[Podcast] The deepening crisis of world capitalism

Against the Stream is back. After a summer break, Victor Murray joins Jorge Martín of the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International to take stock of the key processes shaping the world situation.

The US-Iran memorandum collapsed just a few weeks after the end of our last season. Now Trump is back to threatening annihilation of Iran.

In reality, his stubborn doubling down is preparing an even more humiliating defeat. Iran still controls the Strait of Hormuz. American interceptor stockpiles are drained and will take years to replace. The Pentagon has been reduced to emailing staff to ask for ‘creative ideas’. Meanwhile, the Houthis have routed Saudi-backed forces in Yemen and seized the coast along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, giving them the ability to garrote another critical chokepoint of world trade.

In Ukraine, the hype around long-range strikes has faded. The hopes that Ukraine can ‘turn the tide’ are being dashed by a devastating manpower crisis, mass desertions and a string of corruption scandals, which reach right into Zelensky's inner circle. Of course, almost none of this is reported in the West.

Meanwhile, a political earthquake has occurred in Germany. The AfD took 44 per cent in Saxony-Anhalt, the CDU was wiped out in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, and Die Linke won Berlin with close to half the youth vote. This humiliation of the establishment is a symptom of the crisis of European capitalism, which has reached its very heart. Austerity, militarism, and the cost of living crisis are preparing volcanic class struggle – and not just in Germany.

New episodes of Against the Stream every Thursday at 6pm London time on YouTube and podcast platforms.