Tradition has it that back in the good old days the world was much easier to understand. During the Cold War two ideologically hostile camps faced each other over the Berlin Wall, barbed wire fences and mine fields, an Iron Curtain between them and huge war machineries on standby. Between these two...
After the end of the East-West-conflict, the countries of the West saw themselves as winners. Subsequently, they made war – limited local wars against weaker countries – into a “normal” means of politics again. Western powers began conducting war-like actions against targets in Libya on March 19,...
One of the main objectives of the 24th NATO Summit in Lisbon1 is the adoption of a new strategic concept. With the reason for its existence in question at the end of the Cold War, in 1991, NATO needed a first “new strategic concept” to ensure that the Alliance would continue to function. The...
Looking into Europe's geopolitical evolution since 1989 and citing Rosa Luxemburg Heinz Bierbaum and Michael Brie explain why Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine must be considered an inter-imperial war. Both call for the left to urgently conduct a Europe-wide debate on a concept of collective security both for Europe and its close neighbourhood.
Gabi Zimmer on why a sustainable peace depends on responsibly carrying out a society-wide conversation and promoting broad alliances with common initiatives and action on the part of anti-militarist and anti-fascist peace movements, climate activists, and trade unions.
What would have been the potential benefits for Russia, if its attack on Ukraine in February 2022 had been a success? Jürgen Klute asks this question in order to take another look at the causes of the war and thus also at possible ways to end the conflict peacefully and in the long term.
Gabriele Michalitsch looks at developments in Austria to explain how neoliberalism is continuing to affect our economies and societies while creating fertile ground for authoritarianism.
Axel Ruppert of the Rosa-Luxemburg-Foundation reflects on the EU's geopolitical ambitions, examines what has changed in the EU's geopolitical orientation since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, criticises the increasing militarisation of the EU and provides an impulse for a different understanding of security.
With war still raging in eastern Europe, Holger Politt considers Rosa Luxemburg’s pacifist stance and her writings on annexation, separatism and the autonomy of national minorities.
Heidi Meinzolt of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) criticises the massive rearmament at a national, European, and global level and sheds light on the downward spiral of war from the perspective of feminist causal research.
Cornelia Ernst, Member of the European Parliament (DIE LINKE), believes that the sharp criticism levelled by NGOs and left-wing groups at Europe's migration and asylum policy is justified - as for many years this policy has stood for a practice of cooperation with undemocratic third countries.
Didem Aydurmus, German ecosocialist politician (DIE LINKE), emphasises the interaction between climate change as a trigger of wars and, at the same time, wars as one of the greatest burdens on the climate, and underlines the importance of consistent peacebuilding.
Last weekend, EL President Walter Baier attended the #8ANEUiA Congress of EUiA - Esquerra Unida i Alternativa, where he addressed the importance of united democratic and socialist forces in struggle against rising fascism, the neoliberal austerity policy as well as the threat of mutual annihilation.
Marga Ferré, Co-President of transform! europe, in her speech at the 7th Party Congress of the European Left (EL), outlined the importance of interplay between science and political activism in the struggle for social justice and peace and a feminist and ecological Europe.
For over a decade, Russian antifascists have commemorated January 19 as their day of solidarity. This is the date when in 2009, in the center of Moscow, the human rights and leftist activist Stanislav Markelov and the journalist and anarchist Anastasia Baburova were gunned down by neo-Nazis.
In the new episode, the Cross-Border Talks speak with Russian historian and socialist Felix Levin about Russia's social, economic and political situation. What is the attitude of Russian society towards the war in Ukraine, and why it is very difficult to trust official public opinion polls? You can see this and more in the video.
Jari Järvenpää reports from Plenary Session I "A New Social and Environmental Compass for Europe", held in Athens in October 2022 in the framework of the 6th European Forum of Left, Green and Progressive Forces.
Gala Kabbaj reports from the Plenary 2, held at Theld at the 6th European Forum 2022 in Athens. The aim of this session was to outline a new collective safety architecture based on nuclear disarmament, military de-escalation, an end to over-armament, respect for the territorial integrity of nations and the defence of human rights.
On 5 November, a protest march organised by trade unions, left movements, Catholic groups, and other civil society actors took place in Rome. The giant demonstration for peace with more than a hundred thousand people is an event of enormous importance.
With support from NATO, the regime of the dictatorial Turkish president Erdoğan is not only continuing its war against the Kurdish people and their allies inside Turkey’s borders but is expanding it to Syria and Iraq, Sweden and Finland. The International Kurdish Solidarity Collective issued following Declaration regarding the latest attacks.
‘Russia’s political capitalists waged war in order to survive as a class, to continue accumulating wealth through the exploitation of the state’ – says Volodymyr Ishchenko, a research associate at Freie Universität Berlin. However, this war may equally bring about a fall or a radical transformation of the whole post-Soviet order.
The 4th issue of the quarterly magazine of the Party of the European Left contains contributions on the topic of commitment to peace and disarmament as well as the fight against climate change and for a better world.
Pacifist groups organised under the State Platform for Peace - NATO, NO umbrella brought together three workshops and eleven panels for debate on 24/25 June in Madrid. The goal: promoting another global security model to oppose the Atlantic Alliance before the leaders of NATO member states meet in Madrid (29/30 June).
Marga Ferré, Co-President of transform! europe, comments on the NATO-led western militarisation and analyses its ideological foundation. In this context, she points out the construction of the "other" as the enemy and racial supremacy, which both must be fought.
Walter Baier calls for a new balanced European security including international treaties on arms control and reduction, reestablishing trust and the reconstructing economic and cultural ties.
The following statement has been issued by the DIALOP Transversal Dialogue Project, a joint project between universities, foundations, and associations, developed by faculty members with different ideological and philosophical, Marxist or Christian backgrounds.
transform! yearbook 2022 looks at how left politics has been challenged by the Covid pandemic and asks what a programme of left demands for pandemic research, prevention and treatment might look like. transform! yearbook 2022 will be released in June.
Finally, after two years of pandemic, the trade unions of many countries, and with them members of left parties, social movements, along with other citizens, can return to the streets on May Day.
Duroyan Fertl interviewed Pinja Vuorinen, Chair of the Left Youth of Finland, about the consequences of the war in Ukraine on Finland and its current steps towards NATO.
A referendum will be held on 1 June to decide whether Denmark participates in the military dimension of the EU, the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). It was called by five parliamentary parties, including the governing Social Democratic Party.
NATO is an imperialist organisation, dominated by the USA and responsible for innumerable wars of aggression. The dismantling of this political-military monster generated by the Cold War is a fundamental requirement of democracy. Its weakening in recent years has led Emmanuel Macron, France’s...
In reaction to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, transform! europe has issued a Peace Manifesto. A variety of other organisations advocate for peace as well: left parties and movements, NGOs, human rights organisations, peace movements, trade unions, religious groups, and many more.
To create a cooperation of peace-loving European organisations and individuals, capable of considering war, any war, as unjustifiable, this was the aim of those who gathered on Sunday 3 April in Rome, representing political powers from various countries.
Read the statement on the war in Ukraine by DIALOP, Transversal Dialogue Project. DIALOP aims to promote dialogue between Marxist and Christian positions and develop common commitments to peace, non-violence, social justice, democracy, and ecological transformation.
The war in Ukraine still goes on – about 3 million people (1.4 million of them are children) have already left their home country, while the caravans of people on the border with Poland and Ukraine’s other neighbouring states are growing every day.
Speech of the founder of the Italian newspaper Il Manifesto and of the Partito di Unità Proletaria, former MEP Luciana Castellina, at the 'Europe for Peace' rally on 5 March in Rome.
transform! europe is issuing a Peace Manifesto advocating for an end of the Russian attack on Ukraine, peace and a deeper understanding of the current conflict.
In a statement issued by the WeltTrends Institute, notable German academics call on the German government to stop participating in the "escalation of the conflicts between NATO and Russia, currently centred on the Ukraine conflict".
Europe's military sectors have an annual carbon footprint equivalent to emissions from at least 14 million cars, a study published by the Left group in the European Parliament has found.
Despite current critical health risks, the US military will continue with its plans for a large-scale combat exercise in Europe involving the deployment of tens of thousands of personnel – Defender 2020. Read the statement of the GUE/NGL group.
Draft Globalization programme submitted by the National Board of the Red-Green Alliance/Enhedslisten, Denmark, to the party’s next Annual Congress on 5 - 6 October. It is a programmatic text about global development.
In January, the National Nuclear Security Administration announced that the first of a new generation of strategic nuclear weapons had rolled off the assembly line. That warhead, the W76-2, is designed to fit to a submarine-launched missile with a range of more than 7,500 miles. By September, an undisclosed number will be delivered to the Navy.
On International Women’s Day, there’s a great deal that one should say. As women, certainly, this is a time for reflection on the progress our social movements have made, and on their capacity to contribute to political change.
The last NATO Summit, held in Brussels on 25 May, has been an important one. Presented as an opportunity to celebrate the long-awaited inauguration of the new headquarters in Brussels, two main topics have been discussed: the burden-sharing of military expenses and enhancing NATO’s focus on fighting terrorism.
“We put forward a holistic worldview, one that sees the interrelations between the ongoing occupation of Palestinian Territories, the growing social and economic disparities within the Israeli society, and the attacks by the government on democratic freedoms and on the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel.”
Concerns about the current situation in the world are growing. I think we all share them. For a long time now, we have felt that “something went wrong”. Especially worrying is the fact that Europe today is almost the main flashpoint.
Finding a just and sustainable solution for the Middle East means contributing immensely to peace and security for Europe, without which welfare and democracy in Europe will not be secured. Europe’s left has to assume its responsibility, also in its own interest.
The EU is facing enormous challenges. The coming months could be crucial in determining the future of the EU and its broad political orientations. The EU is facing an unprecedented series of challenges in particular on security, climate change, migration and the economy. This combination gives an opportunity for populism to rise and spread its venomous rhetoric.
A vote of condolence was made by Bloco de Esquerda in Portugal's national parliament, condemning the murder of three Kurdish activists by the Turkish government.
Washington provokes Moscow in three fronts, fuels a potential nuclear conflict, and ignores the opinion of American society. All in the name of “democracy”?
The intention of the US and France to militarily intervene in the Syrian Civil War would add yet another bloody chapter to the tragedy of the Syrian people. The use of chemical weapons, which according to many concordant reports occurred last week, is a war crime and whoever perpetrated it has to be charged for their offence.
This year’s EuroMemorandum focuses not only on EU´s failure in seeking multilateral cooperation for the Covid-19 pandemic. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine also marks a dramatic turning point for the international system itself and in particular for the political and economic development of the EU. What is the right approach to these issues?
Since the Brexit decision, the only political project that the neoliberal elites in the EU and its member states are pursuing is the multidimensional militarisation of the EU. In this situation, transform! europe has gathered a collective of authors to stimulate discussion among European left parties and movements about this daring development.
There has been a lot of talk of a new Cold War between the West and Russia, even though the metaphor itself is not appropriate in today’s globalised context. It is not a very fitting analytical description. Firstly, there is no clear ideological and systemic struggle between Russia and the West.
How have wars historically and today contributed to the success or failures of socialist projects all around the world? The conference is co-organised by transform´s cooperating media partner Eszmélet Journal with the Karl Polanyi Center for Global Social Studies and Social Theory College (TEK). Supported by the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation.
Wars have this destructive potential to impact the structure of communication, change the perception of facts, instrumentalise language and ways of thinking, lead to conspiracy traps and promote biased interests. During the Catholic event World Youth Day 2023, Christians and Marxists will discuss theory and praxis of communication in war times.
On June 10/11 international civil society is gathering in Vienna, Austria. The aim of the Peace Summit is to publish an Urgent Global Appeal, called the Vienna Declaration for Peace, calling on political leaders to act in support of a ceasefire and negotiations in Ukraine.
As part of the activities planned to celebrate the Victory over Fascism, the European Forum of Left, Green and Progressive forces organises a series of actions in Budapest on Sunday 7th of May 2023. United against fascism is the key to building peace in Europe!
How can the horror of the war in Ukraine be analysed without falling into simplifications? And what could an emancipatory politics possibly look like in the age of a global war regime? Raúl Sánchez Cedillo dares a critical advance beyond the usual discourse.
Hundreds of demonstrations, conferences and other activities to stop the war and build peace are taking place across Europe. See below for a list of Europe-wide peace initiatives on the anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine.
International experts will analyse Europe's role in building peace in Ukraine on Tuesday 21 February in the Mirador Theatre in Madrid, at the event "What can Europe do to build peace in Ukraine?" organised by the newspaper Público and the Fundación Espacio Público. Co-President of transform! europe, Marga Ferré will also participate in the debate.
20 years after the largest global demonstration in history (held on 15 February 2003 in Rome), peace and human rights activists from 5 continents come together and reinterpret current conflicts in the reality of world war.
This international hybrid event brings together organisations and activists working for peace and the environment in Finland and internationally and aims to create discussions about the common goals of the peace and environmental movements and to build a path towards a new joint action of people's movements on behalf of humanity and the planet.
The topics of this year's Seminar Festival, which is organised by Democratic Civic Association (DCA) — a member organisation of transform! europe — will be on the environment, peace and economic and political injustice of the world. Warm welcome to join!
Join the demonstration in Madrid, on Sunday 26 June, organised by international platforms, movements and organisations that oppose NATO, wars and defend peace!
In this accompanying peace event to the 1st UN Conference of the Partner States of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, all the aspects listed here will be examined in more details and ways to a peaceful sustainable development are identified.
Current notions of security are centered around military deterrence. Increased military spending, arms races, oppression and surveillance in the disguise of safety concerns are affecting all our lives. "We need an entirely new concept of security," say transform! europe's Katerina Anastasiou and Axel Ruppert (Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung Brussels).
While calling for peace in Ukraine, this webinar focuses on the responses and implications in the Asia-Pacific. We will look at how states, civil society, and peace movements of Asia-Pacific have reacted to the war and discuss on the role peace movements can play for a lasting peace.
transform! europe takes part in the World Peace Congress organised by the International Peace Bureau (IPB), the oldest and largest international peace network.
In this Webinar Series, Dialop and transform! europe explore the common ground and the differences between Christian and Marxist approaches to peace ethics. The third webinar has the title: Can arts, science and religion redeem us and be ferments of peace? Applications today. Join us!
In this Webinar Series, Dialop and transform! europe explore the common ground and the differences between Christian and Marxist approaches to peace ethics. The second webinar has the title: NO JUSTICE. NO PEACE - Visions of positive peace. Join us!
In this Webinar Series, together with our partner organisation Dialop, we want to explore the common ground and differences between Christian and Marxist approaches to Peace Ethics. Join us for the first webinar!
Given the rising possibility of global war, the panelists will analyse and oppose the largest military exercises on the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC), as well as lay out the implications of participation in NATO.
In the seventh workshop of our series "Security and the Left in Europe - Towards a New Left Concept of Security", we will discuss with Tom Unterrainer on steps towards a nuclear-free Europe in the current context of the war in Ukraine and the threat of nuclear escalation.
This workshop was held in the framework of the World Peace Congress organised by the International Peace Bureau (IPB), the oldest and largest international peace network.