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Marx explained that every social system is subject to its own laws: objective dynamics, forces, and pressures that govern its motion and development. In this article, Adam Booth examines the early decades of the Soviet Union, in order to provide a concrete understanding of the economic laws which imposed themselves on the young workers’ state, and to arm a new generation with the lessons required to carry out the successful struggle for communism.

Since Kamala Harris entered the 2024 presidential race, the media has highlighted the alleged differences between her and Joe Biden’s rhetoric around Gaza, speculating about how she might differ from her current boss when it comes to the war on Gaza. They have noted a more “empathetic” tone toward Palestinians and a more “forceful” tone toward Israel.

The revolutionary overthrow of the Hasina regime, sparked by the students and their courageous protests, have opened the floodgates for a fresh wave of class struggle in Bangladesh. The revolution surges forward!

On Sunday 18 August, 13 days after Bangladesh’s dictator Sheikh Hasina fell, the Revolutionary Communist International (RCI) held an online discussion to celebrate this victory and to offer a communist perspective and programme. The first phase of the revolution is over. Now it is necessary to complete the revolution! We include the recording of that discussion here.

On this day in 1940, Trotsky died of injuries inflicted by a Stalinist agent. Despite the lies of Stalin’s epigones, there is nothing in Trotsky’s ideas that cannot also be found in Lenin. The two men reached the same political conclusions and led the Russian Revolution to victory in 1917, at the head of the Bolshevik Party. Both understood the necessity of world revolution; and after Lenin died, Trotsky continued to defend his real ideas and legacy against Stalin’s bureaucratic counterrevolution. It was for this reason that he was marked for death.

Below, we publish a joint statement issued by Lucha de Clases(Venezuelan section of the RCI) and Junta Patriótica de Salvación, on the current political crisis in Venezuela. In this statement, we put forward a class position in the face of government authoritarianism and the false democratic disguise that the pro-imperialist right wing is trying to flaunt today.

The revolution in Bangladesh has scored its first victories – but it is incomplete! This Sunday, the Revolutionary Communist International is hosting a meeting to which all are invited. We will be discussing the revolutionary communist perspective, how the revolution can advance, and why you should organise with us if you agree. The speakers will include Fiona Lali; student activists directly involved in the struggle in Bangladesh; and leading comrades from the Revolutionary Communist International and the Inqalabi Communist Party in Pakistan.

Amidst the pomp and pageantry of Independence Day, a furious protest movement following the rape and murder of a young medic tells the real story of Modi’s India. The Revolutionary Communists of India (RC(I)) demand justice – for the victim of this heinous crime as well as allwho suffer under capitalism, which poisons human relations and subjects billions to oppression, violence and misery.

The crisis of capitalism is hitting poor countries hard. After hikes in interest rates over the past two years, the debt collectors are knocking on the door. As a result, imperialist institutions are now forcing draconian austerity measures and tax hikes on the poor in so-called developing countries. This is provoking anger and mass protests worldwide.

Since the revolutionary tide swept away Sheikh Hasina one week ago, the masses, led by the students, have continued to mobilise. Committees have been expanding across the country – especially, but not exclusively, among the students. In many places they have displaced the functions of the state. The ruling class is suspended in midair. A kind of dual power exists. But the revolution now faces new dangers – not only of conspiracies by the deposed Awami League, which continue, but of confusion as to the direction of travel.

Recently, a figure of 186,000 projected deaths in Gaza has been circulating in the press and on social media. This horrifying death toll originated from a letter to The Lancet, the most prominent British medical journal, which the Israeli regime and its Western cheerleaders have attempted to discredit as baseless ‘blood libel’. In fact, when months of relentless bombing are combined with the malnutrition and disease caused by Israel’s blockade, this figure might end up being tragically conservative.

Today, Bangladesh is glowing with the white heat of revolution. The masses have once more entered the arena of struggle. They are rediscovering a rich revolutionary tradition that goes back decades. Really, the tasks of this revolution are the unfinished tasks of an unfinished revolution, which began more than fifty years ago and culminated in the War of Independence against the domination of Pakistan in 1971. Learning the lessons of that period is vital to not only understanding the present, but to ensuring that the revolutionary struggle today is carried forward to victory.