Donald Trump is once again banging the war drums, threatening military action against Iran. He has now assembled the largest US naval build-up in the region since the 2003 invasion of Iraq – including two aircraft carriers and hundreds of fighter jets.

The recent kidnapping of Maduro appears to have emboldened Trump and the warhawks in Washington, convincing them they can dictate terms through sheer force. But a war with Iran would not be a simple show of strength; it would risk spiralling far beyond US control.

This looming conflict is not an isolated event, but the product of decades of US imperialist intervention that has sown chaos across the Middle East. As Ben Curry and Hamid Alizadeh discuss in this latest episode, new fault lines are opening, which threaten fresh and bloody clashes across the region. All this while crises at home, including the fallout from the Epstein files, expose the deep rot at the heart of American capitalism.Fittingly, this episode also tackles a key question sent in by a listener: will a revolution necessarily be violent

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

📖 RECOMMENDED READING 📖

Red Sea rift: US allies split into armed camps

🔗https://marxist.com/middle-east-divide-fault-lines.htmThe establishment has been rocked before.

Epstein is an existential threat

🔗https://www.thetimes.com/uk/royal-family/article/epstein-king-charles-british-monarchy-d7nxllfgq?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=AWEtsqfauVuwblbIy7ObbYJ5jMpOy4JSsVK2VWzBII0HGdoA2-CILWfjl88pZFz3PVE%3D&gaa_ts=69a06606&gaa_sig=VxBVBRNrLEXvVW-tWp7tZ0xwCM7-Z6MjuWqKNJGscxX_5bQsVJaV5_Q673BjJE7n-nCzvPxbFQGUzbDIRq9WVg%3D%3D

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS ⏱️

00:00 – Intro

01:15 – Iran military buildup

24:09 – Realignment of powers in the Middle East

46:48 – Epstein scandal out of control

01:04:16 – Question: do communists want violence?

🌐 LINKS 🌐

✊ Join the Revolutionary Communist International: https://marxist.com/join-us.htm

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revcomintern/

💬 Twitter: https://x.com/revcomintern/

The Cuban revolution is in grave danger! Trump's oil blockade has cut off the island's fuel supplies, plunging the country into prolonged blackouts, halting public transport, and threatening a full-scale humanitarian crisis. With Venezuelan oil cut off and Mexico bowing to US threats, Trump is tightening the noose to asphyxiate the island after 67 years of relentless pressure.

The aim of the US is to crush a revolution that refuses to submit to imperialist domination. Trump demands Cuba sever ties with Russia and China, open its economy to US capital, and surrender its sovereignty. The stakes couldn’t be clearer: the survival of the revolution depends not on bourgeois governments, but on the mobilisation of the working class and oppressed worldwide.

In this episode of our Marxist current affairs podcast, Against the Stream, Jorgé Martín and Hamid Alizadeh analyse the latest developments in the imperialist siege and discuss the history of the Cuban Revolution and how it got where it is today. New episodes of Against the Stream air every Thursday at 6pm GMT on YouTube.

📖 RECOMMENDED READING 📖

Memorandum From the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs (Mallory) to the Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs (Rubottom)

🔗https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v06/d499

Cuba 50 years later – where is the revolution going?

🔗https://marxist.com/cuba-50-years-later.htm

Rise up with Cuba, peoples of the world!

🔗https://medium.com/la-tiza/lev%C3%A1ntense-con-cuba-pueblos-del-mundo-2cf19db7647c

"This is Not a Dress Rehearsal": U.S. Engaged in Massive Military Buildup as Threat To Bomb Iran Grows

🔗https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/iran-us-nuclear-military-buildup-trump-khamenei?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email&triedRedirect=true

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS ⏱️

00:00 – Intro

01:17 – What is going on in Cuba?

14:05 – Impact of blockade

23:58 – Why does the US care about Cuba?

27:50 – Is Cuba a socialist country?

46:51 – Iran

55:39 – Viewer's question: Why would people go to work under communism?

🌐 LINKS 🌐

✊ Join the Revolutionary Communist International: https://marxist.com/join-us.htm

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revcomintern/

💬 Twitter: https://x.com/revcomintern/

Over the last month, we have seen shocking images come out of Syria. ISIS flags waving over Raqqa. Jihadist militants knocking over the gravestones of Kurdish fighters. When it was set up, the Kurdish statelet of Rojava inspired people worldwide. Later, they beat back ISIS. Now ISIS have returned, and the Kurds are fighting for their lives. How has it come to this?

Meanwhile, the world has been left aghast by the release of millions more files related to billionaire pedophile Jeffery Epstein. This is not only the exposure of the sordid dealings of a lone sex trafficker, but his friends: the most powerful people in the world. Here, for the whole world to see, is an unprecedented insight into the sociology and morality of the ruling class. Moreover, as the perpetrators walk scott free, the release of increasingly shocking dirt is stirring up a guillotine mood in society.

As communists, we more than anyone need to understand the significance and meaning of these events. In this episode of our Marxist current affairs podcast, Against the Stream, Fred Weston and Hamid Alizadeh sat down to do just that.

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

📖 RECOMENDED READING 📖

Donald Trump and the ‘Epstein Class’

🔗https://marxist.com/donald-trump-and-the-epstein-class.htm

Kurds under siege in Rojava

🔗https://marxist.com/kurds-under-siege-in-rojava-only-revolutionary-struggle-against-imperialism-can-prevent-a-massacre.htm

FT: The Epstein rot goes deep

🔗https://www.ft.com/content/3f8277cd-2b47-49ff-b264-fd7ce89c924f

Syria, Turkey, and the Oppression of the Kurds:

🔗https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivBJ4vpzsqs