We are publishing here the latest analysis of the world situation by the International Marxist Tendency. In this first part, we look at the world economic situation and discuss the global crisis of capitalism – the deepest crisis in the history of capitalism. This forms the background to the political and social situation, which has developed to revolutionary proportions worldwide.

We publish here a short obituary to Pete Seeger, the American folk singer and activist, who sadly passed away last week on 27th January at the age of 94. Seeger was a decent man who suffered disgraceful harassment at the hands of the US establishment throughout the 1950s and 1960s.

American diplomats Richard Haass and Meghan O’Sullivan , were invited to Belfast by Martin McGuinness and Peter Robinson to seek an agreement over the issues of parades, flags and the legacy of the past. The position of the Unionist parties and those of Sinn Féin and the SDLP reveal much about the underlying contradictions and divisions in the North.