Since Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine three years ago, a flood of lies has gushed forth from western governments and the billionaire press alike to obscure the real nature of this war.

[Click here for a comprehensive reading list on the background to the Ukraine war: https://marxist.com/top-reads-on-the-ukraine-conflict-war-and-imperialism.htm]

Painting it as a simple battle between good and evil, they have remained totally silent about the fact that behind Ukraine is the world's foremost imperialist power, which has led Ukraine to the slaughter in pursuit of its interests.

Moreover, in their attempt to paint Zelensky as a beloved hero of democracy and Putin as a tyrant, they have concealed the real cause of the war, which did not begin in February 2022 but is the product of the aggressive thrust of western imperialism into Ukraine in the wake of the collapse of the USSR.

Today, Ukraine is shattered. Tens of thousands of young Ukrainians have been massacred in the trenches. As people around the world begin to ask, ‘What was it all for?’, it is vital that communists can explain what lies behind the conflict.

To explain who was really responsible for the destruction of Ukraine, Jorge Martín and Hamid Alizadeh from the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International met for another episode of Against the Stream, the weekly current affairs podcast of the RCI.

This episode premiered on YouTube. Tune in every Thursday at 6pm GMT, or catch up on Spotify or Apple Music.Join us in building the Revolutionary Communist International! www.marxist.com/join

For the last century, the USA has been the undisputed master of the capitalist world. Now, all that is changing. Today, America is in decline and facing a new contender: China.

Over the last 30 years, China has exploded from an underdeveloped country, exploited by western capitalists for its cheap labour, to a cutting-edge capitalist power in its own right. Today, it accounts for 18 percent of the world's GDP and 29 percent of the world’s manufacturing, and leads the world in some of the most advanced technologies.

As a result of this stormy development, which has made China the second most powerful country in the world, it has been able to stand firm in the face of Trump’s tariff war, whereas all other countries have meekly submitted. But no matter the balance of forces, such a conflict between the world’s biggest markets cannot fail to have devastating consequences for the whole world economy.

This trade war between the US and China – along with the negotiations over the fate of Ukraine, which are also discussed in this episode – show that we have entered a new epoch, one of economic crisis, heightened conflict between competing powers and, in consequence, class struggle.

To explain where these developments are leading the world, Jorge Martín and Hamid Alizadeh from the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International met for another episode of Against the Stream, the weekly current affairs podcast of the RCI.

This episode premiered on YouTube. Tune in every Thursday at 6pm GMT, or catch up on Spotify or Apple Music.

Articles mentioned:

“I’ve seen many phoney trade wars come and go. This is the real thing”

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/apr/09/trade-war-donald-trump-us-china

“‘The Tsunami Is Coming’: China’s Global Exports Are Just Getting Started”

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/07/business/china-manufacturing-exports-trump-tariffs.html

“On the Question of Free Trade”

https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1888/free-trade/index.htm

“Trump’s tariff programme deepens protectionist tendencies in world economy”

https://marxist.com/trump-s-tariff-programme-deepens-protectionist-tendencies-in-world-economy.htm

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Last week, Trump’s tariffs delivered a shattering blow to the world economy, sending stock markets around the world into precipitous collapse. This week, he U-turned and paused the tariffs, with the exception of those on China, which now stand at 125 percent. What does this chaos mean for the world economy?

The reversal of the tariffs has provoked a sigh of relief from the capitalist class. But it is not over yet. With the two biggest economic forces on the planet – America and China – going head to head, the globalised world economy is going to be ripped apart. This will only bring closer and intensify the devastating recession that is looming over the capitalist system.

For the working class of the world, this will be a catastrophe. They will be forced to pay the price, while the capitalist politicians will do everything they can to bail out the bankers and billionaires that got us into that mess. Unemployment and brutal cuts to living standards are coming. Already, in their dash to remilitarise, governments around the world are implementing brutal austerity programmes. The ripping apart of the world economy will only intensify matters and force capitalist governments to cut even deeper.

But, as we have already seen with the revolutions and mass movements in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Serbia, Greece and elsewhere, the working class will not take this lying down. The capitalist disaster is preparing a social explosion. Such chaos will force the working class to wake up to the fact that a dignified existence is incompatible with the continued rule of capitalism.

To explain how the anarchy of the market can be overthrown, Niklas Albin Svensson and Hamid Alizadeh from the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International met for another episode of Against the Stream, the weekly current affairs podcast of the RCI.

This episode premiered on YouTube. Tune in every Thursday at 6pm GMT, or catch up on Spotify or Apple Music.