If Kallas and von der Leyen get Ireland to abandon its well-established and much admired policy of neutrality, there will be yet more desk jobs in Brussels and NATO’s HQ for Ireland’s military top brass.
Say what you like about Hitler, but he gave Operation Barbarossa his best shot, when almost 4 million Romanian, Hungarian, […]
Discussing the news of the week, which continues momentous not just in the US. Given the EU’s plans to drop 800 billion Euros on defence, we save a particular focus for the economic and cultural implications With money flowing towards production and the need to drag the next generation of youth into patriotic camoflage, what […]
From an anarcho-communist perspective, the story is not about good versus evil states but about imperialism, nationalism, and the manipulation of working-class people by ruling elites.
Introduction The war between Russia and Ukraine is often presented as a clear-cut narrative of imperial aggression versus national defence.
In mainstream discourse, Russia is portrayed as the sole aggressor, with Ukraine as a victim bravely defending its sovereignty…..
However, this oversimplified framing serves the interests of Western imperialism, NATO expansionism, and global capitalist powers, while conveniently ignoring the complexities of the conflict—particularly the long-standing tensions in the Donbas region.
From an anarcho-communist perspective, the story is not about good versus evil states but about imperialism, nationalism, and the manipulation of working-class people by ruling elites. A more nuanced analysis recognises that the seeds of this war were planted long before the 2022 invasion, especially in the political and military developments following the 2014 Maidan uprising and the subsequent conflict in Donbas.
Acknowledging that Ukraine played a role in escalating this conflict—particularly through its actions in Donbas—does not justify Russian imperialism. Instead, anarchists must reject both Russian and Ukrainian state violence, embracing revolutionary defeatism. In this war, as in all wars between states, the true enemy is not the “other” nation but the capitalist class and state structures that profit from bloodshed. Our rallying cry must remain: No War but Class War.
The Donbas Conflict—Roots of the War
To understand the origins of the war, it’s essential to focus on the Donbas region—an industrial heartland in eastern Ukraine, home to a significant Russian-speaking population. Following the 2014 Maidan uprising, which overthrew Ukraine’s pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych, the new government in Kyiv moved toward stronger alignment with Western powers and NATO. This shift triggered deep political and cultural tensions in Donbas, where many felt alienated by the central government’s increasingly nationalist policies.
The Ukrainian government’s actions following Maidan were perceived by many in Donbas as oppressive. Efforts to suppress Russian language rights, promote nationalist narratives, and sideline the region’s economic interests deepened resentment. This was compounded by Kyiv’s decision to launch a military operation against separatists in Donbas, known as the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO). While the separatist movements were undoubtedly supported and exploited by Russia, it is equally true that their emergence was fuelled by real grievances and fears of cultural erasure and economic marginalisation.
The war in Donbas quickly turned into a brutal conflict, with both Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists committing human rights violations. Entire cities were devastated, thousands of civilians were killed, and the working class on both sides bore the brunt of the violence. The people of Donbas became pawns in a geopolitical struggle between Ukrainian nationalism, Russian imperialism, and Western capitalist interests.
From an anarchist perspective, this conflict reveals the failures of both nationalism and state power. The people of Donbas were not fighting for liberation but caught between two oppressive systems—each using their suffering to justify their own political goals.
Mainstream narratives often ignore Ukraine’s role in escalating the war, particularly through its military actions in Donbas and policies that alienated the region’s Russian-speaking population. Following the 2014 revolution, the Ukrainian government pursued a nationalist agenda that included laws restricting the use of the Russian language and glorifying nationalist figures with historical ties to fascist movements.
While these actions were framed as moves toward national unity and decommunisation, they were experienced in Donbas as cultural aggression. The central government’s refusal to engage in meaningful dialogue with the separatist regions and the imposition of military solutions over political negotiations exacerbated the crisis.
The Ukrainian military campaign in Donbas was brutal and indiscriminate, with reports of shelling civilian areas, enforced disappearances, and abuses by nationalist militias integrated into the armed forces, such as the Azov Battalion. These actions alienated not just pro-Russian separatists but also many ordinary working-class people in the region who wanted peace but found themselves caught between Kyiv’s aggression and Russia’s opportunism.
Acknowledging these facts doesn’t absolve Russia of responsibility, nor does it imply support for its imperial ambitions. Instead, it highlights the reality that both the Ukrainian and Russian states have used the people of Donbas as tools in their struggle for regional dominance.
American techno-fascism is no longer a philosophical abstraction for Silicon Valley to tinker with, in the vein of intermittent fasting or therapeutic ketamine doses.
It is a policy program whose constitutional limits are being tested right now as DOGE, staffed with inexperienced engineers linked to Musk’s own companies, rampages through the federal government Silicon Valley is premised on the […]
Racism and fascism ruin lives and we need to tell how they ruin lives. It is through understanding, articulating and acting on those kinds of connections that we will enhance our work
I want to start by telling you about a trade unionist I knew personally, called Max Levitas, a shop steward in the Tailors and Garment Workers’ Union for many years;a fighter for better housing who co-led a four-month rent strike when he was in his mid-20s; a co-organiser of an occupation of the bomb shelter at the Savoy Hotel during the Blitz, to protest about the lack of such shelters where he lived in London’s East End. He was also a local councillor for the Communist Party, taking up all kinds of issues across Tower Hamlets. He worked until he was 80, and in retirement remained active in pensioners campaigns. When he was 101 he became the world’s oldest Dementia Friend – helping individuals suffering that condition. And he was a brave fighter against racism and fascism his whole life.
You cannot emulate a life like that – he was extraordinary – but you can take one key idea from that biography which is that these spheres in which he was active are all inter-connected. The connections though are not always immediately obvious. We cannot serve the anti-fascists and anti-racist movement if we focus on them in isolation, or do so simply as moral condemnation – “racism is bad”, “racism is evil”.
Racism and fascism ruin lives and we need to tell how they ruin lives. It is through understanding, articulating and acting on those kinds of connections that we will enhance our work against racism and fascism and build a better world.
But if you asked Max to name the proudest day of his life – he would tell you immediately – 4th October 1936 – the Battle of Cable Street. The iconic clash of fascism and anti-fascism in Britain in the 20th century.
The day when thousands of foot-soldiers in black military uniforms with jackboots of Oswald Mosley’s deeply antisemitic British Union of fascists, were blocked from invading the most heavily Jewish-populated East End streets by my favourite prevent strategy of them all: blockades, barricades, and masses of working class activists working in unison across ethnic and religious divides.
That day remained a touchstone for Max and it should be for all of us. But by 1936 the fascist forces had already recruited many thousands across Britain to their ideology, across classes and generations.
Mosley placed a particular emphasis on youth, saying: “We are a party of action based on youth that will mobilise energy, vitality and manhood to save and rebuild the nation.”
He claimed that his fascist party were the only party that offered young people a chance to play their part for the nation in peace-time not just in war. Incredibly powerful and compelling stuff when so many working class families lost sons in the first World War.
But never forget that fascism was, and is, a project of the elite. Mosley and his elite friends were especially focused on the fascist student branches they formed in 20 public schools.
But by 1936, anti-fascists were attracting large numbers. We need to understand how their numbers and resistance were built and what that knowledge can mean for us in the different – but not completely different – world of 2025. Before I leave Max, though – here is my favourite Max story:
Attack near Toulouse caps weeks of actions against Elon Musk’s company in the US and Europe
~ Rob Latchford ~ Eight Tesla cars were burned completely and four others seriously damaged in an arson near Toulouse, France in the small hours of Monday (3 March).
According to a local paper, the attack on a dealership […]
An investigation by Malaysiakini, in collaboration with the Rainforest Investigations Network, has exposed the dire environmental and social impacts of one of Malaysia’s largest oil palm plantations in Pahang.
The joint investigation reveals alarming deforestation in Pahang, #Malaysia, caused by one of the country’s largest #palmoil plantations.
The plantation threatens endangered species like #tigers and pollutes local water supplies. It has been described as “the worst-managed oil palm plantation in Malaysia.”
Palm oil yields are low, while the #deforestation is chaotic, leaving the land barren and overrun with #elephants.
Land clearing by burning is prohibited in Indonesia and Malaysia. However, penalizing foreign companies for palm oil and timber deforestation has been hampered by cronyism and corruption.
The report highlights links between developers and political or royal ownership and rampant corruption and strongly pushes for more transparency, improved government oversight and regulatory enforcement. #BoycottPalmOil#Boycott4Wildlife
Located near an environmentally protected area, the plantation’s operations have resulted in chaotic deforestation, disrupted water supplies, and threats to endangered wildlife, including tigers.
Developers often cite “wildlife conflict” to justify failures, shifting focus to logging valuable timber instead of sustainable plantation development.
Malaysiakini’s investigation also shed light on troubling links between plantation developers and political or royal interests, with 95% of the land developed by such entities.
In December, the investigative team revealed that prominent banks provided large loans to plantation developers despite repeated project failures, questioning the banks’ credibility and oversight practices.
The investigation calls on the Malaysian government to tighten plantation approval processes and enforce environmental protections to prevent further harm to biodiversity and local communities.
The Free 