Book Review–America’s Middle East: The Ruination of a Region
Perspectives in Politics, June 26, 2026: of George Washington University Professor Marc Lynch’s excellent new book on U.S. Middle East Policy
Category: Arab Spring 2011
US Cannot ‘Win’ a War on Iran
The Progressive, April 3, 2026: U.S. and Israeli forces have targeted schools, hospitals, city parks, and cultural sites along with military and governmental facilities. This will likely lead to only greater resistance…
Interview: Iran War, US and popular resistance
Redneck Gone Green/David Cobb, March 16, 2026 [1 hour]: Iran, current US foreign policy, and criminalization of dissent.
Interviews: The New Protests in Iran
Zunes’s main talking points for a series of interviews on the protests in Iran, December 28-31: the protests are significant in that the bazaar is, traditionally a backbone of support for the regime, have been in the leadership of the…
Has Trump Finally Ended Western Sahara’s Dream of Freedom?
The Nation, November 13, 2025: The international community must decide which principle will prevail: the right of self-determination or the right of conquest [ audio podcast 6 mins.]
Authoritarianism and Resistance: What the World Can Teach Us
May 17, 2025, Stephen Zunes’s keynoteaddress at the 2025 Western Washington Fellowship of Reconciliation Spring Assembly
Interview: Ousting the Brutal Assad Regime Brings Euphoria and More Questions
Counterpunch Interview of Stephen Zunes Dec. 11, 2024by Daniel Falcone. “There are indications it was unarmed civil resistance led by resurgent popular committees and local councils, which initially came to the fore in the early nonviolent phase of the revolution…
TV 4 Interviews on Syria and Ouster of Assad, December 2024
Fox-2/KTVU: Russia grants asylum to ousted Syrian leader And 3 more aired on Al Jazeera Media View, December 2024 [source links are no longer available]: *US has carried out air strikes on 75 ISIL targets throughout Syria *Thousands celebrate in…
Syria Background: Zunes’ Articles, Interviews and Videos Since 2011 Arab Spring
From Gaza to Aleppo: A Handy Guide for Defending War Crimes: This article notes the remarkable parallel in the language used by those defending war crimes by the Assad regime and war crimes by Israel Here’s an analysis also from…
Video: Oxford Union Debate Against Military Intervention to Promote Democracy
This House Would Fight for Democracy, Liberty & the Rule of Law Abroad, April 8, 2023 [11 mins., Prof. Stephen Zunes’ impassioned argument against John Bolton.]
Nobel Peace Prize spotlights National Dialogue Quartet
Bloody civil wars, the rise of the so-called “Islamic State,” the continued rule by absolute monarchs and other despots, and the ongoing Israeli and Moroccan occupations have left many skeptical of the prospects of peace, democracy and stability in the Arab world….
The Arab Spring, Two Years Later (video)
DU Center for Middle East Studies
Professor Zunes discusses the current state of the Arab world in the wake of the 2011 uprisings, the strength and successes of non-violent sociopolitical movements in the region, and the corresponding shifts now required of U.S. foreign policy.
Interview: Arab Revolutions, U.S. Middle East Policy, Iran, and Israel-Palestine (audio)
Arab Voices Radio
A live discussion with professor Zunes about the current uprisings in the Middle East and nonviolent movements; the foreign intervention by the U.S., Europe, China, Russia and others in Syria, Egypt, Libya, Yemen and other Arab countries; the ongoing war rhetoric against Iran by the U.S. and Israel; the recent H.R. resolution 4133 that passed by a vote of 411-2 described by Zunes as “a dangerous piece of legislation which would undermine the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, weaken Israeli moderates and peace advocates, undercut international law, further militarize the Middle East, and make Israel ever more dependent on the United States”; the prospects for real peace in the Middle East; and much more.
Sudan’s protests become civil insurrection
A growing anti-government movement consisting of nonviolent demonstrations as well as scattered rioting is beginning to threaten the Sudanese dictatorship of Omar al-Bashir, an indicted war criminal, who has ruled this large North African nation for twenty-three years. Beginning as protests against strict austerity measures imposed three weeks ago, the chants of the protesters have escalated to “the people want to overthrow the regime,” the line heard in recent uprisings in other Arab countries, including Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Bahrain and Syria.
Unarmed resistance still Syria’s best hope
The Syrian pro-democracy struggle has been both an enormous tragedy and a powerful inspiration. Indeed, as someone who has studied mass nonviolent civil insurrections in dozens of countries in recent decades, I know of no people who have demonstrated such courage and tenacity in the face of such savage repression as have the people of Syria these past 10 months.
Obama’s Mideast Speech: Two Steps Back, One Step Forward
Although President Barack Obama’s May 19 address on U.S. Middle East policy had a number of positive elements, overall it was a major disappointment. His speech served as yet another reminder that his administration’s approach to the region differs in several important ways from that of his immediate predecessor, but he failed to consistently assert principled U.S. support for human rights, democracy, or international law.
Yemen on the Edge
Since Obama came to office in January 2009, U.S. security assistance to the Yemeni regime has gone up 20-fold. Despite such large-scale unconditional support, however, the 32-year reign of autocratic President Ali Abdullah Saleh may finally be coming to an end. Yet the Obama administration has been ambivalent in its support for a democratic transition in this impoverished but strategically important country.
Pro-Democracy Protests Spread to Oman
Foreign Policy In Focus/Insitute for Policy Studies March 7, 2011. Also in Eurasia Review and Huffington Post Oman’s autocratic monarchy has long been one of the closest U.S. allies in the Middle East. And, as with authoritarian U.S. allies in…