by Yorick F., firstly published in Infomail 1285 of Gruppe Arbeiter:innenmacht, June 2025

About a year after the mass protests against President William Ruto’s tax increases in Kenya, large demonstrations taking place again in Nairobi and other Kenyan cities since June 8, 2025. Eleven months ago, the demonstrations, which were largely led by young people and dubbed “Gen Z riots” by the media, were met with brutal repression, including several deaths and kidnappings, arrests, and the use of shotguns with so-called “less lethal ammunition” (riot control with non-lethal firearm ammunition, e.g., rubber bullets). To put the protests into context, here is an excerpt from our article on the causes of the protests from July 2024.

Imperialism as the cause of the crisis

„The protests were triggered by tax increases proposed by President Ruto, who was elected in 2022, primarily in the form of value-added taxes on essential goods. The aim was to raise a total of US$2.7 billion to stabilize the national budget and ensure the repayment of loans. They were to be significantly increased on bread, cooking oil, and vehicle ownership. The announcement to raise taxes on menstrual products was also perceived as particularly brazen, after a politician from Ruto’s party had announced during the election campaign that she wanted to make them available free of charge in the future.

These taxes are in addition to the massive price increases caused by high inflation, which are already forcing many people in Kenya to live on only one or two meals a day. Large sections of the Kenyan population are threatened with absolute poverty. On the other hand, those who are far removed from this and will not be burdened with additional taxes are the small Kenyan bourgeoisie and, fuelling the anger of the masses, the ruling political class. Politicians‘ salaries are among the highest in the world compared to the average income, and President Ruto himself lives in luxury.

Kenya also ranks a less than impressive 126th out of 180 on the Corruption Perceptions Index. But even though corruption and the luxury enjoyed by politicians while the masses are impoverished are causing particular anger, many in Kenya have realized that these are only superficial problems and are dismissing Ruto’s attempts at mediation, which are now beginning, on the grounds that the specific austerity measures can be discussed again and, as a sign of goodwill, can also begin in the presidential office. The real problem, as brazen as it may sound, is not that Ruto’s wife receives 5 million euros from the state for no real reason, or that the president goes to church wearing a fancy belt costing 2,800 US dollars, but rather it is the austerity measures themselves that are causing the problem. Ruto himself states that Kenya has to spend more than 60% of its national budget on debt repayment. The creditors? The former colonial power Britain, the US, China, the EU and, at the top of the list, of course, the International Monetary Fund. It was the IMF that “recommended” the new budget with massive tax increases to the Kenyan government. This recommendation is likely to be similar in nature to Schäuble’s advice to the Syriza government in Greece: it might be better to accept the troika’s dictates if you don’t want them to plunge the country into absolute misery with a brutal economic war.

Ruto, who, like most heads of state in semi-colonial countries, is only too happy to serve imperialism, in his case primarily Western imperialism, had attempted to meet the tax demands of the IMF and Co. solely at the expense of the masses, leaving his own wealth and that of his political friends untouched. Even if he now seems willing to make personal concessions in order to somehow save his position, the movement must not stop there and must direct its anger not only against the imperial governors, but against the system of global oppression itself!“

Renewed outbreak of protests

In addition to the approaching anniversary of the tax increase bill, the main trigger for the renewed outbreak of protests was the murder of Albert Ojwang, a 31-year-old teacher and blogger who had been playing a prominent role in social movements within Kenya for some time. Albert was arrested by police on June 7 at his home near the town of Homa Bay on the southern shore of Lake Victoria, on the pretext that he had “defamed” Kenya’s police chief Eliud Lagat on social media. He was then taken to the central police station in Nairobi, 350 km away, where he was found dead in his cell on June 8.

The police initially lied and said that he had inflicted his fatal injuries himself by “repeatedly banging his head against the wall.” This has since been exposed as a lie, which even Ruto had to admit publicly. The police chief responsible, Lagat, has resigned from his post but still receives a hefty salary and, like Albert’s direct killers, has not yet been prosecuted. This arrest is one of a series of arrests of well-known faces from last year’s protests, such as Rose Njeri, a software developer who created a website that made it easier for Kenyans to make demands on the government and who had also spoken out against the tax increases.

Since June 8, there have been militant mass protests demanding justice for Albert Ojwang, but also continuing to call for Ruto’s ouster, Kenya’s break with the IMF, and an end to massive state violence against the protest movement. The movement recently gained new momentum when, on the fringes of the protest on June 17, a young man selling masks was shot in the face at close range with a riot control shotgun, which passed through his head. Fortunately, the young man survived, but the anger and resistance against this act are more than justified!

On the same day, the protests were attacked not only by the police with tear gas, riot control shotguns, etc., but also by so-called “goons,” armed gangs cooperating with the police, on motorcycles and with baseball bats. However, they were successfully repelled and two of their motorcycles were burned.

Regional networking of repression

The repression of opposition figures is not limited to Kenyan territory. The government works closely with the two neighboring states of Uganda and Tanzania to suppress social movements in East Africa. This was evident, for example, in the arrest of Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi and Ugandan journalist Agather Atuhaire on May 20. Both had previously observed the trial of opposition leader Tundu Lissu in the Tanzanian capital Dar es Salaam (Tundu Lissu is charged with high treason, which carries the death penalty in Tanzania) and were detained, interrogated, tortured, and raped by Tanzanian police for several days.

In various operations, Tanzanian, Ugandan, and Kenyan authorities share logistics and information and support each other. They are well aware that the movements in all three countries are directed against the same enemy: the bourgeoisie, which participates in the imperialist exploitation of the countries by the former colonial power Great Britain, but also by other imperialist states such as the USA, China, and Germany, and enriches itself at the expense of the working class and youth.

Regional networking of the resistance!

It is not only in Kenya that masses are taking to the streets. After Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni (in power since 1986!) passed a new law allowing civilians who endanger “national security,” including opposition members, to be tried by military rather than civilian courts, thousands took to the streets in the capital Kampala on June 15. For years, Uganda has been moving in an increasingly authoritarian direction, and in the preparing to the upcoming elections, the country is once again significantly stepping up its repressive measures.

Tanzania has also seen massive repression in recent years, not least against the aforementioned Tundu Lissu and other members of the largest opposition party, CHADEMA (Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo; Party for Democracy and Progress), a right-wing liberal party. This repression took place in the context of mass protests demanding the removal of President Samia Suluhu Hassan from office and a restriction of her powers. The protests were supported by masses of the working class but, in the absence of an alternative, were very poorly led by Chadema. The Tanzanian police responded with massive repression against the protests, arrests, and extrajudicial killings of Chadema members.

The close cooperation between the rulers of Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania shows that they are afraid of a coherent regional and ultimately international movement against their complicity with imperialism!

We say: This is a good sign! The rulers should tremble before the justified, powerful anger of the East African working class and youth!

For a revolutionary perspective!

But the fear of the rulers does not yet mean victory. As impressive and heroic as the current and previous protests are, they currently have no clear strategy for defeating state terror and imperialist exploitation of their countries in the long term across national borders. Last year, the protests in Nairobi spread to Kampala and, to a lesser extent, to Dar es Salaam. Now it is necessary to consciously link the struggle against ongoing corruption and the coordinated state terror of the three countries! In the course of this, important strategic questions must be clarified in all states: Under what leadership are the protests taking place? What is needed for a new major offensive against the regimes, preferably simultaneously in all three countries?

This requires conscious forces that not only demand reforms, but can also draw up a transitional program and show a way forward from the current struggles to the end of capitalism. Pressure must be exerted on the forces currently dominating the struggles. The CKP (Communist Party of Kenya) is a party rooted in the working class, but it pursues a purely reformist policy and has become more oriented towards China in recent years. As important as it is to demand that the CKP break with all wings of the Kenyan bourgeoisie, its program does not offer a solution to the leadership crisis of the Kenyan working class. Rather, it is part of the problem. What is needed instead is a revolutionary workers‘ party that combines the struggle for the expropriation of international and national corporations with the struggle for a government of councils of workers and the poor!

There are signs of this happening, now that parts of the youth have split from the KP to the left, including the Revolutionary Socialist League, the Kenyan section of the International Socialist League, with whom we are in discussion and who have recognized that a break with Stalinism is necessary in order to offer a revolutionary perspective to workers and youth!

How does this affect us?

Here too, in one of the hearts of imperialism, we see waves of cuts coming our way. The same people who are squeezing Kenya’s youth are also cutting our education, social services, and much more. They too are building up an increasingly authoritarian apparatus of repression to nip resistance in the bud. Of course, we are struggling with these developments in a much less acute and sharp way than the youth in East Africa. This is because we are located in the imperialist center. Our bourgeoisies oppress the workers and youth in “their” semi-colonies, by the very nature of imperialism, even more than they do in their own countries. And yet they also oppress us, they also squeeze us, they are not our national friends, but our class enemies! Our struggle and the struggle of the Kenyan youth are closely linked! That is why we must also fight here, whether in Germany, Britain, France, or the US, against the debts of semi-colonial countries, under which the Kenyan youth, like so many other oppressed people around the world, groans.

• For the immediate cancellation of all debts of the semi-colonies to imperialist states and financial institutions such as the IMF! End the exploitation of one part of the world by another!
• Build self-defense organizations of workers and youth against police attacks and reactionary gangs! Build workers‘ and youth militias and agitate among rank-and-file soldiers to break with their officers and the state they serve!
• For the overthrow of the bourgeoisie and the control of councils in the workplaces, schools, and neighborhoods over economic production, education, and administration! For a workers‘ government based on these councils and militias that reorganizes the country’s economy on the basis of a democratic plan!
• For a union of socialist states in East Africa!
• For the building of a revolutionary youth international and a new revolutionary international, so that we can wage our struggles, which are in reality interconnected, together!

by Max Macht, June 2025 – 7 minutes reading time

In general

Retrenchment policy, forced migration, war and climate change are merely symptoms of capitalism which the global youth gets to experience. These crises don’t exist as isolated phenomena. They are all the expression of the increasing capitalist crisis. This is happening internationally: young people are being used as fuel at the front in context of the Ukraine war or the civil wars in Sudan and Congo, they are met with waves of retrenchment policy in dilapidated schools and are fleeing from war and climate catastrophes worldwide. The crisis is not a recent development but has its roots in the financial crisis of 2008, which lead to mass dismissals as well as social cuts in an attempt to unload the crisis onto the working class. As a reaction there have been mass protests and fights against these attacks such as Syriza in Greece or Podemos in Spain, which remained unsuccessful and resulted in the defeat of the entire working class. The Covid pandemic has led yet to another facet of the crisis through the interruption of the production process as well as the temporary disruption of production chains, which triggered a worldwide recession and taking on debt to get through it. In the end, this simply posed a delay of the crisis thus giving more time to shift the consequences onto the working class, as we can see now and back in 2008.

The youth is even more affected

Young people are especially affected by these crises. We´re not only experiencing the immediate results of economic instability but also the additional oppression of youth causing unemployment and precarious (working) circumstances. The youth is socially oppressed because they are in a stage between childhood and fully entering the labor market. This stage is designated by reproduction, meaning that its primary function is to secure the continuation of production process which is characterized by preparing us for the labor market and acquiring basic and specific skills on that ground. The process is often not profitable because young people are still in a stage of becoming a beneficial workforce instead of pressing out surplus value. Furthermore, young people face even more exploitation because their work is declared as simply “gathering experience”, making it less worthy. Beyond that, the youth rarely gets to make decisions over their own life and are strongly dependent on the bourgeois nuclear family.

Despite the oppression, its often young people standing in the front row on the streets, in protests and social movements. They are more prone to understanding the contradictions of capitalism because they are still in the process of being brought up by bourgeois ideology and are less demoralized compared to older workers generations, which have long fought in movements without long term success. Young people often have less to lose and are ready to sacrifice more. This actuality highlights the necessity for a revolutionary youth international in order to address young people and to introduce them to a revolutionary program.

Internationalism as the basis for revolution

Capitalism is in its highest stage, imperialism. In this phase, production and capital are concentrated in a few monopolies and there is a fusion of banking and industrial capital. There has also been an increase in the importance of the export of means of production, i.e., capital over goods. This has led to the formation of internationally operating monopolistic capital associations that have divided the entire world among themselves. Capitalism is therefore a global system, and the class enemy is organized internationally.

Since capitalism functions as a global system, the revolution must also be international. An isolated revolution that only wants to bake its own bread is doomed to failure, as the Stalinist degenerate workers‘ states such as the USSR and the GDR have shown. The struggle against capitalism can only be successful if it is organized internationally; the planning, implementation, and analysis of national and local work must be based on the international situation. In order to overthrow capitalism and achieve a socialist society, a revolutionary international with a clear program that makes this its task is needed.

Youth international as a communist fighting organization

The basis of an international youth organization must be a revolutionary program. This program includes analyses and resulting demands that are formulated on the basis of a transitional program, i.e., demands that build a bridge between struggles for concrete reforms and the revolutionary transition to socialism, with the aim of raising the consciousness of the struggling workers and youth within these struggles and winning them for a revolutionary program. This stands in clear contrast to the Stalinist and social democratic “mini-maxi” programs, which contain and separate reform demands on the one hand and maximum demands that are only possible under socialism or communism on the other. Due to the lack of a bridge to socialism and revolution, the maximum demands degenerate into mere toothless Sunday speeches, while reformist demands are worked through in day-to-day politics.

The program is the calling card of every organization. It shows what it fights for and how it intends to wage these struggles. The program of a youth international must contain clearly defined demands and analyses for the struggle against capitalism and for a socialist future. It must reflect the experiences of the organization and the historical experiences of the workers‘ movement and be at the highest level of Marxist research. At the same time, it is also an important tool for members to support their own activity and to educate themselves. The program can also be used as a measurable element to check the accuracy of past analyses and demands and to adjust them if necessary. This also means that, for us, a program should not be set in stone, but must be continually adapted and updated to current developments.

Bringing consciousness to the class

Revolutionary consciousness does not develop through purely economic, operational, or day-to-day political struggles. In order to fight for a revolution, workers must be convinced that overcoming capitalism is necessary and possible. This revolutionary consciousness requires knowledge of Marxism and cannot develop spontaneously through class struggles, as these remain at the level of reform and the goals can be achieved within capitalism without directly contradicting it. Therefore, the main task of revolutionaries is to intensify existing struggles and bring the youth and the working class into contradiction with the system. Bringing revolutionary consciousness into the class by winning workers to a revolutionary program—this is a task that requires a communist organization. For the Youth International, this means bringing class consciousness to the proletarian youth, especially to its leading sections.

Relationship to the revolutionary party

In general, the youth alone cannot overthrow capitalism. This task falls to the proletariat. That is why it is essential for the Youth International to work closely with the revolutionary party and the revolutionary international, to engage in programmatic discussions, and to maintain formal relations. The concrete relationship to the party, whether the youth is part of the party or an organization that is organizationally, programmatically, and financially independent, cannot be generalized. This relationship must be determined depending on the severity of the class struggle, repression, etc. However, it is important that the youth are given the space to make their own mistakes and learn from them in order to train revolutionary cadres capable of fighting. But the Youth International also has the task of correcting political mistakes made by the party and leading the struggle for revolutionary politics, should this be necessary. The betrayal of social democracy during and before the First World War illustrates where the Youth International, unlike the Second International, had a clear anti-militarist understanding.

For the building of a revolutionary Youth International!

The building of a Youth International cannot happen in a linear fashion. In order to build an effective international youth organization, we must discuss our program and theirs with other youth organizations. This task is all the more urgent in a period of intensified class struggle, a global shift to the right, and a general crisis of leadership among the proletariat and youth. These discussions and the development of a common practice can lead to a merger of organizations on the basis of a clear common program and a revolutionary strategy.

updatet June 2025, original text from December 2023 – 12 reading minutes

For over 20 months, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza. In facts, this means over 55,000 dead, over a million starving, destruction of schools, hospitals, universities, libraries, homes and places of worship, and almost the entire infrastructure. Israel has now officially announced its intention to expel the Palestinian population and permanently occupy most of the Gaza Strip. It is supported in this by Western imperialists, led by the United States and Germany. Not only does Israel’s genocidal policy meet with broad approval, but in imperialist countries such as Germany, solidarity with Palestine is criminalised under the pretext of „combating anti-Semitism“. This goes hand in hand with deeply racist policies and incitement against migrants, who are portrayed as the perpetrators and carriers of so-called ‘imported anti-Semitism.’

We hereby propose 10 demands for the Palestinian resistance and the solidarity movement in Germany in the struggle against these conditions.

In Palestine:

1. An immediate end to the genocide in Gaza! Lift the blockade! Withdraw all IDF troops from Gaza and the West Bank! Free all prisoners!

Despite various ceasefires, which have been repeatedly broken by Israel, the genocide in Gaza continues, with the IDF murdering civilians, destroying all infrastructure, blocking aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip and thus directly causing a famine. The immediate end to the brutal and war criminal attacks on Gaza is more than just a demand for a new ceasefire! An indefinite ceasefire and the passage of aid deliveries are essential for the survival of the population in the current situation, but this does not end the occupation; it merely means that the current conflicts are frozen. What we also do not demand is the demilitarisation of the Palestinians, because the right to self-defence and the struggle for freedom must also be enforced militantly. All IDF troops must leave Gaza and the West Bank; they are oppressive troops who enforce the rule of the State of Israel by any means necessary. The withdrawal of the IDF and the demand for an immediate end to the killing must be enforced unconditionally! We stand for the release of Palestinian prisoners. Approximately 4,500 Palestinians, including many children and young people, were already in Israeli prisons before 7 October 2023. Since then, however, thousands more have been arrested. Those who have been released report abuse and torture in most cases.

2. Down with apartheid and all restrictions on the freedom of Palestinians. For complete legal equality for all inhabitants between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River! Nationalisation of all land ownership and granting of the right of return to all Palestinians worldwide.

Palestinians are third-class citizens in Israel and the occupied territories; they are cheap labour, not equal before the law, and are systematically oppressed in both the social and economic spheres of their lives. Israeli institutions, both state and non-state, decide on house building, housing and, in Gaza, on electricity, water and raw materials. Checkpoints, hours of checks, house searches, raids and arrests are part of everyday life for Palestinians. The occupied West Bank is being carved up and freedom of movement is severely restricted. Settlers carry out pogroms under the protection of the IDF and drive Palestinians from their land. Settlers are subject to Israeli law, while Palestinians are subject to military law. That is why apartheid must be dismantled and all restrictions on freedom must be lifted. We demand complete equality for all people on the ground and the right of return for all displaced Palestinians. The basis for this is the socialised ownership of the means of production, land, factories and offices, as well as equal access to health, education and housing, coordinated through a democratic plan. That is why we are fighting for a socialist solution based on the common ownership of the land and all important means of production.

3. For a united secular socialist Palestine, with equality for all its citizens, Israeli and Palestinian, as part of a socialist federation of the Middle East. For a new Arab Spring!

The liberation of the Palestinian people and the freedom of the peoples of the Middle East from Western domination and exploitation require the revolutionary overthrow of Israel as a racist state and its replacement by a single bi-national state for both its Palestinian and Israeli-Jewish peoples. This does not mean the expulsion of the Israeli population or its destruction as a nation. The ‘two-state solution’ is in reality dead. Its recognition in words exists as a fig leaf for Israeli aggression. For the United States and Western European states, it justifies continued support for Israel, and for reformist parties such as the British Labour Party, it allows them to save face with their Muslim voters without committing themselves to the Palestinian resistance. It is the task of the Palestinians, as well as the working classes and oppressed peoples of the surrounding countries, to overthrow the Israeli state. The latter have an important role to play in this. It is they who must confront their dictators and rulers, for neither the Khomeinis, the Sissis nor the Erdogans of this region have any interest in a liberated Palestine. There needs to be a second Arab Spring, in which workers in the surrounding countries organise against their oppressors and overthrow them, open the borders to Gaza and, under joint control, provide aid and support the struggle on the ground.

Ultimately, a democratically planned economy controlled by the working class is the only way to rebuild Gaza and the West Bank in the interests of their inhabitants and to fulfil the Palestinians‘ right of return, while guaranteeing the right to self-determination for all nationalities (e.g. the right to speak their own language). On the other hand, the liberation of Palestine can only be achieved by overthrowing the regimes in the region which, if they do not collaborate directly with Israel, do not offer any serious resistance to the Zionist state or even tolerate it because they see their own population’s solidarity with the Palestinian liberation struggle as a threat to themselves.

4. For the right of Israeli soldiers to refuse to fight in Gaza and the West Bank. Disband the bourgeois army and police and form democratic workers‘ militias that join the Palestinian resistance!

The struggle against genocide and Zionism itself must also be taken up within Israeli society. However, the policy against the Palestinians enjoys broad support among the Israeli population, including the Israeli working class, which can only maintain its standard of living thanks to Western economic and military aid that Israel receives because of its role as an outpost of imperialism in the region. In order to break the Zionist unity, it is therefore necessary to weaken the material support for this state based on oppression and expulsion to such an extent that even sections of the Israeli-Jewish working class realise that Zionism does not bring security, but only permanent racism and subordination to a state based on colonial expulsion. Even if we must not make ourselves dependent on internal developments in Israel, it is nevertheless right to fight now to lead as many Israeli workers and oppressed people as possible to break with Zionism.

To this end, it is important to support the few conscientious objectors and anti-Zionists in Israel. Building an anti-Zionist opposition in Israel is a necessary condition for the abolition of the military and police and for the liberation of the Israeli working class. We are already seeing small signs of this, with anti-Zionist Jews around the world helping to drive and support the protests. In Israel, it is the task of progressives and revolutionaries to break away from pro-Zionist and state-supporting organisations such as the Histadrut a „yellow“ (pro bourgeois) trade union, to replace them with joint organisations with their Palestinian brothers and sisters, and to openly show that the war is not in the interests of Israeli workers but in the interests of the ruling class. For example, it is obviously more important to the Israeli government to push ahead with the destruction of the Palestinians than to secure the release of the hostages. The class struggle must not be put on hold in favour of the supposed ‘defence of the fatherland.’

5. For the creation of an independent communist workers‘ party of Palestine, based on trade unions and regional committees, to put an end to the subordination of the Palestinian left to Hamas and Fatah!

In order to fight for a free, secular and socialist Palestine, as well as for the demands mentioned above, it is necessary to unite the most progressive forces in a party that is based on councils and committees, enforces these demands and gives the movement a political programme. The struggle for national liberation must be linked to the social and economic demands of the working class, such as a decent minimum wage, women’s rights and LGBTI+ rights! There must also be a break with the policies of Hamas and Fatah. Both have shown often enough that they have no strategy to win the liberation struggle and that they ultimately do not care about the interests of the Palestinian masses. Fatah has elevated itself to the role of colonial administrator in the Palestinian Authority and openly cooperates with Israel to crush protests against the occupation and genocide. But Hamas also relies on Iran and the so-called ‘axis of resistance’ as its allies, rather than on the masses of workers and small farmers in the Middle East. It does so because it ultimately expresses the class interests of the Palestinian bourgeoisie and petty-bourgeois layers, but in doing so it leads the resistance into a dead end. We stand for the interests of workers, small farmers, youth and women, which must be enforced not only against the Zionist occupation, but ultimately also against the Palestinian capitalists!

In Germany and other Western states

1. Immediate stop to all arms deliveries, stop military, economic and diplomatic support for Israel! Away with the warships off the coast of Gaza! For trade union action to block military equipment!

The German arms industry has long been a favourite supplier of war materiel to Israel. An analysis of statistical data from 2011 to 2022 shows that Israel ranks fourth among all countries to which Germany exports arms. Since the outbreak of war, these figures have exploded once again: compared to the previous year, the volume of arms exports has already increased more than tenfold! Germany is the second largest arms exporter to Israel and accounts for a third of all arms deliveries. On the one hand, it is a horrific thought that German corporations are enriching themselves from the murder in Palestine. On the other hand, these deliveries are also subsidised by taxpayers‘ money, because supporting forces of order such as Israel and maintaining conditions of semi-colonial dependence and exploitation by imperialism is German ‘national interest’. Preventing all this is our best chance here in Germany to oppose the war in Palestine and put international solidarity into practice. Workers in logistics and the arms industry have no interest in the oppression of their class brothers and sisters in Palestine. They must be won over to strikes, blockades and protest actions! Blockades of arms deliveries, such as those in Genoa, Marseille and many other ports around the world, show the way forward!

2. Stop the criminalisation of the liberation struggle! No more bans on demonstrations and lift those imposed on Samidoun, PFLP, Hamas and PKK!

While the AfD, Holocaust-denying Nazis and anti-Semitic ‘Querdenker’ (so called ‘lateral thinkers’, right wing conspiracy theorists) were allowed to take the streets under police protection to promote their ideology, solidarity demonstrations and commemorative events for the victims of the war in Palestine were banned left and right. Where they do take place, they are accompanied by police harassment: people are beaten, arrested and charged. We have long seen how the German state translates its foreign policy interests into domestic policy, for example with the ban on the PKK, through its repression of the Kurdish freedom movement. Now, Palestinian resistance organisations are also increasingly being banned, whether they are left-wing, such as Samidoun or PFLP, or religious fundamentalists such as Hamas. Even though we have a lot of criticism of these groups, do not share their ideologies and reject their tactics, we oppose their ban by the German state. Overcoming the reactionary leadership of the resistance struggle in Gaza will only be possible as part of this struggle, not through state repression by Israel or Germany.

3. Stop deportations now! Against the hypocritical pretext of anti-Semitism for a racist asylum policy! Form anti-racist self-defence committees against attacks by cops and fascists!

4. Open borders and citizenship rights for all who flee war, poverty and climate destruction!

We are currently witnessing how the right to asylum is being systematically undermined and abolished in Europe. Flight routes are being blocked, border controls are being tightened and even introduced within the Schengen area, refugees are being crammed into overcrowded camps and deported to war and crisis zones. Proposals to make a commitment to the state of Israel a condition for naturalisation or the announcement that supposedly anti-Semitic refugees must ‘finally be deported on a large scale’ are a cynical attempt to cast this rejection of fundamental human rights in a morally positive light. We oppose this with the demand for freedom of movement for all! In the struggle for this, it is necessary that the trade unions finally open up and promote the unionisation of refugees!

5. For Palestine solidarity groups at universities, schools, in workplaces and trade unions that organise nationwide!

In order to advance the Palestine solidarity movement in Germany, we must succeed in anchoring ourselves in broader sections of the youth and working class. Although the vast majority of Germans reject genocide, it is often only the same milieus that take the streets against this genocide. One reason for this is that many people in Germany are not confronted with the struggle against genocide in their everyday lives. They often reject it, but do not really know what they can do. One way to break this isolation is to establish Palestine solidarity groups in schools, universities and workplaces, i.e. where we spend our daily lives. Actions can range from BDS at universities, calls for solidarity and blockades of arms deliveries in companies, to the fight against racist teaching content or discrimination against Palestinians and Muslims in schools. The movement at universities in particular has shown that such a foundation can be established and that new layers of people can be drawn into the struggle. If we want to break support for Israel, we must take up the fight against genocide and imperialism everywhere we spend our daily lives and organise this nation- and worldwide!

international Resolution of the communist youth organization REVOLUTION, Mai 2025 – 33 Minutes reading time

Russia’s war against Ukraine has now been going on for just over three years. Although the crisis and conflict started already 2014, the attack we have been witnessing since the beginning of 2022 is an escalation that not only raises the question of Ukraine’s independence, but also that of the redivision of the world between the major imperial powers. As young revolutionaries, we need a clear stance and course of action for one of the most violent wars since World War II. In this paper, we attempt to outline a thesis for the current situation. This is very important, as it is not unlikely that this year will be decisive for the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Military situation

The war in Ukraine has been frozen in a stalemate for some time, with little territory gains or loses. There are occasional advances on both sides, but since Ukraine’s defeats in the battles for Bakhmut and Avdiivka, and the unsuccessful Ukrainian summer offensive of 2023, Ukraine is on the defensive. Positional warfare certainly does not mean that there are no high death tolls. Exact information is not available, but there are likely to be several hundred thousand casualties on both sides (most of them at the front). The war is strikingly reminiscent of the Western Front in World War I, where every meter of ground was gained at the cost of human lives.

Despite the West’s hopes of enabling Ukraine to recapture lost territory by supplying high-tech attack systems (main battle tanks (Abrams, Challenger, Leopard), infantry fighting vehicles (various IFVs), aircraft (both old MIGs and more modern F16s), missiles (HIMARS, Storm Shadow, ATACMS) and artillery systems (Ceasar, M777, including cluster munitions), this has not yet been achieved. Instead, Russia is advancing bit by bit in this war of attrition, albeit at a very slow pace. Both Russia and Ukraine are struggling to compensate for the losses of soldiers thrown into the meat grinder of eastern Ukraine. Although a general mobilization was announced on the Ukrainian side at the beginning of the war, it was never really carried out. The Ukrainian government was particularly reluctant to mobilize the well-trained and therefore most combat-ready generation of 18- to 25-year-olds. On the Russian side, there has only been a partial mobilization so far, and the need for soldiers is primarily being met by mobilizing volunteers, although how “voluntary” this isoften remains questionable.

The war in Ukraine is the war that has seen the highest use of technology to date. In addition to classic heavy military equipment such as artillery systems and tanks, drones are playing an increasingly central role in warfare and are becoming a frequently deadly terror for advancing soldiers. AI is also being experimented with repeatedly, for example for target selection. But how could a war of such intensity, surpassed only by the two world wars (in terms of the severity of the fighting), come about? To understand this, let’s start with an overview of Ukraine’s recent history and its relationship with Russian imperialism.

History of Ukraine

The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 was not an isolated event, but the result of escalating tensions between imperialist blocs – the “West” and Russia – following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and in the context of a global power struggle over the redivision of the world.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the young Ukrainian nation-state faced profound economic crises that led to chronic political instability. A small group of former functionaries deliberately exploited the remnants of the Stalinist bureaucracy to enrich themselves massively in the course of capitalist restoration and extensive privatization. In these new circumstances, a powerful new oligarchy emerged. Due to its close economic and political ties to Russian imperialism and a significant Russian-speaking minority in the south and east of the country, Ukraine found itself caught between pro-Russian and pro-Western oligarchs.

Unable to rise to imperialist power on its own, either economically or militarily, Ukraine was forced to join one of the two blocs—the Western or the Russian—in semi-colonial dependence. The result was a state policy that oscillated between the two camps.

These internal contradictions were also reflected in the country’s demographic structure: the south and east were strongly influenced by the Russian language, culture, and historical ties to Russia, while the west was dominated by a pronounced Ukrainian nationalism with a pro-Western orientation.

The Euromaidan movement in 2014 represented the culmination of these contradictions. The then Ukrainian president, Yanukovych, was a representative of the pro-Russian faction and, in the course of 2014, withdrew from an EU association agreement that had been initiated by his pro-Western predecessor. In response, nationalist forces demanding closer ties with the West took to the streets to protest against Yanukovych’s policies. When his regime responded with violence and shots were fired at protesters, the leading right-wing and fascist forces of the movement attempted a coup against the Ukrainian government. It was deposed and replaced by a pro-Western government. This led to increased oppression of the Russian minority in southern and eastern Ukraine, whose language and autonomy were subsequently severely restricted. When resistance to these developments began to form in eastern Ukraine, fascist gangs attacked eastern Ukraine and were only stopped by self-defense forces of the
Russian minority. This was followed by Russia’s annexation of Crimea – to secure the strategically important Crimean ports, but also to protect the Russian minority – and the declaration of independence of the People’s Republics of Luhansk and Donetsk by separatists.

The People’s Republics subsequently waged a civil war against the Ukrainian central government that lasted until 2022. Even though the separatists were heavily dependent on Russian imperialism, while the central government was dependent on Western imperialism, the right to self-determination of the ethnical-russian separatists should not be undermined.

Peace efforts such as the 2015 Minsk Agreement, which would have guaranteed autonomy and language rights, were repeatedly sabotaged. The rivalry between the West and Russia, but also the internal rivalry within the Western bloc between the EU and the US, did not contribute to a peaceful resolution of the conflict. Despite Russia’s annexation of the People’s Republics, the aspect of Ukrainian civil war continues with a different intensity.

The escalation of the conflict between imperialist blocs in and around Ukraine culminated in the Russian invasion of 2022. The West threatened to turn Ukraine into its own dependent semi-colony through armament and economic penetration—a perspective that Russia sought to prevent by force, fearing the permanent loss of its sphere of influence. However, initial successes failed to materialize, and resistance from Ukrainian forces led to the invasion has only gained little territory. Instead, it has claimed tens to hundreds of thousands of lives and turned large parts of the country into a battlefield.

The war in Ukraine has several layers that must be taken into account. The internal imperialist conflict between the West and Russia, the struggle for national self-determination within Ukraine, and thus also the continuation of the civil war, and Ukraine’s own defensive struggle against the attack by imperialist Russia.

Russia’s imperialist war of aggression

Russia’s reactionary invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has taken the already simmering conflict to a new level. This imperialist aggression now openly challenges the Ukrainian people’s right to self-determination. The claim by some on the left that Russia has been “attacked” because NATO is increasingly encroaching on its sphere of influence is meant as an excuse for this aggression, but it only serves to highlight the inter-imperialist aspect of the conflict and the danger that it could escalate into an inter-imperialist war of unprecedented destruction.

What does Russia want?
The interests of Russian imperialism in Ukraine are clear: it is about securing its so-called “traditional spheres of influence,” since Ukraine was an important component of Russian monopoly capital in terms of industry, agriculture, and raw materials—and, from the perspective of Russia’s ruling class, it should become so again. Russian-speaking minorities and historical ties are deliberately exploited to exert political and military pressure and create pretexts for aggression.

Since Russia does not have the economic and ideological means of the West – keyword “democracy!” – it is left with military strength to play a role in the concert of great powers and assert its influence. Its increasing aggression is an expression of its relative weakness, an attempt to assert its power claims and interests through increasingly brutal means.

The course of the war
On the one hand, the Russian army was unable to achieve a decisive victory against the Ukrainian army, which was heavily armed by the West and motivated by a desire for self-defense. On the other hand, the current war of attrition is increasingly becoming an economic issue. Russia is gaining ground because it has successfully converted its economy to a war economy. The quantitative supply of military equipment to the troops is becoming increasingly crucial. In this process, the Russian economy has clearly proven itself to be an imperialist power: the loss of capital and goods imports has been cushioned with only slight slumps. Arms production has increased by 68% and now accounts for 6.5% of GDP. After a recession in 2022, the Russian economy grew again by 2.8% in 2023. Of course, rising import prices and the war economy have also led to inflation of around 7%. As in every war, the main victims are the workers, who are struggling with rising living costs and limited supplies.

The global character of Russian imperialism
Russian imperialism is not only active in Ukraine, nor even only in Europe. In the wake of the formation of blocs, proxy conflicts also increased in Africa. There, the Putin regime supports various armed groups, foremost among them the Russian “Wagner” mercenaries, who are accused of numerous crimes against civilians. Russian and Chinese imperialism are characterized by the fact that they do not seek to assert their spheres of influence by supposedly upholding human rights and democracy, and do not attempt to
prevent semi-colonial countries, which often have dictatorial regimes, from implementing authoritarian measures (even if the West itself often does so only symbolically). The domestic policies of dependent states are rarely challenged by these imperialists, which makes them appear to many as if they were friendlier and more respectful than the Western exploiters. However, it is only a matter of time before the bourgeoisie in Moscow and Beijing decide to demand their price. Putin and Xi are certainly no more humanitarian than the rulers in the West. National oppression in Russia The Russian state also oppresses national minorities within its own borders. Those who go to the front receive a good salary, and those who die receive even more money for their families. As a result, a lot of young men from impoverished regions, who are already severely exploited, are sent to Ukraine to fight and die. The regions most affected are those where oppressed minorities live. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation was forced to give up territory. This makes it even more brutal in its clinging to the territories it still holds. This is the case in Chechnya, where two bloody wars have led to thousands of deaths because Russian imperialism wanted to prevent the Caucasus region from breaking away at any cost.

What must the left fight for?
From a left-wing perspective, the decisive task is to transform this reactionary war into a class war. Support for anti-imperialist forces in Russia is essential for this. While our goal is the overthrow of the Russian government through a democratic anti-war movement and the building of a broader socialist movement, we do not see the overthrow of Putin as a prerequisite for a Russian defeat. Rather, the prospects for his downfall increase with the military defeat of the Russian armed forces. In the context of Ukrainian resistance to imperialist aggression, we therefore support Russia’s military defeat and complete withdrawal from the occupied territories! Neither Russian nor Western imperialism can truly bring peace and independence. The situation today also makes it clearer than ever that capitalist states cannot solve the national question. In all countries, we must therefore preserve and build the independence of the working class. We oppose the bourgeois state, but also Stalin’s socialism in one country, with the call for a socialist federation in Europe and Asia. Instead of dividing ourselves and joining an imperialist “team,” we want world revolution and the end of all imperialists!

Inner-imperialist conflict over Ukraine

The inner-imperialist conflict has become clearly apparent with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the unprecedented economic and military support provided by the Western NATO states. In the course of the war, it has become increasingly clear that Western imperialism, led by the US, has an interest in weakening Russia as an imperialist rival. The accompanying democratic rhetoric of NATO is nothing more than a hypocritical farce.

Relationship to the main contradiction between the US and China
The outbreak of the war has further intensified the conflict between the US and China, which is currently shaping the world. In this conflict, Russia has become more closely tied to Chinese imperialism and the EU to US imperialism. Russia’s imperialism lies in its military strength. From the perspective of the West and the US, this strength must be reduced to as little as possible, or even eliminated, for the coming conflict with China. The EU’s ties to US imperialism were secured primarily through sanctions and the subsequent destruction of relations between EU states and Russia. Since oil and gas imports from Russia have been halted, imports of LNG gas from the US have skyrocketed.

Economic war
On the economic level, support for Ukraine has long since turned into an economic war against Russia. The aim is to isolate Russia from the global economy and thereby weaken it. However, the sanctions have hardly affected Russia, as the Russian economy was prepared for them and has increasingly been converted into a war economy. Above all, not only China but also a large number of semi-colonies have refused to support the sanctions, with the result that it is mainly the EU states that have had to bear the economic consequences. As a result, the EU, and Germany in particular, finds itself in an increasingly complex economic crisis. Rising energy and food prices and high inflation rates are hitting workers and youth particularly hard. At the same time, the political response of governments to the crisis has been social attacks and cuts.

Armament in Europe
The war in Ukraine has provided Western imperialism with a perfect opportunity for massive rearmament. Shortly after the war began, a $100 billion package for the German armed forces was approved. At the beginning of 2025, another package of $500 billion for the military and another $500 billion for infrastructure was approved. Through ring exchanges, old war material is handed over to Ukraine and replaced with new war material. This ring exchange is expected to be completed in 2025. Germany plays a central role in European rearmament: its large railway network and cross-border transport make it the logistical hub. The $500 billion for infrastructure is intended to make the infrastructure fit for further, larger, and heavier war transports. Disused tracks are being reactivated, switches that have not been used for a long time are being replaced, and electrification is being pushed forward. We also see the effects strongly in our schools. Whether at job fairs, where the German Armed Forces advertises killing, war propaganda on monitors, or visits by officers to our schools, all of this has increased in recent years. In addition, in Germany, people over the age of 18 are to be questioned about their fitness for war in order to establish a system of conscription. The new Merz government, but also the previous „traffic light coalition“ government, are moving toward the reintroduction of compulsory military service.

How should we respond?
As the youth and the working class in the Western imperialist states, we must resolutely oppose an inner-imperialist war! At the same time, we must also respect and defend Ukraine’s right to self-defense. But what does this mean in concrete terms? The most important task of youth and workers in the imperialist countries that want to drag Ukraine into ever deeper economic, military, and political dependence is to organize themselves in word and deed against this neo-colonial policy. We know that imperialism will not act in the interests of the nationally oppressed, but always in its own imperialist interests, which is why we vote against supplying weapons under the conditions of the imperialists in their parliaments. Instead of this false solidarity, we demand genuine solidarity with the workers and youth in Ukraine and, as part of this:

• All debts must be cancelled immediately!
• Corporations such as Bayer-Monsanto, Rheinmetall, and those in the construction industry that directly or indirectly profit from the suffering of the Ukrainian people must be expropriated without compensation!
• Weapons and humanitarian supplies must be sent at no cost and without conditions, and the transports must be controlled by workers!
• Military transfers from the West to Ukraine should be part of a Western disarmament program! Take the weapons out of the hands of the imperialists and give them to the Ukrainians to defend their country!
• The operation of weapons must not depend on NATO instructors. Where possible, instructions must be documented in writing or on video; where instructors are needed, they must be released from their own military and placed under Ukrainian command!
• Workers‘ control is needed in arms production facilities and in the transport sector, so that it is not the imperialist states and their governments that determine how and where weapons are delivered to defend the Ukrainian people, but us, the workers and the youth!

Role in the bloc formation

The current world situation is in a fundamental capitalist crisis, which showed its first deep cracks in the financial crisis of 2008. This period of crisis, which is reflected in various ecological, social, military, economic, and many other escalations of the contradictions of the system, has now reached a new phase, which has entered a more open state, above all due to the war in Ukraine. This new phase is not “just” about economic crises or local wars—it is about the open, sometimes warlike, redivision of the world between the imperialist powers, led by the US, Russia, and China. The imperialist powers of the EU (especially Germany, France, and Italy) as well as Great Britain and Japan, once dominant imperialists, are in decline, must submit to others, and are desperately unable to reorient and reestablish themselves.

Long-term crisis period since 2008
Since 2008, we have been in a prolonged period of crisis, characterized not only by a stagnating average profit rate, but also by a profound disintegration of global production chains. Numerous conflicts, some of them reigniting, such as in Syria, Libya, Kashmir, Sudan, and Myanmar, reveal the imperialist struggles that are partly waged by the major capitalist powers themselves, but even more often exacerbated and enabled by them. The rise of China and Russia as global competitors to the older imperialists changed the worlds political landscape long before the war in Ukraine. The imperialist powers are trying to expand or at least maintain their spheres of influence, as illustrated by their activities in Africa (e.g. Russia’s role in the Central African Republic) and the ongoing war in Ukraine. The US ambitions to acquire territorial claims such as the “purchase of Greenland” from Denmark or the control the Panama Canal are also part of this imperialist realignment.

Block formation before the Ukraine war
Before the war in Ukraine, the central question was whether the EU would succeed in becoming an imperialist actor capable of acting independently and internationally. This was a particular threat to
the US, given the possibility of an alliance between Russia and China, which could have challenged
its position as the world’s sole superpower. The expansion of military capabilities in the East Pacific
and clearer economic competition showed that the US was increasingly preparing for a confrontation with China as its main rival. The question arose as to whether other declining great powers, such as Japan or the UK, could manage to play a stronger role without being completely dependent on the US.

Block formation after the outbreak of the Ukraine war
The war in Ukraine has dramatically changed the geopolitical landscape. The rift between the EU and Russia, which is a loss for both sides, is irreversible for the time being. However, it cannot be ruled out that this may change again at some point with changes in the imperialist world order. Russia is now recognized by the US as a significant military power, with the primary goal of pushing Russia further away from the EU. In the period since the outbreak of the war, Russia has attempted to enter into a limited tactical alliance with China in order to maintain sales opportunities for its raw materials. The EU has completely subordinated itself to the US in this new bloc formation. It has not managed to continue the war on its own or play a decisive role in the negotiations to advance its own interests. Without the military and political support of the US, the EU is almost powerless in this conflict. The accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO also shows how much the EU is placing itself under the US to guarantee the security of its imperialist interests, as it would probably not be able to do so on its own.

Donald Trump’s attempts to realign US imperialism
With Donald Trump’s inauguration, a new phase in the redivision of the world began. Trump attempted to shift the focus of US imperialists even more strongly from Russia to China. The trade war, the increase in tariffs on Chinese goods, and the further expansion of military bases in the South China Sea, Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines illustrate this strategy. Trump wanted not only to contain China economically and militarily, but also to weaken part of the global production chains from China to the US. The goal is to make the US less dependent on the Chinese economy and at the same time create a new bloc of countries that would increasingly distance themselves from China and subordinate themselves to the US. Trump is also relatively open about trying to break Russia out of its alliance with China, while openly snubbing traditional US allies that he considers “worthless” in the fight against China. Examples include the EU and Canada.

The EU as the loser in these developments
The EU has emerged as the clear loser in the latest imperialist developments. In the conflict with Russia, it has become Ukraine’s most vocal supporter, but it has no strategic means of its own to influence or end the war. Instead, it is forced to subordinate itself completely to US strategy without developing an independent political line. The Ukraine conflict has also shown that the EU is militarily and economically incapable of successfully pursuing its own goals. The EU has been unable to prevent Russia from continuing to operate on the global political stage, Western sanctions have not been supported even by traditional allies such as Israel, Türkiye, or Saudi Arabia and are instead being carried out at the expense of the EU, and the EU is also powerless in negotiations. Its role is increasingly determined by the US, with the EU acting more and more as a mere assistant to the US in this new world order. Nevertheless, Trump’s inauguration reveals the fragility of these imperialist alliances—and the question of European political unification is becoming increasingly urgent, as it is otherwise impossible for European imperialists to emerge as independent imperialist actors. This makes it clear that, despite emerging trends, we cannot make any definitive statements about the contradictory dynamics in the imperialist world system.

The role of national oppression

Since spheres of influence and territorial redistribution are often at stake, national oppression is articularly relevant. Even though we are not nationalists, we believe that every oppressed country should be able to decide for itself how it is governed. National oppression can often only be overcome by shaking off the oppressor nation. We see this in struggles such as those in Rojava and Palestine, but also in Ukraine. In Ukraine, this becomes all the more apparent as the war draws to an end.

Ceasefire and imperialist “peace”
Since Donald Trump took office in the White House, the US has been trying to end the war in Ukraine. Even during his election campaign, Trump promised to implement this on day one of his presidency. The calculation behind this is probably to invest resources in the Pacific and in a coming conflict with China rather than in a war that Ukraine is clearly losing. Instead, Trump is trying to detach Russia from China and at least keep it neutral in a coming conflict.

Current perspective
Since Russia is currently winning the war and Trump has already publicly committed himself to peace as an option on several occasions, Russia is in a very strong negotiating position and is demanding a lot. Given the current balance of power, an inner-imperialist peace would amount to defeat for Ukraine in its struggle for national self-determination. Such a peace must be enforced even against Zelensky’s collaborationist regime. However, Trump and Vice President Pence demonstrated Zelensky’s dependence on and helplessness toward the US in early March 2025 when they humiliated him in a live broadcast. Despite support from Britain and France, the Zelensky regime has no choice but to submit to the US, accept the prospect of peace, and take the sellout of the country to a new level through the raw materials deal with the US. At the same time, Trump is leaving the European imperialists, above all Germany, France, and Britain, out of this development. This has called into question the traditional Western alliance and raises the question of a strategic reorientation for the politically weakened European imperialists. Overall, the likelihood of an inner-imperialist peace is high given the line taken by the US leadership, but Russia’s demands are also leading to countervailing tendencies.

The character of this peace
What impact would such a peace have on the character of the war and the world situation, or what impact has the tendency toward peace already today? The level of inner-imperialist conflict will completely recede into the background at the moment peace is concluded. Indeed, it will even change its character with regard to Ukraine. The conflict over hegemony in Ukraine will become the imperialists‘ joint robbery of Ukraine. This does not mean, of course, that the imperialists will no longer compete, but they have divided Ukraine as their spoils and are now forcing this on the Ukrainian people. In all likelihood, Russia will be able to annex the territories it occupies, while the western part of Ukraine would become an even more dependent semi-colony of the West. The lion’s share would probably go to the US, while the European robbers would have to content themselves with smaller pieces. For Ukraine, this would mean the division of its country, the permanent occupation of one part and the corresponding oppression of the Ukrainian population living there, the sell-out and complete dependence of the other part, with the accompanying impoverishment of large sections of the population. It is clear that the question of defending Ukraine’s right to self-determination against this inner-imperialist peace of plunder will overshadow all other issues at the moment of peace and will be the sole focus. With the current trend toward inner-imperialist peace, the question of defending Ukraine’s national self-determination is coming to the fore. The very act of partition is a massive imperialist intervention. But even if an imperialist dictated peace is now the greatest threat to the workers, peasants, and youth in Ukraine, the trend could reverse again if no agreement is reached.

Significance for the world situation
On a global level, such a peace would initially strengthen Russia, although a break with China remains unlikely. Among the imperialists, the EU and the UK will be the big losers and, given their current weakness, will probably have to accept their snub in the short term. However, peace could lead to a strategic reorientation on their part. The arms race will not be stopped by peace, but will be further fueled, if anything. The rift in the Western alliance is already being used to justify arms packages of $500 billion and more, and with Europe’s defeat, this trend will only increase. The danger of an inner-imperialist war will also increase in the medium to long term as a result of this peace.

Wars and anti-war movements
What must a successful anti-war movement in the imperialist centers look like? To answer this question, we must take a close look at the contradictions and problems, which can vary depending on the starting point. For countries such as Germany and France, the current priority is to focus on rearmament, to mobilize against it, and to use all means at their disposal to expose the link between military “support” for other countries and their own rearmament and preparations for war. The interests of their own countries in the context of bloc formation and spheres of influence must be actively highlighted. Pacifism and neutrality offer no alternative for us. Even though we reject the abolition of neutrality as a step toward militarization in some countries (such as Austria or Switzerland), we see this as a bogus debate. There are no neutral states on a divided earth. The reality is that our solidarity lies exclusively with the oppressed and workers of all nations. This means that we can see progressive elements in wars when they fight for emancipation. However, we never have any illusions in those in power, no matter which side they are on, who never seriously fight for liberation, even if they claim to do so. We must weigh up the options: Is it possible, through revolutionary work, to direct struggles against one’s own government and not only against the aggressor? What are the consequences of allowing one’s own bourgeoisie to have its way if one does not oppose its armsbuildup and economic interests? These are questions that vary from situation to situation. The rule of thumb, however, is that one never sides with an imperialist state, and for us in countries like Germany or France, the main enemy is always our own government and our own bourgeoisie. In semi-colonies, on the other hand, it may sometimes be necessary to enter into temporary tactical alliances in order to wage an anti-imperialist struggle. This is the case, for example, in Palestine,
where we are fighting alongside the local bourgeois forces of resistance. At the same time, however,
we must reject their reactionary ideology and maintain an independent position of the workers.

Ukrainian refugees

There are currently 6.4 million Ukrainian refugees living outside Ukraine in Europe. They were driven from their country by the destruction and devastation of the war. Even more were forced to flee within Ukraine, from the east to the west. There are 1.2 million Ukrainians living in Germany alone, almost a million in Poland, around 370,000 in the Czech Republic, and tens to hundreds of thousands in almost every European country. However, we have seen that they were treated very differently from those who fled wars in Syria or Afghanistan in 2015, for example. From day one, they received work permits, social benefits such as „Bürgergeld“ (social welfare program in Germany), and, above all, were housed in private accommodation. People who were not considered “rightful refugees” due to geopolitical interests of the EU countries, often suffer for years from employment bans, which force them to sell their labor on the black market and remain in camps where they are often subjected to abuse. However, the treatment of Ukrainians is not flawless either. They are affected by racist segregation in the labor market and the exploitation of their labor, as in the case of the meat company Tönnies, which also results from the obstacles in the recognition of professional qualifications.

At the same time, the Ukrainian government is trying to make deals with other countries to force refugees who have evaded military service to the front lines. As a result of the crisis of the EU and its leading imperialist powers, Germany and France, the “privileges” enjoyed by Ukrainian refugees are now also hanging in the balance under a Merz government. Instead of defending these “privileges” for Ukrainian refugees, it is our task as revolutionary youth to positively dismantle the two-tier system among refugees by fighting against the racist division of workers and youth in general. We must consistently oppose the unequal treatment of our class brothers and sisters who have fled! The proletariat has no fatherland! And that means fighting for:

• Equal rights for all, no matter where they come from or what color their skin is!
• Decentralized housing through expropriation of housing companies under the control of tenants and the working class!
• Free language courses through taxation of the rich!
• Equal pay for equal work and a minimum income through taxation of the rich!
• The admission of refugees into trade unions – in order to implement these demands in a joint struggle!
• Open borders and freedom of movement everywhere!
• Full citizenship rights for everyone where they live!
  In addition, the specific situation of the war in Ukraine also makes it necessary to demand clearly and unequivocally:
• Against any deportation of conscientious objectors, whether to Russia, Ukraine, or anywhere else! For the right to desert!

Tasks of the revolutionary youth in Ukraine

The tasks of the youth in Ukraine are certainly the most difficult. On the one hand, they are confronted with Russia’s imperialist invasion and are forced, sometimes involuntarily and violently, into the Ukrainian army and to the front. At the same time, they face an authoritarian state apparatus that is extremely repressive against left-wing forces. The “Communist Party” has been banned since 2015, and positive references to the Soviet Union and even the possession of Marxist literature are punishable by law. At the same time, the level of just self-defense of the semi-colony Ukraine against the imperialist great power Russia clearly prevails within Ukraine, even if this struggle iscurrently led by a reactionary bourgeois government.

The government cannot achieve independence
This government is by no means waging a consistent struggle for self-determination, but aims to subordinate itself to the Western military apparatus and makes its war aims largely dependent on the latter’s interests. Instead of defending itself against the increasingly apparent joint plunder of Ukraine by the imperialists, it willingly allows the US and EU to plunder the country in favor of its own interests. The military “aid” provided by the West, which has resulted in three years of attrition warfare and now threatens to end in a “peace” that smacks of surrender, was from the outset a means of bringing Ukraine into economic dependence and securing the long-term exploitation of its natural resources and the labor power of its population. On the one hand, this was achieved by driving up Ukraine’s debts even further (currently standing at USD 171 billion – approx. 96% of GDP). On the other hand, Western support was linked to the introduction of austerity measures, cuts, and, not least, land reform (on land that produces 30% of the world’s wheat), which paved the way for Western capital to enter Ukrainian fields. Today, nine of the ten largest investors in Ukrainian land are registered abroad, including DuPont, Cargill, and Bayer-Monsanto. With the new raw materials agreement, the US has also granted itself the right to extract 57 mineral resources such as oil and gas, titanium, lithium, and rare earths. Economic subjugation also means political dependence, especially on the US, as demonstrated not least by Trump’s change of course, the
scandal in the White House, and the complete bypassing of Ukraine in possible peace negotiations between the US and Russia, in which, in case of doubt, Ukraine would have to make concessions to
Russia in favor of the US and still be economically squeezed by the latter.

The youth must take up the struggle themselves, together with the workers!
However, this must not mean that the Ukrainian youth do not fight the just struggle for national self-determination. It also means recognizing within Ukraine that Ukraine has a right to obtain the weapons necessary to wage this struggle. We are therefore not calling for any acts of sabotage or similar against the Ukrainian army. This in no way means capitulating to Zelensky’s pro-imperialist and anti-worker policies. They and the Ukrainian ruling class are the ones who suffer least from the war, indeed they even profit from it, for example by leasing farmland and other deals, and live in relative safety from the actual fighting, while the working class and youth fight on the front lines, have fled, or are inadequately rotected or not protected at all. The struggle of Ukrainian youth must also include defending and fighting for trade union rights. In the workplace and wherever possible, and where they still exist (many schools have already been destroyed in the war), they must also fight for better living conditions and democratic rights in schools. This is not in contradiction to defending against the Russian aggressors. Rather, it strengthens the resilience and morale of the population. These struggles must also be waged on the front lines. Wherever there is harassment by officers, senseless maneuvers, or collaboration with neo-Nazi battalions, it is necessary to resist. Out of these struggles, it is necessary to form soldiers‘ committees that can build a counterpower, fight against the disarmament of Ukraine in the event of an imperialist peace, and be in a real position to drive the Western imperialists out of the country. In the context of an impending imposed peace, it must be clear that we oppose the Zelensky regime and have no confidence in this government. However the country is divided up among the capitalist associations, there needs to be an independent working class that opposes the interests of the West and takes the defense against the Russian aggressor into its own hands!

It is therefore necessary to fight both for the consistent struggle against imperialist subjugation of
Ukraine and the consistent defense of its right to self-determination, as well as for the independence
of the working class and youth in the struggle for self-determination. This would lay the foundation
for fighting for further demands that must now also be raised:

• Full support for Ukraine’s right to self-determination! Agitation, revolutionary propaganda, exposing the character of the war, which not only attacks Russia and NATO/US/EU, but also clarifies the war aims of the Ukrainian government.
• The weapons for the just struggle must be accepted, but the conditions attached to them must not!
• For effective protection and defense of the civilian population by the government and army!
• Fight for control over weapons and scarce goods in factories, cities, and villages, and if possible, build militias. In case of doubt, these must also be prepared to defend against right-wing nationalist and fascist commanders and forces, and actively exclude them!
• Workers should work for the establishment of workers‘ control over the maintenance and production of military equipment. Ukraine must be able to acquire and produce weapons itself, without being dependent on Western supplies!
• Anti-militarist and anti-imperialist agitation directed against the Russian occupation soldiers. Resistance to the consolidation of the Russian occupation!
• Fight against the restriction of democratic rights and attacks on workers‘ rights by the Kiev regime!
• Recognition of the rights of all non-Ukrainian-speaking minorities, against their cultural or political oppression!
• For the right to education in their mother tongue in Ukrainian schools for all non-Ukrainian-speaking minorities!
• Against the abduction and forced recruitment of Ukrainian youth to send them to the front, for the right of Ukrainian youth to leave the country! For agitation among youth on why it is necessary to fight for the interests of youth and the working class and to pursue revolutionary politics within the army!
• For the full right to self-determination of Crimea and the “People’s Republics” (including their right to join Russia or become an independent state)! For the recognition of full rights for Ukrainian-speaking minorities in these regions! Ultimately, a socialist federation of workers‘ states is needed to prevent the nationalist ruling classes from stirring up hostility in their interests.
• For the expropriation without compensation of land and means of production from all foreign investors – Immediate debt cancellation! Reconstruction of schools, social institutions, and the entire country under the control of workers and youth!

By Yorick F., June 2025 – 7 minutes reading time

This Article is part of a leaflet distributed at the Counter-Summit and protest on 20th and 21st of June to the 81. NATO-Summit in The Hague.

War preparations are in full swing: the plan of the 2025 NATO summit is not only the practical coordination of a confrontation with its strategic rival Russia, but above all a massive rearmament of NATO countries to 5% (!) of GDP. In Germany, that would mean around 215 billion euros – roughly half of the federal budget – in military spending every year. At the same time, the summit is likely to be a place where the internal contradictions of NATO and the different interests behind various ideas for its long-term direction will become apparent. In order to discuss tactics against the summit, its actors and decisions, it is therefore important to be aware of these contradictions and to take a look at the history and present of NATO.

Founding and early years

NATO emerged from the quarrels of the post-world war two order. The United States did not enter the Second World War until 1941, with the aim of containing the Soviet Union’s growing influence after the defeat of fascism and securing its own supremacy.

After the liberation of Europe, a fragile post-war order prevailed in which both superpowers suppressed any independent revolutionary movement that flared up in many countries. Even before the end of the war, the US was preparing NATO, replacing Great Britain as the world’s most powerful nation and cementing its position through Bretton Woods, which tied the dollar to gold and made it a secure global currency. At the same time, the IMF, NATO’s financial arm, was created, which to this day serves as a key tool for the economic exploitation and suppression of semi-colonial countries.

These instruments were part of the containment policy against the Soviet Union, which led directly to the founding of NATO – from the very beginning an alliance of imperialism against the USSR. Founding members alongside the United States were Canada, France, Great Britain, Norway, the Netherlands and Portugal.

However, NATO cannot simply be understood as an extension of the United States, as it was marked from the outset by conflicts between its members; France withdrew in 1966 and expelled 40,000 soldiers. Such tensions, later between Greece and Turkey, for example, remained characteristic.

Collapse of Stalinism and the ‘War on Terror’

During the Cold War, NATO mainly fought proxy wars against the Soviet Union or movements supported by it, such as in Vietnam and Afghanistan.

This changed with the collapse of the Soviet Union as adegenerated workers state in 1991, when not only did the bipolar world order die, but soon the new powers of China and Russia rose from the ruins, heralding a new era of imperialism. The balance of power also shifted within the alliance: the Federal Republic of Germany grew beyond its role as a junior partner oft he US through the annexation of the GDR and formed an EU bloc with France. The precondition for the ’reunification’ of Germany was the consent of the Soviet Union. In the 2+4 Treaty, Washington promised not to expand eastwards. Nevertheless, twelve countries joined NATO by 2009, and US troops advanced to Russia’s border. At the same time, Germany repeatedly sought rapprochement with Moscow in order to gain some independence from Washington.

Under US leadership, NATO adopted a new doctrine in the 1990s: mobile units were to combat ‘failed states’ and terrorist organisations. Since then, instead of mass armies, smaller, specialised, well-trained and well-equipped intervention forces have dominated. The bloody missions in Iraq, Iran, Syria and Afghanistan are clear evidence of this. All of them were also legitimised as ‘humanitarian interventions’ or, especially after 11 September 2001, as ‘the war on terror’. Anti-Muslim racism became the key ideology of most Western imperialist states and continues to serve as a tool for dividing domestic politics and legitimising crimes such as torture prisons in Iraq, the slaughter of civilians in Afghanistan and the genocide in Gaza.

NATO today

In the wake of the intensifying imperialist bloc formation, NATO faces new tasks. Even if one cannot speak of a ‘new Cold War’ with Russia or, rather, China as the main strategic rival, since there is no fundamental conflict between the economic systems, the challenges facing NATO are increasingly similar to those of past confrontations.Plans such as the so-called ‘Operation Plan Germany,’ discussions about the reintroduction of conscription in various NATO states, and, not least, the 5% target formulated for the summit show that NATO is preparing for the possibility of a large-scale inner-imperialist land war. The units designed for earlier NATO missions – well equipped but designed for other scenarios – would not be sufficient for this.In almost all NATO countries, whether in the United States, the Netherlands or Germany, this rearmament is accompanied by social cuts, attacks on the working class and youth, massive racist mobilisation and a global shift to the right.

However, this does not mean that there is harmony within NATO or that it can be understood as a unified ‘empire’ or super-imperialism. On the contrary, especially with Trump’s re-election, the alliance faces strategically explosive issues in which member states pursue different interests. In the wake of the Ukraine war, the US succeeded in integrating Germany, which had previously been strategically oriented towards Russia, more firmly into its own bloc and subordinating it. However, this did not happen without opposition and is by no means secure. For the EU states, Russia is the central competitor following the breakdown of trade relations with Moscow, while Trump sees China as a long-term threat. He is therefore seeking a rapid ‘pacification’ of the war in Ukraine through the imperialist appropriation of Ukrainian resources in order to free up capacity for the genocide in Gaza and a possible confrontation with China.

Against this backdrop, Europe’s independent militarisation can only be understood in terms of its contradictions: on the one hand, as an attempt to gain independence and establish itself as an independent actor; on the other hand, as a demand by the United States on states such as Germany. NATO is and has always been a contradictory alliance of states—clearly dominated by US imperialism, but also with an internal rivalry with a bloc around Germany and France.

How to (not) fight NATO?

For us as revolutionaries, it is clear: NATO must be smashed! We reject it as an organ of imperialism and see the struggle against it and its wars as an important field of work. At the same time, we must be clear that there can be no exclusive struggle against NATO in order to be successful. Those who do not want to talk about class struggle in the fight against NATO quickly end up with illusions in other institutions of the imperialist states, such as the UN, or in the idea of a ‘peaceful’ multipolar world order – ultimately, the very order that brings war, exploitation and crisis. A struggle that remains within national borders cannot be successful either. After all, NATO is an international alliance of states, capitalism is an international system and, especially in the age of imperialism, is determined by international developments that cannot be separated from one another.

Struggles that take place only within a national framework must therefore, at best, remain a fight against windmills and, at worst, result in campist solidarity with imperialism that is hostile to one’s own imperialism – freely following the motto: ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend.’

At the same time, a focus on ‘foreign’ imperialism leads to a downplaying of the same and ultimately to fatal tactical or strategic concessions, even if the declared main enemy – e.g. in the form of the USA – is defeated. imperialism leads to its downplaying and ultimately to fatal tactical or strategic concessions, even if the designated main enemy – e.g. in the form of the USA – is supposedly on one’s own side. But this is also a fundamentally flawed policy: the real main enemy for every working class in imperialist countries is in their own country. It is this state that exploits them on a daily basis, represses them internally if they resist, and sends them to war for its own interests or those of its allies.

For these reasons, we believe that a new international is needed in the struggle against NATO. As revolutionary youths, we are particularly committed to building a new youth international that can put an end to the murderous imperialist war machine – whether NATO, China or Russia: stab the imperialist powers in the back!

by Clay Ikarus, Revolution Deutschland, in Fight! Revolutionary Women’s Magazine, 13, März 2025

In 2019, thousands of voices responded to activist Alaa’s promise
with “Thawra!” (Arabic for “Revolution!”). Today, Sudan has
been embroiled in a bitter war for almost two years, keeping the
entire population in a state of fear and terror. Women and children
are particularly suffering from the current situation. Most recently,
reports of a mass suicide of Sudanese women fearing sexual violence
shocked the media. But how did it come to this, and how can the
struggle for liberation evolve?

A brief historical overview

The history of the Sudanese civil war began in 2018/19. The
dictator Omar al-Bashir (also: Umar al-Bashir) was in power at the
time and wanted to introduce massive austerity measures. This was the
last straw, as the population was already facing several crises: a
housing shortage, a broken health and education system, and most ATMs
were empty, so people couldn’t access their money. Meanwhile, any
political opposition activity was violently suppressed. Nevertheless,
the masses took to the streets. The initial demonstrations and
strikes, initiated by the SPA (Sudanese Professionals Association, an
umbrella organization of 17 individual unions), grew into a movement
of resistance fighters who organized themselves in neighborhoods
across the cities. They succeeded in overthrowing the dictator. Women
were at the forefront of this movement, making up more than half of
the protesters. They also became the face of the movement
internationally. Some may remember the famous image of Alaa Salah, a
23-year-old student who motivated the crowds. She later spoke as a
representative of Sudanese civil society before the UN Security
Council, demanding that those responsible for the old regime be held
accountable.

The revolution improved the situation of women in Sudan. The
Public Order Law, which not only suppressed political struggles but
also dictated women’s behavior and dress code, was abolished. The
practice of female genital mutilation was criminalized. However, even
though the revolution was mainly carried out by women, they did not
achieve full equality in the new transitional civilian government
under Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok. Only a fifth of the cabinet was
made up of women, even though fifty percent had been demanded. With
the implementation of economic reforms dictated by Sudan’s foreign
creditors, Hamdok gradually lost more and more of his support among
the population.

Unfortunately, the history of the Arab Spring repeated itself in
Sudan. The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) under the leadership of
General Abdel Fattah Burhan, which supported the revolution and
promised to oversee the transition to a democratic system, ultimately
turned against the civilian government. Together with his deputy
Hamdan Daglo, lieutenant general of the paramilitary unit RSF (Rapid
Support Forces; Islamist paramilitary group), they overthrew Abdalla
Hamdok in 2021 and introduced a military regime that ruled with
violence and crushed the achievements of the revolution.
Unfortunately, the massive protests against this military coup came
too late. The civil revolution ended in a counterrevolution. We must
not forget that Saudi Arabia and Egypt provided significant support
to the military in Sudan, as they had hired Sudanese mercenaries for
their own war in Yemen and were financed by the US with several
billion dollars.

Sudan itself is only part of the arc of crisis that stretches
westward across the Sahel zone and also includes Chad, Mali, Burkina
Faso, and Niger. These countries have experienced military coups that
have massively weakened French hegemony or replaced it with
others—militarily, often with Russian involvement, and economically
through China. In the east, this arc of crisis even extends to the
states on the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia, Eritrea, and
Somalia are strategically located on the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which
connects the Indian Ocean with the Red Sea and from there with the
Suez Canal. Twenty percent of the world’s container ship traffic
passes through this strait. It is no wonder that rival imperialist
groups also want access to Sudan’s geostrategic location on the Red
Sea, and obviously also to it’s ressources. Once again, it is US
imperialism and its allies, competing with Russia and China, as well
as the involvement of regional powers such as Saudi Arabia, which
supplies weapons to the RSF: they have all interfered in Sudan and
ultimately want to see their warring faction ruling over Sudan in
their interests from a throne built on corpses.

The current civil war

In April 2023, the conflict between the SAF and the RSF escalated,
leading to an ongoing war and one of the world’s largest humanitarian
crises. Entire neighborhoods and villages have already been destroyed
by the fighting. More than 14 million people have been forced to
leave their homes, over 40 percent of farmland is uncultivated,
causing the country’s wheat production to decline by 75 percent.
Twenty-six million people, about half the population, are suffering
from famine. Tens of thousands of civilians have already been killed
and many more injured. The atrocities committed against the
courageous and militant women of Sudan are particularly alarming.
They are subjected to torture and mass rape. The fear of this drives
them to suicide. On one day, more than 100 women took their own lives
at the same time to escape this fate. The RSF is particularly
notorious for this violence against civilians. They repeatedly take
women and children hostage, torture and kill them.

In addition, medical care has largely collapsed, leading to a
massive increase in the spread of diseases: cholera, malaria, dengue
fever, measles, and rubella are now causing death alongside hunger
and war. At a donor conference in Paris in April 2024, €2 billion
in aid was pledged. Not only is this insufficient, but the supplies
are intercepted by the warring parties and do not reach the
population.

But what about liberation?

Unfortunately, the revolution failed due to the same problems that
plagued the Arab Spring: as long as the army’s high command, the
Islamist parties and the state bureaucracy remain intact, the danger
of a counterrevolution persists. What is needed is a revolution that
goes all the way, smashes the repressive power of the state, takes
control of the economy from the corrupt capitalist class, and puts
power in the hands of the working people. This means that democracy
alone cannot survive; a socialist revolution in the sense of
permanent revolution is necessary, because the imperialist world
system will always try to make Sudan a pawn in its own game. The
people in all these countries have already proven that they have the
courage and the power to overthrow dictatorships. They have learned
to organize themselves into resistance units and have thus defied
entire armies. It is necessary to rebuild this strength, to network
across national borders, and to resume the struggle for liberation.
In doing so, it is important to learn from the mistakes of the past
and not repeat them. The goal of a popular front with the bourgeois
forces must be discarded and replaced by the creation of a
revolutionary program and a party for the workers.

In Sudan, this means that people within the military forces must
raise their weapons against their corrupt generals, and workers must
collect every weapon they can find and reorganize themselves
underground. Workers in neighboring countries must also reorganize
themselves and take up the struggle so that they can support their
class brothers and sisters in Sudan. However, this process must be
linked to a revolutionary program in order to be successful. It is
therefore necessary to oppose any imperialist intervention, to have
aid deliveries to the population monitored by committees to ensure
fair distribution, and to convene a constituent assembly that places
the means of production under the control of the workers.

For us in the Western countries, it is important to fight against
any interference by our states in the uprisings in African and Arab
countries and to seek solidarity with Sudanese activists. Together,
we must oppose all economic embargoes that weaken the Sudanese
economy and dismantle dependencies that arise from so-called
development aid from Western countries. Instead, Sudanese society
should draw up a reconstruction plan that demands reparations and
ensures that these demands are met. Together with the unions, we must
stop our governments from supplying weapons to warmongers, whether in
Sudan, Yemen, or Gaza!

International Resolution of the independent communist youth organisation REVOLUTION

Assads Regime has fallen in December. This article looks at the history of the Syrian struggle as well as the ongoing developments since then.

With the start of the Arab Spring in Tunisia at the end of 2010, a Series of Uprisings started in North Africa and the middle East. This forced many governmental changes and also started civil wars, such as in Libya, where Muammar al-Gaddafi was overthrown. Similarly the Revolution came to Syria which later ended in a civil war, because the Assad regime’s security cracked down bloodly on protests. In consequence, armed rebel groups like the Free Syrian Army (FSA) began forming, which often included deserters from Assad’s Syrian army. The different rebel groups received weapons form Turkey, the Golf Cooperation Council (UAE., Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman Kuwait, Bahrain) and some Western countries, and made advances in the beginning. The Assad Forces received Weapons as well as other Military and civil support from Russia and Iran at the time. Another actor appeared in 2013, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham’s (HTS) current Leaders had coordinated the expansion of Al-Qaeda in Syria with ISIS between 2012 and 2013, but later had a fallout with them. The fight against ISIS happened largely on shoulders of the Kurds and their Allies, because ISIS encroached on territory Ethnically dominated by Kurds – which was also one of the reasons the prominent US support of the Kurdisch forces was made possible. The successful fight against ISIS roughly created the boarders for the following years, as well as an autonomous Region of Rojava under kurdish control. Several ceasefires were brokered between Assad and oppositions groups. Over this Period more than half a Million people were killed, 7,2 Million internally displaced and with a Diaspora of 8 to 13 million, the situation of the Syrian People dramatically deteriorated since 2011, 90% of the population in Syria are living in poverty.

Fall of Assad

The recent Fall of Assad happened due to an offensive from the Islamist and Syrian Nationalist Military Operations Command (MOC), which is Dominated by HTS. They wanted to Attack Aleppo at the end of 2023, but Turkey wanted to pursue negotiations with the Assad regime, which didn’t lead to a result that was sufficient for Turkey. Today, we can say that Turkey likely gave the green light for the HTS operation; however, it does not have full control over them.

2023, HTS began looking for and creating Allies, by supporting the creation of the Southern Operations Room (SOR), which united 25 Militias south of Damascus. The groups of the MOC got weapons from Turkey from time to time, which further indicates Turkey’s involvement in the offensive planed by the MOC on Aleppo. The resistance from Assad’s forces started to crumble after Aleppo was taken. Four days after Aleppo, Hama was taken and only three days after that the MOC toke Homs. The SOR took control of Damascus at the same day as Homs was taken. The capture of Latakia in the Alawite dominated west of the country, that boarders with the Mediterranean, concludes the capture of the most important cities and regions of Syria in under a month.

With the capture of these important cities the large prisons that the Assad dictatorship had maintained were opened, so that the political prisoners could relish in the new regime change. The opening of the torture prisons was also a top priority in many military operations. The largest prison, Sednaya could hold up to 20.000 people, with the total amount of Syrians arrested since the begin of the civil war estimated to be in the 6 digits. Systematic killing and Torture of Prisoners was also practiced by Assad’s Security Forces, with 11.000 being killed only from March 2011 to August 2013, leaving open the question of the total.

The successful overthrow of the Assad dictatorship, also seemed to be a surprise for the rebel groups. Indicator for that is the absence of a clear political program of HTS and it’s Allies. The absence of a program is obvious in their handling of key questions such as their relations towards their neighbors and other Regional actors, such as Israel, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Iran, Russia, the US, the Kurds in an outside of Syria, and Turkey. Further the question of the Syrian Diaspora, relations to Ethnic Minorities and that of Elections are only slowly and timidly being Answered.

Internationally the fall of the 54 year long dictatorship of the Assad family has been celebrated widely, especially in the Diasporas around the globe. Many of the people that had fled the country, fled because of the Assad regime, directly or because of the civil war. This presents a Historic change for the Syrian people in Syria and in the Diaspora, as well as for regional actors that reformulate their influence on Syria and in the whole region. Additionally with the Overthrow of the Assad dictatorship many countries have paused the granting of Asylum to Syrians, only days after the fall of Assad. This could force people to return to Syria, even if their future is uncertain and could be endangered easily if the Provisional Government should fall.

What are the interests of the actors and the problems of the region?

Having a look at relations of the largest of the fighting groups in the syrian civil war and the recent overthrow it is very clear that the groups fighting have international backers. With Turkey being a large benefactor of the fall of Assad, their constant fights with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which are dominated by kurdish forces, in north eastern Syria, indicate their interest in continuing to fight against kurdish self-determination. Clearly exposed with the attack of the Syrian National Army (SNA), a Turkish backed group, on the SDF in north Syria, at the same time as the beginning of the fight over Aleppo by HTS, which later lead to the fall of Assad. Further, the attempt by Erdoğan to negotiate with Assad in 2023 shows the attempts by Turkey to force a power shift in Syria, which ultimately happened through the Overthrow by HTS. Turkey having international powers such as Russia and the US in its backyard didn’t soothe the tension in and around Syria. Especially with the less than great economic situation in Turkey in recent times it is in its interest to expand its regional influence.

Russia which was and is a backer of Assad, has aided Assad with military support such as airstrikes on Opponents like HTS and stationing troops in the country. Russia also more recently granted Asylum to Assad in Moscow, after he fled the country. Russia’s capability of supporting Assad has weakened in the last 3 Years due to the war in Ukraine. Russian Military bases stationed at the Mediterranean coast have strategic importance, because with their strategically and logistically useful locations, they enable Russia to conduct its imperialist interventions in Africa. Another actor that has lost a strategic ally is Iran. It lost its land connection to Lebanon and therefore the ease of transporting equipment into Hezbollah. Further it closely watches the actions of the Transitional Government towards Israel, with Iran wanting to maintain its Axis of resistance. Under Assad, Syria wasn’t really hindering Iran, but it also didn’t fight back against Israel, when it attacked Syria.

Taking advantage of the newly formed situation in Syria is Israel. It moved troops into the demilitarized zone in between the occupied Golan Heights and southern Damascus, so it could expand its settlements. This also could prepare an encirclement of Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon. Israel’s Airforce also took on of its largest missions where it bombed military infrastructure in Syria, claiming they are eliminating military capabilities for a potential threat. The fact that numerous civilians were killed in the process is something they are willing to accept. Furthermore, Israel repeatedly tries to exploit the Druze and Alawites for its own interests, thereby advancing the destabilization of the country.

The biggest profiteers from the fall of Assad are the ones who are at the head of the transitional government in Damascus: HTS. They have risen from a regional actor in control of the Idlib province to a head of government, without a clear perspective but with the aim to stay in power, as islamists and nationalists. Their governmental structures in Idlib give them a blueprint to quickly unite the rest of Syria under their rule. They have announced that all rebel groups should become a part of a newly formed syrian army of whom a HTS member is minister over.

The actor with a somewhat unclear future is the Kurdish dominated SDF and the region it controls. The SDF have expanded their territory over the Euphrates River and clashed with the SNA. Their political perspective for Syria is secular, democratic and federalized, which could be made compatible with the HTS perspective, or at least what has been visible of it. But the latest developments clearly show that Al Sharaa is more likely to reject a federalist Syria.

Parts of the SDF have also made publicly clear that they would support a HTS under Syria. At the same time support against the turkish attacks in Rojava remains unlikely by the new Syrian government. The SDF receives a large amount of military support form the US, hundreds of millions of dollars of equipment, and 900 to 2000 troops are stationed in Syria to support them at this point in time. The SDFs reliance on US support means their decisions are not completely independent of US interests.

Why did this happen now?

Main Supporters of the Assad regime are occupied with different conflicts that necessitate their attention more than the support of Assad. Hezbollah is fighting Israel, with their ground invasion and Leaders of Hezbollah having been killed by Israel in targeted attacks, leaving them weak. Pulling back large amounts of troops from Lebanon wasn’t feasible for Hezbollah. Similarly, Russia is very occupied with the War in Ukraine, where it binds most of its military capabilities. Russia doesn’t have the capability to support a weakened Assad with the military equipment needed elsewhere more urgently. Turkey on the other hand has the capabilities and desire to fill the power vacuum created by the fall of Assad, and the lower engagement from Russia. Identifiable through the support of insurgent groups that continually attack the SDF and Turkey’s relation to HTS. Iran clearly doesn’t have an interest in larger participation in the conflict with Israel, where they had many possibilities to enter more directly and didn’t. Similarly, it didn’t try to support Assad with large amounts of Resources, further indicating internal instability. Other actors that have been in the region in the past such as ISIS have mostly been defeated and are too weak to pose a large threat at current time.

What will happen?

With the seizure of power by HTS and Israel’s annexation of more territory in the Golan heights, it is not clear cut what will happen in Syria. Remnants of the Assad Government have agreed to work with the HTS administration to ensure public services for the next 1,5 years. With the persual of cementing their power it was announced that militias are going to be combined into a new Syrian Army, In the resent published Statements SDF agreed on beeing part of the army as its own military arm, but the Agreements and Statements are still uncertain and on thin ice.“

The planning of elections has also been announced, with it taking up to 4 years to realize them, because they want to precede them with a census. More pressing questions, those of international relations have not definitively been answered, with the transitional government trying to not take a direct stance. An example of this is by suggesting to Russia that the relationship should benefit both parties. The bases at the mediterranean sea are of military importance, necessary for Russia to support and project its imperialist presence in Africa and for the naval presence of its black sea fleet, because parts of it were stationed there. The future of these bases will depend on the relation between HTS and Russia. To not lose their strategic access to Africa and the operations in Mail, Libya and elsewhere, a relocation to Libya could be possible, where Russia has a presence through the Wagner group, which supports Haftar. In Libya Turkey would also be the main external rival.

Iran being the less proactive power in the support of Assad, compared to Russia or any of the other imperialist and regional powers involved in Syria, such as Turkey or the US, could also be an indicator for Iran’s future actions in Syria. The most important factor for Iran is the positioning towards Israel, and the possibility for supporting it’s “axis of Resistance”, by using the ground connection to Hezbollah for weapons Deliveries. If Syria where to continue maintain the relationship it had under Assad, Israel occasionally attacking Syria without a response, and continuing to allow Iran to transport weapons to Hezbollah, the relationship would not change Dramatically. It has to be made clear that the so called axis of resistance was always far more focused on their own regional interest and in no way a reliable ally to Palestine as well as a true wall against western imperialism.

With Turkey being a probable supporter of the regime change in Syria, their actions and demands will play an important role for the actions in and around Syria, not only because Turkey borders Syria but also due to the amount of support Turkey supplies to groups in Syria, such as the Syrian National Army that has attacked the SDF with the beginning of the HTS insurgence. Turkey wants to destroy the YPG, which is a part of the SDF, and wants to destroy kurdish autonomy and regain land and control of different kurdish areas.

The SDF receives large support from the US in forms of Military equipment and Troops with the task of supporting them. Under the new Trump government it is much more likely a recall of the troops and military support is being prepared (similar to the last Trump administration). How this will develop and if the decision to withdraw troops will be similar to Afghanistan remains to be seen. At this point in time the US administration has not made any moves to do so – there was even a temporary increase in US troops. Communists generally support the withdrawal of imperialist forces from non-imperialist countries because their interests remain their own without any benefit for the people of the region. We also need to acknowledge the still ongoing fights and how to support the SDF against turkish attacks. The future position of the SDF is very dependent on the stance the new government has towards them, because attacks from Turkey and the Syrian National army are inevitable, and the possibility of a fight with the newly combined forces of the Syrian HTS government could pose a threat. The support of the population that the SDF has, especially in non ethnically Kurdish dominated regions are going to decide how successful a resistance from attacks the SDF is going to be. From past endeavors of the SDF the support is low due to them repressing demonstrations by the population of non ethnically Kurdish dominated regions, by shooting at them. Their former role in the Syrian Civil War is also an important factor regarding non-kurdish sympathies for them. First choosing a non enganging “third way” between parties, as to stay out of the revolution in Syria and then at some instances allying with Assads Army has not made them a reliable ally for the Syrian people. At the same time the FSA and other oppositional forces have never considered independence and autonomy of the Kurdish resistance of any importance, so the problems lie deep.

New Developments around the declaration of the dissolution of the PKK (which has not happened as of now and does not include the structures in Syria who are officially independent) have to be viewed closely together with the developments in Syria.

HTS not having a clear political program and having changed their politics in the past, from trying to building up Al-Qaeda in Syria, after distancing themselves from them, and now their closer relation to Turkey makes a prediction to their future actions Difficult. The plans HTS has made with their respecting rights of minorities, could or could not include some form of self determination for the Kurds. A step in this direction was taken by including the SDF forces into the government led military – something that stands as a guarantee to not go more into the direction of the turkish states and its attacks of the region. This means a regional integration but also a commitment to kurdish rights in Syria.

Similarly, their relation to regional actors such as Iran are still open. HTS in its proclamations and actions are conservative, clerical chumming up to the west. If we compare them to the – still relevant but in no position of power – regime of the IS in the region, we can see that the clerical fascist elements are not the policies on which the HTS builds up its power. The promise of a somewhat democratic, and dependable western ally that protects minorities is more prominent as the origin of HTS from the same ideological current as the IS. But even though it is not a fascist force, does not mean that we can trust their promises and not see the reactonary practices they have already set in motion, like the lacking support for different attacked minorities or postponing elections instead of holding them now. Although it took some time, there were revenge killings in the region targeting the Alawite minority (the minority from which the Assads also come). After attacks by pro-Assad forces, the military and other armed groups intervened. A precise attribution of the perpetrators is difficult due to the chaotic situation, which makes independent research challenging. However, it is certain that parts of these groups were linked to both HTS and the SNA, and could be categorized as Islamist and nationalist forces. In total, 1,500 civilians were killed during these outbreaks. Despite this massacre, spontaneous demonstrations broke out in support of the Alawites, demanding an end to the killings.

What are the tasks of revolutionaries?

The ousting of Assad and the end of the dictatorship of the reactionary nationalist Baath Party (Arab Socialist Baath Party) represent a victory not only for the HTS-led coalition but also for the Syrian masses. They must now seize this moment to revive the struggle for the original democratic, social, and economic demands of the Syrian revolution. It is crucial to emphasize at this moment: No trust in HTS, no trust in the transitional government! Similarly, under the rule of an HTS-led government, whether it initially includes parts of the old state apparatus or even representatives of national or religious minorities, such a development cannot be expected. Any such government will be partially or entirely shaped by a strong Islamist-reactionary influence. Moreover, it will attempt to „resolve“ the political and social crisis of the country in coordination with Western powers and their financial institutions, as well as in the interests of its own bourgeois and petty-bourgeois clientele.

Therefore, revolutionaries must not place any trust or support in such a government. Instead, they must warn the rural and urban masses about its reactionary nature, help them make use of the current opportunities for their own political, trade union, and social organization, create forms of self-organization at the workplace and local levels, and, where possible, establish their own self-defense forces to organize security in both urban and rural areas.Moreover, it is clear that, in reality, HTS stands for economic liberalism. According to them, the economy of future Syria should be „a competitive free-market system.“

Therefore, it is all the more important that the existing social movements, trade union, and workplace structures in Syria—who gained organizational and assembly freedoms with the fall of Assad—use and expand the current opportunities.

The Arab Spring demonstrated what the fighting masses of workers and the oppressed are capable of, but also the reasons for their defeat. The spontaneous uprising of the masses and its spread in 2011 clearly showed in Syria that people were demanding a better life in freedom and were willing to fight for it, even at the cost of their lives. However, as the regime became increasingly brutal and murderous towards its own population, two key weaknesses became evident: there was a lack of centralization in the movement and a program that outlined how to fight for specific demands and what could come after the fall of Assad. While the working class carried the movement, it lacked its own, class-conscious vanguard and, therefore, strength.

Therefor the most pressing task for revolutionaries is to build a revolutionary party that is able to make sure that the fall of Assad and the seizure of power by HTS does not turn into another dictatorship. This should be done by developing a revolutionary workers Party, by creating a party out of the most determined parts of the fighters of the working class and the most advanced from parts of the intelligentsia and youth. This should be supported by building workers councils, as well as councils of the youth in and outside of Syria, these should challenge the power over the means of (re)production. The tasks of democratic and socialist Syria have to be fought in combination, therefore an independent constituent assembly that discusses the political and social future of Syria is to be Pursued. This Party has to win over and include the (fighting) minorities in the region as well, foremost the Kurds and the Druzes.

A constituent assembly would still be a bourgeois institution, but the fight for the working class and the building of a revolutionary party would have a better terrain to expose the antidemocratic character of the HTS and it’s allies. In a democratic election the right for refugees to vote has to be ensured.

This assembly should include minorities and give nationally oppressed groups the possibility of self determination, regardless of how this self-determination is done, as a semi-autonomous region or as an independent country. The assembly should also support the struggle of the oppressed nation elsewhere, such as in Turkey or Iraq for the Kurdish and for the Palestinians in Palestine. For Syria this would also mean, the support of the Palestinian resistance and a fight against the oppression by Turkey, even if they played an important role in the overthrow of Assad.

The right to self-determination of oppressed nations and the possibilities for overthrowing regimes in the region, open the question of how such a success could be maintained. Imperialism or other Capitalist Hegemony would threaten the successes. By creating a socialist federation in the middle east and expanding the revolution internationally, the threat of deterioration can be avoided, due to removing the root of the cause of the system, which is private ownership of the means of productions.

Maintaining the right to return for Syrian refugees is an important task of the party, as well as the ensuring a safe accommodation and minimal income for those returning and already there. This and more generally the rebuilding of the country should be financed by expropriating the wealth of the Assad regime and from the ruling capitalists and large landowners. Further international aid should be provided by imperialist states without any condition. Continuing the sanctions on Syria would also complicate the rebuilding efforts and hit the weakest the hardest. Such tasks, of which only a few could be presented, are a collection of tasks that can’t be performed by a bourgeois government: A worker’s government is needed to accomplish them. Above all, the youth can play a key role in this. They were the ones who fought heroically on the frontlines during the Arab Spring. And even today, it is in their interest to fight for a future that they, along with the workers and peasants, can determine for themselves.

With the Fall of Assad many countries postponed the granting of refugee status to Syrians that fled the civil war or that were persecuted. With the shift towards the right, the aim of many bourgeois parties to do mass deportations grew more popular. Fighting these Racist policies is the task of revolutionaries in the imperialist centers of power, Just like the fight against the sanctions and the interference of imperialist forces in Syria.

We as revolutionary internationalists share the excitement about the overthrow of Assad with the Syrian Masses around the world. But we are aware of the tasks to come to ensure a new, democratic, socialist Syria.

REVOLUTION delegation to Serbia, April 2025

Students in Serbia have been protesting for months. Universities are occupied, streets are blocked and the population is showing enormous solidarity. We went to see this by ourselves.

What is going on in Serbia?

The trigger for the current protests was the collapse of a train station canopy in Novi Sad on November 1, 2024, killing 15 people. This is part of a Chinese-led modernization project for Serbia’s rail infrastructure. Since the documents for this are classified as sensitive, the movement accuses the government of corruption. Such and similar corruption is omnipresent in Serbian politics. Whether in elections, foreign investment or construction projects.

But why is that?

The government and its relatively directly subordinate authorities have no interest in the well-being of the population, but want to stuff money into their own pockets. This is not personal misbehaviour, but a logical result of Serbia’s semi-colonial position in the capitalist world system. Since Serbian capitalists cannot compete with powers like Germany or China on their own, the Serbian economy is de facto dominated by them. Those in power themselves vie with each other to see how they can best divide the share that the imperialist corporations give to them.

Thus, Serbia’s role as a semi-colony means that the Serbian government has to maneuver between the interests of the EU, China and Russia, and has to make concessions to each side. As a result, China enforces Chinese rather than Serbian law in its mines in Serbia, and the EU is buying lithium in Serbia’s Jadar Valley to become less dependent on other world powers in the future. The resulting corrupt system means that the lives of the people, who are exploited twice, by imperialist capital and by the corrupt Serbian bourgeoisie and their administrators, are confronted with numerous problems.

The health system is ailing, and corruption also reigns there. You can only get a doctor’s appointment if you can pay money on the side. There are no pharmacies in rural areas, and due to the lack of adequate standards in the training of pharmacists, it is a matter of luck whether you get the right medication or not. The construction sector is just as corrupt, which is what led to the train crash in Novi Sad. Living costs are constantly rising, the education system is massively underfunded and, in schools, it primarily serves to propagate a Serbian nationalist ideology. Dissatisfaction is correspondingly high, especially among young people. The movement certainly has its work cut out.

And they are tackling it: almost every university in the big cities is occupied, and every day there are plenary sessions in which students discuss actions and much more. There is strong support among the population: older people are also collecting donations for the universities. There are road blockades and even marches and bicycle tours from city to city, taking the protests to the countryside. Hundreds of thousands of people took part in a large demonstration in Belgrade on March 15! The government tried to appease the movement by resigning Prime Minister Vučević and making other concessions. But the movement insists on its demands and wants to build even more pressure! They are currently beginning to network with various trade unions for a general strike. The movement is a threat to the government and potentially to the entire Serbian system. That is why there have been arrests and attacks on the protests by members of the government from the SNS party and other right-wingers.

The movement is one of the largest in Europe’s recent history and has been paralyzing the country for months. To avoid ending in failure, the movement must increase its pressure, as with the general strike, and build countervailing power structures. There are already attempts at this, with students organizing their own improvised television channel.

The movement is very radical in its practice, and this must be reflected in its demands! Their demands for the investigation of the station canopy collapse in Novi Sad are not enough to end corruption. They must expose the economic origin of corruption and fight nationalism in their own ranks. So far, Serbian nationalist bourgeois forces have taken up a lot of space, and left-wing forces are very weakly represented, partly due to the limited freedom of organization. They must network with workers, because only they can bring the government to its knees economically. Furthermore, the bourgeois opposition and the capital interests of China and the EU must be exposed! A system without corruption and without exploitation can only be achieved through the power of workers, youth and their organized structures!

How can we support the movement here?

We have to expose the interests of the EU, German and Austrian capital in Serbia: Austria, for example, benefits from Serbian migrants, who can be exploited to the full because the standard of living in Serbia is significantly lower and they still earn more with poor wages in Austria than with mediocre wages in Serbia. Erste Bank and Co. as well as, to an even greater extent, the capital of the imperialist great power Germany are making profits in Serbia. We have to attack that! The main enemy is in our own countries!

And we can also learn from the students in Serbia for our struggles in Austria and Germany! They confirm the strength of what we at REVOLUTION have been politically proposing for a long time, but which is hardly present in the left: that it is politically correct and necessary to organize where you are anyway, where your own place in the system is, and to start the fight there. That’s exactly what the Serbian students are doing, occupying their faculties and making demands according to their respective professions. On this basis, they organize the protests and the students of all faculties are in solidarity with each other. A movement with a similar structure, fighting at school, university and workplace, making its demands for school, university and workplace and winning the masses locally on this basis, can also get hundreds of thousands onto the streets of Vienna and Berlin, thereby putting Stocker and Merz under great pressure!

We therefore demand:

• Imperialist powers: Get out of Serbia!
• Down with Vucic! For a transitional government made up of student and worker structures and a constituent assembly!
• Long live international solidarity! The struggle of Serbian students is our struggle too! Let’s take it to our universities, schools, colleges and workplaces too!

An Interview with Partito Comunista dei Lavoratori Youth

Editorial comment: With the increasing fight for the imperialist redivision of the world – the shift to the right, militarism and cuts are more prevalent than ever. Students and the youth internationally are struggling under the crisis, which is why in Palermo (Italy) students occupied parts of their school last year, to fight for a safe environment to learn. Since we as REVOLUTION believe that it is necessary for the youth internationally to organize in the places where we spend our day-to-day life, at schools, universities and at work – we interviewed the students from the Partito Comunista dei Lavoratori (Communist Workers Party, PCL) to learn from their experiences and discuss between young communists internationally. We believe that the overthrowing of Capitalism is only possible through an international revolution, thats why we need to discuss struggles all over the world. We urge students and other parts of the youth worldwide to reach out to us, for interviews about their struggles with the capitalist system and to discuss with us, how to fight those struggles – so we can one day together achieve a communist world.

The PCL is the Italian section of the International Trotskyist Opposition, with whom our Fighting Partner the League for the Fifth International, is in discussions about regroupment, together with the International Socialist League. (Agreement between ITO, L5I and ISL: https://fifthinternational.org/for-a-regroupment-of-revolutionaries/)

Why did you occupy your school?
We choose to occupy because of our school’s very precarious structural conditions.
In fact we occupied right after the school was flooded with rain because of the sewerage
drainage system being broken and a piece of roof missing.
But this wasn’t even the only problem, we also had mold on the classrooms’ walls, on the
ground floor, a mouse infestation and malfunctioning internet connection.

What happened before, during and after the occupation?
We had already sent multiple emails to our principal asking her to resolve these problems,
but we didn’t get any response. Consequently we choose to occupy the teachers room, we would have preferred to occupy the principal’s office but it isn’t in our school, it is in another school with the same principal (a school in which the structural conditions are way better, but this doesn’t surprise us…). Two months before the occupation we had already changed the building for our school because in the past some pieces of the structure were falling down, including roofs.
Fortunately no one ever got injured but this made permanence at school very unsafe and
uncomfortable. Consequently the majority of the students were already angry and fed up at the school’s condition, considering we had transferred there coming from an already poor situation and hoping for a better one. When we saw the principal wouldn’t respond to our mails we started discussing the idea of an occupation, both in conversations with students and students’ representatives meetings. Then the representatives, including on of our comrades, voted to occupy and on the 10th of May 2024, after the first hour of lessons, we occupied the teachers’ room.

Were there other Groups participating?
There weren’t other groups organizing the occupation, considering our school doesn’t even
have a students’ collective, isn’t much active in the students’ movement and rarely
participates in protests. Despite this we were helped by the older students, who were in our school when it still had a collective, even tough It wasn’t tied to communism or generally leftism.
This collettive tough only lasted from 2021 to 2022, some months prior to when we started
High School, mostly because the majority of those who joined it were already graduating,
and by 2022 only a few of them were still in our school.)

What methods did you use to get people organized? Handing out Flyers, Newspaper,
Demonstrations?
Because of the conditions we were in, it was very easy to convince students in participating
in the occupation. The only necessary thing to convince them was talking about It in school assemblies and students’ representatives’ committee meetings. Consequently we did not hand out flyers or newspapers, but we did in March, some weeks after joining thr PCL, to try to radicalize students and make them join the party but sadly we didn’t get any results.

Were there Structures you organized around? Did you use existing structures of
student participation? How do they work?
There aren’t political structures in our school, if not the students’ committee which isn’t
politically sided though, so we organized only around it.

Were you able to Achieve your demands? If not, did you have a plan to escalate?
In the end, after three hours of occupation followed by a meeting between the school
representative, the principal and the mayor which lasted one hour, we were able to achieve
our demands. Our demands were fixing the sewerage system, the roof and the radiators, removing the mold from the walls and getting rid of the rats. I think the reason the principal approved our demands so quickly after weeks of ignoring us was fear of media coverage if the occupation lasted longer, which would have caused her to get a bad reputation.

Even though we were lucky and our demands were met, we didn’t have a plan to escalate if
they didn’t accept our demands, except occupying for a longer time and we must recognize
this as a weakness. What we obtained from this occupation was not only the fixing of the structural problems but the rebirth of a minimal political consciousness in a school that before 2022 hadn’t seen an occupation or demonstration in decades.

Were there any Repressions?
Fortunately we didn’t suffer any repression but at the same time repression Is very common
in Italy. For example in February students in Pisa and Firenze were beaten by police for protesting
against the italian government’s involvement in the genocide of Palestinians by Israel and in
December ten students in Rome got suspended for 15 days, condemned to hours of
community service and reported to the police after they occupied Cavour High School for
one week. (1)

Also with the new DDL Sicurezza, a set of laws that are being approved by the
government, there are a lot of new norms that will be approved that make political activism
extremely difficult. For example the 14th section punishes those who blockade roads while protesting with 6 years of jail, the 19th section introduces the crime of passive resistance, the 28th section allows police officers to carry certain types of weapons even when they aren’t in service and the 31th section permits members of the secret services, if they received the permission of
the president, to commit acts of terrorism and asks universities to provide the identities of
professors and students that are in the opposition parties to the secret services. (2)

How did the students React to the Occupation and Organizing?
As I had already said, students were tired about the school’s conditions and the principal’s
negligence so they reacted very positively to the occupation and some of them helped
organizing It.

Are these Problems Specific to your school, region, or the whole country? What
Perspective did you propagandize?
These problems didn’t affect only our school but affected and affect the schools of the whole
country. Last year there were 69 collapses in schools regarding roofs and walls, 8 more than 2023.
The South, the area in which our school Is located, is the most affected, with 28 collapses
(40,5%). This underlines the connection between inadequate school structures and the questione
meridionale, which is the set of all socio-economic inequalities between North and South
Italy. 59,16% of schools don’t have an usability certificate, 57,68% don’t have fire
prevention, 41,5% don’t have static testing. The air quality also is very poor, 94% of schools don’t have air conditioning and ventilation systems. 10% of schools don’t have heating systems.
These issues are also tied to ableism. In fact 65% of schools don’t have stairlifts, 74% don’t have appropriate bathrooms for disabled people and 76% don’t have wheelchair ramps.
Also only 11% of schools underwent construction works aimed at eliminating architectural
barriers. (3)

These conditions are probably caused by the corruption of some school principals and, even
more, by education not receiving enough government funds. Indeed in Italy education receives 2,9% of the total GDP, against the 3,2% OECD average. (4)

This while the military spending increases by 13 billion euros, indicating how the current
post-fascist government put it’s imperialist interests and the support to Israel in it’s genocide
against Palestinians higher than the needs of the people of the country they rule. (5)

An example of corrupt school principals is Falcone Middle School’s former principal Daniela
Lo Verde, who stole food and technological tools that were destined to students and
appropriated EU funds by inventing courses that never actually happened in the school, the
already unacceptable act is worsened by the fact It happened in the poorest Palermo’s
district, ZEN. Now she has been sentenced to carrying out community services. (6)

Are you going to continue to stay active in Schools?
Certainly we are going to keep being active in our school. One of our comrades has been reelected as the classroom representative and next year we would like to candidate ourselves in the students’ elections to become school representatives. We also organized leafletings about protests we participated in and events that we organized in our political circle both in our school and the other High School in Town. These sadly didn’t attract anyone to the party but they contributed to make ourselves known as a party and as communists in school, helping us in making steps forward to organize the students in fighting against the bourgeoisie and ally with the workers’ movement in our school.

Sources:

(1) https://corrierefiorentino.corriere.it/notizie/24_febbraio_24/cariche-sugli-
studenti-pro-palestina-a-pisa-e-firenze-sindaci-e-rettori-e-inaccettabile-97e8e528-e551-
412d-805f-ff8a134eexlk.shtml and https://www.romatoday.it/politica/scuole-occupate-roma-
sospensioni-liceo-cavour.html)

(2) https://www.sistemapenale.it/it/documenti/pacchetto-sicurezza-il-testo-del-disegno-
di-legge-e-il-dossier-del-servizio-studi-del-senato and https://ilmanifesto.it/il-grande-fratello-
alluniversita)

(3) https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2024/09/25/aumentano-i-crolli-nelle-scuole-
e-il-60-degli-istituti-non-ha-certificato-dagibilita-e-prevenzione-incendi/7706942/

(4) https://www.tuttoscuola.com/education-at-a-glance-2024-valditara-investimenti-e-
innovazioni-per-una-scuola-italiana-piu-equa-e-competitiva/

(5) https://www.milex.org/2024/10/30/esplosione-per-le-spese-militari-italiane-nel-2025-
a-32-miliardi-di-cui-13-per-nuove-armi/

(6) https://www.palermotoday.it/cronaca/scuole-falcone-zen-corruzione-condanna-
preside-lo-verde.html

By Lia Malinovski, REVOLUTION Magazine, December 2024

The fact that more and more fellow students are spouting right-wing nonsense and teachers laugh about it is not only the case in a Germany, where the AfD has nationwide support of over 17%. In Italy Georgia Meloni, the head of the government, comes from a fascist tradition and has aligned herself with a neoliberal right-wing populism. Javier Milei is attacking the working class and youth in Argentina, Donald Trump has won the election in the USA, and in France the ultra-right Rassemblement National has won 30% of the votes. In the following, we want to examine the reasons for the success of the right and the dimensions of the current rise of right-wing politics, so that we can effectively fight it!

A shift to the right means militarism!

Last year, all imperialist states together invested more money in their armies and weapon systems than ever before. While hardly anyone cares about any UN resolutions anymore, all states that can afford it are increasing their military budgets. In Ukraine and Gaza, we already see the horrific violence to which the growing tensions between world powers can lead. Taiwan and the Pacific are also places, where these tensions could quickly lead to military conflict in the future.

But those who arm themselves externally against the apparent external enemy must also arm themselves against the alleged “internal enemies”. Parallel to special funds for the military, there are also more funding for the police and attacks on democratic rights such as freedom of demonstration or freedom of the press. We see this, for example, in the fact that in Germany all those who dared to speak out for peace in Ukraine or in Gaza and thus contradicted the German war plans in the respective region, have been branded as traitors of the nation, friends of Putin or even anti-Semites. The ideological incitement is accompanied by demonstrations being banned or attacks on the right of asylum.

The background of the global militarization internally and externally is the economic crisis and an intensified formation of blocs between the imperialist powers. In view of unclear profit prospects, the imperialist powers are increasingly relying on military strength. We are currently in a so-called overproduction or over-accumulation crisis. This means, among other things, that investments that companies have made are no longer profitable and they remain stuck with the expenses. Furthermore, more has been produced than can be sold on the market, which also fuels the crisis. This over-accumulation crisis has now also affected China, unlike a few years ago. The precursors of the current crisis, the financial crisis of 2007-08, have caused a faltering and even a partial reversal of globalization. Instead, trade conflicts are increasing and imperialist blocs are emerging. The USA is on the decline as the world’s dominant power and its supremacy in the world is no longer unchallenged. This results in an ever harder struggle between the imperialist blocs for the redivision of the world, that is, for spheres of influence and markets. In this struggle, it is becoming apparent that the main contradiction is between the USA and China, and that Russia and the EU (including British imperialism) must subordinate themselves to these two. Examples of this are the protective tariffs on Chinese electric cars, which the USA has raised to 100% and the EU to up to 35%. An economic war is breaking out that is plunging the relative stability of recent decades into chaos.

A shift to the right means austerity!

However, the costs of the crisis are not being paid by those who gambled away and lined their pockets with war and exploitation. No, they are dumped on us young people, queers, migrants and the entire working class. We see this in the fact that wages are being eaten up by inflation and rents almost everywhere in the world. That the welfare state is being cut back and our schools and youth clubs are falling into disrepair. International economic growth is forecast to be just 3%, and for Germany it is expected to be just above 0%. This puts us internationally on the brink of stagnation, which could quickly lead to a recession. Capital reacts to this with social cuts, attacks on wages and working conditions, and mass layoffs.

Alongside the proletariat, the petty bourgeoisie is also affected by the crisis. It is being crushed between the main classes of the proletariat and the bourgeoisie and is therefore becoming the main social support of the right-wing parties internationally. They are drowning in global competition and fear relegation to the proletariat. They have economic existential fears, feel betrayed by the “elites” (on whom they could always rely), and are envious that they are only saving monopoly capital in the crisis. They want to go back to the “good old days” before the crisis and secure their position in the domestic market by closing the borders.

More and more sections of society are being driven into poverty and destitution by the crisis, inflation and state austerity policies. But instead of resisting this with a progressive vision of a different society, more and more sections of society are looking to the right for answers to their problems. This is because left-wing parties and trade unions have failed to counter the attacks of capital in recent years. After the financial crisis of 2007/08 initially triggered strong social movements, as in Greece or in the Arab countries, but these have suffered severe defeats. And even the trade unions and social democrats, who only want to make the crisis more socially acceptable instead of fighting against capital, have less and less leeway to distribute. This is followed by a loss of members, a decline in fighting strength and thus less room for maneuver to counter the attacks of capital. For us young people, the defeat of the climate movement was certainly also formative, leaving many previously active people disillusioned and frustrated.

A shift to the right means racism and sexism!

In this context, populism manages to obscure the class antagonisms with its talk of the “people” fighting against “the elites” and thus strengthen the bourgeoisie. It is also associated with nationalism and social chauvinism. They say we have to take action against the “foreign elements” in an otherwise good capitalism. In reality, these are often leftists, migrants, queers, refugees, and unemployed people. They want to turn back the wheel of time to a time before the great crisis, when there were supposedly no refugees, no emancipated women, and no queer gender identities.

Racism, sexism and homophobia are important tools for those in power to deflect the frustration of the masses from themselves. At the same time, the economic crisis requires the poorer countries to be exploited more fiercely. To justify this, their populations must be declared inferior with the help of racism. Even if people have to flee to richer countries due to war, arms exports, natural disasters and economic crises, this ideology works. The AfD, CDU and the former coalition government are currently overtaking each other with increasingly inhuman attacks on refugees and their rights, be it “deportation offensives” or the recently introduced payment card. This poison divides our class and prevents us from defending ourselves internationally against the attacks on all of us.

Who is targeted by the media smear campaigns also depends on the foreign policy interests of the respective states. Thus, anti-Muslim racism is currently gaining in importance. To legitimize the delivery of weapons for the genocide in Gaza, an enormous racist propaganda machine has to be set in motion. What gained momentum on 9/11 is being taken to the extreme today. In German schools, all people in Gaza are allowed to be called terrorists, but criticism of Israel is immediately branded as anti-Semitic and suppressed. Solidarity with Israel is made a prerequisite for citizenship acquisation, and in many media outlets, the lie of imported anti-Semitism is spread.

Where is the shift to the right leading?

Whether Trump or Harris has won in the US, politics will become more right-wing and the conflict with China will continue to escalate. The US will also continue to support Israeli aggression, fight social movements at home and seal off its borders from migrants in a racist manner. In Germany, a government under the CDU and its right-wing figurehead Friedrich Merz is to be expected. Attacks on the right to strike, on the right to demonstrate and on sexual self-determination will be just a few of the expected consequences.

The shift to the right will continue to form and spread in its various dimensions if we do not manage to prove that the solution to the crisis must come from the left. The fight for this begins exactly where you are reading this article. First of all, we have to organize where we spend our days, namely at our schools, universities and workplaces. There we have to build committees to counter the effects of the shift to the right. Only in this way can we manage to draw other sections of society to our side and organize independently of the state. In doing so, we have to fight the attacks of capital with social demands! We need class struggle instead of social partnership like the union bureaucracy and social democrativ parties want it. We have to link this with anti-racist demands, because racism weakens our common fighting strength. We will not be divided! Let’s fight together against all asylum law restrictions and border regimes and build organized self-defense against the attacks of the right! However, we cannot do all this alone. We must also address our demands to the organizations that organize a large part of the working class – that is, the trade unions and the reformist parties. In joint struggles, we must put pressure on their leaderships to actually stand against the right-wing shift and mobilize their entire membership. Our resistance must be coordinated internationally, because just as the right-wing shift is happening globally, so must our resistance.