Trump’s Plan for Gaza Expulsion Rooted in Decades of U.S. Policy

The Progressive Feb. 11, 2025: Zunes’s latest article looks at Trump’s proposal to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and have the United States seize the territory for tourist development, noting that while this is one of the more extreme and reprehensible proposals from an American president, neither party has appeared willing to support Palestinian rights or international law [source].

UN Faces Backlash from a Hostile White House

Inter Press Service UN Bureau Report, Jan 30 2025
Dr. Zunes is quoted extensively in this report:
“No leader of a major power since the UN’s founding in 1945 has expressed such disdain for fundamental principles of international law.” It should be remembered, though, that the United States was already undermining such principles under previous administrations, he pointed out. For example, even under (former US President Joe) Biden, the United States recognized Israel’s illegal annexation of the Golan Heights and Morocco’s illegal annexation of Western Sahara, both seized by military force in contravention to unanimous UN Security Council resolutions. Hostility towards UN agencies isn’t new either, said Dr Zunes… [source]

ICAHD UK Webinar ‘The Palestinian Struggle in the Age of Trump’

Israeli Committee Against House Demolition UK Webinar
‘The Palestinian Struggle in the Age of Trump,’ 23 Jan 2025
[Zunes’s segment starts at 28 minutes; video source]


Professors Stephen Zunes and Leila Farsakh were distinguished guests, moderated by Jeff Halper. Leila Farsakh works with several international organisations and is a senior research fellow at the Center for Development Studies at Birzeit University and chair of the One Democratic State Campaign. They provided historical background about Palestinian resistance, the centrality of the Palestinian refugees, the different approaches taken by the Palestine Authority and Hamas, and how Trump is worse than Biden. It is expected that Israel’s apartheid policies will intensify and as Palestinians continue to resist living under oppression as they seek freedom and justice, their struggle will be bloody. However, with Trump in office and the flagrant Republican agenda, it will likely mobilize unprecedented opposition among leftists, liberals, and a growing segment of the US Democratic Party.

Will Biden Cost Harris the Election?

News Lines Magazine October 8, 2024
[Dr. Zunes urges readers to please circulate this important article widely, particularly to those in swing states who are reluctant to vote for Harris because of the Biden administration’s Middle East policy.]

A detailed analysis of how Kamala Harris is seriously constrained by her role as sitting vice-president from breaking with the Biden administration’s hard-line support for Israel, but would likely take a significantly more moderate position and would likely end the wars once she became president.

UN: Charter Reform and Threat If Trump’s Elected

Two articles quoting Dr. Zunes:
* On the threat to the United Nations system if Trump is elected.
Stephen Zunes, Professor of Politics and Director of International Studies at the University of San Francisco, who has written extensively on the politics of the United Nations, told IPS: “Yes, this would indeed be disastrous and UN funding for these agencies and affiliated institutions would indeed be cut”. It should be noted, however, that Biden has already eliminated U.S. funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) and has threatened to eliminate funding to any organization that has Palestine as a full member. Though Harris has generally been less hostile to international legal norms than Biden, I have seen no indication that Harris would reverse these policies, said Zunes. “Given Trump’s disrespect for domestic laws and institutions, it’s not surprising he would have a similar contempt for international laws and institutions,” he declared.

* On UN Charter reform: “Stephen Zunes, Professor of Politics at the University of San Francisco, told IPS proposals for Security Council reform generally go nowhere due to opposition from the veto-wielding permanent members who do not want to lose their advantages under the current archaic system. However, this proposal, or some variation of it, might have a chance of success in light of the fact that it is being pushed by the United States, which has historically been an opponent of such reforms, he pointed out. Furthermore, given that each of the P5 desire to extend their influence in Africa and among small island states, it would not reflect well on them to oppose such an effort, Zunes declared.”

Interview: Trump Was Never a “Moderate” on Foreign Policy

Truthout August 21, 2024, by Daniel Falcone
Former President Donald Trump is sometimes depicted as having a less interventionist foreign policy than his Democratic rivals, but this is a myth, argues foreign policy scholar Stephen Zunes. The former president had an extreme militaristic agenda, which he disingenuously pitched as an alternative to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s in 2016…