EDITORIAL Last year was seen in by the horrifying tsunami around the Indian Ocean on Boxing Day 2004, and ended with the earthquake in Pakistan, leaving not only many thousands dead, but also further thousands who will die because of inadequate shelter and food this winter. While these were 'natural' events, the scale of the catastrophe could have been greatly reduced with early warning systems and better emergency plans together with greater will on the part of the governments of the rich nations. When a full balance sheet of these disastrous events is made, the terrible human cost will in part be shown to be the result of political failure. The effects of the hurricane season in the US epitomised by under-investment in water defences in New Orleans, resulting in the bursting of the levees. This combined with the authorities' refusal to evacuate the poor and the old the US government to look after its own citizens. Money that could have been spent to protect New Orleans' infrastructure was being poured into the war in Iraq. And the war was the backdrop to other events in 2005, not least the July bombings in London and the execution of an innocent Brazilian 'mistaken' for a terrorist at Stockwell tube in London. Far from making us safer the war has made us a target; far from making our streets safe, innocent people are mown down in a shoot to kill policy we didn't know we had. Furthermore, the war and resulting terrorist threat has been used as an excuse to attack our civil liberties. The Terrorism Bill going through Parliament is likely to increase the period of detention without charge to 28 days - though the 90-day proposal was defeated - and 'glorification of terrorism' looks like being a new charge. In Iraq the war has gone from bad to worse for the US neo-cons and their poodle Blair: from quagmire to crisis. The numbers of dead mount: Iraqi civilians killed by coalition forces, others killed by sectarian violence; US and UK soldiers killed and injured. And despite the December elections - this time with Sunni participation - the fighting continues. While the resistance grows in Iraq, the crisis is also building the anti-war opposition both in the US and here and fuelling divisions within the ruling classes. The anti-war movements, including the growing Military Families against the War, testify to the widespread anger felt by ordinary people. Angry that we were told lies about the reasons for war, angry that we are occupying another country for its resources, angry that innocent people are being killed. Latin America In Venezuela the Bolivarian revolution continues. One of the better moments of 2005 was the offer of cheap oil made by Venezuelan President Chavez to the poor of the US. And in Bolivia the elections have resulted in victory for Evo Morales of the Movement for Socialism (MAS), the first indigenous leader ever to accede to the office of President of the Republic in the whole of Latin America. The imperialists are increasingly worried that the quagmire in Iraq is inhibiting them from 'dealing' with the growing anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist movements on this continent. New Left Parties In Britain the May general election saw New Labour's third term majority cut to 66, the election of Galloway as Respect's elsewhere. Other left parties in Europe made headway too, especially in Germany where the new Linkspartei (Left Party) gained 54 MPs in the federal elections in October. The Future The war in Iraq and the so-called war against terrorism will continue to dominate 2006. However, two big issues loom in the background and will become central in the next few years: the extraordinary economic growth of China and the threat of global warming. The containment of China, which has no oil, by the leverage provided by US domination of Middle East oil, is one of the underlying causes of the War in Iraq. However, the production of cheap goods in China (and India), sometimes by Western companies exploiting cheap labour, threatens manufacturing production in the US and in Britain itself. And if China can produce goods at less than a tenth of the price of the west, then wages and jobs in the west can be cut. But what will happen if unemployment gets out of hand? And China is also of course a new market which other sectors of capitalism have their eyes on for the sale of technology, infrastructure and financial services. The opening up of China, the ex-Soviet Union, and India, to capitalist development is potentially a new lease of life for late capitalism, but is also full of contradictions, which could destabilise and undermine US economic and political hegemony. The effects of global warming on the hurricane season in the Gulf of Mexico, making it longer and more devastating, is today widely recognised. If the predictions of the impact of global warming are proved right, and if, as seems likely, capitalism fails to deal with the problem of CO2 emissions, there will not only be wars over natural resources such as water, but large numbers of climate change refugees fleeing lands made uninhabitable and unsustainable because of heat and lack of water (in parts of the African continent for example), or too much water (in Bangladesh for example). Both these issues seem set to lead to dislocation, social disturbance and mass migrations. Perhaps the legislation attacking civil liberties, here, in Europe and the US (and elsewhere) is only partially about the need to deal with 'terrorism'? Perhaps imperialism has its sights set further into a future that does not bode well for humanity. 3