Daniel Finn is the features editor at Jacobin. He is the author of One Man’s Terrorist: A Political History of the IRA.
Jeremy Corbyn’s critics are once again furious because he stated an undeniable fact. Corbyn was shamefully denounced as a dangerous antisemite primarily because he supported the democratic rights of the Palestinians.
The British government has intensified the discriminatory policies that led to the Windrush scandal of illegal deportations. Its latest scheme to forcibly transfer refugees to Rwanda may prove unworkable, but such theatrical cruelty is an end in itself.
From its late break with the Ottoman Empire to the Cold War rule of Enver Hoxha, Albania has followed an unusual path through modern history. But the country’s experience of communism and postcommunism is full of valuable lessons for the politics of today.
Lawyer Martin Forde has finally published a report on the Labour Party’s bitter factional wars under Jeremy Corbyn. The findings of the report show that the case against Corbyn made by his opponents was a shameless and cynical frame-up.
The outgoing Conservative leader claims to be the victim of a nefarious deep state conspiracy. Britain does have a deep state, but Johnson is the very last person who would show up on its hit list.
Boris Johnson’s disastrous time in office has spluttered to an ignominious conclusion. Many of those now deploring his record sided with Johnson when it really mattered because they wanted to block a left-wing government that could transform British society.
Britain’s prime minister intends to scrap his own Brexit deal and provoke a crisis in Northern Irish politics. Everyone who assisted Boris Johnson’s rise to power to block a left-wing government now shares responsibility for his criminal recklessness.
Polish economist Michał Kalecki argued that capitalists would always resist full employment because it increases the confidence and bargaining power of workers. He was right — so right that even the Fed has now begun citing his ideas.
Belgium was a pioneer of industrialization, and class struggle by its workers’ movement created one of Europe’s most impressive welfare states. But with regional divisions now dominating Belgian politics, the country’s long-term survival is deeply uncertain.
The Champions League final is one of the biggest events in world sports. UEFA and the French police turned it into a brutal, dangerous fiasco — and Emmanuel Macron’s ministers are lying through their teeth about what happened.
Tony Blair and New Labour consolidated the economic policies of Thatcherism and fostered a deep cynicism about politics through their lies about Iraq. The crisis of the last decade and its potentially ruinous consequences are their legacy to modern Britain.
Jean-Paul Sartre’s uncompromising opposition to the crimes of empire makes him a taboo figure in French culture. The French political mainstream is still in denial about the bloody history of colonialism.
After the fall of Indonesia’s US-backed tyrant Suharto in 1998, many Indonesians hoped that their country was on a path to genuine democracy. Two decades later, wealthy crooks and war criminals from the Suharto era are still deeply entrenched in power.
Since becoming Labour leader two years ago, Keir Starmer has deliberately cratered the party’s finances by antagonizing its members and union allies. Now he’s asking business tycoons to plug the gap and lock in the party’s status as capital’s B team.
US support for dictatorships and death squads during the Cold War was a moral catastrophe. Some liberal pundits would now like us to repeat that bloody track record, all in the name of the loftiest principles.
The neoliberal economic model has foundered and can no longer generate growth. Governments will be forced to change their approach to economic management, giving rise to more promising conditions for struggle by workers after a generation of retreat.
The Democratic Unionist Party supported the Leave campaign, but they’ve been the big losers from Boris Johnson’s Brexit. The union with Britain isn’t in danger yet, but the DUP now faces the prospect of being overtaken by Sinn Féin in this year’s election.
Under the leadership of Sukarno, postcolonial Indonesia was an optimistic country finding its place on the world stage. Suharto’s 1965 coup drowned that experiment in blood, with US politicians and media cheering on his campaign of mass killings.
Economic crises have reshaped the modern world. Economic historian Adam Tooze tells Jacobin how the coronavirus pandemic will upend global politics and commerce for decades to come.
Keir Starmer has cynically used the Ukraine crisis to pick a fight with his left-wing opponents. The Labour leader’s denunciation of antiwar activists will reinforce McCarthyite attitudes toward dissent and make fresh disasters like Iraq and Afghanistan more likely.