Ukraine

Bill Fletcher Jr., Bill Gallegos, Jamala Rogers - The Russian invasion of Ukraine has been met with strange responses on the part of segments of the USA Left and among many progressives.  While, generally speaking, there has been a strong condemnation of the Russian invasion, there has simultaneously been a tendency to excuse the Russian invasion and place the responsibility for the aggression solely on the US government (and NATO).  Not only is such an analysis factually inaccurate, but it arises from an analytical error rooted in a downplaying of the entire issue of the right of nations to self-determination.

Debates over the proper approach to the Russo-Ukrainian War have dominated much of the year. Yet discussions within the western left have not always featured the perspectives of Ukrainians and Russians themselves. The Real News Network board member Bill Fletcher, in partnership with Haymarket Books, hosts a panel with Ukrainian and Russian academics.

Against The Current - As Russia's invasion and its global impacts spread with ruinous impact, it’s high time for factual, political and moral clarity on what this war is about. That requires sorting out a great deal of ideological mythology on all sides.

Susan Watkins - A classic analysis of the Second World War defines it as the outcome of five different types of conflict. Might this type of analytical perspective throw some light on the present war for Ukraine? 

Chris Slee - Western imperialism certainly played a part in creating the context for the war. But it was Russian President Vladimir Putin who took the decision to invade, and he must be condemned for this.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is having profound repercussions for the international system and the global economy. In this conversation, Boris Kagarlitsky discusses the implications of the war on the Russian economy, its financial sector, and the Russian elite. Furthermore, he nalyzes the ongoing crisis of globalization, in particular Western sanctions, rising commodity prices, and the current role of China.

Catherine Samary - Ukrainian socialist NGO Sotsialny Rukh (SR - Social Movement), held a national conference in Kyiv. Far from a simple factual and make-shift report, the aim here is to shed light on the specific profile of this young left, based on how it operates at the heart of Ukrainian society and at odds with the dominant contradictory interpretations of the “Euro-Maidan” (2013-2014) which divide the left and are exploited by Putin.

Denish Pilash, activist and professor of political science in Kiev, recounts the attempt of the new Ukrainian left to emphasise social conflict in the context of resistance to Russian aggression

Sotsialnyi Rukh - The people of Ukraine have been facing hard challenges, yet they have proven their ability to fight for the right to decide on their own fate, and their determination to defend the country and to end the war as soon as possible. A party is needed to implement an alternative vision of Ukraine — democratic, social, and socialist.

Hanna Perekhoda - In order to understand Putin’s war against Ukraine and its people, one must take a close look at the place that Ukraine, its state, language, and culture occupy in the imperial and national imagination of Russians.

Simon Pirani - A look at the economic war being waged alongside the military conflict, the resulting disruption of energy markets, and their place in the broader social and ecological crises shaking capital.

Dave Holmes and Renfrey Clarke - The war in Ukraine is being used to massively intensify the West’s anti-Russia campaign. But the blowback from the sanctions regime is destabilising Western Europe and intensifying the suffering of developing countries.