In light of the latest extreme attacks on the LGBTIQ+ community in Chechnya, Russia, which United Nations human rights experts have , English group Left Unity released the on April 14.
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Russia
Caught In The Revolution: Petrograd 1917
Helen Rappaport
Windmill Books, 2017
430 pages
In 1916-17, millions of starving Russian workers queued for hours for scarce bread, perished on the eastern front or were left unemployed in a country where the living conditions were as atrocious as the record winter cold.
One hundred years ago, on March 27, 1917 the Petrograd Soviet issued the following appeal, 鈥淭o the Peoples of the World,鈥 calling for a restoration of workers鈥 unity in the cause of peace: "....We call upon you to throw off the yoke of your semi-autocratic order just as the Russian people shook off tsarist despotism. You should refuse to serve as a weapon of invasion and violence in the hands of kings, gentry landowners, and bankers.
"Together in friendship we will put a stop to the terrible slaughter, which disgraces humankind and casts a shadow over the great days of the birth of Russian freedom...."
One hundred years ago, on March 14, 1917, the Social Democratic Interdistrict Committee (Mezhrayonka), supported by the Petersburg Committee of Socialist Revolutionaries, issued the following appeal to soldiers to elect representative committees all along the chain of command, for officers to treat soldiers respectfully and asserted the Soviet's primary influence over soldiers by stating that they should obey only Duma commands that did not contradict Soviet resolutions.
On Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal聽readers can find an interview with leading ecosocialist voice Daniel Tanuro as well as聽articles looking at the ongoing fallout of the Brexit vote聽and the origins of arguably the most famous slogan in revolutionary history: "All power to the Soviets!"
The disarray among politicians of both major parties on display in last year鈥檚 election campaign has intensified in the first two months of Donald Trump鈥檚 presidency.
Charges and counter-charges are hurled between the Democrats and the Trump administration, prompting Congressional investigations that may bring in the FBI, CIA and other spy agencies.
Among other things, Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal has recently published a wide-ranging interview with Kurdish activist Dilar Dirik on the role of women in the Kurdish struggle, the Rojava revolution unfolding in northern Syria and the rise of the Kurdish-led People鈥檚 Democratic Party in Turkey; and a number of new translations in the 鈥1917: The View from the Streets 鈥 Leaflets of the Russian Revolution鈥 series being co-ordinated by US historian Barbara Allen and Canadian socialist and Links collaborator John Riddell.
A hundred years ago, on March 12, socialists in Petrograd distributed the following appeal for an insurrectional general strike to bring down tsarism. That day 鈥 the culmination of the Russian February revolution 鈥 witnessed the crumbling of tsarist power.
Lenin on the Train
Catherine Merridale
Allen Lane, 2016, 354 pages
The German 鈥渟ealed train鈥 that gave Vladimir I Lenin safe passage from exile in Switzerland through wartime Germany to Russia in April 1917, in the aftermath of the overthrow of Russia鈥檚 monarchy that had exiled the Russian revolutionary leader, was historically pivotal.
New international talks aimed at ending the Syrian conflict may be unlikely to succeed, but they do mark shifts in the alignment of competing forces.
The United Nations Security Council unanimously voted on December 31 to support a ceasefire in Syria that started the previous day. The latest round of international peace talks are scheduled for January 23 in the capital of Kazakhstan, Astana.
When Donald Trump is sworn in as president on January 20, he will take over the running of the US intelligence agencies 鈥 the CIA, FBI, NSA etc 鈥 that have brought charges to discredit the outcome of his election.
The Electoral College has rubberstamped Trump鈥檚 election and Congress has ratified it. The storm over allegations of Russian聽interference in last year鈥檚 elections will pass as The Leader takes charge and cleans house in these agencies.
But there are some things that should be noted about this brouhaha.
Another round of international talks on Syria, and a ceasefire, have come and gone. The five-and-a-half-year-old civil war continues unabated, as do the competing military interventions 鈥 all ostensibly targeting ISIS 鈥 by various regional and global powers.
The direct involvement of foreign powers in the conflict was significantly increased with the August 24 occupation by Turkey of the previously ISIS-controlled border town of Jarabalus and the surrounding area.
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