What will be the future of Israel and the Gulf countries? What is the possible order of the Middle East and Asia? Those questions are the starting point for this week's Against the Stream – a special Q&A episode where Hamid Alizadeh and Jorge Martín work through the best and toughest questions from our comment section.

Starting with the events in Iran, Hamid and Jorge explain that any end to the war will not be a compromise on Iran's part. Iran has achieved all of its aims while the United States has achieved none. The Gulf states are quietly making their own arrangements with Tehran. Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan, and Egypt are moving away from the American camp. China is positioned to broker the new regional order.

Next, they dig into one of the most common theoretical questions in our comment section: is China capitalist? For Marxists this is a concrete question that can only be answered by looking at the real development of China. The past thirty years paint a clear picture: privatisation, industrial capacity sitting idle, hundreds of millions in precarious work, youth unemployment, and more billionaires than any country on earth. Understanding why and how this happened is key to putting forward a programme for socialism in China and internationally.

From there the episode turns to Venezuela, and to a particular kind of argument that circulates on the left – that Western Marxists are too dogmatic, too Eurocentric, too theoretical to understand developments taking place in other continents. The answer lies in the facts. Since the kidnapping of Maduro, Venezuela has become a US protectorate. Its oil income goes into a Washington-controlled bank account. Chávez himself said in 2012 that the greatest mistake of the revolution was not taking it to its final conclusion. Only theory and an honest appraisal of events can give us foresight – and be an antidote to identity politics, which explains nothing at all.

Finally, Hamid and Jorge answer whether international revolution is actually on the agenda – and whether there is any point in joining a union today.

New episodes of Against the Stream every Thursday at 6pm GMT on YouTube.

📖 RECOMMENDED READING 📖

Revolution and counter-revolution in Venezuela:

https://marxist.com/book-the-venezuelan-revolution-marxist-perspective/revolution-andnbspcounter-revolution-in-venezuela.htm

China's long march to capitalism

https://marxist.com/china-long-march-capitalism021006.htm

Leon Trotsky: Trade Unions in the Epoch of Imperialist Decay (1940)

https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1940/xx/tu.htm

What is to be Done? How Lenin built a battle organisation

https://marxist.com/what-is-to-be-done-how-lenin-built-a-battle-organisation.htm

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS ⏱️

00:01:24 How will the Iran war impact the future of the Middle East?00:14:56 Is China really capitalist?00:32:26 If China is capitalist, why do many own their own homes?00:40:05 Will multipolarity make China move towards socialism?00:44:19 Will defeating US imperialism benefit the Chinese/Iranian masses?00:48:37 Does the RCI only support 'pure and perfect' revolutionary struggles?01:00:44 Is international revolution possible?01:07:32 Is there any use joining the unions?

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