The Internationalism

Internationalism No. 83, January 2026 Pages 8 and 9 From the series Sixty years of Lotta Comunista in the Workers' Clubs From September to December, on the occasion of the 60 th anniversary of the publication of the first issue of Lotta Comunista , all of our workers' clubs engaged in meetings in which a collective reflection took place on the concept, formation, and experience of our Leninist party, and on the concrete implementation of its strategy. In December 1965, the outline and structure of today's newspaper and party were already in place. In every directive, even in the remarks on the margins of reports, even in what may seem to be mere details, that party objective was evident. The starting point for all these reflections was this remark by Friedrich Engels, who on September 12 th , 1882, replied to Karl Kautsky, almost surprised at the question: You ask me what the English workers think of colonial policy. Well, e...

Internationalism No. 83, January 2026 Page 7 From the series Pages from the history of the workers’ movement After November 9 th , 1918, two powers were competing in Germany, the Council of People’s Deputies and the Berlin Executive Council. The Spartacus League fought to make the latter the Petrograd Soviet of the German revolution. Since the body was largely made up of SPD majoritarians and independents, Jacques Droz notes in his Histoire générale du socialisme , a real paradox is observed: the Spartacists demand total power for an institution that is clearly satisfied with a strictly reformist program . In truth, even the Bolsheviks in April 1917 launched the slogan All Power to the Soviets when these were dominated by Socialist Revolutionaries (SRs) and Mensheviks. The difference was in the reluctance of German revolutionaries to equip themselves with the organisation to steer that outcome. Centrist spontaneity and Bolshevism ...

Internationalism No. 83, January 2026 Page 6 According to the Kyodo news agency, on December 17 th a senior government official involved in the revision of the three national security documents adopted in 2022 expressed his personal stance on the need for Japan to equip itself with nuclear weapons. In light of the severe security situation surrounding the archipelago and the questionable reliability of the American nuclear deterrent , Tokyo must recognise that it can only rely on itself . Although the creation of a national arsenal is unrealistic and difficult , given that the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) recognises only five nuclear States de jure , nonetheless this discussion must take place within the government . The official denies having discussions with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi about the revision of the three non-nuclear principles (not to possess, manufacture, or permit the introduction of nuclear weapons into Japan) est...

Internationalism No. 83, January 2026 Page 3 From the series European news Ending the chaos and decline caused by Conservative governments, with their succession of four prime ministers between 2016 and 2024, and rebuilding the country: this is how Keir Starmer described his commitment to national renewal in Labour’s 2024 election manifesto. A year and a half after the clear victory that delivered Labour 411 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons, YouGov figures [December 16 th ] show the current prime minister’s approval rating has fallen from 44% to 18%. The political landscape is fragmenting, with the two traditional mainstream parties being overwhelmed by the rise of fringe parties. The government has been marred by minor scandals, muddled communications, statements followed by U-turns, and a chaotic run-up to the announcement of the new budget on November 26 th . With defeat anticipated in the local elections in May, frustrat...

Internationalism No. 83, January 2026 Page 2 According to Nicolas Baverez of Le Figaro , China’s proposed Five-Year Plan for 2026-2030, accepted by the Fourth Plenum of the CCP Central Committee, marks China’s transition to a war economy . At the national level, the focus would not be on rebalancing demand, but on reducing dependencies in order to resist external pressures and international sanctions. War preparations, writes the French economist, are now fully integrated into China’s economic development strategy. In our view, it would be more accurate to speak of a rearmament economy , since no major power has yet moved towards the proportions of a full-scale war effort, i.e., military spending historically measured in tens of percentage points of GDP. Instead, the variations have so far been a few percentage points and fractions of a point. This does not mean that there is no rearmament process affecting the economy and society as a whol...

Internationalism No. 83, January 2026 Pages 1, 4 and 5 The Trump Doctrine and the Unknowns of Imperialist Europeanism It is said that the 2025 National Security Strategy (NSS) – the document that formalises the Trump Doctrine in foreign policy – marks a break with 80 years of transatlantic relations following the Second World War. Moreover, in our Marxist analysis, for more than twenty years we have been writing about a new strategic phase ; for almost a decade, about the crisis in the world order ; for a couple of years, about the wars of the crisis in the world order , and since the beginning of Donald Trump’s new term, about an Atlantic crisis . That this crisis is now at a turning point is a fact; the extent and permanence of its strategic consequences in the future remain open questions. Whether Trump’s NSS is conceptually up to the task of American imperialism is debatable. This is where the unknowns lie: in the relative decline ...