Who was Joseph Stalin and what is the legacy of his leadership? In this episode of the Spectre of Communism, we weigh the evidence, based on historical fact and the principles of Marxist theory, to give Stalinism a fair trial.

On Wednesday, 19 March, Turkey awoke to the news of a major round of arrests targeting opposition figures. Around a hundred politicians, journalists and academics were arrested, including Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu. The latter is Erdoğan’s greatest adversary. He was planning to stand in the upcoming presidential elections.

A spectre is haunting Europe. This horrible phenomenon has appeared suddenly, as if by some kind of black magic, conjured up from the darkest pit of hell by a malevolent devil, to plague and torment the good people of the Earth, to disturb their rest and people their worst nightmares.

Throughout Tuesday 18 March, the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) launched barrages of bombs upon the people of Gaza, shattering the fragile ceasefire with a rain of death and destruction. Over 400 Palestinians were killed and more than 600 injured in the strikes, making it the single bloodiest day of Israel’s genocide since late 2023.

Trump’s dramatic return to the White House has thrown the liberals into complete panic and confusion. They have been accusing Trump of being responsible for every ill in the world, and have flung whatever insults they can at him: from semi-fascist, to fascist, to neo-fascist.

In Belgrade, Serbia, on 15 March, saw what was undoubtedly the largest protest in the history of Serbia. According to the Archive of Public Gatherings, it numbered around 300,000 people, with many estimating that it was even larger.

On 23 November 2024, the Italian section of the Revolutionary Communist International launched the Revolutionary Communist Party. We appeal to all communist militants who are critical of Stalinism to join us in the task of building the party. The following article was written by Alessandro Giardiello in the run up to the launch of the RCP, in order to offer a summary of our origins and history.

Did communism kill 100 million people? Was Hitler really a communist? Is there no difference between Lenin and Stalin? Right-wing pundits and politicians always throw blood-curdling statistics and historical ‘facts’ to prove that communism is pure evil, while capitalism is the best system that could ever exist. In this video, leading communist Fred Weston takes on three popular right-wing commentators, and separates fact from fiction.

Today, ‘civilised’ Europe is arming itself to the teeth. Instead of the pleasant promises of peace, progress and well-being with which they usually lull our consciences to sleep, the perspective they offer us is one of war, destruction and suffering. As in the dramas of ancient Greece, the cheerful face of Thalia gives way to the stern countenance of Melpomene: tragedy is called to the stage. Be that as it may, we prefer that the true face of capitalism is exposed, instead of its mask.

The French ruling class and its government are on the offensive. In addition to the tens of billions of euros in cuts to social spending and the civil service, employers are orchestrating a massive destruction of jobs: 300,000 direct or indirect industrial jobs are under threat.

The Organización Comunista Militante, the Revolutionary Communist International in Argentina, repudiates and condemns the disproportionate and cowardly violence committed by the Federal Police and the Police of the City of Buenos Aires against the march of pensioners and football fans on Wednesday 12 March.

On March 8, ICE agents arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University student and pro-Palestine activist. Thugs dragged him off in front of his wife, who is eight months pregnant, and transferred him to a detention center in Louisiana where he was initially prevented from speaking to his lawyer in private. Khalil holds a green card, legally entitling him to live and work in the US, as well as the right to “be protected by all laws of the United States, your state of residence, and local jurisdictions.” Nonetheless, the Trump administration seeks to deport him for the “crime” of exercising his First Amendment right to oppose Israeli and American imperialism.

Since December, when the Islamist group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) swept to power in Damascus, European diplomats and Arab leaders have been meeting the now besuited ex-ISIS, ex-Al Qaeda commander al-Jolani in order to launder the new regime’s image, with the help of the press. Now we see the real face of their friends in Damascus. Since Friday, fighters loyal to the al-Jolani regime have swept through coastal villages, towns and cities, carrying out a pogrom that has left over 1,200 Alawite civilians dead so far; men, women and children killed for being Alawites.

The world capitalist system is beset on all sides by crisis. Debt is sky-high, economies are stagnating and society is more polarised than ever. To add to this mess, the tapestry of world relations – the ‘rules-based order’ – is unravelling. Tit-for-tat tariffs that seek to export the crisis threaten to turn into trade wars that will tear up world trade.

Starmer and the establishment are on a crusade of flag-waving jingoism: puffing out their chests on the world stage, and using the cover of militarism to prepare for attacks on workers at home. We say: down with these deluded warmongers!

Three months after the scandalous cancellation of the presidential election results, the Romanian establishment remains mired in political turmoil.

The Battle of Stalingrad was a turning point in the Second World War, but it was with the Battle of Kursk in July 1943 that Germany's fate was definitively sealed. However, the fact that the war was effectively lost did not prevent the Nazi leadership from continuing to fight until the end, and the end took almost two years to arrive.

Students at Jadavpur University have faced attacks by state-affiliated thugs as part of a continued crackdown on political organising on campuses. On 1 March, a left-wing student was hospitalised after he was run over by a government minister’s convoy following a peaceful protest. The Revolutionary Communists of India unequivocally condemn these outrageous attacks on freedom of assembly and offer our solidarity to the furious protest movement that has erupted in response.

We publish below a joint statement by the US, Canadian and Mexican sections of the Revolutionary Communist International, explaining the need for internationalism and workers’ unity in response to the Trump administration's recent tariffs on Mexico and Canada.

Most of the world’s women today are very far from achieving equality, let alone liberation. The wage gap between men and women is one thing, but inequality and oppression are about so much more than that. From the fear of leaving our drinks unattended when we are on a night out; to the anxiety of walking home alone, having to put up with constant sexist comments and stares; to doing the majority of housework; to doctors not taking ‘women’s diseases’ seriously and generally being treated as of lesser worth, the list goes on and on…