The Greater Manchester mayor has shifted left over the years — but his record still shows a tendency to wobble when pressure comes from the right, says SOLOMON HUGHES
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Why is there an arms trade?
The arms industry is at the heart of capitalism today; we need to confront both, argues the MARX MEMORIAL LIBRARY
Art on display at the Art the Arms Fair art exhibition, set up in opposition to the DSEI arms fair, at Capstan House in east London, 2017
RAMZY BAROUD explains why Israel’s political collapse cannot be separated from its war crimes
DAVID RABY charts the ever increasing US attempts at intervention in Mexico’s internal affairs
FRANCISCO DOMINGUEZ and ROGER D HARRIS highlight how the priority for internationalists should be defending Venezuela’s government against external aggression
Established as a landmark victory for the climate movement, the CCC promised to hold governments to account. Today, it is understating the danger of climate chaos and impeding the radical action needed, says IAN SINCLAIR
ROGER McKENZIE draws attention to the much-neglected oral traditions of the global South that define the identity – and therefore the liberation – of its custodians
MILITARY conflict and conquest — and the manufacture and sale of arms — has always been central to capitalism. In 1577 Francis Drake set out to plunder Spanish settlements in South America in search of gold and silver. In the process he also challenged Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese interests in the East Indies.
Soon after the defeat of the Spanish Armada the (British) East India Company received its Royal Charter from Queen Elizabeth in 1600. In 1803 the company had a private army of over a quarter of a million — twice the size of the British army.
Following the defeat of Napoleonic France in 1815, Britain expanded its imperial holdings around the globe and its ruling class enjoyed a century of almost unchallenged dominance. The “Pax Britannica” was in fact a continual series of colonial wars, accompanying a rhetoric of “free trade” that gave British capital its dominant position in world commerce.
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Europe is acquiescing in Trump’s manoeuvrings — where Europe takes over the US forever war in Ukraine while Washington gets ready for a future fight with China. And it’s working people who will be left paying the price, says DIANE ABBOTT MP
