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This program will address how the Korean peninsula was tragically split, why it remains so, and its contemporary implications. Once part of the Japanese Empire, the Korean conflict degenerated into a stalemate. Most important was the admission by then US Secretary of State Dean Rusk on how the 38th Parallel was agreed to as the infamous demarcation line; why the decision was made to cross the 38th parallel; and how George Kennan urged Truman not to. This last development is most significant. And, how the stalemate in Korea impacted whether the U.S. would intervene in North Vietnam in April-May 1954 ...

After brief presentations by three ICSS members, Raj Sahai, Gene Ruyle, and Roger Harris, we will have an open discussion on this important topic ...

Nora Barrows-Friedman of The Electoric Intifada will present and lead our discussion Nora Barrows-Friedman is a journalist, editor, radio broadcaster, musician, and mother. Since 2012 she has served as associate editor and audio production director for The Electronic Intifada, an independent publication focused on Palestinian issues. She is the author of In Our Power: US Students Organize for Justice in Palestine (Just World Books, 2014) ...

Sunday Morning at the Marxist ForumSun., January 19, 2025: 10:30 am-12:30 pm PSTCompatible Left in Service of ImperialismSpeaker: Stansfield Smith The CIA helped to build and subsidize a “compatible left” in the 1940-1960s to help counter the Communist bloc and associated organizations. This anti-communist compatible left still exists today, giving backhanded defense of US imperialism’s endless wars. They harshly criticize the same nations the US seeks to overthrow and cover up US covert operations and economic warfare against these countries; e.g., Qaddafi’s Libya, Assad’s Syria, Iran, Chavistas in Venezuela, Sandinistas in Nicaragua. They condemn Russia or China (or both) as ...

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ICSS 20200712 Sun, Jul 12, 2020: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm Covid-19 and the crisis of neoliberalism - Basudev Nag Choudhary The COVID-19 disease caused by the novel corona virus has turned into a global pandemic with almost 5.5 million people confirmedly infected and over 3.5 hundred thousand deaths around more than a hundred countries. Irrespective of the fact whether the virus is a bio-weapon or naturally mutated, our aim is to show how it has impacted upon the global capitalist economy. Contrary to what is being campaigned from the mainstream institutions, it will be shown that the capitalist economy already ...

ICSS 20200816 Sun, Aug 16, 2020: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm Coronavirus: Scientific Realities vs. Economic Fallacies We are pleased that Georgi Marinov, Stanford postdoc in Genetics, , has accepted our invitation to speak about his recent article in LEFTEAST on this subject. Georgi Marinov, a post-doc researcher in Genetics at Stanford, has written one of the most prescient, widely-read, and important articles written from a Left perspective on COVID-19 pandemic and what we need to do to address it. Dr. Marinov describes the virus and the difficulties of knowing whether people will develop lasting immunity to it, and of developing ...

On November 25, Dr. Ranjeet Brar and three members of the UK CPGB-ML were arrested at the national Palestine solidarity demo for manning a table selling a book critical of the history of Zionism that was published nine years ago and has since been distributed widely.  They were told that the book might constitute an ‘incitement to racial hatred’ for which they were held in isolation for 24 hours before being released on bail. While imprisoned, their families were subjected to 3:00 AM raids, during which police seized phones, laptops, and party literature. When they were set free the following day, ...

For more than a century, a trend within Western Marxism has been to retreat from endorsing actually existing socialist projects such as the Soviet Union and retheorizing their significance in relation to capitalism. In this context, these scholars have begun to, in effect, reject imperialism as a driving force of capitalism, while obscuring the central regressive role of the US in particular. Such re-theorization downplays the historical significance of actually existing socialism and especially socialist projects in the Global South, often by reframing them as part of global capitalism or global modernity. Recent versions of Western Marxism often conflate capitalism ...

ICSS 20200802 Sun, Aug 2, 2020: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm Cuba: This is what medical internationalism looks like!. Please join us for what will be an illuminating conversation on contemporary Cuba's medical Internationalist work. Featured speakers will include Abraham Vela MD (a 2016 graduate of the Latin American School of Medicine in Cuba) and Gail Walker (director of IFCO/Pastors for Peace). The event will be moderated by longtime Cuba solidarity activist Tony Ryan. Hold the date and please help in spreading the word!. Resources: ...

1. Myth: Russia’s “Special Military Operation” (SMO) is an unprovoked war of conquest2. Myth: Russia miscalculated its military strategy in its invasion of Ukraine Russia is losing the war.3. Myth: the claim that Ukraine is natizified is a Russian propaganda ploy4. Myth: the world is united against the "Russian aggression" in Ukraine, Russia is isolated and growing more isolated.5. Myth: the economic sanctions against Russia are working, the Russian economy is a shambles, Putin is isolated, and the sanctions will eventually topple the "Putin regime" Instead of an hour presentation followed by a discussion, we will split the session into ...

The United States was a leading democracy two centuries ago. Now many other nations have leap-frogged over the US by developing better political/electoral systems. As a consequence, they also have better systems for healthcare, higher education, housing, and justice combined with increased personal safety.     The locked-down two-party system has joined with the vast inequality of wealth and power in the US in order to raise hurdles to block solutions that people want, create, and support. We will take a good look at those hurdles, many of which are now being highlighted during the presidential campaign of Cornel West, who is ...

ICSS 20200823 Sun, Aug 23, 2020: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm Drastically Cutting the Military Budget Why Is It Not a Campaign Issue? Hunger and homelessness stalk the poor. Jobs lost in the pandemic and the resulting economic collapse may not come back or will be even lower wage than before. Public education and transportation along with protecting the environment are on the chopping block, while the billionaires are raking in money. Our cities and states are economically strapped. Yet, elected officials have no idea how to run them without raising local taxes, laying off workers, or slashing benefits. Meanwhile ...

Both parties prepare for war to stall the decay of U.S. world domination — and since 1999 alone, these parties have overseen wars of aggression in Europe, Africa and Asia and imposed coups and sanctions worldwide. Both parties support NATO’s proxy war in Ukraine against Russia. Both support and arm Israel’s genocide in Gaza and Lebanon. Both back surrounding China with U.S. air and sea power as well as economic war against China. What working-class organizations must analyze and prepare for is how to confront the post-election period. Since the two parties have real differences in composition and tactics, the ...

Sun, Nov 21, 2021: 10:30 AM Pacific Time Elections in Nicaragua: a Report Back From an On the Ground Observer - Rick Sterling  ...

The U.S. has for decades had a strongly enforced two-party system. While there are differences, they both support US imperialist domination of the world — militarily and economically — and have earned their description as "two parties of War and Wall Street." This presentation will focus on the opportunities and hurdles of creating an anti-imperialist political party that can serve as the electoral arm of the movement. Butch Ware sees five areas which need to be addressed and developed with the goal of winning power to change the United States’ direction: vertical integration, culture, fundraising, team-building and demographics. Butch Ware ...