* 20-minute interview with Kris Welch on recent Middle East developments [May 30, segment starts 1:06:45]
* Two on recent developments in Israel’s war on Gaza,
U.S. policy, repression of student activists, related issues:
June 8 begins at 10:20 and May 11 at 5:50
Category: Arabian Peninsula
Interview: Trump Orders Strikes on Houthis in Yemen
Al-Jazeera Media View, March 2025: On the onset of the
U.S. bombing of Yemen [source link is no longer accessible]
RTVI interview
RTVI is a global Russian-speaking multi-platform media, which includes a news website and other digital platforms: 6 YouTube channels, 2 Telegram channels and accounts in all major social networks. It broadcasts in 160 countries with more than 350 broadcasting operators around the world and over 20 million viewers.
Wikipedia [Not to be confused with RT or RTV.]
Interview: Can Egypt’s plan for Gaza backed by Arab League become reality?
Al-Jazeera English March 5, 2025 (28 mins.): On the Arab League’s summit and quite reasonable reconstruction and administrative plan for Gaza, which both Israel and the United States have rejected. This follows US President Donald Trump’s proposal to forcibly expel Palestinians and turn Gaza into a US-controlled beach resort. Presenter Sami Zeidan interviews Zunes along with Ori Goldberg – Political commentator, and Mansour Shouman – Middle East political analyst.
US Actions in Yemen Helped Create Current Crisis
The Progressive 02/06/2024: Plus Five Background Articles:
- Yemen: Adding Fuel to Fire, Sojourners, June 2017: US military strikes in Yemen are feeding the rise of al-Qaeda [and] exemplify the failed U.S. policy in the region.
- Powerful Nonviolent Resistance to Armed Conflict in Yemen: 2015 article on nonviolent resistance by Yemenis against Houthis’ takeover
- How the U.S. Contributed to Yemen’s Crisis: A more detailed overview of U.S. efforts to thwart Yemen’s democratic revolution, also from 2015
- Yemen On The Edge: A critical overview of Obama administration policy during the midst of the 2011 pro-democracy uprising
- Yemen: The Latest U.S. Battleground: A 2010 article on the U.S. bombing of Yemen against alleged Al-Qaeda activists
Russian aggression, US hypocrisy and is UAE a safe haven for oligarchs?
The Progressive, March 1, 2022: There’s No Justification for Russia’s Aggression, But U.S. Double Standards on Illegal War Are Hard to Stomach: Nothing can excuse Putin’s invasion, but the hypocrisy could hardly be more striking.
Al Jazeera quotes Zunes March 7, 14 and 29
*The limits of Iran’s influence on Yemen’s Houthi rebels
*Analysis: Can the UAE be a safe haven for Russian oligarchs?
*Can Russia return to the world stage as other aggressors have?
Find more at Western-Sahara.org.
If Biden Wants to Protect Troops, He Should Bring Them Home — Not Bomb Syria
Truthout, March 2, 2021, by Stephen Zunes [source]
The US has bombed Syria more than 20,000 times over the past eight years, so last week’s attack on a border post in northeastern Syria, which killed 22 militiamen and apparently no civilians, may not seem surprising to some… it is nevertheless disappointing that President Biden appears determined to continue the failed policies of his predecessors… Some members of Congress challenged Biden’s authority to order such an attack, which contravenes both international law and the US Constitution.
Sudan’s Democratic Revolution: How They Did It
Reposted April 2020 from Inside Arabia by ICNC,
Nonviolence International and The Conversation
Conditions under Sudan’s oppressive autocratic regime did not fit into what Western analysts see as the right ones for a successful pro-democracy civil resistance movement and yet they have emerged victorious—for now. Among other things, its success points to perhaps the single most important factor: nonviolent discipline…
Politicians Are Not Going to Hold Saudi Arabia Accountable
Sojourners January 2019: Despite manifold horrors inflicted by the Saudi regime over the years, it was not until the grisly murder of a well-connected exiled journalist in early October that public attention has finally been given to the monarchy’s savagery…
Interview: How Syria Divides the Left
Truthout July 10, 2017Interviewed Dr. Zunes
SZ: “Most credible academics and journalists on the
left, while varying to some degree in their analyses, generally agree
that the Syrian regime is horrifically repressive and not particularly
progressive by any measure. There is also a consensus that the bulk of
the armed opposition is dominated by reactionary Salafist
extremists and that the largely nonviolent movement that first emerged
in 2011 had strong progressive and democratic elements, but has largely
been crushed. Further, the U.S. and other outside powers (Saudi Arabia,
Turkey, Qatar, Russia, Iran, Hezbollah, Britain, France, etc.) should
not be bombing, sending arms, providing troops or contributing to the
carnage….”
Trump’s Support for Punishing Qatar Is Misguided
The Progressive & Huffington Post June 16, 2017: The decision by the Saudis and allied dictatorships to sever ties with Qatar and impose draconian sanctions on the tiny nation has precipitated a major regional crisis, and President Trump’s support has made matters even worse.
How U.S. Contributed to Yemen Crisis
Santa Cruz Sentinel April 17, 2015 [Also Antiwar.com, Common Dreams, Lobe Lob, Reddit, Transcend.org and Transnational.org]
As civilian casualties mount, with U.S. logistical support the Saudis are attempting to re-instate Yemen’s exiled government — backed by the West and the Sunni Gulf monarchies — in the face of a military offensive by Houthi rebels. None of this had to be…
Powerful nonviolent resistance to armed conflict in Yemen
Open Democracy April 11, 2015
[Also Common Dreams, Rotarian Action Group for Peace, Rulac, Satyagraha Foundation, Transnational.org, ZNetwork.org]
While media coverage of the tragic situation unfolding in Yemen in recent months has focused on armed clashes and other violence, there has also been widespread and ongoing unarmed nonviolent civil resistance employed by a number of different actors.
US support for Saudis belies claims of supporting democracy
Santa Cruz Sentinel February 20, 2015
One of the greatest myths is that the U.S. government supports democracy. In reality, under both Republican and Democratic administrations, the U.S. remains the world’s No. 1 military, financial, and diplomatic supporter of authoritarian regimes and occupying armies.
Interview: The Impact of Drone Strikes on Yemen (audio)
Uprising Radio August 12, 2013: Obama has escalated the U.S. unspoken war on the Gulf Arab state of Yemen with 9 drone bombing raids in 10 days killing about 3 dozens Yemenis… apparently in response to an Al Qaeda terrorist threat which both the U.S. and Yemeni governments have cited in recent days, at the same time as the closures of American embassies in the Middle East and North Africa. But the people of Yemen are puzzled and more than a little angry…
Interview: Yemen (audio)
China International Radio February 28, 2013
[The source link and recording for this item are
no longer available. Find best related links.]
Interview: Arab Revolutions, U.S. Middle East Policy, Iran, and Israel-Palestine (audio)
KPFT Pacifica: Arab Voices Radio July 11, 2012
Dr. Stephen Zunes’ segment begins at 14 minutes.
Interview: U.S. Mid-East Policy in Relation to the Ongoing Uprising in Bahrain (audio)
Source is no longer available online. See related links.
CrossTalk on Yemen: Rise of Al-Qaeda?
Source is no longer available. Find related links.
Protesters persist despite crackdown
National Catholic Reporter December 22, 2011 and The Free Library
Of the popular pro-democracy civil insurrections that have swept the Middle East over the past year, none were as large — relative to the size of the country — as the one that took place in the island kingdom of Bahrain. And while scattered resistance continues, none were so thoroughly suppressed.