- The Global Majority’s Fight for Economic Justice
- Why the Euro Left Should Take Up Taxing the Rich
- UK Green Party Surges As It Moves Left
- The Prospects for Portugal
- The Word from France
- Wars and Rumors of War
- Sudan: Decolonizing Humanitarian Aid
- What to Know About Moroccan Protest Movement
- What Does the Fall of He Weidong Mean for China’s Army?
- Tide Turns Against Tanzania’s President
__________The Global Majority’s Fight for Economic Justice
Sekoetlane Phamodi / Project Syndicate (Kings Park NY)
This economic instability is inextricably linked to global democratic decline. When wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few, political discontent is sure to follow, as evidenced by the surge of far-right parties in Western democracies. Strengthening democracy is essential to tackling these crises.
__________Why the Euro Left Should Take Up Taxing the Rich
Daniele Bruno Garancini / Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung (Berlin)
The proposal of taxing the rich should be the core of left-wing policymaking in Europe. It should be the central demand, the realization of which can help facilitate the rest of a progressive agenda, from addressing homelessness to providing free job training. Moreover, it is an extremely powerful tool for political mobilization.
__________UK Green Party Surges As It Moves Left
Michael Chessum / London Review of Books
The Green Party of England and Wale has just registered its highest poll rating in decades, at 17 per cent, on the verge of overtaking Labour and the Conservatives. Indeed, given the usual polling margin of error, it may already have done so. Their support has risen from the 6.4 per cent recorded at the last election to the late teens in current polling.
__________The Prospects for Portugal
Catarina Príncipe / Jacobin (Brooklyn)
The Portuguese Socialist Party once seemed to be a model for Europe’s center left, gaining support while its sister parties were in decline. But this year’s election was a crushing defeat that saw the Socialists fall behind the far-right group Chega.
__________The Word from France
Roger Martelli / Regards (Paris)
[Moderator's note: This is a lightly edited translation of Face à la crise : à gauche, toute la gauche ]
France is on the brink of political collapse and democratic meltdown. The National Rally is eager to seize power. But the whole political landscape hangs on the intricate strategies of party headquarters, poll projections, and vote counts in the National Assembly.
[. . .] When a crisis becomes entrenched, there is no other choice but to turn to the sovereign people. And if there is a risk that they will vote for the worst outcome, postponing the vote will not avert disaster. No matter how much we examine the problem, we cannot ignore the essential reality. On the left, it boils down to one observation: since 2017, the left has been mired in electoral decline. As for the right, it thought it could block the far right by playing the extreme center card: however, in ten years, the so-called “moderate” right has plummeted, and the far right has surged in the number of votes cast.
For many years, between 1983 and 2012, the socialist left considered itself too far to the left: in 2017, the entire left paid the price. For many years, the so-called “traditional” right hesitated over whether to move slightly to the right or slightly to the center: consequently, the far right capitalized on this uncertainty. At the heart of the crisis lies the accumulation of failures on both the right and the left. As a result, the traditional left-right divide has lost its meaning. It must be redefined so that the democratic spirit is not stifled.
If we want to avoid the worst, today, tomorrow, or the day after, tactical calculations and petty bargaining won’t protect us. If the right can’t see that its future does not depend on the constant concessions it makes to the far right, it will end up tailing it. And if the left wants to avoid disaster, it won’t succeed by tearing itself apart again or by indulging in the perennial mirage of conquering the center. In this extreme danger, it can only win if it remains firmly on the left and united. One can think what one likes of La France Insoumise or the Socialist Party, but it’s not by joining forces against the LFI “sect” or against yet another socialist “betrayal” that we’ll stop this infernal machine.
France is torn between the need for change and the fear of chaos. It can simultaneously desire a break with the past and yearn for tranquility and stability. And it can acknowledge the urgency of change without ignoring the fear of cataclysms. Consequently, it is pointless to label the impatient as irresponsible or the more cautious as cowards. Whatever the timing of a potential resolution through the ballot box, what matters to the left is that it remains true to itself, that it does not merely stir up anger but nurtures new hopes, that it mobilizes and reassures at the same time, that it speaks to both heart and mind, that it adds strength rather than diminishes it. The left is diverse, but it does not thrive on infighting. In the great moments of the past, it has been able to set aside its divisions and seek what unites it. It would be tragic if it were to give that up today.
__________Wars and Rumors of War
• The Peace Laureate According to Venezuela’s Left Simón Rodríguez / NACLA Reports (New York)
• Perspectives on Nigeria Beloved John / allAfrica (Washington DC)
__________Sudan: Decolonizing Humanitarian Aid
Free Sudan Gazette (Khartoum)
As war rages in Sudan, where the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been locked in a brutal conflict since April 2023, a remarkable grassroots movement has emerged to fill the void left by the collapse of the state and the paralysis of international relief.
__________What to Know About Moroccan Protest Movement
The New Arab (London)
Like other nations swept by Gen Z protests, Morocco is experiencing a youth bulge, with more than half of the population under 35. When demonstrations turned violent earlier this month, officials said most participants were minors and rights groups said many detained were under 18.
__________What Does the Fall of He Weidong Mean for China’s Army?
Zi Yang / The Diplomat (Arlington VA)
On October 17, it was announced that Central Military Commission (CMC) Vice Chairman He Weidong had been expelled from the Chinese Communist Party and stripped of his military ranks, ostensibly on corruption charges. His downfall marks a major development in People’s Liberation Army (PLA) politics.
__________Tide Turns Against Tanzania’s President
Dan Paget / The Conversation (Waltham MA)
In Tanzania, something snapped this year. Protests followed the 29 October 2025 elections. They are unprecedented in their scale, national breadth and political content since the country’s independence in 1961. But the repression unleashed by newly re-elected President Samia Suluhu Hassan has also been unprecedented.
