Editorial

Last year was seen in by the horrifying tsunami around the Indian Ocean on Boxing Day 2004, and ended with the earthquake in Pakistan, leaving not only many thousands dead, but also further thousands who will die because of inadequate shelter and food this winter. When a full balance sheet of these disastrous events is made, the terrible human cost will in part be shown to be the result of political failure.

 

Britain

Gordon Brown’s recent pre-budget report has seen the British economy once more emerge as an area of political controversy after a number of years of seeming consensus. Andy Kilmister discusses why capitalist commentators, both in the media and the City, have become markedly more critical of Brown’s strategies.

 

Britain

Sarah Parker argues that to understand the attacks on civil liberties in Britain we have to look at them in the context of the US War on Terror and of European efforts to strengthen the EU as an economic and military bloc.

 

Britain

Liam Mac Uaid looks at what Respect councillors can expect if they gain control of a local council.

 

Climate Change

Global warming, capitalism and our future

Capitalism has known about global warming for at least fifty years but seems unable to face up to the consequences. Is there something inherent in capitalism that prevents its moving to a low Greenhouse Gas economy? Phil Ward argues that while planning under workers’ and community control is what we hope to see in the future, there are also demands we should be making on governments now.

 

Iraq

Since the Abu Graib torture revelations, US casualties in Iraq have doubled, and attacks on their troops have increased from one hundred and fifty a week to over seven hundred. Military recruitment is dropping and there is a majority against the war. Here Jeff Mackler and George Saunders (of Socialist Action US) argue that the potential to get the US out of Iraq has never been greater.

 

Iraq

Gilbert Achcar was interviewed by Andrew Kennedy on 17 December 2005, before the election results had been announced.

 

China

China in the post Multi-Fibre Agreement era

In this article Au Loong-Yu, editorial board member of Globalization Monitor, Hong Kong, analyses the impact of the ending of the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC) in 2005 after thirty years. What is at stake for working people around the world with the phasing out of MFA? How does the ‘rise of China’ relate to this? Is it a zero-sum game or a win-win situation for other developing countries?

 

Review

Scott Ritter (with an introduction by Seymour Hersh)

The Untold Story of the Intelligence Conspiracy to Undermine the UN and Overthrow Saddam Hussein.

 

Review

Gillian Slovo (Virago Press)

Gillian Slovo’s Ice Road is a gripping account of the brutality of Stalinism, from 1933 to 1942 – from the purges and show trials, to the siege of Leningrad. The ‘ice road’ of the title was the passage across frozen Lake Ladoga, which allowed the workers of Leningrad to survive the Nazi onslaught through the winter of 1941-42.

 

Review

John Lister (Middlesex University Press, 2005)

A Critical Guide to the ‘Global Health reform’ Industry.

 

France

Joint declaration initiated by the LCR (French section of the Fourth International)