The question is not simply how much we spend on defence, but what we understand defence and security to mean, says SIMON BRIGNELL
WHILE conventional wisdom has it that capitalism triumphed over communism in the cold war, in 2019 the journalist Aditya Chakrabortty provided a more nuanced, largely ignored, analysis.
“Communism didn’t topple capitalism, but kept it honest — and so saved it from itself,” he argued in the Guardian.
“The very presence of a powerful rival ideology frightened capitalists into sharing their returns with workers and the rest of the society, in higher wages, more welfare spending and greater public investment.”
While Italy’s communist tradition remains fragmented and politically marginal, France’s party is attempting to re-establish itself as an independent force rooted in working-class organisation, says NICK WRIGHT
The future does not have to be climate chaos and social breakdown. MARC VANDEPITTE looks at the alternatives offered by the Global Justice Report, co-authored by Thomas Piketty
CJ ATKINS takes a closer look at Trump’s recent spate of red-baiting speeches and asks why the authoritarian president is running scared



