Reflections on the international crisis

Soundings - Print ISSN 1362-6620 - Online ISSN 1741-0797
Volume 2025 Number 90 & 91

Reflections on the international crisis
Michael Rustin pages 193‑207
DOI: 10.3898/SOUN:90-91.12.2025

Abstract

This article is about the current international crisis, and the issues of the Iran War, Palestine-Israel, and the Ukraine War, which are central to it. It reviews the long and creditable history of radical dissent to British foreign policy, in regard, for example, to anti-colonialism and the Cold War. It asks, where now is this active dissenting movement in the contemporary Labour Party? It develops a view of the present crisis which is opposed to the dominant political orthodoxies, and argues that mainstream press and broadcasting largely exclude serious debate on these issues. To find this, one has to go to independent media channels. The article develops the view that ongoing structural changes in the location of power in the world, and resistance to them by declining empires, such as that of the United States, underlie the present crises. It proposes that a radical alternative to Labour’s present international positions be articulated and advocated, arguing that this should be based on the recognition of the emerging multipolarity in the international order; and it sets out some key principles on which this should be based.

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To cite this article
Michael Rustin (2025) Reflections on the international crisis, Soundings, 2025(90 & 91 ), 193-207 . https://doi.org/10.3898/SOUN:90-91.12.2025

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