World Politics News   Articles for World Politics Course

The nuclear deal forged between Iran and the P5 + 1 (the five Permanent Members of the Security Council and Germany) in 2015 was a diplomatic triumph, but also one with unresolved questions.  One of the most important issues was whether Iran’s development of ballistic missiles violates the accord.  Iran has held that missile development is independent of a nuclear weapons program since such missiles can carry conventional weapons and can also be used in its space program.  The P5 + 1 had concerns about the missile program since the missiles can also carry nuclear warheads.  The Security Council has been given a report which has found that the missile program violates the “constructive spirit” of the agreement and the entire council will vote on the matter.  If the Council passes a resolution finding that the missiles do violate the program, the Iranians will likely strongly object and think about leaving the agreement.

Jacobin is a Marxist journal that adheres closely to a class analysis of world events.  Its interpretation of the Brexit vote is no different.  In a careful analysis of the voting patterns of “Remain” and Leave”, there is widespread support for “Leave” throughout the country, but very concentrated support for “Remain”.  The conclusions of the analysis are not surprising, but they are carefully documented.  Those conclusions include:

1. The “strong” Leave vote was widely and evenly spread across England.
2. Large groups of the working class in the North voted strongly for Leave.
3. Areas of pronounced poverty across England voted strongly for Leave.
4. There were “strong” Leave votes in working-class areas in the South, particularly around London; these are sometimes called “white-flight areas”.
5. The “strong” Remain vote was extremely concentrated in London, particularly in the working-class areas that contain large concentrations of second- and third-generation immigrants. Note, though, that several of these areas have also been undergoing a process of gentrification and have substantial concentrations of the middle class.
6. The better-off areas of London voted strongly in favor of Remain. Very few other areas of the country voted similarly, including Cambridge, St. Albans, and Oxford.

Interestingly, the Marxist analysis does not differ substantially from the mainstream conclusions.

Labor protests have become increasingly common in Europe as governments and companies try to change the conditions of work. In the US there has been a movement to support low wage workers through an increase in the minimum wage and those movements have scored some successes.  Workers at Walmarts in China, however, have started striking, something American Walmart workers have not yet tried.  There are no unions in China, but social media has given the Walmart workers a way to organize outside the union framework.  We will have to see if these procedures are effective.