Lal Khan analyses the modern resurgence of political Islam and religious fundamentalism, which has risen in conditions of ideological and political vacuum following the collapse of the Soviet Union. From the black reaction of ISIS to the ferociously bestial Taliban, these Frankenstein’s monsters created by imperialism in the past have wreaked havoc and are raising the spectre of barbarism in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the Middle East.

The “Ice Bucket Challenge” has gone certifiably viral. Countless videos showing people dousing themselves with buckets of ice water in the name of charity have flooded social media. But what does it all mean? Is “raising awareness” enough? We publish here an article by John Peterson of Socialist Appeal USA, who asks: how do we really create a world free of illness and suffering?

The shooting of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown has let loose the pent-up anger and frustration of ​b​lack youth in the otherwise quiet working class St. Louis suburb of Ferguson. The US National Guard have now been called in to quell the protests. These events above all show that huge pressures are building up in US society, just one scratch below the surface. We publish here an analysis from Socialist Appeal USA.