Episode 45 – West Asia on a Powder Keg: Lessons from the Arab Spring With Professor Stephen Zunes. British podcast on civil resistance pro-democracy struggles, contemporary Middle Eastern politics, and other issues (1 hour)
Category: Radio
radio
Interview: Trump’s Student Crackdowns
KQSD-FM March 2025 (30 mins.) on the crackdown on antiwar student activists and related issues
Interview: Gaza, resumption of war and implications
KPFA-FM news March 23, 2025 (segment starts at the 10:30)
Interview: Ukraine, Palestine, and other issues
Ukraine, Palestine, and other developments March 2025 (segment starts at 31:30) for a community radio station in northern California
Interview: Trump’s policies on Israel/Palestine and power grab
Community of Chaos, New Zealand radio, March 18, 2025
Hosted by an American expat, podcast in which Zunes discusses Trump policies ranging from Israel/Palestine to his dangerous domestic power grab
Interview: US Middle East Policy Developments
KPFA-FM News March 9, 2025: Interview on recent developments (begins 2:30-6:30)
Interview: International Effects of Trump Presidency
OAR FM Radio, Community or Chaos late Feb. 2025:
Zunes and New Zealand political science professor Robert Patman discussed the international ramifications of a Trump presidency — “a slow motion coup.”
Interview: Speaking of Palestine, Gaza Ceasefire
FM Radio (CA) Feb. 24, 2025: On the Gaza ceasefire, Trump and Netanyahu’s ethnic cleansing plans, and related issues (segment starts at 14:30).
Interview: Ceasefire: Israel violates agreement, Democrats remain complacent
KPFA-FM February 14, 2025 with Kris Welch (17 mins. starting at 15:30)
Interview: Trump’s plans to ethnic cleanse Gaza
KPFA-FM news February 9, 2025; Segment begins at 14-mins.: Trump’s plans for ethnic cleansing in Gaza and other issues.
Gaza Ceasefire: Five Interviews Jan. 2025
- From Al-Jazeera English
- KPFA-FM (segment begins at 1:05): Most comprehensive with a special emphasis
on Biden administration policy - Three short interviews on KTVU, a Bay Area network affiliate:
* https://www.ktvu.com/video/1577477
* https://www.ktvu.com/video/1577202
* https://bit.ly/4jiAD9v
Interview: Jimmy Carter’s Legacy with Stephen Zunes
WORT-FM January 9, 2025 (50 mins.): Stephen Zunes joins host Allen Ruff to critically assess the legacy of a former president as most media tend to overlook the low points of Carter’s time in office. Carter inherited the presidency at the height of US imperialism with limited foreign-policy experience, propping up dictatorships, including his role in East Timor, Morocco, and Turkey. Ruff and Zunes also appraise his role for nuclear non-proliferation, the Carter Doctrine, the Camp David Accords of 1978, Carter’s opposition to Palestinian statehood, and after he left office, his positive contributions to what Zunes calls a “moral foreign policy” by speaking out against human rights violations. Read Stephen Zunes’s most recent article about Carter’s relationship to Israel in the Progressive.
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)
Interview for Singapore Radio on Assassination of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders
Singapore Radio CNA Daily Cuts October 21, 2024:
Despite Hamas leader Sinwar’s death, Mideast peace may still be elusive
3 Interviews on the ICC indictments of 2 Israeli Leaders & US Response
- An eight-minute interview for the main Singapore television news on the impact of the indictments
- Al-Jazeera English half hour conversation with the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese and Israeli scholar Ori Goldberg on the ramifications of the ICC’s indictments (and a Daily Telegraph “Quotable” one-minute clip which has been making the rounds)
- On an Arab Organization for Human Rights panel addressing U.S. and Israeli efforts to undermine the authority of the International Criminal Court (Dr. Zunes’ segment starts at 31:30 plus additional remarks starting at 1:16:20 and 1:32:50.)
Lectures & 11 Interviews Nov. 2024 on Trump’s Election & the Middle East
First view Dr. Zunes’ 5-minute animated summary 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: Shorter interview on recent dramatic developments in Syria (4 mins.)
- 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).
Radio & Podcast: 4 Interviews
- Recent developments in Gaza, the West Bank, and U.S. policy with Kris Welch on KPFA-FM and affiliated stations [9/6/24 starts at 1:06:40]
- On the Iranian missile attacks and what led up to them, for a New York community radio station [10/2/24, 15 min.]
- On Israel’s war on Lebanon for KPFA-FM evening news [9/22/24 starts at the 2:30]
- On the war on Gaza, U.S. policy, and related issues for a northern California radio station [segment starts at 26:20]
Interviews: U.S. policy, Israel/Palestine, Lebanon & Kamala Harris for KPFA Pacifica Radio
Dr. Zunes is the guest for three recent KPFA radio interviews:
During the first hour of KPFA’s “Talkies” show with Kris Welch
August 16, 2024 (segment starts at the 9:30 mark); also on
August 25 on KPFA Evening News (starts at 11:45); and earlier
August 11 on recent developments (starts at 2:10).
Interview: Kamala Harris, Israel Palestine and the 2024 Democratic Convention
KSQD-FM August 19, 2024; 55 minutes (Dr. Zunes’s segment starts at 5:40)