Category: The Progressive
Impeach Away! Thoughts on a Possible President Pence
August 22, 2018 in The Progressive, and Common Dreams: While many express concern that Vice-President Mike Pence, a Christian supremacist with more consistently hard right wing views than Trump, could replace him, Zunes argues Trump will likely be forced from office and this would be a positive development…
Pompeo’s Iran Speech a Prelude to War?
The Progressive, May 23, 2018: The U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s speech targeting Iran may have created a new benchmark for hypocritical, arrogant, and entitled demands by the U.S. on foreign governments…
Trump’s Dangerous Abrogation of the Iran Deal
The Progressive, May 9, 2018: Trump’s decision to pull the U.S. out of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action—the landmark nuclear agreement between Iran and the UK, France, Germany, Russia, China, and the U.S.—strikes a dangerous blow against arms control and international security and more firmly establishes the U.S. as a rogue nation.
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…
Remembering Martin Luther King, the Radical for Peace
The Progressive April 3, 2018: King challenged the draining of our national resources for the military, opposed the Vietnam War and other aspects of U.S. foreign policy and questioned an economic system that created enormous poverty amid great wealth. He was assassinated while organizing the Poor People’s March…
Power’s Prophet: Remembering Gene Sharp
The Progressive February 1, 2018: Dr. Gene Sharp, a Harvard University-based scholar, through his through analysis of centuries of nonviolent struggle, made a convincing case on utilitarian grounds that nonviolent struggle was a more effective and successful means of resistance than violence…
[Related article & Petition]
Both Parties Pushed Trump Toward Reckless Action on Jerusalem
[Full Article] Published in The Progressive, Huffington Post,
Common Dreams & Transcend Media Service:
President Trump’s plan to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move the U.S. embassy there risks a violent and destabilizing reaction targeting U.S. interests globally. The 1947 UN partition plan was to divide Palestine between a Jewish and Arab state, with Jerusalem and surrounding areas designated as an international territory under U.N. administration. Instead–as a result of the first Arab-Israeli War–by 1949 Israel had annexed the western part of the area and Jordan the eastern part, but the international community refused to acknowledge either claim. Following the Israeli conquests of 1967, Israel annexed Palestinian-populated East Jerusalem and surrounding lands as well…
Why Democrats Don’t Want to Talk about Flynn’s First Meeting with the Russians
The Progressive and The Huffington Post December 5, 2017
Key points are rendered in this 5-minute video.
Trump’s Dangerous Appointment to Key Civil Rights Position: Kenneth Marcus
Resistance Builds to Proposed Israeli Boycott Bill
The Progressive & Huffington Post August 1, 2017
A disturbing number of Congressional Democrats have joined their Republican counterparts in co-sponsoring a bill (S. 720/H.R. 1697) effectively criminalizing support for boycotts against Israel or companies doing business in the country or its occupied territories. If passed, the legislation would make it a crime to support or even furnish information about a boycott directed at Israel or the Israeli occupation supported by any entity of the United Nations, the European Union, or other “international governmental organization.” And the penalties are draconian…
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.
Erdogan Can Celebrate the Turkish Referendum—For Now
Declaring victory in the recent plebiscite granting him extraordinary powers, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan consolidated his authoritarian rule. A new constitutional amendment abolishes the country’s parliamentary system and gives the once-weak executive almost unlimited authority. It passed in the midst of a state of emergency imposed after last year’s coup attempt. [This item’s no longer available]
Obama’s Support for International Law Draws Bipartisan Ire
The Progressive December 29 2016
Here’s one way to look at it: The United States was the only country in the fifteen-member U.N. Security Council that did not support a resolution passed last week criticizing Israel for continuing to expand illegal settlements in the occupied territories.
Trump’s Frightening Picks for U.S. Policy in the Middle East
The Progressive December 22, 2016
Among the many disturbing appointments by President-elect Donald Trump are the people charged with conducting U.S. policy in the Middle East. Trump’s ignorance of the region will make him even more dependent on his advisers than most Presidents. And that’s not good news.
Millennial Apathy and a Possible President Trump
The Progressive September 28, 2016: Despite Hillary Clinton’s shellacking of Donald Trump in Monday’s debate, polls show the presidential race remains disturbingly close.
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.
Uzbekistan’s Karimov: The Death of One of Washington’s Favorite Tyrants
Interview: ‘Most Progressive Dem Platform in History’ Hawkish on Foreign Policy
The Progressive, Reddit, BillMoyers.com, July 27, 2016.
Also on WORTFM.org, August 4, 2016
(40-min., Zunes’s analysis segment begins at 11:00)
The Good News and the Bad News About Turkey’s Attempted Coup
Huffington Post & CommonDreams.org July 19, 2016
The survival of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Welfare Party of an attempted coup last week is a mixed blessing. Despite the ultra-conservative policies and creeping authoritarianism of the Erdogan regime, Turks from across the political spectrum opposed the coup, which was attempted by a faction of the Turkish military… The good news is the coup’s failure may be a sign that, for the first time in history, Turkey’s elected government has successfully imposed civilian rule over the military… The bad news is that the apparent success in resisting the military may not be used for democratic ends…