Politics Theory Other

Richard Seymour responds to listener questions on the politics of new UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

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From rising geopolitical tensions, to the worsening climate situation, and from the Gaza genocide to hot wars that threaten to spill into great power conflict, the world of the 2020s is one of concatenating crises. But is our moment an interregnum that will be followed by a new moment of relatively ordered hegemony?

Juliano Fiori, director of the Alameda Institute, argues otherwise and makes the case that we have entered a post-order situation in which crisis is the new normal.

In our conversation today, we talked about why Juliano believes the creation of a relatively stable new international order is unlikely and why China will probably not be able to assume a position of international leadership on the scale needed to create such an order. We also talked about Gramsci's concept of the Interregnum, and how disordering at the international level is mirrored and mutually constituted by the disordering of national polities and the world of work. And we also talked about the extent to which the pre-Donald Trump era really was a rules-based system given the extreme violence that the United States and its allies have been the authors of since WWII.

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Liza Featherstone joins PTO to talk about the impressive primary victories for DSA-backed candidates in the New York primaries.

We chatted about what the ramifications of the results are - both statewide but also nationally - and what the implications are for who will be the Democrats' candidate in the next presidential election. We also talked about the differences between the organising models of the DSA and the more moderate Working Families Party. And finally, we discussed the salience of Palestine and the Gaza genocide in how the various primary campaigns played out.

Show notes:

Liza's Jacobin piece on the elections: https://jacobin.com/2026/06/dsa-valdez-chevalier-mamdani-nyc

The recent interview with Adrienne Buller on the politics of Heatwaves:
https://www.patreon.com/poltheoryother/posts/heatwave-w-160906528

On the peace deal between Iran and the United States, which is expected to see the strait of Hormuz opened in exchange for a lifting of the US naval blockade of Iran. We talked about how seriously to take the deal (given how vague it is and how much has been put off to future talks). We also talked about the historic significance of Iran linking the peace deal to a cessation of Israeli violence in Lebanon. And finally we discussed where the conflict leaves the broader region and what the consequences of the war will be for nuclear proliferation.