Man at podium at large indoor rally; banner in front of speaker reads "Defend America First", portrait of George Washington is behind speaker.

On the roots of America First foreign policy

Matthew N Lyons

MAGA’s “America First” approach to foreign policy draws on antiwar sentiment but has promoted unilateralist military aggression. This essay explores the roots of the America First outlook in the “isolationist” nationalism of the early 1940s America First Committee, as analyzed by Franz Schurmann in his 1974 book The Logic of World Power.

American First Committee, anti-interventionism, Antifascist, Donald Trump, MAGA movement, militarism


Trump, the far right, and the return of vigilante repression

Three Way Fight

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Trump’s relationship with the far right is just as important in 2020 as it was in 2016, but the character of the relationship has changed dramatically. I’ve been revisiting the articles I wrote about Trump …

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A constellation of threats: far rightists respond to the Black-led uprising

Three Way Fight

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Guest post by Ben Lorber It’s important to remember that when we talk about the far right, we’re not talking about a single unitary force, but rather a constellation of different actors, organizations and movements …

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Cooptation as ruling class strategy

Three Way Fight

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It’s the biggest threat the U.S. power structure has faced in many years—a Black-led, multiracial wave of protests, uprisings, and strikes against the police and white supremacy in cities across the country. Defenders of the …

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Distinguishing The Possible From The Probable: Contending strategic approaches within and against transnational capitalism

The following article by Don Hamerquist has been published by our friends over at Kersplebedeb. Hamerquist’s document addresses class and social conflict, ruling class responses (actual and potentials) and the threats of emerging fascisms that are opposed to …

Anti-capitalism, Anti-fascism, capitalist crisis, fascism, repression, revolution

Prospects for Global Capitalism

graphic from CNN this past Thursday saw another market shake up with the Dow dropping nearly 7% and the S&P having a drop of over 4.8% . fears of a second coronavirus wave and a …

Anti-capitalism, capitalism, coronavirus, Dave Ranney, eco survival, economy, environment, pandemic, ruling class

It’s Going Down: Rebellion, Counter-Insurgency, And Cracks Within The Ruling Class

The following was originally published over at It’s Going Down after the first week and a half of the rebellion that emerged in response to the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, MN. The …

Anti-racism, Black Lives Matter, counter insurgency, repression

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Notes on Trump/MAGA 2024

Matthew N Lyons

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Even more than in the past, Trump and the MAGA movement have brought key elements of fascist politics into the Republican Party, and a second Trump presidency is likely to be significantly more authoritarian than the first one.

Antifascist, Donald Trump, MAGA movement, US presidential elections

Chaos or Revolution? It Depends on Us

3WF

4 comments

The institutional far right is strong, while the far left is weak and disorganized. To develop the capacity to meaningfully intervene in the current crisis, far leftists need to engage with oppressed communities and work together with liberals in a united front.

Antifascist, Donald Trump, far right, radical left

Who’s Afraid of Luigi Mangione? A Response to Alexander Reid Ross

3WF

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Luigi Mangione’s recent alleged killing of an insurance CEO touched a wedge issue that cuts across class and across the political spectrum—the massive corruption of the health insurance industry—and created an opening for the left. A recent article by ex-leftist Alexander Reid Ross, which dismisses Mangione as expressing an American proclivity for violence, represents a counterinsurgency action in defense of the state.

Alexander Reid Ross, Anti-capitalism, counter insurgency, health care, health insurance industry, liberal antifascism, Luigi Mangione

Reading Adam Shatz on the war in Gaza

Three Way Fight

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by Matthew N. Lyons How do we forcefully make the case to defend the Palestinian people in Gaza against Israel’s increasingly genocidal assault, and also honor the conflict’s heartbreaking contradictions? This is a question I’ve …

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Burn the foundation and all that it upholds: an antifascist review of “Tell Me I’m Worthless” by Alison Rumfitt

Three Way Fight

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“The House spreads. Its arteries run throughout the country. Its lifeblood flows into Westminster, into Scotland Yard, into every village and every city. It flows into you, and into your mother. It keeps you alive. …

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Books

Scroll to see more and click on a book for more information about it and where to buy it.

No longer a gendarme for the West: Simon Pirani on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

No longer a gendarme for the West: Simon Pirani on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

How should western leftists respond to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine? How do we best oppose imperialist aggression and systemic violence in a situation that defies simple narratives? How do we navigate between Kremlin-inspired propaganda and anti-Russian hysteria, or between the “anti-imperialist” and “anti-Nazi” pretensions of a right-wing authoritarian capitalist aggressor and the “pro-democracy” claims of critics who routinely support brutal repression and mass murder? From a three way fight perspective, the Russia-Ukraine war presents special challenges because it’s a situation where fascists—and claims of antifascism—have played significant—but also significantly different—roles on both sides.

Abortion, the Christian right, and antifascism

It’s time for antifascists to stop treating the Christian right as a secondary threat.  When the U.S. Supreme Court scraps legal protection for abortion rights—using arguments that also directly threaten legal protections for homosexuality, contraception,

The Gilad Atzmon and David Rovics Antisemitism Controversy, Explained

by Shane Burley Editors’ note: Ideological hatred of Jews is centered in the far right, yet too many leftists continue to tolerate and even promote antisemitic themes when they’re packaged to look and sound radical.

Anti-Racist Action vs. Madeleine Albright in ’98

by Kdog Members of Anti-Racist Action unfurl banner during Albrights  speech. photo for educational use only. courtesy of GettyImages and CNN “1-2-3-4 We Don’t Want Your Racist War!” In February 1998 Anti-Racist Action and others

Antifascist Resources on Ukraine

Moscow protest against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, 24 February 2022The sign at left reads “No war! Putin go away!” In this post we offer an annotated list of resources on Russia’s February 2022 invasion of

Convoys, Rallies, and a Three-Way Fight Approach within a Union Context

Freedom Convoy advertisement. Graphic and photo by unknown. Used here for educational purposes. The author, DZ, has opted to use his initials because he is discussing active union business at his local.  (This article details

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On the roots of America First foreign policy

MAGA’s “America First” approach to foreign policy draws on antiwar sentiment but has promoted unilateralist military aggression. This essay explores the roots of the America First outlook in the “isolationist” nationalism of the early 1940s America First Committee, as analyzed by Franz Schurmann in his 1974 book The Logic of World Power.

Remembering Chip Berlet

Three Way Fight mourns groundbreaking antifascist researcher Chip Berlet, who died on January 30th, and republishes Matthew N. Lyons’s essay, “Chip Berlet, Co-Author” from the 2021 book Exposing the Right and Fighting for Democracy: Celebrating Chip Berlet as Journalist and Scholar.

What the F**k Is to Be Done?

Dandy Andy attempts to answer the question, How do we craft an anti-capitalist strategy for our current period? His discussion touches on the relationship between class analysis and intersectionality, the dynamic tension between nonviolent civil disobedience and militant action, some guidelines for political coalitions, the importance of building community spaces and human connection, and the tension between the needs for public organizing and movement security.

Cracks in the Foundation: Heritage and Ruling Class Strategy

When more than a dozen Heritage Foundation staffers recently quit, it highlighted the Trump coalition’s growing internal debate over white nationalist antisemitism. But it also points to a crisis of strategic direction for the US ruling class.

What Charlie Kirk’s Life and Death Can Tell Us About the U.S. Right in the Age of Trump

Charlie Kirk’s life and death offer a microcosm of the MAGA movement’s shift to the right over the past decade—and of the dynamic factional interplay that has fueled that shift. Regardless of why Kirk was targeted, the right is using his killing as an opportunity to impose a climate of enforced loyalty and gear up for what could be a major political crackdown.