2026 started off with general war hysteria, mirroring historical world war preparations.
Details. In January, major escalations began across multiple fronts of the global inter-imperialist (us.politsturm.com/china-usa-will-there-be-war) conflict, as capitalists increased the urgency of their drive to world war.
Important to Know. Every major player is preparing for an open clash, be it an ever increasing number of proxy wars or a full-on imperialist world war. All blocs are clearing their rear, consolidating their territory, and getting rid of unnecessary distractions.
Lenin on centrists: "A more distinct line of demarcation between the two, a clearer definition of the points of disagreement, is essential for the healthy development of the Party, for the political education of the proletariat, and for the checking of every inclination of the Party to stray too far from the right path." – Vladimir Lenin, Report on the Unity Congress of the R.S.D.L.P.
ICE agents may have been permitted to violate American laws. What does this mean?
Details. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the federal agency that oversees immigration and border enforcement through Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), amplified comments (x.com/DHSgov/status/2011213308968538361) by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller telling (www.cbsnews.com/news/ice-official-marcos-charles-m…) ICE agents that they “have federal immunity in the conduct of your duties,” while warning that anyone who obstructs them would be committing a felony.
► Legal experts and constitutional scholars have pushed back (southfloridareporter.com/states-and-lawmakers-laun…) against Miller’s claim, stating that federal agents are not immune from prosecution if they violate state or federal law.
Important to Know. Given the Trump administration’s documented pattern (us.politsturm.com/us-threatens-to-take-greenland-b…) of acting beyond legal and constitutional limits, claims (www.politifact.com/factchecks/2025/oct/29/stephen-…) of “federal immunity” function not as descriptions of existing law, but as an executive directive that ICE enforcement will proceed without fear of prosecution when it crosses legal boundaries.
► In practice, this enables ICE agents to advance the priorities of the executive branch, including (www.reuters.com/legal/government/ice-detains-four-…) mass arrests, intimidation of migrant communities, and suppression (www.darientimes.com/news/politics/article/as-immig…) of protests, while bypassing meaningful oversight from local authorities, courts, or state governments – effectively subordinating other branches of power to federal enforcement.
► The Trump administration’s “federal immunity” messaging has a historical parallel in Heinrich Himmler’s Schutzhaft (encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/law-and-…) orders in Nazi Germany, where the state explicitly told enforcers they could act outside the law with political protection (avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/chap_11.asp?utm). Like then, these signals make it clear to ICE agents that they can use force without fear of punishment.
Some Nepalese are frustrated with the new Interim leadership they installed. Why is it failing to change workers’ living conditions?
Details. Even after large-scale protests in September 2025, which led to the formation of a new government, reports (apnews.com/article/nepal-gen-z-protests-election-k…) suggest that Generation Z protesters are frustrated with the transitional government.
Context. We previously reported (us.politsturm.com/protests-in-nepal-important-to-k…) on the protests, which began (us.politsturm.com/protests-in-nepal-important-to-k…) as youth-led demonstrations opposing the ban on major social media platforms. The demonstrations escalated into a revolt after the government opened fire on protesters. Official buildings were seized, parliament was set alight, and the government was paralyzed, forcing its resignation.
► Lenin explained (www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1919/jul/11.h…) why changes in government personnel do not alter workers’ conditions under capitalism. Whatever the form of capitalist rule, it serves the same class interests: “Whatever guise a republic may assume, however democratic it may be, if it is a bourgeois republic, if it retains private ownership of the land and factories, and if private capital keeps the whole of society in wage-slavery… then this state is a machine for the suppression of [one class by another].”
To a reformist, reforms are everything, while revolutionary work is something incidental, something just to talk about, mere eyewash. That is why, with reformist tactics under the conditions of bourgeois rule, reforms are inevitably transformed into an instrument for strengthening that rule, an instrument for disintegrating the revolution. – Joseph Stalin, The Foundations of Leninism
“Just as phrases about “defence of the fatherland” fraudulently inculcate upon the masses the ideology of a national liberation war, so phrases about a democratic peace smuggle in that very same bourgeois lie.” – Vladimir Lenin, The Peace Programme
On the anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Russia, we recall the crimes of the last Russian monarch. Russian capitalists glorify Nicholas II as a defender of traditional values, and the Orthodox Church made him a saint for murdering workers and peasants.
"No laws on earth can abolish inequality and exploitation so long as production for the market continues, and so long as there is the rule of money and the power of capital. Exploitation can be completely abolished only when all the land, factories and tools are transferred to the working class, and when large-scale socialised and planned production is organised."
Vladimir Lenin, The Land Question and the Fight for Freedom
“The parliamentary bourgeois republic hampers and stifles the independent political life of the masses, their direct participation in the democratic organisation of the life of the state from the bottom up.” Vladimir Lenin, The Task of the Proletariat in our Revolution
"Comrade Stalin warned the members of the Central Committee at the last plenum that all of us, the entire party and the Central Committee, especially those of us who were intoxicated by the enormous successes of victories on all fronts, had become somewhat complacent, begun to rest on our laurels, and decided that the main and most important work had been done and now we could take a break. “We have forgotten,” said Stalin, “that we have only won on one-sixth of the land. One-sixth! Five-sixths have not yet been conquered.” ... It is difficult, comrades, to live through everything that has happened in recent months in the country, in the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. But it is good that all this has been revealed now, today, and not when the enemy would have gone to war against us. If the enemy had managed to keep its numerous and vile agents in our army until the moment of war, we would have had to fight against both the external and internal enemies from the first day of the war. This is an extremely difficult task with very serious consequences." – K.E. Voroshilov. Speech at a meeting of the Military Council at the USSR People's Commissariat of Defense, June 1-4, 1937.
Politsturm International
Politsturm International
2026 started off with general war hysteria, mirroring historical world war preparations.
Details. In January, major escalations began across multiple fronts of the global inter-imperialist (us.politsturm.com/china-usa-will-there-be-war) conflict, as capitalists increased the urgency of their drive to world war.
► In South America, the USA brazenly attacked (us.politsturm.com/trump-invades-venezuela-after-pr…) Venezuela, breaking international law and capturing another nation’s president, with threats (news.sky.com/story/colombia-cuba-mexico-greenland-…) of similar actions elsewhere (www.wsj.com/world/americas/the-u-s-is-actively-see…. This operation displaced (us.politsturm.com/us-strikes-venezuela-position#ii…) Russo-Chinese capitalists from the strategically valuable oil fields (www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jan/05/venezuela….
► In the Atlantic, NATO captured (www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdexxr2y907o) foreign oil tankers, including a Russian-flagged (www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cwynjdqgellt) one. This implements the latest US war strategy (us.politsturm.com/usa-warns-europe-to-embrace-far-… clearly demarcating (us.politsturm.com/us-seized-two-venezuela-linked-o…) territory and sending warning signals to rivals. Following this, the BRICS alliance ramped up China-led naval exercises (www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/11/brics-wargames-wh…) around the Cape (www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-17/us-ratc….
► In Europe, the UK and France agreed to deploy (www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c17zee20qpzo) thousands of troops to Ukraine after the SMO. The Russian military launched (www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgqe9kv9xxvo) new Oreshnik missile strikes to threaten (www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/13/us-slams-russias-…) the West. Europe temporarily sent soldiers (www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd0ydjvxpejo) to Greenland (us.politsturm.com/imperialist-rivals-race-to-secur…) to signal its ability to defend (www.rte.ie/news/europe/2026/0123/1554631-eu-leader…) the island, whilst Trump floated (us.politsturm.com/us-threatens-to-take-greenland-b…) a possible invasion.
► In the Pacific, the US and China (us.politsturm.com/china-usa-will-there-be-war) intensified preparations (www.thetimes.com/world/asia/article/chinas-militar…. At the end of 2025, China had concluded its largest military drills (www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c87l7xjp235o) yet around Taiwan, simulating (www.france24.com/en/live-news/20251229-china-annou…) a blockade of the US dependency.
► In the Middle East, lightning offensives in Syria (www.newarab.com/news/eastern-syria-fighting-reshap…) and Yemen (www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/world/4410336/saud…) broke through frontlines that had been static for years. This followed heightened tensions (www.newarab.com/analysis/exposed-fault-lines-why-s…) between the new Saudi-led (www.newarab.com/news/saudi-egypt-somalia-military-…) axis of Sunni powers (www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-09/turkey-…) and the Israeli-UAE (blogs.timesofisrael.com/israeli-emirati-military-a…) partnership. In the process, the US abandoned (www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/20/us-envoy-says-sdf…) its Kurdish proxies (us.politsturm.com/pkk-disarms-and-dissolves), despite decades of collaboration, instead endorsing Turkey’s efforts (www.rfi.fr/en/podcasts/international-report/202601…) to secure its southern flank via the Syrian Transitional Government (us.politsturm.com/new-syrian-government-produced-n….
► In the Gulf, the US accelerated its offensive against Iran’s capitalist regime through “maximum pressure” sanctions (www.state.gov/iran-sanctions). Israel and the US prepared (www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/trump-iran-military-…) renewed military strikes (www.axios.com/2025/12/31/netanyahu-trump-iran-stri…) on Iran, although they were delayed (www.axios.com/2026/01/15/trump-iran-strikes-israel…) for now.
► In Africa, local border disputes (www.dw.com/en/israels-somaliland-recognition-strat…) were drawn into wider conflict: Israel pursued an alliance with Ethiopia (www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/israel-calls-ethiopia…, whilst neighboring enemy Somalia (www.middleeasteye.net/news/saudi-arabia-finalises-…) joined the Sunni pact; similar divisions followed in Sudan (www.middleeasteye.net/news/uae-flights-linked-suda…) and Libya (www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypt-and-saudi-arabia-….
Context. Today’s rapid rearmament mirrors (us.politsturm.com/eu-leaders-statements-boost-defe…) the arms race in the years preceding WW1 and WW2. Capitalist propaganda whipped up war scares and militaristic hysteria to justify massive defense spending at the expense of workers (us.politsturm.com/eu-rearmament-hits-400-billion-2…, all while boosting profits.
► Similarly to today, imperialists clashed to consolidate their blocs. Great power annexations of neighboring territories, like Bosnia (encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/bosnian-…) and Czechoslovakia (us.politsturm.com/the-polish-question#internationa…, preceded the two world wars. In the 1911 Agadir Crisis, Germany used gunboat diplomacy (encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/moroccan…) to pressure France into exchanging African colonies.
► In the 1930s, leading up to WW2, fascist powers invaded Manchuria (us.politsturm.com/capitalism-and-war-pt1#japanese-…) and Ethiopia (us.politsturm.com/capitalism-and-war-pt2#24-strugg…. The League of Nations was impotent, merely sending "Commissions of Enquiry” to issue meaningless reports and condemnations. In the 2020s, the UN (us.politsturm.com/un-meets-for-80th-anniversary) is equally powerless (us.politsturm.com/un-powerless-in-redivision-world…, its resolutions on Ukraine and Palestine ignored (us.politsturm.com/un-resolutions-gaza-israel-chang…. Unilateral attacks and invasions have now become normalised (us.politsturm.com/attacks-on-neutral-states).
Important to Know. Every major player is preparing for an open clash, be it an ever increasing number of proxy wars or a full-on imperialist world war. All blocs are clearing their rear, consolidating their territory, and getting rid of unnecessary distractions.
► Strategic resources are being secured (us.politsturm.com/imperialist-rivals-race-to-secur…, and capitalist war economies streamlined (us.politsturm.com/us-military-requests-massive-wal…. Alliances are being rebalanced as imperialist interests diverge. Old agreements are revised (us.politsturm.com/usa-warns-europe-to-embrace-far-…, whilst new ones are formed (www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm24k6kk1rko).
► The US Secretary of War declared (us.politsturm.com/us-secretary-of-war-admits-prepa…) America is preparing for open conflict; President Trump recently announced a further 50% rise (www.politico.com/news/2026/01/07/trump-calls-recor…) in defense spending to a record $1.5 trillion. NATO’s head urged (us.politsturm.com/nato-chief-urges-world-war-prepa…) readiness for world war, with Germany’s defense minister warning (us.politsturm.com/europes-last-summer-of-peace-may…) it could erupt in 2026. European states moved to reintroduce (us.politsturm.com/france-and-germany-conscription) conscription, while increased surveillance (us.politsturm.com/european-nations-expand-digital-…) and fascisation (us.politsturm.com/trump-launches-anti-communism-we…) at home prepare societies for war (www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz994d6vqe5o) by enforcing labour discipline and suppressing dissent.
2 hours ago | [YT] | 20
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Politsturm International
Lenin on centrists: "A more distinct line of demarcation between the two, a clearer definition of the points of disagreement, is essential for the healthy development of the Party, for the political education of the proletariat, and for the checking of every inclination of the Party to stray too far from the right path." – Vladimir Lenin, Report on the Unity Congress of the R.S.D.L.P.
1 day ago | [YT] | 139
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Politsturm International
ICE agents may have been permitted to violate American laws. What does this mean?
Details. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the federal agency that oversees immigration and border enforcement through Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), amplified comments (x.com/DHSgov/status/2011213308968538361) by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller telling (www.cbsnews.com/news/ice-official-marcos-charles-m…) ICE agents that they “have federal immunity in the conduct of your duties,” while warning that anyone who obstructs them would be committing a felony.
► Legal experts and constitutional scholars have pushed back (southfloridareporter.com/states-and-lawmakers-laun…) against Miller’s claim, stating that federal agents are not immune from prosecution if they violate state or federal law.
► A growing number of states, municipalities, and civil-rights organisations are also contesting (www.aclu-mn.org/press-releases/ice-lawsuit2/?utm_s…) this narrative, filing federal lawsuits against DHS and ICE enforcement practices (us.politsturm.com/trump-deploys-crush-ice-proteste…) they describe as unconstitutional, dangerous, and politically motivated. However, these legal challenges have so far produced no meaningful successes. Even minor (www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2026/01/16/minneapol…) restrictions, such as a preliminary injunction limiting certain protest-related tactics, were later overturned on appeal (www.reuters.com/world/us-appeals-court-pauses-lowe….
Context. The controversy comes amid an expanded federal immigration enforcement surge (us.politsturm.com/trump-to-deploy-national-guard-i…) under the Trump administration, with thousands of DHS and ICE agents deployed to cities such as Minneapolis. It intensified after an ICE agent fatally (us.politsturm.com/protests-erupt-after-ice-kills-w…) shot 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis.
► The killing of Renee Good, a U.S. citizen, ignited widespread outrage (www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/16/ice-agent-…, mass protests (www.goodmorningamerica.com/news/live-updates/minne…) and a strike (www.lbc.co.uk/article/minneapolis-strike-ice-boyco…) after video footage and eyewitness accounts challenged official claims of self-defence. The Justice Department declined to pursue a civil-rights investigation, prompting resignations (www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/federal-prosecutors…) from federal prosecutors involved in the case.
► Trump, Vice President Vance, and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, despite this, have repeatedly defended (people.com/kristi-noem-accuses-journalist-trying-d…) ICE actions and confirmed “absolute immunity, (www.cbsnews.com/news/ice-agent-renee-good-shooting… framing agents’ actions as “just doing their job.”
Important to Know. Given the Trump administration’s documented pattern (us.politsturm.com/us-threatens-to-take-greenland-b…) of acting beyond legal and constitutional limits, claims (www.politifact.com/factchecks/2025/oct/29/stephen-…) of “federal immunity” function not as descriptions of existing law, but as an executive directive that ICE enforcement will proceed without fear of prosecution when it crosses legal boundaries.
► In practice, this enables ICE agents to advance the priorities of the executive branch, including (www.reuters.com/legal/government/ice-detains-four-…) mass arrests, intimidation of migrant communities, and suppression (www.darientimes.com/news/politics/article/as-immig…) of protests, while bypassing meaningful oversight from local authorities, courts, or state governments – effectively subordinating other branches of power to federal enforcement.
► Past ICE operations already show what this enables: warrantless or deceptive arrests, prolonged detentions without clear charges (www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/26/immigrants…, family separations (us.politsturm.com/trumps-deportation-crackdown), and documented allegations (www.aclu.org/news/immigrants-rights/pregnant-and-p…) of physical and sexual abuse in detention facilities – practices that have rarely resulted in criminal accountability and now are further normalised under immunity claims.
► The Trump administration’s “federal immunity” messaging has a historical parallel in Heinrich Himmler’s Schutzhaft (encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/law-and-…) orders in Nazi Germany, where the state explicitly told enforcers they could act outside the law with political protection (avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/chap_11.asp?utm). Like then, these signals make it clear to ICE agents that they can use force without fear of punishment.
2 days ago | [YT] | 149
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Politsturm International
Some Nepalese are frustrated with the new Interim leadership they installed. Why is it failing to change workers’ living conditions?
Details. Even after large-scale protests in September 2025, which led to the formation of a new government, reports (apnews.com/article/nepal-gen-z-protests-election-k…) suggest that Generation Z protesters are frustrated with the transitional government.
► The Gen Z movement that led the protests has divided into factions (english.nepalnews.com/s/long-reads/one-month-of-ne…) with different views on the country’s future, such as Sudan Gurung’s reformist “Nami Nepal” faction, which demanded (english.nepalnews.com/s/long-reads/one-month-of-ne…) changes to the anti-corruption office, while other groups focused on electing a new prime minister.
► Despite promises (www.thestandard.com.hk/world-news/article/312045/N…) to fight corruption, improve living standards, and create jobs, the interim Nepalese government has taken no substantial action, limiting itself to scheduling new elections for March (www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/nepal-sets-marc…. Former officials, including ex-Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli (timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/nepal…, are allowed to run (theannapurnaexpress.com/story/61425/#:~:text=The%2…, despite their roles in corruption scandals and their removal during the uprising.
Context. We previously reported (us.politsturm.com/protests-in-nepal-important-to-k…) on the protests, which began (us.politsturm.com/protests-in-nepal-important-to-k…) as youth-led demonstrations opposing the ban on major social media platforms. The demonstrations escalated into a revolt after the government opened fire on protesters. Official buildings were seized, parliament was set alight, and the government was paralyzed, forcing its resignation.
► Sushila Karki (www.dw.com/en/nepals-first-woman-pm-who-is-sushila…) was appointed temporary prime minister. She was selected as a neutral head (kathmandupost.com/politics/2025/10/17/pm-promises-…) of the transitional government due to her promises to curb corruption (www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/15/nepals-pm-karki-a…) and organize (kathmandupost.com/politics/2025/10/17/pm-promises-…) fair elections.
► A week after September’s events, ten “communist” parties in Nepal merged (www.aninews.in/news/world/asia/10-leftist-parties-…) into a Nepali Communist Party (NCP) in an attempt to restore voters’ trust. The resigned Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) will act as a separate (theannapurnaexpress.com/story/61425/#:~:text=The%2…) party in the elections.
► The overthrown “Communist Party” represented (us.politsturm.com/who-were-the-communists-in-power…) the interests of the capitalist class. Its leader, Sharma Oli, visited (us.politsturm.com/protests-in-nepal-important-to-k…) China shortly before the protests, negotiating Nepal’s participation in Chinese economic projects (us.politsturm.com/the-export-of-capital-in-the-21s…. The policies of these “communists” increased (us.politsturm.com/protests-in-nepal-important-to-k…) unemployment and led (us.politsturm.com/protests-in-nepal-important-to-k…) to widespread labor migration (apnews.com/article/nepal-gen-z-protests-election-k…) and corruption.
► Lenin explained (www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1919/jul/11.h…) why changes in government personnel do not alter workers’ conditions under capitalism. Whatever the form of capitalist rule, it serves the same class interests: “Whatever guise a republic may assume, however democratic it may be, if it is a bourgeois republic, if it retains private ownership of the land and factories, and if private capital keeps the whole of society in wage-slavery… then this state is a machine for the suppression of [one class by another].”
2 days ago | [YT] | 105
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Politsturm International
To a reformist, reforms are everything, while revolutionary work is something incidental, something just to talk about, mere eyewash. That is why, with reformist tactics under the conditions of bourgeois rule, reforms are inevitably transformed into an instrument for strengthening that rule, an instrument for disintegrating the revolution. – Joseph Stalin, The Foundations of Leninism
5 days ago | [YT] | 300
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Politsturm International
“Just as phrases about “defence of the fatherland” fraudulently inculcate upon the masses the ideology of a national liberation war, so phrases about a democratic peace smuggle in that very same bourgeois lie.” – Vladimir Lenin, The Peace Programme
6 days ago | [YT] | 188
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Politsturm International
On the anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Russia, we recall the crimes of the last Russian monarch. Russian capitalists glorify Nicholas II as a defender of traditional values, and the Orthodox Church made him a saint for murdering workers and peasants.
1 week ago | [YT] | 289
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Politsturm International
"No laws on earth can abolish inequality and exploitation so long as production for the market continues, and so long as there is the rule of money and the power of capital. Exploitation can be completely abolished only when all the land, factories and tools are transferred to the working class, and when large-scale socialised and planned production is organised."
Vladimir Lenin, The Land Question and the Fight for Freedom
1 week ago | [YT] | 262
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Politsturm International
“The parliamentary bourgeois republic hampers and stifles the independent political life of the masses, their direct participation in the democratic organisation of the life of the state from the bottom up.” Vladimir Lenin, The Task of the Proletariat in our Revolution
1 week ago | [YT] | 135
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Politsturm International
"Comrade Stalin warned the members of the Central Committee at the last plenum that all of us, the entire party and the Central Committee, especially those of us who were intoxicated by the enormous successes of victories on all fronts, had become somewhat complacent, begun to rest on our laurels, and decided that the main and most important work had been done and now we could take a break. “We have forgotten,” said Stalin, “that we have only won on one-sixth of the land. One-sixth! Five-sixths have not yet been conquered.” ... It is difficult, comrades, to live through everything that has happened in recent months in the country, in the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. But it is good that all this has been revealed now, today, and not when the enemy would have gone to war against us. If the enemy had managed to keep its numerous and vile agents in our army until the moment of war, we would have had to fight against both the external and internal enemies from the first day of the war. This is an extremely difficult task with very serious consequences." – K.E. Voroshilov. Speech at a meeting of the Military Council at the USSR People's Commissariat of Defense, June 1-4, 1937.
1 week ago | [YT] | 212
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