As 2025 draws to a close, workers and young people around the world will look back on a year that has starkly exposed the blind alley of world capitalism. Trump’s return to the White House has only deepened the disorder, with his administration’s foreign and economic policies causing chaos on the world stage. The recently released National Security Strategy makes one thing unmistakably clear: the United States is not in the position it used to be, no longer capable of policing the globe on its own.

This redivision of the world will not unfold calmly or peacefully – as the events of 2025 have shown. The relentless succession of crises is shaking consciousness on a mass scale, pushing hundreds of millions to question the status quo. Increasingly, people are searching for a way out of society’s dead end, and a growing layer is becoming receptive to communist ideas.

In this episode of Against the Stream, Jorge Martín and Hamid Alizadeh look back on the tumultuous year, discuss what lies ahead, and explore how communists should prepare for the struggles to come.

Against the Stream is the Marxist current-affairs podcast of the Revolutionary Communist International. New episodes air every Thursday at 6pm GMT on YouTube.

📖 RECOMMENDED READING 📖

National Security Strategy of the United States of America

🔗https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2025-National-Security-Strategy.pdf

“Just 0.001% hold three times the wealth of poorest half of humanity, report finds”

https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2025/dec/10/just-0001-hold-three-times-the-wealth-of-poorest-half-of-humanity-report-finds

The meaning of China’s $1tn trade surplus

🔗https://www.ft.com/content/80933ccf-a23f-43ab-b83c-1d2055e5995d

Labour is slow-marching working people to populism

🔗https://www.ft.com/content/1052957c-90ef-4e00-b599-e45643c5c8e4

How asset managers like BlackRock took over the world

🔗https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2025/06/16/how-asset-managers-like-blackrock-took-over-the-world-vulture-capitalism-extract-grace-blakeley/#:~:text=In%20this%20extract%20from%20her,concentration%20of%20money%20and%20power.

The world turned upside down – a system in crisis

🔗https://marxist.com/world-perspectives-2025.htm

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This week, in Britain, Your Party – led by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana – held its inaugural conference. Zarah Sultana spoke there about not only taxing the rich, but of nationalising the entire economy! What does this development signify? And what would it take for Your Party to pose a real threat to capitalism in Britain?

Meanwhile, amid a growing dispute within the US government over strikes on alleged drug-running vessels, Donald Trump announced that he will soon authorise military action against targets inside Venezuela. What lies behind this latest act of imperialist bullying and escalation? And what consequences would a new war have on the global situation

In this episode of Against the Stream, Jorge Martín and Hamid Alizadeh explore these questions and outline the communist perspective on them.

Against the Stream is the Marxist current-affairs podcast of the Revolutionary Communist International. New episodes air every Thursday at 6pm GMT on YouTube.

📖 RECOMMENDED READING 📖

Britain: Gary, Jeremy, and the super-rich – how do we make the billionaires pay for this crisis?

🔗https://marxist.com/britain-gary-jeremy-and-the-super-rich-how-do-we-make-the-billionaires-pay-for-this-crisis.htm

French lessons: what Corbyn can learn from Mitterrand's mistakes

🔗https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2017/10/french-lessons-what-corbyn-can-learn-mitterrands-mistakes

US imperialism and Latin America: Trump threatens war on Venezuela

🔗https://marxist.com/us-imperialism-and-latin-america-trump-threatens-war-on-venezuela.htm

The High Stakes in Venezuela

🔗https://www.wsj.com/opinion/the-high-stakes-in-venezuela-08382e2d

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS ⏱️

1:40 Venezuela update

17:12 Zarah Sultana & Your Party

58:55 Answering viewers' questions

🌐 LINKS 🌐

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

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

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

With Trump’s proposed peace plan in Ukraine, Europe is once again finding itself sidelined by its former ally and benefactor, the United States. Having staked their crisis-ridden regimes on a Russian defeat in Ukraine, the Europeans are now waking up to the stark reality – Ukraine has lost the war, and Zelensky has his back against the wall.
Although the European leaders would be the first to deny it, the continent where capitalism was born has now been left to rot on the vine. As Jorge Martín and Hamid Alizadeh discuss in this episode of Against the Stream, the decline of the European economy in a period of rising imperialist competition is creating an explosive situation all across the continent.

Against the Stream is the Marxist current affairs podcast of the Revolutionary Communist International. It airs weekly on YouTube on Thursdays at 6pm GMT.

📖 RECOMMENDED READING 📖

China is making trade impossible

🔗 https://www.ft.com/content/f294be55-98c4-48f0-abce-9041ed236a44

Why Trump pushed for peace — again

🔗 https://www.theatlantic.com/national-security/2025/11/ukraine-peace-push-russia-trump-zelensky/685045/

Top U.S. negotiator warned Europeans that Russia is stockpiling missiles

🔗 https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/world/europe/ukraine-peace-talks-russia-missiles.html

How can Europe pay for things that it cannot afford?

🔗 https://www.imf.org/en/-/media/files/publications/imf-notes/2025/english/insea2025004.pdf

🌐 LINKS 🌐

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

🎧 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/

The biggest crisis of Trump’s second term is unfolding over the Epstein files. Having initially promised to release the trove of documents detailing Epstein’s crimes and his rich and powerful customers, Trump – one of those customers – quickly changed his tune once in power. However, this opened a rift within the MAGA movement and woke many up to the fact that Trump, far from “draining the swamp”, is part and parcel of it. Now he’s U-turned again and is expected to finally publish the files. But this threatens to shine a light on depravity, debauchery and unaccountability of the ruling class.

Meanwhile, the regime in Ukraine is facing a crisis on the frontlines as well as within the regime. City after city is being taken by the Russian army, while a corruption scandal is implicating more and more of Zelensky’s inner circle.

In this week’s episode of Against the Stream, Josh Holroyd and Hamid Alizadeh sit down to discuss all this and more.

Against the Stream is the Marxist current affairs podcast of the Revolutionary Communist International. It airs weekly on YouTube on Thursdays at 6 p.m. GMT.

📖 RECOMENDED READING 📖

🔗 https://communistusa.org/maga-mutiny-over-epstein-forces-trump-u-turn/

🔗 https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/dangerous-ideas/201910/psychology-s-dark-triad-and-the-billionaire-class

🔗 https://www.axios.com/2025/11/19/trump-ukraine-peace-plan-russia-donbas

🔗 https://www.axios.com/2025/11/19/ukraine-peace-plan-trump-russia-witkoff

🌐 LINKS 🌐

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

🎧 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/

A major corruption scandal is rocking Ukraine. Cabinet ministers and one of Volodymyr Zelensky’s own business partners are implicated in a war profiteering scheme worth more than 100 million dollars. Meanwhile, on the front, the situation is getting even worse. Pokrovsk – a key defensive position in the Donbass – is falling to the Russians. Zelensky’s days are numbered.

But corruption and crisis are far from confined to Ukraine. In Britain, over the past month, every pillar of the established order has experienced some sort of disaster. From the stripping of Prince Andrew’s titles over his relations with Epstein, to the historic collapse of Labour in the polls, to the BBC being attacked by Donald Trump, the ‘old order’ is being discredited in the eyes of millions.

What is behind this rot? And how can we as communists connect with the rising anger that it is producing? In this week’s episode of Against the Stream, Ben Curry and Hamid Alizadeh sit down to discuss all this and more.

📖 RECOMENDED READING 📖

Inside the Wes Streeting plot

🔗 https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/inside-the-wes-streeting-plot/

Britain: one prince isn’t enough – Abolish the monarchy! Clear out the parasites!

🔗 https://marxist.com/britain-one-prince-isn-t-enough-abolish-the-monarchy-clear-out-the-parasites.htm

The BBC ‘coup’: A ruling class at war with itself

🔗 https://communist.red/the-bbc-coup-a-ruling-class-at-war-with-itself/

Reeves must get whatever growth she can

🔗 https://www.ft.com/content/20d6d434-0ae7-4305-b1c9-db1e26182931

The Ukrainian war: an internationalist class position – RCI Statement

🔗 https://marxist.com/the-ukrainian-war-an-internationalist-class-position-imt-statement.htm

Zohran Mamdani is the new Mayor of New York City. By running a campaign that promised to take on the billionaires and better the lives of working class New Yorkers, he tapped into anti-establishment, working class anger that is growing not only in New York but across the world. But the struggle has only just begun. Already, Trump has declared war by cutting off funding to New York. Meanwhile, billionaires and Democrats are attempting to court Mamdani and get him to water down his programme. The question remains whether Mamdani will resist this pressure and carry out his programme.

Meanwhile, in Sudan, the RSF have taken control of El-Fasher, and is now carrying out a genocide against the population. Why is this happening? What can we do? And what can revolutionaries learn from the whole tragic path, from revolution to counter-revolution, that brought Sudan to this?

Over the last few weeks, Trump has been brazenly ratcheting up tensions with Venezuela. Having declared its president, Maduro, the leader of a drug cartel, he has moved a tenth of America’s navy and B-52 bombers to menace the country. Hot off making ‘peace’ in Gaza, Trump seems to be headed straight towards a new war.

Will the US go to war in Venezuela? What is the Trump administration seeking? And what would be the implications of such an adventure for South America?

To answer these questions Jorge Martín and Hamid Alizadeh sat down for another episode of Against the Stream, the Marxist current affairs podcast of the Revolutionary Communist International.

📖 RECOMENDED READING 📖

Will Donald J Trump ever be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize?

🔗 https://marxist.com/will-donald-j-trump-ever-be-awarded-the-nobel-peace-prize.htm

Hands off Colombia and Venezuela!

🔗 https://marxist.com/hands-off-colombia-and-venezuela.htm

The Venezuelan Revolution: A Marxist Perspective

🔗 https://wellred-books.com/the-venezuelan-revolution-a-marxist-perspective/

This week, the collapse of Tricolour and First Brand sent a ripple of fear through the capitals of the world. From giddy boasts that the ‘bull’ market would never come down, capitalists are now reckoning with the fact that there is a gigantic bubble in the world economy, which threatens to pop.

But the bubble – which they are powerless to fix – is symptomatic of a much deeper crisis. Capitalism has reached its limits. For years, they have used bailouts to delay the day of reckoning. Now they are crushed under a mountain of debt, which threatens an avalanche of bankruptcies.

With economies around the world sliding into recession, overproduction, endless political instability, tariffs, and inter-imperialist competition, it is only a matter of time before the crash arrives. When it does, it will have devastating implications for the entire world economic system.

Most of all, as Francesco Merli and Hamid Alizadeh explain in this week's episode of Against the Stream, it will be a recipe for class struggle, as the capitalists and bankers try to force workers to pay the bill.

📖 RECOMENDED READING 📖

The Big Crash: Are we really heading for another 1929?

🔗 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/10/11/big-crash-are-we-really-heading-another-1929/

Gita Gopinath on the crash that could torch $35trn of wealth

🔗 https://www.economist.com/by-invitation/2025/10/15/gita-gopinath-on-the-crash-that-could-torch-35trn-of-wealth

What the stock market bubble can tell us about the state of the US economy

🔗 https://marxist.com/what-the-stock-market-bubble-can-tell-us-about-the-state-of-the-us-economy.htm

Zombies: Ranks of world’s most debt-hobbled companies are soaring, and not all will survive

🔗 https://apnews.com/article/zombie-business-corporate-debt-investing-interest-borrowing-52bd9ebbe1dd98983d39fe7d14e3c7fd