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Rosa Luxemburg Foundation

Democratic socialist perspectives and analysis from the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung in Berlin.

21/08/2026

Die Linke’s 2026 party congress in Potsdam revealed a party in transformation. Its membership has doubled, bringing in more young people, women and people with a family history of migration, with the changing base also reshaping internal debates, particularly on Palestine.

The transformation comes as Die Linke is experiencing a remarkable political resurgence. For the first time in its history, the party has overtaken the Social Democrats in national polls, with democratic socialism gaining appeal particularly among younger people as an alternative to austerity, militarization and xenophobia.

Ruairí Casey examines what is driving Die Linke’s comeback, how its changing base is reshaping the party, and whether its newfound momentum can translate into lasting political power.

Read the full article now: https://www.rosalux.de/en/news/id/55125/germanys-die-linke-takes-a-stand

20/08/2026

Join us for “Beyond the WTO? Rising Protectionism, Geopolitics and the Future of Global Food Security”, the inaugural dialogue in our three-part webinar series “Rethinking Agricultural Trade for Food Sovereignty and Justice”.

The webinar will examine how shifting geopolitical dynamics and rising protectionism are reshaping global agricultural trade and food security. While trade liberalisation has long been promoted as a pathway to food security and economic development, recent crises have exposed significant vulnerabilities associated with dependence on global commodity markets and highly concentrated supply chains.

How has the neoliberal agricultural trade model contributed to food system vulnerabilities and recurring food price crises? What are the implications of rising protectionism and geopolitical fragmentation for global food security? And in what ways can developing countries diversify beyond WTO-centred approaches to strengthen food system resilience?

Join Jayati Ghosh, Andrew Bennie and Mónica Vargas Collazos, moderated by Refiloe Joala, for a critical conversation on rethinking agricultural trade and forging pathways towards just and resilient food systems.

Register here: https://eu01web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_S5i7AmUbSCOnjuJoADHnxA #/registration

20/08/2026

With the “176 economic and social changes” adopted in June, Cuba has embarked on the most far-reaching transformation of its socialist economic model since the 1959 Revolution.

The catalyst for these sweeping reforms is the crisis in Cuba. The economy has contracted by at least twelve percent since 2019, and more than 1.5 million Cubans have left the country. Since the United States imposed an energy blockade in January 2026 and Caracas’ oil supplies also dried up following the abduction of Venezuelan President Maduro, supplies on the island have collapsed: daily power outages lasting for hours, water shortages, and rampant inflation. Extensive secondary sanctions have effectively cut the island off from the international financial system.

Economist Julio Carranza warns that some actors could exploit the reform to “enrich themselves unlawfully, as we have already seen in Eastern Europe”.

👉 Read the full article: https://www.rosalux.de/en/news/id/55123/cuba-the-greatest-transformation-since-the-revolution

15/08/2026

On 15 August 2021, the Taliban entered Kabul, shortly after NATO troops had begun their withdrawal from Afghanistan. Images of desperate attempts to flee from Kabul airport were seen around the world. Today, the Taliban celebrate 15 August as their “Victory Day”.

Five years later, women in Afghanistan have lost virtually all their fundamental rights. At the same time, the German government is negotiating with the Taliban over deportations.

Asma Kakar, who previously worked for the BBC in Kabul, and Britta Petersen, head of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation’s South Asia Office, look at what five years of Taliban rule have meant for women – and ask what remains of the West’s promise to guarantee the human rights of Afghan women.

👉 Read the full article for free: https://www.rosalux.de/en/news/id/55082/five-years-since-the-return-of-the-taliban

13/08/2026

100 years ago, Fidel Castro was born. A dictator turned him into a revolutionary, a US invasion into a socialist.

Born on 13 August 1926 as the son of a plantation owner, Castro studied law at the University of Havana. He intended to run for parliament, but after General Fulgencio Batista’s 1952 coup, the elections were cancelled. Castro unsuccessfully challenged the coup in court – and then turned to other means.

On 26 July 1953, he attacked the Moncada Barracks with 130 rebels. The attack failed and Castro was arrested. At his trial, he delivered his legendary defence: “History will absolve me.” The speech attracted new supporters to his “26th of July Movement”.

On 1 January 1959, the revolution triumphed and Castro became Cuba’s leader. Following the failed CIA-backed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, he declared Cuba a socialist state and aligned it with the Soviet Union. Soviet nuclear missiles on the island brought the world to the brink of nuclear war in 1962. Cuba has faced far-reaching US sanctions ever since, contributing to the severe crisis the country is experiencing today.

Castro linked the Cuban Revolution to the struggle against global inequality. At the UN General Assembly in 1979, he said:

“Why should some people walk barefoot, so that others can travel in luxurious cars? Why should some live for thirty-five years, so that others can live for seventy years? Why should some be miserably poor, so that others can be hugely rich?

I speak on behalf of the children in the world who do not have a piece of bread. I speak on behalf of the sick who have no medicine, of those whose rights to life and human dignity have been denied.”

Cuba became known for its healthcare, education and social welfare systems. Its economic development, however, was constrained by the US blockade and authoritarian centralism in economy and politics.

Castro survived the collapse of the Soviet Union and handed power to his brother Raúl in 2008. He died in Havana on 25 November 2016, aged 90.

12/08/2026

India’s student protesters succeeded in placing their movement within the tradition of the struggle for independence from British colonial rule, helping them reach broader sections of society. Is the education minister’s resignation only the beginning?

👉 Read the full analysis: https://www.rosalux.de/en/news/id/55071

11/08/2026

On 11 August 1904, German colonial troops confronted the Ovaherero at Waterberg — known to the Ovaherero as the Battle of Ohamakari. In its aftermath, thousands were driven into the Omaheke desert. The battle marked a decisive moment in the genocide of the Ovaherero and Nama.

More than 120 years later, the struggle for justice continues.

In our interview, Nandiuasora Mazeingo, Chairperson of the Ovaherero Genocide Foundation (OGF), speaks about the lasting impact of the genocide, demands for recognition, apology and reparations, and the exclusion of affected communities from negotiations between Germany and Namibia. He also addresses the restitution of looted cultural belongings and Germany’s responsibility today.

👉 Read the full interview: https://www.rosalux.de/en/news/id/55101

10/08/2026

For Dipesh Chakrabarty, global history is concerned with human beings and the institutions they have created. It is a history of capitalism, colonialism, imperialism and inequality, rooted in the world produced through European expansion.

Climate change, however, complicates this framework. In Chakrabarty's work, the climate crisis cannot be understood solely through human history and politics. It also requires a planetary perspective that recognizes the Earth as more than the backdrop to human action.

Global history remains essential, but it must be rethought alongside the histories of the planet itself.

Watch the full conversation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=era8CUeIhNc

09/08/2026

Today marks the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples.

Since the onset of colonization, Indigenous Peoples around the world have fought to defend their lands and ways of life, secure recognition of their rights, and have a say in the political decisions that affect them.

Today, climate change and the relentless exploitation of natural resources pose growing threats to Indigenous communities and their territories. Around the world, Indigenous Peoples represent thousands of distinct cultures across some 90 countries and make up roughly 6% of the global population.

The International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples has been observed by the United Nations since 1994.

06/08/2026

South Africa is experiencing a renewed wave of xenophobic violence, but the crisis cannot be understood without looking at the country's history. The article explores how African solidarity during the anti-apartheid struggle, regional economic inequalities, and today's migration politics have shaped the current moment.

Who is fueling xenophobia? Who is resisting it? And what role is the government playing?

Read the full article: https://www.rosalux.de/en/news/id/55083

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