The NATO Summit in Madrid on 28-30 June took place against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine. For all the talk about “unity”, the reality is that there is a deep rift between the US and the Germany-France axis. For the first time, the new NATO Strategic Concept document describes China as a “systemic challenge.” This is an official recognition of the relative decline of US imperialism and the threat posed by a rising power.

The war in Ukraine, rising oil prices and spiralling global inflation have fuelled food scarcity and surges in the price of basic goods in Egypt. Most worrying among the goods affected is bread, which makes up almost 40 percent of the average Egyptian’s diet. President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has suggested that poor people survive by eating leaves. The absurd and callous response of the ruling class to the food crisis reflects the dead-end of the capitalist system, and places class struggle firmly on the order of the day.