Ashley Smith

Tempest artwork

US politics today: Chaos, conflict and a creeping constitutional crisis

Ashley Smith — The greater evil is obviously Trump and the far-right GOP. Harris and the Democratic Party are lesser evils by comparison. But that does not exonerate them of being evil.
Trump Biden

The United States hurtles toward political crisis: Assassination attempt emboldens Trump, further immobilizes Democrats

Ashley Smith analyzes the impact of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump on the deepening political crisis in the US and the ever growing weakness of the Joe Biden campaign.
imperialism and antiimperialism

Imperialism and anti-imperialism today

Ashley Smith — The United States remains the world’s most powerful state. But it faces imperial rivals in China and Russia and sub-imperial ones in every region of the globe.
geneva lake

The persistence of global capitalism’s Long Depression: An interview with Michael Roberts

Michael Roberts looks at the state of the US and world economy, the reasons for what he calls the Long Depression, and how it is driving political polarization and imperial rivalries.
Palestine rally

An interview With Tareq Baconi: Toward decolonization — The struggle for Palestine today

Tareq Baconi discusses Hamas’ attacks on October 7, Israel’s genocide, the state of Palestinian resistance and its implication for the region and world.

Palestine Ukraine flag

Ukrainian activists declare solidarity with Palestine

Leftists in Ukraine are insisting on the urgent need to build solidarity without exception among oppressed peoples.
Biden

Trapped in the Democratic Party: The Left, Bidenomics, and socialist strategy

Ashley Smith describes how Joe Biden’s economic program represents “imperialist Keynesianism” designed to rival China, ameliorate domestic social inequalities, and neutralize challenges from both the Left and the Trumpian right.
US dollar

Crisis, rivalry, and the fragmentation of global capitalism: Interview with Michael Roberts

Ashley Smith interviews Michael Roberts about the system’s seemingly intractable crisis, the looming threat of war between great powers, and the desperate need for international working-class solidarity against militarism.
bank collapse

Banks on the brink? The origins, nature, and trajectory of the crisis — Interview with Michael Roberts

The crisis in the banking industry has sent stock markets around the world into gyrations. What caused all of this? Is this a passing crisis? What impact will it have on the real economy? Ashley Smith interviews Michael Roberts.
Ukraine bombing

A Ukrainian socialist lays out the aims and struggles of her country’s left

Leftists in Ukraine are simultaneously resisting Russian imperialism and the domestic imposition of neoliberalism, explains Alona Liasheva.
Tempest

War and resistance in Putin’s Russia: An Interview with Ilya Budraitskis

Ashley Smith interviews Ilya Butraitskis - The Ukrainian resistance has scored major victories in its struggle to liberate its country from Russian occupation. Putin, facing defeats on the battleground, has issued draft orders for 300,000 people in Russia to shore up his military forces in Ukraine. He has also staged “sham” referendums in occupied Donbas as part of his drive to annex it to be part of Russia.