The US-Israeli strikes against Iran are part of a decades-long war against the Islamic Republic which has refused to bow to US demands that it surrender its sovereignty. Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance fires a Tomahawk Land Attack Missile at Iran, February 28 -- public domain image By Vijay Prashad Having just formed the Board of Peace, the United States and Israel have begun the board’s first war, this time on Iran. The US-Israel attack launched ear

The notorious Megiddo Prison -- image via Middle East Monitor / Twitter By Vijay Prashad and Ubai al-Aboudi In January 2026, the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem published a grim update to its earlier work, titled Living Hell: The Israeli Prison System as a Network of Torture Camps . This report documents the horrific conditions faced by Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and detention facilities, revealing structural brutality that must be understood not as is

Portraits of Chavez, Bolivar and Maduro in Venezuela -- Guaiquerí, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons By Celina della Croce U.S. President Donald Trump has not shied away from admitting his thirst for Venezuelan oil. On 16 December 2025, in the leadup to the 3 January bombing of Caracas and kidnapping of the country’s president and first lady, Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores, he claimed ownership over Venezuela resources, stating that “America will not… allow a hostile regime to tak

The bar at The Foreign Correspondents Club in Bangkok, 2019 -- image via X By Kay Young Since the American War on Vietnam, Bangkok has been a key hub for international journalists and academics in Southeast Asia. It offers modern infrastructure, easy travel, and a high quality of life, allowing them to chopper into the periphery and return home for drinks. These advantages foster a professional environment removed from the region it purports to cover. Western expatriates oper

An election campaign poster of Pheu Thai Party on the Charot Withi Thong Road in Sawankhalok district, Sukhothai province, January 2026 -- image via Chainwit, Wikimedia Commons By Kay Young As Thailand goes to the polls, three visions compete: one which experiments in strange new populist economics, one which critiques from the seminar room, and one paying to keep the countryside quiet. In the Thai election, scheduled for 8 February, we can see the Global South’s political la

Greenland's flag -- Christoph Strässler, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Lotte Rørtoft-Madsen On 14 January, a few hours before the historic meeting in Washington between representatives from Greenland and Denmark and their U.S. counterparts, J. D. Vance and Marco Rubio, Denmark and several of its NATO allies reinforced their military presence in Greenland and announced that more reinforcements would follow. Some interpreted this move as pressure on the Trump Administr

A new book by J.N. Cheney, an independent socialist historian focusing on the labor movement, radical politics, and community action in New York State's Mohawk Valley, looks at a largely forgotten but important moment in US labour history. The Little Falls Textile Strike of 1912-1913 took place between the famous Bread & Roses Strike and the Paterson Silk Strike, which likely contributes to its relative obscurity. Conditions for the strike were similar to the one in Lawrence,

Gaza, December 2025 -- image via the UNRWA on X By Vijay Prashad On 19 January 2025, a ceasefire took effect to halt the Israeli bombing of Palestinians in Gaza. This ceasefire emerged from a mediation process by Egypt, Qatar, and the United States, which had been sealed in June 2024 with United Nations Security Council Resolution 2735 . However, the Israelis rejected the agreement and waited until Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election to proceed so that Trump coul

Long before Christmas became a commercial spectacle, winter holidays carried a shared moral purpose: protecting the vulnerable, renewing social bonds, and reminding societies of their obligations to one another. Revisiting these ancient ethics may offer a surprising roadmap for civic repair in an age of division. Gathering Evergreens -- BPL, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Martina Moneke When we think of Christmas today, what comes first to mind? Twinkling lights alon

We are wired to find faces everywhere, and this instinct reveals how our perception and our environment can influence each other. Tree with a face, Heald Green by Benjamin Shaw, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Irina Matuzava Imagine that you notice an unfamiliar male face out of the corner of your eye. You turn to look at it, but it turns out that you perceived a face-like visual cue—a tree adorned with several hollows that appear like “eyeholes.” This kind of accident

Leslie Goonewardene as General Secretary of the LSSP in the early days of the party -- image via A S Goonewardene - Fair use, via Wikimedia Commons By Shiran Illanperuma Ninety years ago, on 18 December 1935, a handful of young people came together to establish the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) in Sri Lanka (then Ceylon). Leslie Goonewardena, General Secretary of the LSSP from 1935 to 1977, later wrote that the party was founded because “there was a void to be filled”. On th

Far right Chilean President Elect Kast in October -- Equipo Kast, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Taroa Zúñiga Silva and José Roberto Duque The disappointment felt by many left-wing supporters in Latin America has been renewed with the recent democratic victory of the far right in Chile. This sentiment is particularly poignant as it reflects the struggles of those who identify politically with progressive ideals. Much of this disappointment stems from a simplistic and lin

Kast and Argentinian president Milei on December 16 -- Argentina.gob.ar , CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Vijay Prashad On 14 December, the predictable happened: José Antonio Kast, the candidate of the far-right Republican Party, prevailed over Jeannette Jara of the Communist Party of Chile by 58.16 percent to 41.84 percent. Kast ran as the candidate of the Cambio por Chile (Change for Chile) platform and was backed by all the parties of the traditional right and the cent

Trump aboard the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush, October 5, 2025 -- public domain image By Vijay Prashad Ever since Hugo Chávez came to power in 1998, the United States has attempted  to overthrow the Bolivarian Revolution. They have tried everything short of a full-scale military invasion: a military coup, selecting a substitute president, cutting off access to the global financial system, imposing layers of sanctions, sabotaging the electricity grid, sending in merc

Skyline of Pudong, Shanghai, seen from Suzhou creek area -- Steffen Wurzel, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Shiran Illanperuma Is Asia possible? This provocation comes from a recent intervention by Tricontinental Asia, the latest in a series of conjunctural analyses on the Asian continent. There is increasing acknowledgement that the world economy’s centre of gravity is shifting to Asia. Home to 60 percent of the world’s population, the continent contributes to 70 per

José Antonio Kast campaigning in Chile in October -- Equipo Kast, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Vijay Prashad The far right in Latin America is angry. Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro and Argentina’s Javier Milei always look furious, and they always speak loudly and aggressively. Testosterone leaks from their pores, a toxic sweat that has spread across the region. It would be easy to say that this is the impact of Donald Trump’s own brand of neo-fascism, but this is not true. Th

Responding to a population seeking practical knowledge and tools, the death literacy movement is filling a much-needed void by offering clarity, comfort, and confidence. Public domain image By Caren Martineau and Sarah Parker Ward Note by Caren Martineau: Having explored the implications of America’s aging demographic in my introductory article , I wanted to follow up with a piece that continues to provide information, clarity, and encouragement in support of personal and cul

Haitian monument honouring the battle By Guillermo Barreto This year marks the 222nd anniversary of the Battle of Vertières. It took place on November 18 south of Le Cap, in what was then known as Saint Domingue. In that battle, which lasted five hours, Napoleon Bonaparte’s elite troops were defeated by battalions of former slaves led by Jean Jacques Dessalines, who consolidated the independence of what would henceforth be called Ayti or Haiti. Haiti is always mentioned in th

Catherine Connolly campaigning in October -- image via Connolly for President on X By Vijay Prashad Catherine Connolly (born 1957) only became involved in active politics in 1999. Michael D. Higgins, the outgoing president of Ireland (2011-2025), encouraged Connolly to join the Labour Party and stand for election. Both Connolly and Higgins (known in Ireland as Michael D) come from Galway, a city on the west coast of Ireland. Connolly was born there, the ninth of fourteen chil

Trump and Netanyahu with a number of US officials at the White House, September 29, 2025 -- public domain image By Vijay Prashad On 26 October, Caroline Willemen of Médecins Sans Frontières stated that Israel continues to use the need for humanitarian aid in Gaza as “means of pressure”. “The humanitarian situation in Gaza has not improved significantly”, she told the press, “as water and shelter shortages persist and hundreds of thousands of people continue to live in tents