need for state and globally agreed action is essential to tackling global warming. Yet if there is no viable planet then there is no capitalism either. Could this existential threat force capitalism to deal with the climate crisis? Having posed the question and put forward demands for achieving progress, we certainly shouldn’t just wait for this to happen, nor can we afford to wait for socialism to rescue us either. We need to campaign today to make governments act to halt the continued warming of our planet. We can also join with the developing world which is seeking climate justice. These are the countries often most affected by climate change, but they are not the ones which caused it. They demand that the industrialised countries who made their wealth from polluting the planet pay for the transition to a green future.

Podcast  126 - Cops And Robbers In The Climate Crisis

The current homelessness crisis can trace its roots back 40 years to the "right to buy" policy of the conservative Government that took council housing out of public ownership and into private hands. Subsequent governments have done nothing to reverse this trend and additionally a lot of social housing has been hived off to housing associations. Increasingly individuals and families find it hard to afford homes of a decent standard. When council housing was widely available it acted as a break on rent increases and standards were higher. Organising tenants to put pressure on landlords and government is vital, but a task made harder by the fragmentation of housing stock where neighbours will have different landlords - private, housing association and maybe even the council. Above all we need more council housing.

Podcast 127- Housing Crisis, causes and cures

Russia is routinely accused of interfering in democracy in other countries. While these accusations have been insubstantial, there is a growing body of evidence of Israeli interference in British politics. Both in the United States and in the UK pro-Israel groups have channeled cash into defeating pro-Palestine law-makers and funding a wide range of Members of Parliament. In the UK some of these groups have close working relationships with the Israeli embassy and have arranged for trips to Israel by MPs. This funding and these relationships are being used to further the interests of a foreign power and undermine British sovereignty as well as subduing criticism of Israel's genocide against the Palestinians.

Podcast 128 - Israel interfering with democracy

On a recent visit to Russia this commentator found a society that was functioning well with decent services and a sense of social cohesion. There was a sense of normality despite the war. Although people did not talk a lot about it, he found that people wanted peace, but not at any price.

Podcast 129 -  A Window  into Russia

The Labour government has made reform of the planning system central to its efforts to increase growth. There are problems with the system which has become increasingly fragmented and dominated by the private sector in recent decades. However Labour's response does not address the central problems and some of its proposals are quite negative, like changing the designation of green belt lad so that it can be built on. It seems to entirely have forgotten its own history where previous Labour governments took a broad visionary approach to planning which was in the hands of national and local government. Pioneering work was done in those times. Current proposals fall very far short of these past ambitions to ensure that people had good environments to live and work in.

Podcast 130 -  Labour's Planning Reforms

Although Trump is notoriously erratic, beneath the surface of this and his egregious, insulting behaviour there are consistencies. One is that he will continue to support Israel as the bastion of US interests in the Middle East and Palestinians who continue to suffer from Israel’s genocidal actions both in Gaza and the West Bank. One bright spot in a rather grim political landscape in Britian has been the unified and determined campaigning by activists in solidarity with Palestine. In particular we can learn from the past success of the boycott of South African apartheid to mobilise people to boycott Israeli apartheid now.

Podcast 131 -  Trump's world order, the West and the UK

Trump is motivated by a desire to ensure US supremacy in the face of China which is developing rapidly. No other country poses such a threat and he wants to clear the decks for that fight, hence his attempt to end the war in Ukraine on terms favourable to the United States. Other aspects of Trump’s imperial agenda – his designs on Greenland and Panama and also relate to his desire to prevent China challenging US power.

Podcast 132 -  Beginning of the end of the war in Ukraine

Podcast 133 -  Palestine solidarity united, defiant, focused

The conflict between the USA and North Korea is a David and Goliath contest, so to blame both equally is wrong. We also need to know about the devastation caused to North Korea by the United States during the Korean war to understand its position now. It is the US which has rejected North Korean overtures for dialogue, violated the treaty ending the Korean war and ripped up a previously working agreement. The view presented by the media in the west is dangerously skewed and part of war preparations, however, there are powerful voices who also want peace on the Korean peninsula.

podcast 1 - North Korea

The Socialist Correspondent attempts to get to the truth behind events. Using Marxist principles, it shines a light on those responsible for war, terrorism and exploitation and reports and analyses the struggles of working people across the globe. The Socialist Correspondent is partisan. It unashamedly supports those fighting for peace, justice and socialism.

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