Against the Stream

This week the interest rate on 10-year US government bonds hit 5.3 per cent, and borrowing costs in Britain, France, Germany and Japan are at levels not seen in decades. For ordinary people, that means higher costs at the petrol station, on their energy bills, in their rent and mortgage payments, and public services being cut to balance the books.In this episode of Against the Stream, Victor Murray is joined by Niklas Albin Svensson of the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International to explain what is happening to the world economy, and what it means for the class struggle.Starting off with the Iran war and the biggest oil supply shock in history they explain how emergency reserves are now running dry. With diesel prices in the US up almost 90 per cent since January, Trump is toying with a diesel export ban that would hit Latin America and Europe the hardest. Central banks are reacting by raising interest rates, but rate hikes won't end the instability in the Middle East. All it will do is squeeze workers.Then there's the debt. US federal debt has passed $40 trillion. Nearly half of all OECD government debt has to be refinanced next year at much higher rates, just as cheap money from Japan dries up. On top of it all sits an AI boom built on borrowed money, now competing with governments for credit.The ruling class has no painless way out. This is a finished recipe for class struggle, as workers and youth in France and Spain have shown this week.New episodes of Against the Stream every Thursday at 6pm London time on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.

⏱️ Timestamps ⏱️0:00 Three forces squeezing the world economy4:36 The Iran war and the biggest oil shock in history14:09 Diesel, food and an America First export ban21:34 Interest rates and the K-shaped economy27:27 $40 trillion of debt and the end of cheap money42:44 The AI bubble55:45 A recipe for class struggle📖 Recommended reading 📖Bond market troubles reveal impending crisishttps://marxist.com/bond-market-troubles-reveal-impending-crisis.htmThe AI Build-Out Is Becoming the Biggest Economic Bet in U.S. Historyhttps://www.wsj.com/economy/the-ai-build-out-is-becoming-the-biggest-economic-bet-in-u-s-history-c60716ddThe west does not have a leadership problemhttps://www.ft.com/content/67f10dca-63f3-4cf8-951b-22d0c87f6be2?syn-25a6b1a6=1
AI hyperscalers are transforming debt
https://www.ft.com/content/00f94018-e658-4545-b16e-1bc00e19b754🫵 Join the Revolutionary Communist International: https://marxist.com/join-us.htm 📚 Marxist literature: https://wellred-books.com/📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revcomintern/💬 Twitter: https://x.com/revcomintern/

Against the Stream is back. After a summer break, Victor Murray joins Jorge Martín of the International Secretariat of the Revolutionary Communist International to take stock of the key processes shaping the world situation.The US-Iran memorandum collapsed just a few weeks after the end of our last season. Now Trump is back to threatening annihilation of Iran. In reality, his stubborn doubling down is preparing an even more humiliating defeat. Iran still controls the Strait of Hormuz. American interceptor stockpiles are drained and will take years to replace. The Pentagon has been reduced to emailing staff to ask for ‘creative ideas’. Meanwhile, the Houthis have routed Saudi-backed forces in Yemen and seized the coast along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, giving them the ability to garrote another critical chokepoint of world trade.In Ukraine, the hype around long-range strikes has faded. The hopes that Ukraine can ‘turn the tide’ are being dashed by a devastating manpower crisis, mass desertions and a string of corruption scandals, which reach right into Zelensky's inner circle. Of course, almost none of this is reported in the West.Meanwhile, a political earthquake has occurred in Germany. The AfD took 44 per cent in Saxony-Anhalt, the CDU was wiped out in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, and Die Linke won Berlin with close to half the youth vote. This humiliation of the establishment is a symptom of the crisis of European capitalism, which has reached its very heart. Austerity, militarism, and the cost of living crisis are preparing volcanic class struggle – and not just in Germany.New episodes of Against the Stream every Thursday at 6pm London time on YouTube and podcast platforms.

Recommended reading:
Something is rotten in the state of Ukrainehttps://marxist.com/something-is-rotten-in-the-state-of-ukraine.htmGermany: why did the AfD win in Saxony-Anhalt?https://marxist.com/germany-why-did-the-afd-win-in-saxony-anhalt.htmGermany: elections in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania another blow to the CDUhttps://marxist.com/germany-elections-in-berlin-and-mecklenburg-western-pomerania-another-blow-to-the-cdu.htm

On 18 June, the Cuban National Assembly approved a sweeping package of economic reforms. If implemented, they mean the end of the planned economy and the full restoration of capitalism on the island, which is currently under extreme pressure as the United States tightens a near-total blockade that has caused twenty-two-hour electricity cuts, food shortages, and the suspension of non-emergency surgery.

In this special episode of Against the Stream, Hamid Alizadeh and Jorge Martín go through the measures point by point, explain why this is capitalism and not a step towards socialism, and draw out the broader lessons for communists around the world.

They cover the Chinese and Vietnamese models, what the NEP actually was and wasn't, the role of the Cuban leadership in the collapse of the Venezuelan revolution, and why the only way out is workers' democracy and world revolution.

New episodes of Against the Stream return in mid-September.

📖 RECOMMENDED READING 📖

⁠Cuban communist intellectuals discuss the future of socialism (2010)
https://marxist.com/cuban-communist-intellectuals-discuss-socialism.htm

⁠Where is Cuba going? Towards Capitalism or Socialism? (2010)
https://marxist.com/where-is-cuba-going-capitalism-or-socialism.htm

Punto y Aparte · Cuba, El Fantasma Y Las Reformas (2026)
https://www.facebook.com/pyacuba/posts/pfbid02otuLyoB3Qpqx9LNCUWn6FMbDJJBZzbD83orK2zBr2DNxBermrt7ju2VNteEorDRbl

¿Hay otra alternativa para Cuba? - Juventud Técnica (2026)
https://www.juventudtecnica.cu/articulos/hay-otra-alternativa-para-cuba/

The State and Revolution – V.I. Lenin (1917)
https://marxist.com/the-state-and-revolution.htm

The story of Hugo Chávez and the Bolivarian Revolution | AGAINST THE STREAM (2026)
https://youtu.be/nnGzwqX25Jk?si=FoDPGRM5nigsNKoA

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS ⏱️

🌐 LINKS 🌐

🫵 Join the Revolutionary Communist International:
https://marxist.com/join-us.htm
📚 Marxist literature:
https://wellred-books.com/
🎧 Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/68nGNHz5lB8UZXICGIDMva?si=682ef70551644443
📱 Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/against-the-stream/id1777793987
📸 Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/revcomintern/
💬 Twitter:
https://x.com/revcomintern/

World School of Communism 2026: https://schoolofcommunism.com/

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The United States and Iran have signed a deal to end the war. Looking through the fourteen points of the ‘Memorandum of Understanding’, it becomes clear that America has conceded everything Iran demanded, and Iran has given up nothing in return.

In this week's Against the Stream, Hamid Alizadeh and Ben Curry break down the deal point by point: the three hundred billion dollar reconstruction fund, the end of sanctions, Iran's new control over the Strait of Hormuz, the prospect of Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, and the collapse of America’s regime change agenda.

They explain the meaning of a defeat that many are calling worse than Vietnam, what it means for Israel, the Gulf states, China, Russia, and the world economy, and why this represents a turning point in America’s imperial decline.

New episodes of Against the Stream return in mid-September.

📖 Recommended reading 📖
Does Israel control the United States? – https://marxist.com/does-israel-control-the-united-states.htm
Israelis angry over U.S.-Iran peace deal lash out at Netanyahu – https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/israelis-argry-over-u-s-iran-peace-deal-lash-out-at-netanyahu
‘American Surrender’: Conservatives React in Horror to Formal Iran Deal Announcement – https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/american-surrender-conservatives-react-in-horror-to-formal-iran-deal-announcement/
Iran Is a Bigger Defeat Than Vietnam – https://foreignpolicy.com/2026/06/16/iran-vietnam-strategy-defeat/

⏱️ Timestamps ⏱️
0:00 Intro
2:15 The peace deal point by point
19:22 What does this mean for the US?
25:40 Splits in the MAGA-movement
33:26 Freedom of navigation no more
37:29 What does this mean for Israel?
58:40 What does this mean for Europe?
1:03:25 The impact on world relations
1:08:06 The impact on the world economy
1:13:57 Will the deal hold?

🫵 Join the Revolutionary Communist International: https://marxist.com/join-us.htm
📚 Marxist literature: https://wellred-books.com/
📸 Instagram: / revcomintern
💬 Twitter: https://x.com/revcomintern/

Five hundred days of Trump in power. No more forever wars – except there is a war. The biggest paychecks in history – except hundreds of millions of Americans say the cost of living is the worst they can ever remember. And thirty-four percent of young Americans now hold a favourable view of communism.

In this week's episode of Against the Stream, Victor Murray and Fred Weston take stock of Trump's second term so far, discuss the shifting consciousness of the American working class, and how communists need to fill the vacuum on the left.

The episode traces the roots of Trump's appeal to the long-term decline of US capitalism, the betrayals of the Democrats, and the lessons of lesser-evilism in Italy and asks: with Minneapolis, Mamdani, and the growing RCA, is a genuine revolutionary alternative beginning to take shape in the belly of the beast?

New episodes of Against the Stream every Thursday at 6pm GMT on YouTube.

📖 RECOMMENDED READING 📖

Lesser-evilism, Italian style – and how it destroyed the left
🔗 https://marxist.com/lesser-evilism-italy.htm

Italy: Meloni becomes lame duck premier after referendum defeat
🔗 https://marxist.com/italy-meloni-becomes-lame-duck-premier-after-referendum-defeat.htm
The RCA’s third national congress: preparing for the next American revolution
🔗 https://marxist.com/the-rca-s-third-national-congress-preparing-for-the-next-american-revolution.htm

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS ⏱️

🌐 LINKS 🌐

🫵 Join the Revolutionary Communist International:
https://marxist.com/join-us.htm
📚 Marxist literature:
https://wellred-books.com/
🎧 Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/68nGNHz5lB8UZXICGIDMva?si=682ef70551644443
📱 Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/against-the-stream/id1777793987
📸 Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/revcomintern/
💬 Twitter:
https://x.com/revcomintern/