As I write these lines, the attention of the entire world is focused on one man. His every word is studied, dissected and analysed in the most extraordinary detail, in the hope that one might derive some sense as to what it may, or may not, signify.

The world is being transformed before our eyes. With Trump taking a sledgehammer to the order of the last century, with Russia closing in on victory in Ukraine, with the globalised world economy being ripped apart by tariffs, and with Netanyahu setting fire to the entire Middle East, a new epoch has opened up.

Today is the 50th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon. Prior to this denouement, from 30-31 January 1968, 70,000 North Vietnamese soldiers, together with guerrilla fighters of the NLF, launched one of the most daring military campaigns in history. The Tet Offensive was the real turning point in the Vietnam War. In 2008, on its 40th anniversary, Alan Woods analysed the events that led to the Vietnam War and the significance of the Tet Offensive in bringing about the defeat of US imperialism.

The Second World War is one of the most mythologised events in history. In the West, we are led to believe that Winston Churchill and Roosevelt single-handedly led the Allies in a struggle for democracy against the fascist totalitarianism of Nazi Germany. But what’s the real story of WWII, the one they don’t teach you at school?

Issue 49 of In Defence of Marxism magazine is here! Below we publish Alan Woods’ editorial explaining the true history of WWII – which capitalist historians have obfuscated for decades. Issue 49 also explores the revolutionary legacy of the end of the war, including articles on: the fall of fascism in Italy; the liberation of France; post-war neorealist cinema; and a 1945 analysis by Ted Grant on the shifting world order. Get your copy now!

To begin with the glaringly obvious. The author of these lines has absolutely nothing in common with Marine Le Pen, or the ideology or the movement for which she is the most visible head.

A spectre is haunting Europe. This horrible phenomenon has appeared suddenly, as if by some kind of black magic, conjured up from the darkest pit of hell by a malevolent devil, to plague and torment the good people of the Earth, to disturb their rest and people their worst nightmares.

Trump’s dramatic return to the White House has thrown the liberals into complete panic and confusion. They have been accusing Trump of being responsible for every ill in the world, and have flung whatever insults they can at him: from semi-fascist, to fascist, to neo-fascist.

The Chinese have an old saying: the greatest misfortune that can befall a man is to live in interesting times. The truth of that ancient wisdom has now suddenly dawned on the rulers of the western world. 

Art has accompanied us throughout the history of our species. And while it has its own laws of development, the history of art also reflects the fundamental, revolutionary changes that have shaped human society. In this article, Alan Woods examines some of the great revolutions in art and society, and the role of art in the emancipation of the working class.

Issue 48 of In Defence of Marxism magazine – the quarterly theoretical journal of the Revolutionary Communist International – is out now! Alan Woods’ editorial, which we publish below, takes up the central question of whether we can truly know and understand the world around us, which is a theme throughout this issue. The four articles in this issue take up a wide range of questions relating to this topic: the crisis and stagnation of contemporary science, mysticism in interpreting quantum physics, the philosophical insights of Goethe’s Faust, and a critique of the philosophical writings of Mao.

With just two weeks before Trump re-enters the White House, the outgoing Democrats are doing everything they can to undermine the next president. In Ukraine in particular, where they fear a drastic change of course in the policy of US imperialism, they are funnelling in as much money as they can get away with, as well as escalating the war by allowing Ukraine to strike deep into Russia with US bombs.

Oh yes, you read the title correctly. An angry old man in Washington and a psychologically deranged president in Kyiv have been busy jointly plotting a plan that may potentially push the world into an abyss.

We live in an epoch of war. Israel’s brutal campaign in Gaza, backed by the West, has spilled into Lebanon. The Ukraine War is careening towards its bloody denouement. These and many other conflicts are a product of the crisis of capitalism, which is sharpening the divisions between the imperialist powers, and sowing instability everywhere. What is the solution? On 15 November, 19:30 GMT, the Revolutionary Communist International’s lead theoretician Alan Woods will deliver a speech on the question of war and imperialism today.

The shock result of the US presidential election provides yet another example of the kind of sudden and sharp changes that are implicit in the situation. Up to the very last minute, the media pundits were straining every nerve and muscle to prove that the polls were heading for a Harris victory, albeit with a narrow margin.