The date of 21 January 2024 marks the centenary of the death of Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known to the world as Lenin. He was without doubt one of the greatest revolutionaries who ever lived. By his actions in leading the Bolshevik Party, this extraordinary man literally changed the course of history.

The Iowa caucus has kicked off another presidential election. Once again, we are told by the billionaire media that it will be a “historic election” that will shape the future of the country and the world. Insofar as the campaign is already accelerating the instability of bourgeois rule in the world’s most powerful country, they have a point.

It has been over two months since the Northern Alliance – which is made up of armed ethnic organisations, as well as the armed wing of the Burmese Communist Party – launched ‘Operation 1027’ in northern Shan State in Burma. Other resistance forces have also attacked junta bases in the states of Karenni, Rakhine, Chin, Karen, Sagaing Region and Bago Region. As events are unfolding rapidly in Burma, this article can only provide the latest verifiable information. However, all signs point towards one clear outcome: the end of General Min Aung Hliang’s government.

A new generation of young people is shedding the illusions of capitalism and moving towards communism. But without organisation we can do nothing. In order to gather the forces of real communism, our Swedish comrades are launching the Revolutionary Communist Party (RKP).

Issue 44 of In Defence of Marxism magazine, the quarterly theoretical journal of the International Marxist Tendency, is available to buy now! To commemorate the centenary of the death of one of history’s greatest communists, this issue focuses on the life and work of Lenin.

Journalist and documentary-maker John Pilger sadly died recently. For decades, he dedicated his work to uncovering the crimes of western imperialism. We pay tribute to his tireless efforts, and strive to continue this legacy of struggle today.

“Those whom the gods seek to destroy, they first make mad.”

“Never hate your enemy. It affects your judgement.” (Michael Corleone in The Godfather)

The world’s so-called “super election year”, in which over 50 countries are scheduled to go to the polls, has been inaugurated in Taiwan with a consequential presidential and legislative election. The ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) candidate William Lai Ching-te prevailed, but the party lost its legislative majority and a significant amount of support. Against this backdrop, a new era of instability lies ahead for Taiwan and the security situation around East Asia.

Last night, US and British airstrikes rained down dozens of sophisticated bombs over the heads of some of the world’s poorest people. The hands of the western imperialists are drenched with the blood of the Gazan people, but up until now they could hide behind the fact that whilst, yes, they may have supplied the guns, the bombs, the money and the political cover for the slaughter, they didn’t directly pull the trigger. No, they always insisted the slaughter should be carried out with “moderation”, with “proportionate force”. Now in Yemen, they have directly intervened, recklessly escalating the conflict in the region. We say: hands off Yemen! Down with the imperialist

Palestinian journalists Hamza al-Dahdouh and Mustafa Thuraya were killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza on Sunday, while driving to interview victims of a previous bombing. The deaths raise the total number of journalists killed in three months of Israel's war to at least 79, the highest of any year of conflict in a single country on record, and more than the entirety of WW2.

For those who want to understand the person of Lenin it is imperative to read him for themselves. However, with 45 volumes of Collected Works (in English), this is a significant challenge and really the work of a lifetime. Therefore, Wellred Books’ upcoming biography of Lenin, In Defence of Lenin, is as close to an accessible work you are going to get which presents his ideas and their relevance for today in a relatively concise and concentrated form.

Yesterday, 9 January, we saw on the news across the world a scene of unprecedented violence in Ecuador, mainly in Guayaquil, but also in the capital Quito. What is happening, and why?

Israel describes its ethnic cleansing in Gaza as a "war against Hamas", and calls any support for Palestine "terrorist sympathy". At the same time, Israel has done everything possible to strengthen Hamas’ grip on Gaza, as a counterbalance to the socialist and secular currents of the Palestinian freedom struggle. So who is really fuelling terrorism?

Some on the left draw a parallel between Milei's authoritarian drift in Argentina and the "fujimorazo" in Peru in 1992, when Fujimori used his constitutional powers to establish a de facto dictatorship in the Andean country. But this does not hold up. On the contrary, in Argentina we are heading for a process of mass upheaval.

The Canadian section of the IMT has announced the relaunch of its newspaper under the banner: Communist Revolution. This bold new publication comes off the back of the explosive growth of the IMT in Canada over the recent period, and lays the foundation for the launch of a new Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP) at this year’s Montreal Marxist Winter School in February. We publish below the comrades’ announcement and explanation of the need for a revolutionary communist newspaper in Canada today.

Polonius: What do you read, my lord?

Hamlet: Words, words, words. (Shakespeare)

“And when they have created a wilderness, they call it Peace.” (Tacitus)

This year has marked an important new stage in the crisis of world capitalism. At marxist.com we have aimed to provide a communist perspective at every stormy turn. Additionally, we have continued to publish original contributions to Marxist theory, which have been enthusiastically received by our readers. Hundreds of thousands of visitors have read and shared our 2023 articles, the most-popular of which are compiled below!

2023 marked a dramatic change in the world situation. War, exploitation and social unrest are intensifying, as the unbearable weight of the global capitalist crisis is offloaded by the ruling class onto the downtrodden and oppressed. In this period of turmoil and social explosions, it is imperative for communists to unashamedly and unerringly declare who we are, and what we stand for. Comrades of the International Marxist Tendency have been rising to the occasion all around the world!

2023 marked the 30 years since the shelling of the White House in Moscow, at the time of which the first bourgeois-democratic parliament of Russia, the Russian Supreme Council, was meeting. Hundreds of people died in a ‘mini civil war’ on the streets of Moscow. Indeed, this was a civil war between President Yeltsin and parliament.