Global Left Midweek — March 18, 2026

The big one

Portside
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Chapters
  1. Welcome to World War Three
  2. Iran Analyses
  3. War Protests Mapped
  4. Fighting the Right in South Africa
  5. Western Europe News
  6. Solidarity Convoy Heads to Cuba
  7. South Korean Unions Say ‘The World Has Changed!’
  8. Colombian Left’s Strong Showing
  9. Eastern Europe News
  10. Marx and Engels: Come and Get It

 

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Welcome to World War Three

John Feffer / Foreign Policy in Focus (Washington DC)

The current global conflagration began not with the joint U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran. It began with the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. This blatant land grab was not only a massive war crime. Russian President Vladimir Putin also had another target in mind: the rules-based order. This attack on international law was the Fort Sumter moment for World War III. 

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Iran Analyses

• Who Speaks for Iran?   Priscillia Kounkou Hoveyda / Africa is a Country (New York)

• Anti-Regime Iranians and Epic Fail   Deepa Parent / The Guardian (London)

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• Iran After Khamenei   Asef Bayat and Alex Shams / Boston Review

• Iran and Imperialist Strategy   Badrul Alam / Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières (Paris)

• Global Unions Call for Ceasefire   / UNI Global Union (Geneva)

• Global South Responses   Brett Wilkins / Common Dreams (Portland ME)

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War Protests Mapped

Prasanta Kumar Dutta / Reuters (London)

Protests and public demonstrations have rippled around the world following the largest U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran in decades, data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) shows. ACLED’s data records more than 990 worldwide, both for and against Iran’s government and for and against the U.S. and Israeli bombing campaign against Tehran.

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Fighting the Right in South Africa

Zwelinzima Vavi / Amandla! (Cape Town) 

We’ve got to rebuild the bridges here at home; reroute the leadership back to the working-class communities; kill the phenomenon of the big man. We’ve got to magnify the voices of the people who are suffering from hunger and the collapse of services, not just the voices of the leadership. We’ve got to anchor our battles to the informal settlements and make them visible, even to the media.

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Western Europe News

• Left and Far Right Ascend in French Cities   John Mullen / Counterfire (London) 

• UK: Greens Pick Up the Pace   Tom / The London Economic

• Spain’s Radical Left   Pablo Castaño / Jacobin (Brooklyn)

• Germany: Die Linke Leader Speaks   Ines Schwerdtner / Jacobin

• Denmark and Greenland   Sian Norris / openDemocracy (London)

• Belgium: National Strike   Maïthé Chini / The Brussels Times

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Solidarity Convoy Heads to Cuba

Nuestra América Convoy

The Nuestra América Convoy to Cuba (NACC), a humanitarian aid mission to the island made up of an alliance of progressive groups, has reportedly significantly expanded and announced that it intends to reach Havana by March 21. The convoy had initially been a seabound mission but has reportedly “grown into a coordinated Convoy by air, land, and sea”. 

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South Korean Unions Say ‘The World Has Changed!’

Kim A-sa and Yun Sang-jin / The Chosun Daily (Seoul)
 
A ‘Korean Confederation of Trade Unions Struggle Declaration Rally’ was held in Jongno-gu, Seoul on March 10. At the event, attended by over 4,000 people, Yang Kyung-soo, chairman of the KCTU, said, “Even though the law has changed, the government and employers are still not prepared to take responsibility,” adding, “We declare our struggle once again.”

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Colombian Left’s Strong Showing

Cruz Bonlarron Martínez / NACLA (New York)

As the historic presidency of Gustavo Petro comes to an end, his coalition Pacto Histórico, now a formal party, has once again made history. On Sunday, as more than 19 million voters took to the polls to cast ballots in three presidential primaries and the congress, the party held its ground as the strongest force in both chambers of congress—and even increased its representation.

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Eastern Europe News

• Hungary: Roma Confront Haters   Jonathan Lee / European Roma Rights Centre (Brussels)

• “New Feminist Wave” in Bulgaria   Burcu Ayan / Red Threads

• Ukrainians Survive a Drone Attack   / Nonviolent Peaceforce (Geneva)

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Marx and Engels: Come and Get It

Kaan Kangal / Historical Materialism (London)

MEGA – the greatest pun of all history – stands for ‘(make) Marx-Engels-Great-Again!’. In German, it is somewhat less fancy: Marx-Engels-Gesamtausgabe [complete works]. MEGA is, in every sense, a mega-project, driven by mega-ambitions to produce the historical-critical edition of Marxism’s two mega-figures. It is forged in sweat, blood and archival dust.