Category: International Law

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.”

U.S. supports Israel’s atrocities

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Arab Organisation for Human Rights UK, Webinar Nov 16, 2025
Israel’s atrocities — genocide, torture, and extrajudicial executions — are made possible by U.S. military, diplomatic, and financial support. Zunes stressed that targeted killings of U.S. citizens and mounting evidence of Israeli crimes are shifting American public opinion in unprecedented ways. He highlighted the crucial role of human rights organisations and Israeli activists documenting abuses, calling this moment a rare opportunity to push for a major shift in U.S. policy.

Putin’s Illegal Conquests Wouldn’t Be the First the White House Has Endorsed

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New Lines, September 8, 2025: Zunes provides an extensive analysis of how the U.S. position citing the illegality of Russia’s annexation of conquered Ukrainian territory has been compromised by U.S. recognition of illegal Israeli and Moroccan annexations of conquered territories, and thus Trump’s apparent willingness to acquiesce to Russian aggression would not constitute a major break in U.S. policy: Putin’s Wouldn’t Be the First Illegal Conquests the White House Has Endorsed…

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