Mozart’s opera ‘The Marriage of Figaro’ caused a storm when it was first performed in 1786. In this article, Alan Woods explains the subversive nature of the opera, and how it revolutionised the art form. Importantly, he shows how it gave expression to the growing ferment in society, which culminated in the French Revolution only a few years later.

If anyone thought that US imperialism’s embarrassment in Iran would deter it from its escalating campaign of aggression against the Cuban Revolution, they were very mistaken. On several occasions, President Trump has indicated that he would “deal” with Cuba after he was finished with Iran. Since the 29 January executive order imposing an oil blockade on the island, Washington has continued to increase the pressure.

Two weeks ago, TV channel Canal Red released audio recordings of conversations between Honduran government officials. These recordings reveal a network of corruption and coercion involving Trump, Javier Milei, and even Benjamin Netanyahu. Together, they aim to establish a stronghold for US imperialism in Honduras and create a network to pressure left-wing governments in the region, such as those in Mexico and Colombia.

The April-May state elections were an historic turning point in Indian politics. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist BJP conquered West Bengal, while the Left Democratic Front (LDF) lost control of Kerala. For the first time since 1977, not a single Indian state will be led by a communist party.

Trump is in Beijing. He thinks he has gone to negotiate from a position of strength, but in reality, he is negotiating from a position of weakness. That is the story of American imperialism in 2026.

When Donald Trump returned to the Presidency of the United States back in January 2025, Europe’s right-populist leaders and politicians were jubilant.

After two months, Ehsan Ali remains in prison, alongside other leaders of the Awami Action Committee. Three more were seized after a peaceful protest in Hunza last week. We must mobilise against this injustice with all our forces. On 4 June, the Free Ehsan Ali campaign will hold an international day of protest at Pakistan's diplomatic missions all over the world!

When AI emerged some years ago, commentators said that AI and robots were going to take over the world, that we were all going to be unemployed, and so on. But at the time, this was more conjecture than anything. Without investment, AI as we know it would never have become a reality.

Nationalists. Populists. Insurgents. Independents. None of the above. These were the assorted winners of Britain's May elections.

Bold predictions were put forward in the aftermath of Trump’s 2024 electoral victory. Trump’s re-election signified, according to many, a fundamental cultural shift in America. Young people were ditching liberalism and “wokeness,” conservative values were becoming mainstream, and Trump was really going to make America great again.

Leon Trotsky's Transitional Programme is a masterpiece of Marxism, the lessons of which have never been more relevant. Written in a turbulent time of capitalist crisis like our own, Trotsky demonstrates the tactics and method of Marxism in connecting with the living class struggle.

Israel is subjecting Lebanon to a campaign of ‘Gazafication’ – systematically levelling villages, displacing populations and targeting journalists and medical staff – under the pretext of ‘fighting Hezbollah’. Their intention is clearly to prevent any ceasefire between the US and the Iranians, and to seize Lebanese territory by force of arms while much of the media’s attention is focused on Iran.

Europe was the birthplace of capitalism. Now it's in freefall. In this week’s Against the Stream, Hamid Alizadeh and Jorge Martín dive into the deepening crisis gripping the continent. Germany is launching a trillion-euro rearmament drive while simultaneously slashing €38 billion from pensions and healthcare. France can’t pass a budget. The AfD is overtaking the CDU in the polls. And across Europe, the old political centre is collapsing.

Colombia is a country of contradictions. It has some of the world’s greatest biodiversity, abundant mineral wealth, and a vibrant people. Yet it suffers from imperialist domination, internal civil war, crime, and poverty. It is within this tumult that the Revolutionary Communists of Colombia (CRC) have been born. 

From 1-4 May, over 600 communists gathered in London for the third congress of the Revolutionary Communist Party, the British section of the RCI. The weekend opened with a discussion on world perspectives, introduced by Alan Woods, leader and theoretician of the RCI.