This issue is once again heavily concentrated on NATO imperialism’s proxy war against Russia in Ukraine, with the lead, front page article (though something of a personal view) addressing the political reasons for the accelerating war drive by US imperialism, as the world hegemon, against Russia and China.

The Ukraine war has become a watershed where US hegemony itself is at stake: the ex-workers states of Russia and China may well be capitalist, but the capitalism that has been restored there is so marked and deformed by many decades of anti-capitalist, collectivised social relations as to make these societies fundamentally deformed, ‘hybrids’ that imperialism does not regard as reliably capitalist at all. It regards them as troublesome and subversive rivals that threaten its ‘full spectrum dominance’. Hence the ideologically driven new Cold War of US/NATO.

A start is made in this article in addressing these questions in terms of Marxist theory and it explores the implications of the perspective of the emergence of a ‘multipolar world’, a perspective put forward by prominent Russian politicians and ideologues that has itself become the banner of a revolt by many semi-colonial countries against imperialist world bullying. Far from Russia being ‘isolated’ by the imperialist sanctions regime, BRICS, the Russian- and Chinese- led trading bloc, which already embraces around 40% of the world’s population, has around 20 mainly ex-colonial and developing countries queueing up to join it.

The other major question related to the war addressed in this issue is the big problem with No2NATO, No2War as a putative anti-war bloc, that aims to support the anti-fascist struggle in of the Donbass people against the NATO-Nazi regime in Ukraine.  A major blow was struck at this aspiration when George Galloway and his Workers Party of Britain had the idea of putting one David Clews on its platform as a speaker.

As well as being an anti-vax/anti-lockdown activist over Covid, an examination of his politics reveals he is a fellow traveller of the neo-Nazi, anti-immigrant group Patriotic Alternative, and insofar as he is critical of them, it is from an ‘orthodox’ Hitlerian standpoint(!). Both the Consistent Democrats and the bloc of communists and anti-imperialists we support, the International Ukraine Anti-Fascist Solidarity, have put out statements sharply attacking this bloc with part of the far right.

So far, others at the core of N2NN2W have not opposed this, in fact they have doubled down and broken relations with people who criticised this. But we are not prepared to passively allow far right elements to try to hitch a ride on the anti-imperialist movement hoping to profit from social and political turmoil, if, as seems likely (to all, including Clews) the West loses this proxy war.

Apart from that we have a substantive article on the Coronation/Monarchy issue, as well as material addressing repression and purges against leftists. Most important is an article defending Tony Greenstein, veteran Jewish leftist, who is facing a possible prison sentence for his activities on behalf of the direct-action protest group Palestine Action. This a result of Tory and Zionist undermining of the democratic rights of protesters and of their right to present their full case to juries.

Related to that, there are articles on Starmer’s purges of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and of Diane Abbott from the parliamentary Labour Party, all of which underline why no one on the left should be voting for any Starmer-loyal or -subservient Labour candidates in the General Election, when it comes.

On the contrary, we should be working toward the emergence of a real working-class party that can take on the Starmerites for their support for NATO’s Nazis in Ukraine, as well as their overt approval for Israeli oppression of the Palestinians. One step forward recently was when the Socialist Labour Network adopted a principled position of defending the Donbass people in the current proxy war, thus siding with Russia’s armed intervention to defend them. This was a small but real victory in the struggle for genuine anti-imperialist politics. Another step forward was the re-adherence of Socialist Fight, which parted company with us over three years go in a disagreement mainly over Zionism, to the Liaison Committee for the Fourth International (LCFI), our international movement, with a coincidence of views particularly over Ukraine.

And we republish a somewhat pacifist-tinged, but pro-Russian, call for an anti-war conference in Rome this coming October as a preliminary announcement of our critical adherence. We see this as akin to the flawed Zimmerwald initiative in WWI, as a real indicator of the incipient coming together of leftists to oppose the threat of WWIII, but without having the kind of programmatic answers that are needed. We look to the Zimmerwald left, formed by revolutionaries who intervened within the original Zimmerwald movement, which became the nucleus of the Communist International.

And finally, this issue contains a short piece on the candidacy of Robert F Kennedy Jr for the Democratic Party nomination in the US. This might well cause some problems for Biden and his Ukraine war campaign and might even result in a third (or fourth) party challenge, which along with the further travails of Trump, makes next years US Presidential Election extremely unpredictable. An index of the deep crisis and decline of US imperialism and its so-called ‘democracy’.

The motion below was passed by the Socialist Labour Network (SLN) at its All-Members Meeting (AMM) on 9^th June. The meeting was smaller than usual, about half the size of the normal run of members meetings. That is likely a seasonal anomaly however, as the SLN still has the loyalty of a broad spectrum of the most militant ex-Labour members who were originally inspired by Corbyn’s leadership. The SLN is the product of the unification of two militant organisations of the Labour left which came together during the period of the Blairite and allied Zionist witchhunt: Labour Against the Witchhunt, and Labour in Exile Network. Both were proscribed by Kier Starmer, as is the unified SLN.

The adoption of this policy is a major shift to the left by the SLN. We in the Consistent Democrats have fought for the SLN to adopt such a principled policy for the whole period of the Special Military Operation. In April last year a third-camp motion was hurriedly passed that equated Russia with NATO, though to its credit it did also call for self-determination for the Donbass people. We opposed that at the time and attempted to correct that in July: a similar motion was then defeated by around 2 to 1 in formal votes. But at the same time, there were so many abstentions that it was obvious that many SLN members were uneasy with the third camp policy. So, it was not a surprise that this motion went through near-unanimously just now.

This is also a symptom of a real shift to the left on this war, as the real Western objective and support for Nazism is being exposed despite the massive media lying campaign. The original version of this motion called for endorsement of No2NATO, No2War (N2N2W). But it fell off the agenda at the April AMM due to lack of time, and the subsequent major error by the Galloway/Workers Party leadership of N2NN2W in blocking with the Nazi David Clews (and then doubling down against criticism of this) meant it had to be amended to take account of this change. That delay was perhaps fortuitous as it turned out.

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To defeat the current imperialist war drive and proxy war against Russia, we must work towards creating an anti-war movement that is principled, anti-fascist and anti-imperialist, and stands against the drive of the far-right Maidan regime in Kiev to destroy and ethnically cleanse the Russian speaking population of what was the South-East part of Ukraine (Donbass). We must stand with the Donbass people. The arming of Ukrainian forces with heavy NATO weaponry is aimed to kill Russian-speakers, including the civilian population (in fact Donbass inhabitants). Warmonger Republican US Senator Lindsay Graham, supporting Biden’s war policy, recently boasted that this was the “best money [the US] ever spent”.

Although Stop the War condemns the US and NATO, it also condemns Russia. This is to condemn the Russian assistance of the people of Donbass to resist ethnic cleansing and to avoid being forced into NATO. We need something better and more principled than this. We cannot endorse No2NATO, No2War as its current public alliance with a part of the far right contradicts the whole notion of a struggle against fascism and imperialism.

Proposer: Ian Donovan

Seconder: Paul Collins.

(16 in favour, 3 absentions,  0 against)

The conference call below was endorsed by the Consistent Democrats, other LCFI sections and some of our close allies in the Marxists Speak Out initiative. The call is positive as it is clearly in favour of defence of Russia, but it is also somewhat marred by pacifist illusions and calls for a ‘just peace’ and “an armistice between’ the belligerent forces”.

When we took part in initiating the Marxists Speak Out initiative at the beginning of the Russian SMO, there was a lot of discussion on the need for something akin to the Zimmerwald initiative in WWI, an international meeting of anti-war socialists and communists with a view to re-establishing international collaboration. A representative of the Bolshevik Tendency put forward the correct view that what was needed more was something like the Zimmerwald left, the revolutionary wing of Zimmerwald which effectively became the Communist International in due course after the war. Unfortunately, the BT has not participated in our continuing efforts to make this a reality.

That said, this Rome Conference initiative seems more like Zimmerwald than the Zimmerwald left. Lenin and the Bolsheviks did sign the Zimmerwald manifesto despite its pacifist illusions and worked to overcome those weaknesses. This was still a step forward towards a new international anti-imperialist movement, and we endorse it on this basis. We will produce more material on this in due course.

The clash between Russia and Ukraine, due to the direct involvement of NATO, threatens to unleash a third world war. The Euro-Atlantist elites justify their direct support for the puppet regime in Kiev as »necessary to repel Russian aggression«.

Actually, the real aggressor is the US-NATO-EU coalition, which took advantage of the Soviet Union’s dissolution to economically and politically subdue all of Eastern Europe in order to encircle and defeat Russia. The final step in this strategy would be the definitive annexation of Ukraine to NATO and the European Union, and thus a regime change in Moscow.

Only the foolish and forgetful can believe that the blockade led by the United States of America has triggered this war to defend the principles of democracy and self-determination of peoples. The truth is that this blockade, after supporting the Euromaidan coup, financed and armed the Ukrainian army and neo-Nazi groups to hurl them against the Donbass republics and Russia itself. The truth is that the US-NATO-EU bloc uses the Ukrainian peopleas cannon fodder to establish its supremacy thus preventing a multipolar order based on respect for the peoples and the sovereignty of nations from coming into being. If this blockade succeeds in subduing Russia, the doors will be wide open to war against China.

Preventing the third world war is the first duty of all those who have the good of humanity at heart. It is therefore necessary to build a great and strong international coalition for peace and brotherhood among nations. Such an alliance must be able to set in motion the different souls fighting against militarism and imperialism in all their forms.

To start this process, we invite you to join the European Peace Conference that will take place in Rome on 27 and 28 October 2023.

As signatories of this Appeal we ask for:

● the immediate halt of arms shipments to Ukraine;
● an end to the sanctions on Russia as well as the Russophobic campaign;
● the invalidation of the statement condemning Russia as a terrorist state;
● an armistice between the belligerent forces;
● a truly neutral and democratic Ukraine;
● the stop to the arms race and the dissolution of NATO.

Finally, we call upon the peoples to fight against all forms of imperialism, and nationalist chauvinism and we advocate the advent of a multipolar world based on respect for every people and all nationalities.

FOR A TRUE PEACE, FOR A JUST PEACE

Divided We are nothing, united we can do everything

First signatories:

· Borotba (Ukraine) 

· Unified Communist Party of Russia 

· Socialist Movement of Georgia (Georgia) 

· Stop Killing Donbass (Europe) 

· Socialismo

· XXI (Spain) 

· PARDEM (France) 

· Selbstbestimmtes Österreich (Austria) 

· Freie Linke (Austria) 

· Antiimperialistische Koordination (Austria) 

·  Freie Linke Zukunft (Germany) 

· Fronte del Dissenso (Italy) 

· Comitato No Guerra No NATO (Italy) 

· Italia Unita (Italy) 

· Ancora Italia per la Sovranità  Democratica (Italy) 

· 3V (Italy) 

·  MMT (Italy) 

· Liberiamo l’Italia (Italy)

Further signatories (list is open and will continually be updated):

· Friedensbrücke-Kriegsopferhilfe e.V (Germany) Ostdeutsches Kuratorium von Verbänden (Germany) 

· Friedensglockengesellschaft Berlin e.V. (Germany) 

· dieBasis Thüringen (Germany) 

· Handwerker für den Frieden (Germany) 

· PCUSA – Party of Communists USA 

· Freie Linke Anarchisten (Germany) 

· Revolutionärer Freundschaftsbund (RFB) e.V. (Germany) 

· Partito dei CARC (Italy) 

· Socialist Movement of Kazakhstan 

· US Friends of the Soviet People (USFSP) 

· Liga Comunista (Brazil) 

· Platform of Independence (Greece) 

· Partido Comunista do Povo Brasileiro (Brazil) 

· 23 September (Bulgaria) 

· Neue Richtung (Germany) 

· Liga Socialista (Brazil) 

· Consistent Democrats (Great Britain) 

· Class Conscious (Australia) 

· Bolshevik Militant Tendency (Argentina) 

· Unified Communist Party of Georgia

· Socialist Unity Party (USA)

· All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks vkpb.ru (former Soviet republics)

· Union of Political Emigrants and Political Prisoners of Ukraine

· Zimbabwe Movement for Pan African Socialists 

· Communist Party of Kenya 

· Mothers Against War Berlin-Brandenburg (Germany)

By Mark Andresen

Where rolling news brainwashing by the Media has fostered paranoia among the less politically committed, perhaps we should be less than surprised by the rise of a candidate who attempts to give voice to the concerns of both entrenched sides.

  Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a Zionist, a believer in private enterprise, and torn on the subject of the CIA, since his own step-daughter is a conscript. Therefore, it’s understandable that already committed US Communist groups will have no truck with a perception of him being any serious agent of change. What’s more interesting, however, from the point-of-view of an outsider, is a) what his own schizophrenic perspectives represent in the current intractable climate, and b) what effect these currently have upon former, obsessively committed, Red (Republican) and Blue (Democrat) states.

  In the second week of May, a poll of swing voters in the Red US state of Georgia, asked the question: ‘If the candidates for the 2024 Democratic Presidential nomination were Joe Biden, Marianne Williamson and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who would you vote for?’ The result saw 36% for Biden, but a virtual tie with 35% for Kennedy, and only 11% for Williamson. (The once assumed ‘progressive’ choice for Liberals). After national polling during April of an initial 14% for Kennedy, then 19%, this was a gamechanging rise in one clearly perceived by constituents as more than just the latest stalking horse. Name recognition may have given him the instant PR advantage, but, clearly, there was more going on.

Why would an Establishment figure critique the Military Industrial Complex in the first place? Typical political cynicism and opportunism, eighteen months out from a Presidential Election? Or, something else? It is easy, yet necessary, to recall Kennedy’s past: an uncle, assassinated by the State in November 1963, and a father receiving the same fate less than five years later. So, his run has also to be personal. Alongside the name recognition, the ongoing backstory connects. Dissent on this broad topic – perhaps unique from within the Washington Establishment since the shameful selling-out by Bernie Sanders and the so-called ‘Squad’ ahead of the 2020 Election – also chimes with voter mistrust of the State that crosses party lines. Add to this, the wholesale turning away from social policy, in plain sight of voters, by both parties, in pursuit of endless war, and his rise among the disenfranchised working-class is almost inevitable. He also has a CV (or resume) of experience outside Washington that informed his stance against the war machine; specifically, a Liberal stance on environmental concerns.

This from his Wikipedia entry:

  “In 1984, he joined Riverkeeper and the Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC) in 1986, two non-profits focused on environmental protection. He became an adjunct professor of environmental law at Pace University School of Law in 1986. In 1987, he founded the Pace Law School’s Environmental Litigation Clinic, where he held the post of supervising attorney and co-director until 2017. He founded the non-profit environmental group Waterkeeper Alliance in 1999, serving as the president of its board. There was discussion in the press that the first Obama administration was possibly considering him as a candidate for administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, but his controversial statements and arrest for heroin possession in the 1980s made him unlikely to receive Senate confirmation. Since 2005, he has promoted the scientifically discredited link between vaccines and autism and is founder and chairman of Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine advocacy group.”

Where Kennedy crucially falls down is in an old-fashioned, romantic view of his party as one that harbours no actors of bad faith. A fatal naivete that will likely cost him achieving the top job, were he even allowed by the Dem leadership to reach it. Paradoxically, this might be the best outcome for him personally, since his own selling-out would represent a second consecutive voter betrayal (after Bernie Sanders) and reinforce accusations of ‘sheepherding’ tired, distrustful Dem voters back into the Democratic Party. Hence the call among some on the Left, who might otherwise have considered voting for him, that he should run as an Independent; something he has already dismissed out-of-hand. Then, Bernie Sanders ran as an ‘Independent,’ but, you’d never have known it from his voting record.

  2020 saw Bernie Sanders betray his legion of young activist followers by folding to the Democratic Party Establishment rather than lead those followers out onto the streets. So far, there is no evidence that Kennedy won’t do the same. Yet, this time, there may be a difference, even if he does. Having been badly stung three years ago, there seems a greater understanding among the population today, across the USA, as to who the real enemy is, to which both Democrats and Republicans are beholden; it is this which Kennedy – bolstered by the double family tragedy of his own backstory – has tapped into, finding a receptive, cross-party audience; but, it is an appeal that his compromised position – remaining in the party – may ensure comes back to haunt him.

Finding polling figures on Republican voting intention proves difficult when most – if not all – search engines direct the researcher to the Group-Think opinion of newspaper editors hired to support the prevailing Democrat Government narrative. So, any objective study is currently inaccessible. Across the board, as of June, Kennedy is currently polling at 20%, nationally, confirmed by the Republican-leaning realclearpolitics.com. On youtube, a favourable Fox News audience typically comments; “I’m a Trump man, but RFK is a much better candidate than Biden.” Another writes; “Trumps alright, but RFKJ would be the best President we’ve had in years…” And again; “I’m Conservative and I can’t lie.  I don’t dislike RFK at all.” Finally, “as a former Trump supporter, I would vote for RFK JR in 2024 if he can make the General Election Ballot.” (Fox News page, ‘Jack Dorsey endorses RFK Jr., says DNC becoming ‘irrelevant,” youtube, 6th June 2023).

  Again, with no objective research to hand, it’s hard to say what these assumptions are based upon, policy-wise, beyond the continuing working-class disillusionment with the corporate uni-party system as a whole.

This side of the pond, it shouldn’t be underestimated just how mistrusted Kennedy is by the mainstream media ‘over there’; more than Sanders ever was. Indeed, the four-decades-long antipathy to someone perceived as ‘flaky’ mirrors that of the UK media towards Corbyn. Kennedy has been considered something of a crank; the black sheep of a family that, according to reports, has also distanced themselves from him since the publication of his two recent books on COVID: The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health (2022) and The Wuhan Cover-Up: How US Health Officials Conspired with the Chinese Military to Hide the Origins of COVID-19 (2023).

  Yet, I would argue it is the mainstream media’s very covert protectionism surrounding this subject that has chimed as suspicious, as much with the working-class Republican voter as with the Democrat. Whatever its credibility, it is this issue, since 2020, allied to his familial backstory, that has given Kennedy a messaging advantage Sanders never enjoyed. Amongst the voters of both parties, there is far more suspicion of the pharmecutical industry than in the UK. The American working-class – consigned to private healthcare and a disgusting minimum wage of $7.50 (£5.81) per hour – has had sold back to them that they had an access to social services equivalent to that of the middle-class who’d set the lockdown rules.

   Another PR self-inflicted wound by the Dem leadership has been their dismissing the idea of the once mandatory ‘live’ TV debates ahead of the General, clearly afraid that Biden’s cognitive malfunctioning would be too clearly on show, over an extended period.

Kennedy is no antidote to America’s problems, being too much of an adherent to the very Establishment he critiques. Equally, long-perceived as a ‘loose cannon’ by the MSM might, today, be to his advantage; just enough to open minds – across the country – for him to outrun that critique and be considered by both intransigent sides, disillusioned enough for any way out of the current political stitch-up. Even when, prioritising his career, Kennedy sells-out to the Democratic leadership, his message of mistrust, from within Washington, of the Military Industrial Complex and ‘Big Pharma,’ may well leave a more positive legacy in the minds of once unengaged sections of both parties voters.

  Since announcing his candidacy, Cornel West – Socialist philosopher and political activist, couched in his Baptist upbringing – has now announced his own, crucially standing as a third party independent under The Green Party’s banner. Notably, he has also advocated the disbanding of NATO; a move, for one with his public profile, that singularly reaches beyond the confines of Kennedy’s well-meaning, but compromised, narratives. Only time will tell if the paradigm is beginning to fundamentally shift in tandem.