African Digital Democracy Observatory/
Disinfo.Africa quoted Zunes June 27, 2025:
Washington Post echoes disputed claims that Saharan mercenaries were captured in Aleppo:
“On April 12, 2025, the Washington Post published a story describing the new Syrian government’s alleged efforts to dismantle illicit Iranian supply lines running through southern Syria… largely to aid Hezbollah in their war against Israel [and] implicated soldiers from an Algerian-based nationalist movement in the Iran-Hezbollah conspiracy. [But] this TruthAfrica investigation shows, the central pieces of evidence for these allegations appear to be a distortion of an Algerian ambassador’s statements and an inauthentic document…
Steven Zunes, an expert on U.S. Middle East policy at the University of San Francisco and author of Western Sahara: War, Nationalism and Conflict Irresolution in Northwest Africa, told Truth Africa that ‘The Hezbollah/Iran connection is utter nonsense.’ In a phone interview on 21 May 2025, Zunes cited the fact that Polisario Front is a broadly secular movement composed of Sunni Muslims as one reason to be doubtful of the claim. The Iranian government and Hezbollah are both Islamist and Shia Muslim. ‘The idea that [The Polisario Front] would be lying with this autocratic, reactionary Shia group,’ he told us, ‘just seems quite absurd.’…”
Category: Syria
Syria
Interview: US Middle East Policy Developments
KPFA-FM News March 9, 2025: Interview on recent developments (begins 2:30-6:30)
Interview: Ousting the Brutal Assad Regime Brings Euphoria and More Questions
Counterpunch Interview of Stephen Zunes Dec. 11, 2024
by 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 2011, that actually wrested control of much of the local governance from the regime.” [source]
TV 4 Interviews on Syria & 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 may not be accessible]:
*US has carried out air strikes on 75 ISIL targets throughout Syria [source]
*Thousands celebrate in Damascus [source]
*Assad’s leaving the capital Damascus [source]
*Plus a one-minute excerpt gone viral.
Syria Background: Zunes’ Articles, Interviews & 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 2016 regarding the state of the conflict and U.S. policy: Syria After the Ceasefire
- This article from 2019 examines the Trump administration’s recognition of Israel’s illegal annexation of Syria’s Golan Heights (a decision upheld by the Biden administration) in defiance of the United Nations Security Council declaring it “null and void”: U.S. Recognition of Golan Annexation a Threat to World Order
- These two critically examine the ongoing U.S. military presence in Syria: Despite Everything US Troops Should Leave Syria (2019) &
If Biden Wants to Protect the Troops He Should Bring Them Home, Not Bomb Syria (2021) - These four articles from 2017-2018 examine the U.S. response to Syrian chemical weapons attacks:
History Shows Hypocrisy of U.S. Outrage over Chemical Weapons in Syria
Why the United States Can’t Lead on Syria’s Chemical Weapons
Trump’s Dangerous and Cynical Attack on Syria: Pacifica’s Sojourner Truth Radio
Why These Missile Strikes Won’t Make Things Better for the Syrian People - These links examine divisions over Syria within the U.S. left and what a progressive policy would entail:
How Syria Divides the Left (2017 written interview)
The Anti-War Movement Must Listen to Voices Within Syria’s Civil War (2016 op-ed article)
Why are Some Left Activists Falling for Fake News on Syria (television interview) - These articles from 2012-15 look at the debates regarding U.S. military intervention in Syria: Obama’s Escalation in Syria (2015)
Eight Arguments Against Going to War with Syria (2013)
Despite Horrific Repression, the US Should Stay Out of Syria (2013)
Military Intervention in Syria is a Bad Idea (2012) - And these two articles are my response to a series of articles attacking me for my opposition to U.S. military intervention in Syria:
Opposition to Intervention in Syria is Utilitarian not Ideological (2013)
On Syria Most Thoughtful People are Torn (2013) - On nonviolent alternatives in Syria during the early phases of the uprising:
Supporting Nonviolence in Syria (2012)
Unarmed Resistance Still Syria’s Best Hope (2012) - More on U.S. double-standards regarding Syria:
U.S. Outrage over Syria Veto at UN Rife with Hypocrisy (2012)
U.S. in No Position to Condemn Russian Transfer of Helicopter Gunships to Syrian Regime (2012) - On an earlier Israeli attack on Syria and the U.S. role in blocking Israeli-Syrian peace initiatives:Israel, Syria, and the United States (2013)
Lectures & 11 Interviews Nov. 2024 on Trump’s Election & the Middle East
First view Dr. Zunes’ 5-minute animated summary (scroll down to third video), of his research on coup resistance; then his Lecture at the University of San Francisco on how to prepare for the aftermath of the election in the event of an attempted coup or legitimate victory by Trump.
- Lecture before the Unitarian Universalists of San Francisco on what a Trump administration would mean to the Middle East (1 hour 20 mins.)
- Al-Jazeera English: Interview on recent developments involving Israel, Lebanon, Gaza and the US (24 mins.)
- Al-Jazeera English [source link may be unavailable.]:
4-minute interview on new developments in Syria - I’m one of three professors interviewed on AJE’s “Inside Story” about Biden’s responsibility in Harris’s defeat
- A half-hour interview for a Wisconsin radio station on Trump’s cabinet appointments and the effect a Trump regime may have on the Middle East
- A 25-minute interview with Kris Welch on KPFA-FM on the impact of the election on the Middle East (segment starts at the 32-minute mark)
- A 50-minute interview for a New Zealand radio show and podcast about the U.S. election and its broader implications
- A 45-minute interview for a San Francisco NPR affiliate on the U.S.-backed war on Gaza and the impact of the U.S. election
- I gave this brief analysis on the election and the Middle East for a San Francisco Bay area network affiliates
- Interviewed briefly on KPFA-FM’s evening news about how U.S. policy in support of Israel’s wars on Gaza and Lebanon could be impacted by Trump’s election victory (segment begins at the 13:55 mark)
- On Pacifica Radio’s “Flashpoints” (KPFA) talking about the then-upcoming election and foreign policy
- KPFA radio news interview on Israel’s attacks on Iran, the ongoing war crimes in Gaza, and the impact on the then-upcoming US election (segment starts at the 16:15).
Video: 10 Interviews Aug.-Oct. 2024
- Two from an Indian news show:
* On Israel’s war on Lebanon
* On the anniversary of the October 7 terrorist attacks - Al Jazeera English: Interviewed along with Nicholas Noe and Gideon Levy about the implications of the Israeli assassination of Nasrallah and the ongoing war on Lebanon.
- Three short for San Francisco Bay area network affiliates:
* The Iranian missile attack on Israel and what led things to this point
* Israel’s attacks on Lebanon
* And on Gaza and U.S. policy. - Two appearances on the Santita Jackson Show:
* On escalating violence in the Middle East
* On the vice-presidential debate, along with the latest news from the Middle East - A ten-minute segment of a panel sponsored by the Arab Organization for Human Rights-UK, about the Biden administration and the ceasefire talks, U.S. policy towards Israel/Palestine, and how Harris would likely bring in a slight improvement in U.S. Middle East policy
- A short segment on a Singapore television news show about Israeli protests against Netanyahu and the Gaza War
The Pentagon Doesn’t Care About Civilian Casualties
In August 2019, thousands of refugees, prisoners, and families of ISIS fighters crowded into an encampment in the border town of Baghuz in eastern Syria, one of the last territories controlled by the so-called Islamic State. The US, supported on the ground by an allied Kurdish and Arab militia, launched a massive air assault on the enclave. [FULL LINK]
If Biden Wants to Protect Troops, He Should Bring Them Home — Not Bomb Syria
Truthout, March 2, 2021: 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. [FULL LINK]
Biden Bombs Iran-Backed Militias in Syria
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[Find best related links.]
This Isn’t the First Time the US Has Abandoned the Kurds
Truthout October 10, 2019: Trump’s decision to give a green light for a Turkish invasion of Kurdish-populated regions of northern Syria has faced swift bipartisan opposition… following a conversation with authoritarian Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (one of a number of autocratic leaders with whom Trump has developed a close relationship)…
Despite Everything, U.S. Troops Should Leave Syria
Z Network, January 4, 2019: Donald Trump’s sudden decision to remove U.S. forces from Syria appears to have been impetuous and ill-considered — apparently a result of a conversation with Turkey’s autocratic president Recep Erdogan. That doesn’t mean, however, that the United States should remain in that country…
History Shows Hypocrisy of US Outrage Over Chemical Weapons in Syria
Truthout April 24, 2018: There are serious legal and strategic concerns regarding the decision by the U.S., along with France and Great Britain, to bomb Syria in response to its alleged use of chemical weapons in Douma…
News on Syria? Why Are Left Activists Falling For Fake News On Syria?
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On Rising Up with Sonali April 18, 2018: After President Donald Trump declared “Mission Accomplished” in Syria in the wake of US air strikes last week, the question about the veracity of reports on the chemical attack in Douma has taken on a new urgency. Inspectors with the Organization For the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) are still awaiting access to the sites of the attack. Is it possible to accept that Syria’s government really did attack civilians and still be against U.S. militarism in Syria? Dr. Zunes posits it absolutely is.
Interview: Stephen Zunes Explains AAR panel cancellation & Trump’s Recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s Capital
Global Journal of Peace Research and Praxis
Volume 2, Number 1 (Spring 2018)
Dr. Stephen Zunes discussed his views on the abrupt cancellation of a panel he was scheduled to participate in at the 2017 American Academy of Religion’s annual conference. President Trump’s recent decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital has thrown the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians back into the American public’s consciousness. Those who study this conflict, or have a personal connection to it, realize that in terms of foreign policy and academia, the relevancy and divisiveness of this issue never waned…
Why the United States Can’t Lead on Syria’s Chemical Weapons Atrocities
The Progressive April 11, 2018: The repeated use of these horrific and illegal weapons by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s repressive regime deserves a strong international response. Unfortunately, given its history of politicizing the issue, the U.S. is in no position to lead…
With ISIS In Retreat Why is the Syria War Expanding?
Rising Up with Sonali, February 14, 2018: Instead of the Syrian war winding down, there seems to be an escalation involving an ever-growing number of countries: Iran, Turkey, Russia, Israel, the U.S….
Trump Bombs Syria: Now What?
Syria: What You Need to Know
WORT-FM April 17, 2017 (57 mins.): Last week, Syria launched a chemical weapons attack, killing more than 80 people. President Trump responded with an ordered airstrike on a Syrian airbase. What led to this conflict? What participants are in play, and what do we need to know?
Trump’s Dangerous and Cynical Attack on Syria
The Progressive & Huffington Post April 7, 2017: Trump’s proposed budget would make major cuts to programs that provided relief to Syrian refugees and has tried to bar any refugees from entering the U.S.