Category: Military-Industrial Complex

military-industrial complex

Zunes’s key articles on Iran 2011-2025

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Two articles and an interview during the summer 2025 bombing of Iran:
It’s Not About the Bomb
Missed Opportunity on Iran
Updates on the Iran-Israel War: Conversations with Leading Analysts

Debunking Trump’s claim that Iranians were responsible for the deaths of thousands of U.S. soldiers in Iraq:
No Evidence Iran is Responsible for the Deaths of Hundreds of Americans

For years, Republicans and hawkish Democrats have been pushing for war with Iran. Here are some articles in which I examined these dangerous efforts which have led to the current unfolding tragedy:
2018: Pompeo’s Iran Speech a Prelude to War? The Progressive
2016: Republicans and Democrats Alike Still Level Threats towards Iran Huffington Post
2015: Hardliners on All Sides Undermining Iran’s Nuclear Talks The Progressive
2013: U.S. Threats Weaken Iran’s Pro-Democracy Movement
2012: Congress Pushes for War with IranForeign Policy in Focus
2011: Iran Threat Reduction Act Actually Enhances Threat of War Huffington Post

The Real Reason Trump Invaded Venezuela: It’s not drugs, democracy, or even oil. It’s power.

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The Progressive, January 6, 2026 and republished by Common Dreams as,
Until Democrats Confront the Lawlessness of Trump’s Venezuela Assault, Expect More War.
The U.S. attack resulted from having an incredibly corrupt and autocratic-minded President using his office to enrich himself and his supporters, deploying the country’s armed forces against his own citizens, abusing the justice system to punish political opponents, and manipulating the electoral process to try to stay in power. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has engaged in similar behavior as well…

Interview: Monroe Doctrine Rises Again

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WORT FM, Madison, January 8, 2026 (48-min):
The Monroe Doctrine Rises Again in Venezuela.
Host Allen Ruff and Professor Stephen Zunes discuss his recent article in The Progressive, “The Real Reason Trump Invaded Venezuela: It’s not drugs, democracy, or even oil. It’s power.” Zunes puts the Trump administration’s lies — calling Maduro a narco-terrorist despite that no fentanyl comes from Venezuela, that Maduro stole “our oil” despite Venezuela nationalizing its oil in the 1970s, and more — in the context of international law, the Monroe Doctrine, Venezuelan opposition to Maduro, and the US military’s recent boat-bombing campaign. He says the US will control all Venezuelan oil for the foreseeable, but “Trump plans to take control of the oil personally and stash the cash in offshore accounts.”

Hamas’ control of Gaza brought on by US policy

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Zunes’s letter to the editor in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, Sept. 4, 2025
Hamas’ control of Gaza brought on by US policy
Many thanks to Tim McGirk (Guest Commentary, Aug. 21) for his open letter to Rep. Jimmy Panetta, who continues to support Trump’s policy of facilitating Israel’s war and famine on the civilian population of Gaza. The former Time magazine Jerusalem bureau chief correctly noted a number of Panetta’s dishonest appraisals of the situation.
     Unfortunately, McGirk’s review of Gaza’s history may have led some readers to believe the people of that territory elected Hamas to rule them. While this extremist Islamist party did win a plurality in the 2006 Palestinian parliamentary elections, they shared governance with the moderate Fatah party until 2007, when the Bush administration pushed Fatah to forcibly remove Hamas from government.
     In a brief civil war, Hamas was defeated in the West Bank, but was able to violently seize power in Gaza, where they have tragically remained in power ever since. If the Bush administration hadn’t kept supporting Israel’s occupation and settlements (thereby weakening the moderates) and hadn’t meddled in internal Palestinian politics, Hamas’s control of Gaza and the subsequent horrors would never have occurred.
—Stephen Zunes, Santa Cruz

Democratic Leadership Still Hasn’t Caught Up to the Party’s Base on Gaza

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In These Times, September 4, 2025, by Stephen Zunes
Nearly two years in to the U.S.-backed genocide in Gaza, there are clear signals the Democratic Party’s
base is moving far away from supporting the Israeli government and its war machine. And while party leadership is beginning to show some hopeful signs it might be starting to listen to constituents’ changing attitudes on the issue of Israel and Palestine…

Obama’s Visit to Caterpillar Shows Insensitivity to Human Rights Concerns

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Huffington Post February 16, 2009, By Stephen Zunes [source]
Over the objections of church groups, peace organizations and human rights activists, President Barack Obama decided to return to Illinois to visit the headquarters of the Caterpillar company, which for years has violated international law, U.S. law and its own code of conduct by selling its D9 and D10 bulldozers to Israel.

Fighting Corruption through Nonviolent Action

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Huffington Post, Dec. 23, 2008, by Stephen Zunes [source]
There is a quiet revolution going on in the international struggle against corruption and for greater transparency in government. Two years ago, I attended my first International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC), sponsored Transparency International and other groups, which takes place every other year. The location was Guatemala City, a country where the per capita annual income is only slightly more than the registration, hotel and air fare of most participants. Sponsors included Rio Tinto, Royal Dutch/Shell and other corporations whose own record of upholding legal and ethical standards is far from pristine.