The election of Donald Trump marked a sharp shift to the right in ruling-class politics in the advanced capitalist societies. We have an open racist and sexist occupying the White House, proclaiming economic nationalism and ‘America First’ and advised by reactionaries the like of Stephen Bannon, who argues that the West is at war with the Islamic world. Trump’s executive order banning entry to the citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries – even if it has been stayed in the courts – is a signal for a new Islamophobic offensive.

Of course, Trump’s election is not the only sign of a rightward shift. In Britain the Conservatives under Theresa May have sought to put a racist and xenophobic seal on the vote to leave the European Union. And worse threatens. In France Marine Le Pen of the Nazi Front National is heading the polls for the presidential elections ...