Alex Callinicos
@alexcallinicos.bsky.social
Emeritus Professor of European Studies, King’s College London. I write mainly about capitalism and its great adversary Marxism.
More from me about the Odyssey, with some words in defence of @emilyrcwilson.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/alexcall...
Further Thoughts on The Odyssey, with a defence of Emily Wilson.
Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of The Odyssey has already made a huge amount of money, attracted tremendous controversy, and encouraged many people to buy one of the translations of the poem (I’ve bee...
open.substack.com
I wrote about the Nolan Odyssey for the LRB. I'll summarize some of my main points below, in case you don't feel like reading all that. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Emily Wilson · An Uncomplicated Man
As they say at the awards shows, I was humbled to learn that Christopher Nolan has read at least the first line of my...
lrb.co.uk
@edwardluce.bsky.social very good on the significance of Trump’s rewriting the Saudi nuclear deal after it was signed.
@gideonrachman.bsky.social how the two big Eurasian wars are starting to get connected. www.ft.com/content/51ea... Ukraine, Iran and how regional wars go global
Ukraine, Iran and how regional wars go global
Conflicts in Europe and Asia are overlapping and two rival blocs may be forming
ft.com
My latest column, on the roots of US failure against Iran. socialistworker.co.uk/alex-callini...
Credibility of the US empire is shrinking fast
The US and Israel were unlikely to defeat Iran by air power alone. But as hostilities re-ignited in the past couple weeks, it's been Iran escalating
socialistworker.co.uk
A nice exchange btw @alexcallinicos.bsky.social and myself on Trotsky and view of Trotsky by Leszek Kolakowski. I started with this piece I wrote several years ago. Trotsky after Kolakowski branko2f7.substack.com/p/trotsky-af...
Trotsky after Kolakowski
Why is Kolakowski so dismissive of Trotsky?
branko2f7.substack.com
Naturally I’ve written my own take on the Nolan Odyssey, as another great war brews in West Asia. open.substack.com/pub/alexcall...
My take on the Nolan Odyssey
Well, as part of the celebration of my 76th birthday, I went to see Christopher Nolan's film The Odyssey today.
open.substack.com
very good piece. Burnham likely to fail a reality test of promising change in the context of imperial crisis. What happens from below can make a difference to how that plays out of course
Alex Callinicos@alexcallinicos.bsky.social · 2w agoMy latest column, on what Burnham promises. socialistworker.co.uk/alex-callini...
My latest column, on Trump’s clumsy efforts to turn defeat into victory. socialistworker.co.uk/alex-callini...
Trump's manoeuvres risk restarting war
He's ramping up his rhetoric again, calling the Iranian leadership 'scum,' threatening devastation and withdrawing economic concessions
socialistworker.co.uk
I’ve been preparing for the 90th anniversary of the military coup that sparked off the Spanish Revolution by reading Héctor PSierra’s superb book on that revolution and the counter-revolutions, Stalinist and Francoist, that destroyed it.
‘ It is AI that has markets churning and drives capital-raising. The banks are another example of the false “broadening” of the stock market that has also driven up industrial and utility stocks in the past few years. All these sectors have lived, and could die, with AI.’
‘If not war, then what? The likely answer is a long spell of unsatisfactory stop-go talks, occasional skirmishes and Iran periodically yanking Trump’s chain to remind him who controls events. In the medium term, Iran will lose much of its leverage as oil shippers build pipelines and find … 1/
Fintan O'Toole shreds J D Vance's new book on his conversion to Catholicism. observer.co.uk/culture/book...
JD Vance’s test of faith | The Observer
In Communion, the vice-president seeks to cast himself as the moral future of Trumpism. But this self-serving exercise exposes the gulf between his faith and the heartlessness of his political project
observer.co.uk
‘Working at Palantir “is death by a million paper cuts. All of the people in your life are giving you an incredibly hard time for working at Trump’s favourite software company and your LinkedIn is full of [job offers from AI rivals] . . . there are infinite AI dollars flying around.”’
I'll summarize this: Mamdani asked NYers to keep air conditioning at 78 degrees. A wave criticism hit online. A MSNBC broadcast pointed out the US Department of Energy recommends that 78 degree figure. Immediately after, the US Department of Energy deleted 6,000 web pages related to energy saving.
The Supreme Court upholds birthright citizenship. www.nytimes.com/live/2026/06...
Here’s the latest.
nytimes.com
My latest column, on the dangerous course taken by what is becoming Europe’s war in Ukraine. socialistworker.co.uk/alex-callini...
Europe's backing risks widening war
It's anyone's guess whether Britain and the EU can count on US support. Why risk fueling a war that could take us close to nuclear brink?
socialistworker.co.uk
Vatican accuses EU of double standards on war. Is UK different? Royal banquet for Trump after initiating illegal wars; annexed Venezuela, threats to Canada, Greenland, Cuba, Panama, Gaza. Sanctions on Russia, none on the US. Silence on Tibet, Uyghurs. Govts pursue economic gains, not ethics.
Vatican accuses EU of double standards on war
Doctrinal chief in Rome says the European Union applies international law selectively, sanctioning some military invasions but not others.
politico.eu
Great piece on Carlo Ginzburg: ‘Carlo Ginzburg was and remains a historian who knew how to look oppression in its many forms straight in the eye … and describe it with that "tact of words" that Marc Bloch spoke of.’ I like his saying: ‘“there should be a Thucydides Oath … 1/
A good account of the constraints on Burnham by William Davies. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
William Davies · Burnham’s Political Economy
Whatever rash remarks he may have made about the bond markets or spending commitments, Andy Burnham understands...
lrb.co.uk
