2025 marks a turning point in world history.
The tectonic plates of international relations are shifting, the globalised world economy is being torn apart, and the entire capitalist order is being shaken to its foundations by political, economic, environmental and social crises.
An unstable new epoch – an epoch of war, revolution and counter-revolution – has opened up.
For over half a century following the Second World War, America straddled the capitalist world as the sole imperialist hegemon. Now that has changed. China and Russia have emerged as imperialist powers in their own right, whereas the power of US imperialism has shown its limits.
With Trump at the helm, US imperialism is trying to find a new footing on the world stage. But as the first months of his second term have shown, this is anything but straightforward.
Trump has slapped tariffs on friends and foes alike, sought to pull the US out of Ukraine, and thrown Europe under the bus in the process.
These dramatic moves reveal something that has been building for a long time: as the capitalist crisis deepens, and with less loot to go around, it’s every man for himself.
For the ruling class, this is a disaster. The strife between the powers is unravelling decades of globalisation and free trade, pouring gasoline on the fire of the economic crisis.
It has also forced every nation to find the money for ever more guns and bombs at a time when they are being crushed under historic levels of debt.
For the majority of the world’s population, this means instability, austerity, and the horrors of war. But, at the same time, this very chaos is a recipe for class struggle.
The workers of the world won’t take this lying down forever: already, the radicalisation over the genocide in Palestine and the mass movements in Serbia, Turkey and Greece signal that revolutionary explosions are on the horizon.
In preparation for the first congress of the Revolutionary Communist International, Jorge Martín and Hamid Alizadeh from the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International sat down to discuss world perspectives on a special episode of Against the Stream, the weekly podcast of the RCI, giving you a Marxist analysis of world affairs:
Against the Stream premieres weekly on YouTube. Tune in every Thursday at 6pm London time, or catch up on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Articles mentioned:
Monopoly capitalism, imperialism, and the world economy – Marxist.com
Debt is crushing the developing world – Financial Times
Matthew Miller lying compilation – X
Pakistan: URGENT SOLIDARITY APPEAL – release arrested leaders of the Awaami Action Committee Gilgit Baltistan! – Marxist.com
Pakistan: protests continue for the release of comrades in Gilgit Baltistan despite state repression – Marxist.com
