The Internationalism

Internationalism No. 85, March 2026 Page 16 No surprise: the US Supreme Court struck down Donald Trump's protectionist policy. He was not allowed to bypass Congress and impose tariffs through emergency procedures. Some see in this a vindication of the principle of checks and balances . The unchecked claims of the executive power – the presidency – have been pushed back by the highest expression of judicial power – the Supreme Court – which has returned the matter to the legislative power – Congress – to which the US Constitution grants authority over taxation. Everything seems to fall into place, yet liberals can easily shut themselves inside their paper labyrinths and thus lose sight of the clash of real forces which shape rules and institutions. For us Marxists, the plurality of powers reflects the plurality of interests of the dominant groups of capital, amid relentless battles that know no truce. ...

Internationalism No. 85, March 2026 Page 11 The White House’s siege on the Federal Reserve reached a moment of clarity with the appointment of Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s successor, but Donald Trump’s machine has not stopped. The Justice Department’s criminal investigation into alleged wrongdoing in the renovation of the Fed’s buildings continues. The aim is to oust Powell not only from the presidency, but also from the board of the central bank in order to break his resistance to Trump’s line, which demands drastic cuts in interest rates. Trump wants a hot, hot, hot economy, according to The Wall Street Journal . The judicial persecution, denounced by Powell as an attempt to impose a monetary policy directed by political pressure or intimidation , has provoked a bipartisan reaction in the Senate. North Carolina Republican Thom Tillis has pledged to block the approval process for the designated successor to the Fed chair until the ca...

Internationalism No. 73, March 2025 Page 1 Thirty years after the death of Arrigo Cervetto , we are publishing here the concluding passages of the introduction to his Opere Scelte (“Selected Works”) for the series Biblioteca Giovani (“Publications for young people”), soon to be published in Italian. The 1944-45 partisan war in Italy. The political battle within libertarian communism. The Korean War, and the watchword of “neither Washington nor Moscow”. The layoffs at the Ilva and Ansaldo factories, the political battle and trade union defence in the struggles of post-war restructuring. From 1953 onwards, the crisis of Stalinism, the 1956 Suez crisis, the Hungarian uprising, the 1957 Theses and the challenge of theory and strategy vis-à-vis the tendencies of unitary imperialism. The political struggle within Azione Comunista (“Communist Action”) and the Movimento della Sinistra Comunista (“Movement of the Communist Left”). From the 1950s to the early 1970s, t...