Expert Analyst: International Politics, Middle East & Nonviolent Action
The Progressive September 15, 2016 After experiencing decades of rightwing attacks for being “soft” on Moscow, progressives may be feeling a bit of whiplash as they witness prominent conservatives—with Donald Trump in the lead—heaping praise upon an autocratic Russian leader.…
On KPFA radio network program “Up Front,” about Netanyahu’s speech before Congress and U.S.-Israeli relations. In a segment which begins at the 36-minute mark, Professor Zunes discusses the influence by AIPAC and the so-called “Israel Lobby,” which I argue is often exaggerated.
A ten-minute interview on CRI about President Obama’s request for Congress for authorization of force against the so-called “Islamic State.” The segment with Professor Zunes begins at the 18:30 mark of the Global Talks section
Ukraine faces a rising tide of violence in the restive east. Here’s why nonviolent activism is the best strategy for fighting back. Written with Erica Chenoweth.
Foreign Policy In Focus, March 13, 2014 Given the limits of its power and its own compromised relationship with international law, the U.S. isn’t in a position to do much about Ukraine.
Political Jones
Foreign Policy In Focus/Institute for Policy Studies, June 13, 2012. Republished by National Catholic Reporter & ZNetwork U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has claimed that “there are attack helicopters on the way from Russia to Syria,” though the…
Official Washington has been rife with condemnation at the decision by the governments of Russia and China to veto an otherwise unanimous UN Security Council resolution condemning the ongoing repression in Syria and calling for a halt to violence on all sides; unfettered access for Arab League monitors; and “a Syrian-led political transition to a democratic, plural political system, in which citizens are equal regardless of their affiliations or ethnicities or beliefs.”
As the Syrian regime continues to slaughter unarmed civilians, the major powers at the United Nations continue to put their narrow geopolitical agenda ahead of international humanitarian law. Just as France shields Morocco from accountability for its ongoing occupation and repression in Western Sahara and just as the United States shields Israel from having to live up to its obligations under international humanitarian law, Russia and China have used their permanent seats on the UN Security Council to protect the Syrian regime from accountability for its savage repression against its own citizens.
The international condemnation of Russian aggression against Georgia – and the concomitant assaults by Abkhazians and South Ossetians against ethnic Georgians within their territories – is in large part appropriate. But the self-righteous posturing coming out of Washington should be tempered by a sober recognition of the ways in which the United States has contributed to the crisis….
The international condemnation of Russian aggression against Georgia – and the concomitant assaults by Abkhazians and South Ossetians against ethnic Georgians within their territories – is in large part appropriate. But the self-righteous posturing coming out of Washington should be tempered by a sober recognition of the ways in which the United States has contributed to the crisis….