This week has been full of sharp and sudden turns. The Syrian civil war has suddenly reignited due to the shock advance of a Turkey-backed rebel group. The French president was forced to resign after trying to force through an austerity budget. Joe Biden has used his last few weeks in power to pardon his corrupt son. And, to top things off, the president of South Korea declared martial law, only to be quickly defeated by opposition from the whole of parliament and mass mobilisations. 

On 30 November and 1 December, over 160 activists took part in the founding congress of the Revolutionary Communist Party (PCR), held in Ivry-sur-Seine. Comrades came from the Paris region, Toulouse, Marseille, Aix-en-Provence, Montpellier, Grenoble, Reims, Gap, Lyon, Rennes, Morlaix, Brest, Nantes, Lille, Bourges, Dax, Cherbourg and Val d'Ajol.

The Irish general election has returned the two main capitalist parties to the Dáil with enough seats to form the core of a new coalition. The establishment is forcing a weak smile and trying to celebrate. “The choice of the Irish people is clear,” The Irish Times attempted to convince itself, “they want more of the same”.

Barring a dramatic turn of events, the Barnier government will fall tomorrow or Thursday. A new reprieve could only come from a last-minute retreat by the RN (National Rally) or the PS (Socialist Party). But these two parties would have nothing to gain – and a lot to lose.

French capitalism has entered a new period of massive job destruction. Announcements of closures and redundancy plans are multiplying: Michelin, Auchan, ArcelorMittal, and many others. According to the General Confederation of Labour (CGT), 150,000 industrial jobs are at risk in the short term. By closing down production, contractors are setting off a chain reaction, with suppliers and subcontractors filing for bankruptcy or laying off their own workers.

This week, the Middle East has once again dominated the news, with the ICC issuing an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as the announcement of a supposedly ‘lasting’ ceasefire in Lebanon. In Europe, meanwhile, explosive events are being prepared in France, as the tottering National Assembly is set to face off against a rising tide of class struggle.

On 23 November, more than 500 comrades from across Italy filled the rooms of the Frentani Congress Centre in Rome for the launch of the Revolutionary Communist Party (PCR). This meeting was the culmination of a months-long political campaign, stretching from Trento to Messina; but, above all, it represented a new beginning and an appeal to anyone who wants to mobilise against inequality, war and the innumerable forms of oppression engendered by the capitalist system.

Starmer has followed his American masters and allowed Ukraine to fire British-French missiles into Russian territory. This reckless move will have no bearing on the outcome of the war, other than prompting greater retaliation from Russia. We say, down with the warmongers!

In this episode of Against the Stream, Hamid Alizadeh and Niklas Albin Svensson, from the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International, discussed the reckless escalation of the Ukraine war by Biden, Trump’s controversial picks for his administration, and the death of the American Dream.

Just before the founding of the Revolutionary Communist Party (RKP) in Denmark, Reinout Bosch wrote a kind of greeting for our new party on Solidaritet.dk. We hereby send a greeting back to Reinout and the rest of a left wing characterised by gloom and pessimism.

This year’s Revolution Festival – a school of communism organised by the RCP – saw 1,000 communists gather for a weekend of anti-imperialist and Marxist discussion. This landmark event is a launchpad for building the forces of communism in Britain.

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.

The meteoric rise and catastrophic fall of the Corbyn movement represented a major turning point in British and world politics. For all that it inspired millions of workers and youth, it was an object lesson in the betrayals inherent in reformism and the pitfalls of opportunism: i.e. when left-wing leaders make ‘pragmatic’ concessions to the class enemy – with fatal consequences. This week, the Spectre of Communism speaks to Matt Zarb-Cousin, former spokesperson for Jeremy Corbyn, who saw this process unfold from the inside…

War in Ukraine, war in the Middle East and a huge global pro-Palestine movement: there is no shortage of reasons to overthrow imperialism, and no lack of willingness to do so. But, as the last year has taught us, this is anything but easy. Defeating the imperialists requires absolute political clarity and concrete perspectives.

The launch of the Revolutionary Communist Organisation – the Revolutionary Communist International in Belgium – took place on Saturday 9 November. Our organisation has made a fresh start with a militant revolutionary communist profile!