Skip to main content
Work with the NEU
Let the left embrace a world in mutiny
The Marxist politician who led the Workers’ Party of Belgium (PTB) during its unprecedented rise from 2008 to 2021, PETER MERTENS, speaks to Ben Chacko about how the European left can regain its vision and its base in the working class
MARCHING FORWARDS: Crowds at the PTB stage on a national demonstration in Brussels against the cost-of-living crisis, December 16 2022

Your new book, being launched in London on April 30, is called Mutiny: How Our World is Tilting. What inspired this title?

The word “mutiny” comes from a quote by Fiona Hill, a former staff member of the US National Security Council. For Hill, the fact that 127 countries did not support the sanctions against Russia was nothing less than a “mutiny.” That resonated with me.

I found that very symbolic because for the first time, more than a third of the world’s countries said that what is said in Washington is no longer law. If that’s mutiny, let’s embrace it, as a sobriquet, with a bit of a rebellious character.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
Solar panels
Features / 28 August 2026
28 August 2026

The left needs a bold energy vision – because if it fails to provide one, others will shape the future in their own interests, argues ALAN SIMPSON

A massive gathers in Hyde Park, London, for a meeting during the General Strike, May 1926
History / 1 January 2026
1 January 2026

BEN CHACKO says in different ways, the centenary of the General Strike and that of Fidel Castro’s birth point to priority tasks for the British left in the coming year