Omar Hassan
The people of the Middle East have for decades been trapped between repressive autocrats and imperialist intervention by foreign powers. In 2011 workers and the poor rose up against both these enemies in an extraordinary revolutionary movement that shook the region. For a brief moment it seemed genuine democracy and social justice were on the cards. Though not all hope has been extinguished, counterrevolutionary forces have hit back with a vengeance. Assad, Russia, America, Sisi, Saudi Arabia and many others have blood on there hands. The talk will present Marxist analysis of these developments and the prospects for a revival of struggle from below.