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A vintage-style halftone illustration in red, beige, and black shows a chaotic political rally scene displayed across five devices: an old CRT television, a tablet, and three smartphones. The central image on each screen depicts former President Donald Trump being escorted by Secret Service agents through a crowd of supporters. The distressed, grainy texture and muted tones evoke a 1968 protest aesthetic, emphasising media saturation and political spectacle.
Donald J Trump

Death of the Real

The bullet missed, but the image hit. And it’s the image that rules now. Trump, mid-stumble, hand to ear, flanked by agents in suits. It has already been cropped, filtered, multiplied. Not just a moment, but a message: the strongman under fire, the martyr made live. The spectacle doesn’t distract from the violence; it packages it. Sells it. Projects it across TVs, phones, and tablets until belief hardens into doctrine. This is what power looks like in the age of algorithmic memory: not stability, but survival on camera.

A graffiti-style poster on a textured off-white, slightly stained wall reads in bold red hand-painted letters: “BRITAIN DOESN’T NEED RESTORING IT NEEDS REBUILDING — FROM THE GROUND UP, BY AND FOR THE MANY.” The paint appears uneven and dripping in places
Britain

The Fantasy of Restoration: A Polemic Against Rupert Lowe

MP Rupert Lowe peddles a fantasy of lost greatness to mask the failures of those who’ve ruled and ruined this country. The problem isn’t immigration or identity. It’s inequality, privatisation, and a political class that sold off the future for short-term profit. You want courage? Try telling the truth about power.

Book Review

The Bulletproof Messiah: On Butler by Salena Zito

Butler isn’t really about politics. It’s about belief. The bullet didn’t just graze him; it made him sacred. The messy contradictions of 2016 are gone. What’s left is atmosphere, myth, and the story of a man who bled on stage and got up again. The faithful took it as a sign. This isn’t reporting. It’s scripture. A gospel for a leader who survives everything, and so, must rule.

A red baseball cap with white block letters reading “THE CUTS BEHIND THE CAP” on the front panel. The image has a grainy, vintage texture in beige and muted tones. The cap appears slightly worn, set against a distressed background suggestive of aged paper or fabric.
Donald J Trump

The Cuts Behind the Cap: Trumpism’s War on Its Own Base

Trump promised to protect the safety net. Instead, he signed a law that slashes Medicaid, imposes work requirements, and purges the rolls by design. His supporters still cheer, not because the cuts help them, but because the performance does. The cap says “Make America Great Again.” The policy says: you’re on your own.

A graphic poster with a textured, warm brown background. At the centre is the BRICS 2025 logo: a stylised, symmetrical burst of colourful triangles forming a tree-like shape, using vivid red, orange, yellow, green, and blue tones. Beneath the logo, bold black text reads “BRICS,” followed by “BRASIL 2025” and the Portuguese phrase “SUL GLOBAL INCLUSIVO E SUSTENTÁVEL.” The overall design evokes a mid-century political aesthetic with modern international symbolism.
BRICS

When Principles Are Selective: BRICS, the Global South, and the Silence on Ukraine

BRICS condemns the bombing of Gaza and strikes on Iran with the language of international law, civilian protection, and sovereignty. But when it comes to Ukraine (a country invaded by one of its founding members) the silence is deafening. This isn’t a blind spot. It’s the logic of bloc politics. BRICS positions itself as a voice for the Global South, an alternative to Western hypocrisy, but it has its own double standards. Anti-imperialism loses its meaning if it only runs one way. The emerging multipolar order may be less Western, but it is not necessarily more just.

Digital illustration of the International Criminal Court building in The Hague. The image uses a limited palette of teal, turquoise, muted beige, and deep blue. The building’s modern glass facade is simplified into geometric blocks, and the foreground features a bold sign with the ICC’s logo and name in French and English. The overall effect evokes mid-century graphic design, with clean lines, high contrast, and a subdued, politically charged tone.
Gaza

When the Powerful Kill: Why Israel and Russia Get Away with War Crimes

The phrase “rules-based international order” has become a punchline. When Russia bombs a maternity hospital, it’s a war crime. When Israel flattens a refugee camp, it’s self-defence. The ICC pursues African warlords and Balkan generals with zeal—but stalls or retreats when the accused are allies of Washington or clients of London. The problem isn’t that international law exists. It’s that it doesn’t apply to everyone. War crimes are prosecuted not on the basis of what’s done, but who does it, and who they do it for.

Graphic in distressed orange, black, and olive green. The image shows ruined buildings silhouetted against a stark sky, with jagged barbed wire stretching across the foreground. The word “GAZA” appears in large, block letters at the top, evoking a sense of confinement, devastation, and resistance.
Ethnic Cleansing

This Is Ethnic Cleansing—Call It What It Is

Behind the talk of “humanitarian cities” and postwar development lies a brutal truth: this is a plan to herd Palestinians into ghettos, fence them in, and call it aid. When Blair’s thinktank is on calls about a “Trump Riviera” in Gaza, you know the project isn’t reconstruction—it’s removal.

Empire in Disarray

Hal Draper’s ‘America as Overlord’ is a study of imperial necessity, how the United States became the regulator of global capitalism, why its dominance persisted, and what happens when the system it upholds begins to fracture.

The Anti-Imperialism of Fools

The left’s long struggle against empire has often been distorted by its own blind spots, nowhere more so than in the contradictions of campism, where opposition to Western imperialism too often becomes an excuse for silence, or worse, complicity, in the face of other empires.

Neither Washington nor Moscow book cover

Reviving ‘Neither Washington Nor Moscow’

In an era of escalating global tensions and the rise of new geopolitical powers, the debate over the alignment of socialist movements has become increasingly pressing. The slogan “neither Washington nor Moscow” is more relevant than ever. This article argues that adopting this stance is crucial for preserving Marxist principles and resisting the phenomenon of campism, where socialist movements align uncritically with one global power against another. By embracing this slogan, we can safeguard the integrity of our struggle.

Against Apologism: Critiquing the Left’s Flirtation with Stalinism

Some on the modern left have engaged in ‘apologism’ for oppressive regimes, whether whitewashing Stalin’s crimes or reflexively supporting authoritarian “anti-imperialist” states. This post argues that defending past and present authoritarianism fundamentally contradicts core progressive principles of liberation, democracy, and human rights.

Beyond a US-China-Russia Conflict

As the world continues to shift towards a new global order, the competition between the United States, China, and Russia has become increasingly apparent. While some may argue that conflict between these powers is inevitable, others question the effectiveness of Marxist alternatives in a world that is dominated by state capitalism and imperial tendencies. In this article, we will explore the complexities of the US-China-Russia relationship and examine the limitations of Marxist ideology in addressing the challenges of our current political and economic landscape.