Ukraine, Palestine, and other developments March 2025 (segment starts at 31:30) for a community radio station in northern California
Category: Russia
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.]
A Long Legacy of Hypocrisy on Occupations
The Progressive March 6, 2025 (Please share widely)
While concurring that the outrage over Trump’s support for Putin is quite appropriate, Zunes notes how administrations of both parties have supported invasions and occupations when the aggressor has been an ally, thereby weakening our ability to stand up to Russian aggression. His earlier articles on Ukraine include:
- Getting Ukraine’s History Right Is Crucial for Anti-Imperialist Politics, Truthout Feb. 28, 2024: . Ten years after Ukraine’s Maidan Revolution, what should the left make of it? Zunes looks back at the 2014 popular uprising in Ukraine against the Yanukovych regime. While not uncritical of U.S. policy, he challenges the Russian line that the pro-democracy Maidan revolution was some kind of U.S. coup.
- The Peace Chronicle The Magazine of the Peace and Justice Studies Association Fall 2022: Reflections written soon after the 2022 invasion.
Interview: Ukraine Peace Negotiations
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:
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
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)
Russia & US Abuse UN Veto Power
Inter Press Service February 27, 2024: How both Russia and the United States abuse their veto power at the United Nations
(Dr. Stephen Zunes is quoted midway).
Russia vs Ukraine and Israel vs Hamas—have exposed once again the stark reality that the UN, created 79 years ago to maintain international peace and security, has failed in its political mission – while its credibility is at stake. Russia is accused of violating the UN charter by invading a sovereign nation state and causing hundreds and thousands of deaths over two years — with no signs of a peaceful settlement.
Accusations against Israel include war crimes, genocide, ethnic cleansing and disproportionate killings of over 30,000 civilians, mostly women and children in Gaza, in retaliation for 1,200 killings by Hamas last October. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who has taken a rightful stand on the two conflicts, has been criticized by both countries, with Israel calling for his resignation while ignoring his request for a meeting or a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. [Source]
Getting Ukraine’s History Right
Getting Ukraine’s History Right Is Crucial for Anti-Imperialist Politics: Ten years after Ukraine’s Maidan Revolution, what should the left make of it? Truthout 02/28/2024
Bipartisan Bill for Middle East Peace Will Enable Dictatorships and Occupation
Part of the decades-long tradition of the U.S. propping up Arab dictatorships that suppress pro-democracy struggles while justifying support for Israel, calling it the region’s “sole democracy.” [FULL LINK]
Russian Aggression, US Hypocrisy & Is UAE a Safe Haven for Oligarchs?
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. The Progressive March 1, 2022
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.
Radio Islam International: Ukraine Crisis
US Support for Invasions Should Disqualify It From Leading on Russia-Ukraine
The U.S. is in no position to lead any international effort in defense of the right to self-determination.
Published January 26, 2022 by Truthout [FULL LINK]
US Western Sahara stance emboldens Putin
The threat of further Russian aggression against Ukraine is very real. Unfortunately, the Biden administration is in a weak position to lead an international response. [FULL LINK] Find more at Western-Sahara.org.
KTVU News: Ukraine
13 August 2021: Video is no longer available,
but see Dr. Zunes on KTVU Feb. 21, 2022.
Resisting Stolen Elections: Lessons from the Philippines, Serbia, Ukraine, and Gambia
ICNC October 23, 2020: Recent precedents we can learn from about how to stop attempts to overturn election results include… one in Southeast Asia, one in Africa and two in Eastern Europe… through large-scale nonviolent direct action. This article looks at these cases, and identifies key lessons.
Putin’s U.S. Defenders
The Progressive September 15, 2016
After experiencing decades of rightwing attacks for being “soft” on Moscow, progressives may be feeling a bit of whiplash as they witness prominent conservatives—with Donald Trump in the lead—heaping praise upon an autocratic Russian leader. Trump has praised President Vladimir Putin, a former KGB operative who tolerates little dissent, for his “very strong control over a country.” Putin has returned the favor by strongly endorsing Trump.
China Radio International – Iran Nuclear Negotiations Resume (Audio)
[The source link and recording for this item are
no longer available. Find best related links.]
China Radio International – Minsk Peace Talks on Ukraine Crisis Concludes (Audio)
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no longer available. Find best related links.]
A Nonviolent Alternative for Ukraine
Foreign Policy May 28, 2014
On May 15, thousands of unarmed residents and steelworkers of the eastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol did nonviolently what a bloody attack by Ukrainian troops six days earlier was unable to: rid the region’s second-largest city of armed pro-Russian separatists who had held key buildings and other parts of the city for weeks. Smaller protests have taken place in other cities…