International - Socialist Action

Copenhagen talks lay bare the class conflict at the heart of climate change

22nd December 2009 Socialist Action 0

By Paul Lewis

The failed climate change talks in Copenhagen last week demonstrated how climate change has become a central aspect of the international class struggle.

By failing to agree binding terms to sharply reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the capitalist nations, led by the USA, have demonstrated that they are prepared to allow the avoidable suffering of hundreds of millions of Africans, Asians, Caribbeans and Latin Americans, rather than risk a challenge to its model of capitalist imperialism that has dominated humanity for over two centuries.

George Monbiot’s analysis of the Copenhagen talks

22nd December 2009 Socialist Action 0

George Monbiot has a good analysis of the Copenhagen talks on climate change in 21 December’s Guardian which is worth reading in full. Monbiot concludes: ‘The immediate reason for the failure of [Read more]

No butter, just guns

1st December 2009 Socialist Action 0

The international financial crisis is frequently interpreted as being characterised by operations of avaricious and immoral bankers, motivated purely by personal greed, acting with complete indifference to the population of this or any other country, who recklessly operated financial derivates they did not understand within a casino economy, and whose net useful contribution to society has been shown to be less than zero – all of which is true. But this is only the mechanism by which the economic crisis worked itself out – not its cause. Furthermore, if this had been the real driving force of the economic crisis it would be relatively easy to deal with – tough financial regulation and similar measures would suffice.

First dilemmas of Nicolas Sarkozy

3rd July 2007 Socialist Action 0

First published: 3 July 2007

There was no doubt as to the project of Nicolas Sarkozy when he was elected president of France in May this year. When the US launched the Iraq war this had not been supported by three of the four major European governments – those of Russia, Germany and France. Only Britain actively collaborated with the US. While the opposition of the European powers was mainly verbal, nevertheless this division between the imperialists undoubtedly helped strengthen the international anti-war movement and, to a limited degree, the resistance in Iraq.

Les premiers dilemmes de Nicolas Sarkozy

1st July 2007 Socialist Action 0

First published: July 2007

Le projet de Nicolas Sarkozy au moment de son élection était tout à fait clair. Lorsque les USA ont lancé leur offensive en Irak, trois des quatre principaux gouvernements européens ne l’ont pas soutenu, la France, l’Allemagne et la Russie. Seule la Grande Bretagne a activement collaboré avec les forces américaines. Bien que l’opposition de ces puissances européennes ait été essentiellement verbale, cette division au sein même du camp impérialiste a incontestablement renforcé le mouvement anti-guerre au niveau international et dans une certaine mesure, bien que très restreinte, la résistance en Irak.

China and the death penalty

24th May 2006 Socialist Action 0

First published: 24 May 2006

An earlier article (‘The US Gulag’ – 22 May) pointed out that in terms of the relative size of their populations the US has six times as many people in prison as China, and that it is clear from the statistics of ethnic composition of those imprisoned that this greater rate of imprisonment in the US specifically hits racial minorities. In short the US has not only an extremely large scale but also a racist gulag. Knowledge of such data is obviously extremely relevant to judging the lack of credibility to be given to US government protestations concerning its supposed commitment to human rights, as opposed to economic and military self-interest, in criticising China.