August 2008 saw at least two United States Aircraft Carriers set sail to the Persian Gulf, along with an Amphibious Assault Ship, a British Royal Naval Carrier and a French Nuclear Submarine. This was the latest in what appears almost certain preparations for war against Iran; from Israeli ‘test strikes’ to Operation Brimstone (when twelve UK, US and French naval ships took to the Atlantic Ocean in preparation for a possible confrontation with Iran) there can be little doubt that the American ruling class and their allies are determined to decimate the ‘rouge state’of Iran.
Over 600,000 local authority workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland struck for two days in July. Further thousands struck for a day in Scotland during August. These were against the government’s attempt to impose pay rises below the rate of inflation.
The following statement comes from the Russian section of the Anarcho-Syndicalist International of Workers’ Associations (IWA), the Confederation of Revolutionary Anarcho-Syndicalists (KRAS). Along with the ex-USSR anarchist federation Autonomous Action, who have also signed up to the statement, they have the best anti-nationalist analysis coming out of Russia in the current period.
Before writing this article I decided to do some research on general issues surrounding the G8 protests. Using my trusty “googling” skills I started to browse through some online journals to see if there was a particular niche I could exploit on the “summit-hoppers” (as G8 protesters tend to be labelled) that regularly attended the protests.
The following is a speech given by a speaker from Sheffield Anarchist Federation for a meeting hosted by the group at Newcastle Green Festival (7th June 2008).
I am sure we will find much agreement with those who join us here today when we say that the ecological crisis that currently faces our planet is a matter of life or death. The human suffering that has the potential to be unleashed (of which we have already seen much) through environmental devastation over the coming decades is truly staggering. It is unquestionable that the time to act is now. But how do we act?
February and March in Armenia saw a disputed presidential election (19/2/2008) followed by eleven days of demonstrations in the capital Yerevan, broken up by tanks, police attacks and the imposition of a State of Emergency (1/3/2008). Eight people, including a child, were killed by police and around 100 were injured including 33 police. An apparently unrelated border fire-fight on 4/3/08 in the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, disputed with neighbouring state of Azerbaijan with whom Armenia is still technically at war, broke a ceasefire agreed in 1994, killing 12 Armenian conscripts.
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