admin, Author at Stephen Zunes

U.S. Must Insist Israel Return to the Peace Talks and Withdraw from Lebanon

February 1, 2000 By admin

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak’s decision to pull out of the peace talks with Syria is a shameless capitulation to Israel’s far right and raises serious questions as to whether the Israeli government is seriously interested in peace. President Clinton must demand that Israel return immediately to the negotiation table and come into full compliance with UN Security Council resolutions or risk an immediate cutoff of U.S. military and economic aid.

The U.S. and the Israeli-Syrian Peace Process

February 1, 2000 By admin

For the past three decades, the United States has taken the primary facilitating role in the Arab-Israeli peace process, marginalizing the Russians, the European Union, and the United Nations. Washington has therefore had to balance its narrow strategic and economic interests in this important region with its efforts to appear as an honest broker. This often contradictory role has at times been problematic, as is evident in the U.S.-sponsored negotiations between Israel, an important pro-Western ally, and Syria, whose government has traditionally identified with a radical strain of Arab nationalism.

U.S. Policy Hampers Chances for Israeli-Syrian Peace

December 1, 1999 By admin

There is little hope for real progress in the Israeli-Syrian peace talks unless the Clinton Administration is willing to uphold human rights and international law along with its commitment to Israel’s legitimate security needs. Since Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967, these issues have been at the heart of the

Iran: Time for Detente

November 1, 1999 By admin

Despite recent reforms, the U.S. has been hesitant to forge closer relations with Iran due to lingering hostility to the Islamic government and a fear that supporting moderates would create a backlash against them. The ongoing struggle in Iran between Islamic reformers and Islamic hard-liners, along with struggles within the U.S. foreign policy establishment between hawks and those seeking accommodation, has left U.S.-Iranian relations in a state of flux.

U.S., Greece, and Turkey

November 1, 1999 By admin

President Bill Clinton’s visit to NATO allies Greece and Turkey is raising new questions about the ongoing strategic relationship the United States has with these two historic rivals, particularly in the light of the anti-American demonstrations which delayed and shortened the planned presidential visit.

Nonviolent Action and Human Rights

October 20, 1999 By admin

Nonviolent action campaigns have been a part of political life for millennia. History records many instances of groups rising to challenge abuses by authorities, demand social reforms, and protest militarism and discrimination. In recent years, however, the number of such movements has increased, as has their success in advancing the cause of human rights and toppling or dramatically reforming repressive regimes. In the twentieth century, nonviolence became more of a deliberate tool for social change, moving from being largely an ad hoc strategy growing naturally out of religious or ethical principles to a reflective and, in many ways, institutionalized method of struggle.

NATO’s Rush to War in Yugoslavia

September 3, 1999 By admin

The United States-led war against Yugoslavia continued for more than ten weeks despite the many ways it could have been avoided or ended sooner, and despite the opposition and uneasiness it generated even among its initial supporters. This essay outlines some of the reasons why the war was wrong from a moral, legal and utilitarian perspective.

A Tragic Miscalculation

April 13, 1999 By admin

There is little hope that Yugoslavian president Slobodan Milosevic’s cease fire overtures mount to anything significant. Indeed, he has largely won the war on the ground. By contrast, NATO bombs have done a lot of damage, but have little more to show.

Continuing Storm: The U.S. Role in the Middle East

April 1, 1999 By admin

Throughout the centuries, Western nations have tried to impose their order on the region now commonly known as the Middle East. For certain periods of time they have succeeded, only to find themselves at the receiving end of a popular and oftentimes violent backlash. Now, with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the triumph in the Gulf War, the United States stands—at least for a time—as the region’s dominant outside power.

Bombing Is Not The Answer

March 24, 1999 By admin

The ongoing threats of NATO air strikes against Serbia to end the Milosevic regime’s repression against Kosovo’s Albanian majority is a prime example of the wrong policy at the wrong time.

The Role of Non-Violent Action in the Downfall of Apartheid

March 1, 1999 By admin

Against enormous odds, non-violent action proved to be a major factor in the downfall of apartheid in South Africa, and the establishment of a democratic black majority government, despite predictions that the transition could come only through a violent revolutionary cataclysm. This was largely the result of conditions working against a successful armed overthrow of the system, combined with the ability of the anti-apartheid opposition to take advantage of the system’s economic dependence on a cooperative black labour force. This article traces the history of nonviolent resistance to apartheid, its initial failures, and the return in the 1980s to a largely non-violent strategy which, together with international sanctions, forced the government to negotiate a peaceful transfer to majority rule.

Morocco and Western Sahara

December 1, 1998 By admin

Key Points:

Morocco has occupied Western Sahara since 1975 in violation of resolutions by the UN Security Council and a decision by the International Court of Justice.

The United States has provided military, economic, and diplomatic support for Morocco’s war effort.

A cease-fire and proposed referendum bring promise for peace in the territory, but U.S. leadership is needed to insure its implementation.

The Strategic Functions of U.S. Aid to Israel

October 20, 1996 By admin

The United States aid relationship with Israel is unlike any other in the world, or indeed, like any in history. In sheer volume, the amount of aid is the most generous foreign aid program ever between any two countries, totaling $77.726 billion through fiscal year 1996.Foot note 2_1 No country has ever received as much Congressionally-mandated aid as has Israel, including South Vietnam. Indeed, Israel receives more U.S. aid per capita annually than the total annual GNP per capita of several Arab states, including Egypt, Mauritania, Sudan, Yemen and Morocco.Foot note 2_2 What is perhaps even more unusual is that Israel, like its benefactor, is an advanced, industrialized, technologically-sophisticated country, as well as a major arms exporter.

Reassessing America’s Policy Toward Indonesia

October 17, 1996 By admin

The muted reaction of Clinton administration officials on the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to two human rights activists from East Timor is not simply due to the seeming obscurity of that small Southeast Asian nation. No choice could have been more embarrassing for the United States government.

The Dangers of Miscalculation in the Middle East

May 3, 1996 By admin

The cease-fire agreement in Lebanon is widely depicted as a triumph of Israeli military force and American diplomacy. In reality, however, it represents the failure of both.

Roots of Radical Islam

September 9, 1995 By admin

Peace Review 1995 Roots of Radical Islam (PDF)

Clinton on Wrong Side of Jerusalem Issue

April 27, 1994 By admin

A LITTLE-NOTICED policy shift by the Clinton administration on Jerusalem has implications beyond the fate of one city in the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. It marks a retrenchment in the American commitment to international law and the authority of the United Nations.

Arms Sales Ironies

October 14, 1992 By admin

THE timid opposition in Congress to the Bush Administration’s announced sale of 72 highly sophisticated F-15E jet fighters to Saudi Arabia shouldn’t have come as a surprise to anyone.

The Appeal of Bigotry

November 16, 1990 By admin

THE assassination of Meir Kahane brings on mixed emotions for most Americans familiar with his career. First of all, many acknowledge the tragedy of taking any human life, particularly for political purposes; it is yet another unfortunate manifestation of the easy availability of handguns; and it is another depressing reminder of the increasing violence in the clash between Israeli and Palestinian nationalism.

Re-Evaluate, Recognize Angola

June 25, 1990 By admin

DESPITE the euphoria resulting from independence in Namibia and prospects for negotiations in South Africa, another conflict in that region continues – and the United States is fanning the flames. The US government continues to arm UNITA, a rebel organization seeking to overthrow the Angolan government.