INTERNATIONAL VIEWPOINT
The aim of this magazine is systematic reporting of world politics from the standpoint of revolutionary socialists. Therefore, our introductory issue also introduces as many as possible of what we consider the key themes and questions today. On these we will have continuing coverage.
One key question that we were not able to take up here is the development of the Iranian revolution. But we plan to devote special attention to this in the next issues.
A number of special features are introduced as well in this issue. We will have a regular column of selections from the press that is written for the workers and liberation movements.
Since the decisive issue for the last two months has been the attempt of the Stalinist bureaucracy to crush the Polish workers movement, ¡this section is devoted to the responses of the left press to the struggle of the working people
In view of the content of some of these selections, the title of the column might seem ironic. That is the irony of history, not something
For more than a hundred years, the workers and oppressed peoples of the world have been trying to create a press of their own. This
### INTRODUCING goal is obviously far from being attained.
But there is already a considerable experience, both positive and negative--of courageous and insightful revolutionary journalism, of shortsightedness, of dogmatism and demagogy, and of political creativity.
In short, the press of the left reflects the advances, the difficulties, and the setbacks of the struggle to establish a society of justice, freedom, equality, and abundance.
So, the selections we publish are intended to illustrate this and in particular the oppositions of views and approaches that arise among the various forces in the workers movement and in the movements of the oppressed.
The column entitled "Building a World Party of Socialists' has a similar aim, although its framework is more immediately practical. will report on specific steps in constructing an international party to lead the fight for socialism and democracy to its conclusion.
The column will be mainly devoted to the Fourth International, since this is the only international organization that has a coherent political life, based on internal democracy ! and on a long and many sided experience, as well as on a defined program and strategies for achieving socialism and democracy.
But the development of the world revolutionary movement is broader than any single organization, and we will try to reflect this. That, among other things, is why the titles of these columns tend to be in the progressive tense, because they describe a process not yet
This magazine also represents a step in the process. It is based on an international experience and an international team, rooted in an international movement.
Throughout the history of the socialist movement, there have been few such publications and they have been difficult to maintain. That was true even of the first Inprecor, the magazine of the revolutionary Third International, which left a tradition we are trying to carry on.
However, today we think that the need for, a world perspective and a world organization is far more developed among socialists and liberation fighters, The possibilities for ongoing international collabora-
So, although we are beginning in a very modest way, we think that this can be an important initiative. We hope to win the sympathy and support of revolutionary socialists wherever English is the first or second language in order to expand International Viewpoint, in conjunction with sister publications in other
EDITORIAL