Stephen Zunes : U.S. Foreign Policy (Historical)
One of the Democrats’ Biggest Hawks Is Now Senate Foreign Relations Chair
26 January 2021
Now with a working majority, the Democrats have named Sen. Robert Menendez (D-New Jersey) to chair the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. This has rung alarm bells for advocates of peace, human rights and international law, given that Menendez has opposed the Iran nuclear agreement, repeatedly attacked the United Nations and the International Court of Justice, supported unconditional military aid to governments that have used the weapons in the commission of war crimes, and taken other positions far closer to those of Republicans than rank-and-file Democrats.
Worth the Price? Joe Biden and the Launch of the Iraq War
21 February 2020
A 19-Minute documentary featuring a contribution by Dr. Stephen Zunes.
Today’s US-Iran Crisis Is Rooted in the Decision to Invade Iraq
19 January 2020
The ramifications of the illegal, unnecessary and predictably tragic U.S. decision to invade Iraq are still with us. This includes the ongoing crisis with Iran, which brought us perilously close to all-out war in early January, resulted in the tragic downing of a civilian airliner and remains in a hair-trigger situation.
Biden’s Support of Iraq War Shows How He Would Run the White House
12 November 2019
Supporters of presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden are probably hoping that Democratic voters will see his key role in pushing through the Iraq War authorization as simply a “mistake” which should not be a factor in the 2020 presidential race. Indeed, Biden now claims that, “From the moment [the invasion] started … I was opposed to the effort, and I was outspoken as much as anyone at all in the Congress” despite his statements at the time and subsequently that he supported Bush’s decision to invade even after inspectors returned and no “weapons of mass destruction” were found.
Not only was Biden one of the most important Democratic supporters of the Iraq War, but that support says much about the kind of president he would be.
Remembering Martin Luther King, the Radical for Peace
3 April 2018
It is nothing short of tragic that the fiftieth anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4 arrives during a presidential administration containing some of the most overtly racist individuals to hold positions of such political power in generations.
Public Intellectuals and Activists Weigh In on the Tet Offensive 50 Years Later
31 January 2018
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Tet Offensive. On January 30, 1968, thousands of North Vietnamese soldiers and their Viet Cong support organized a sweeping attack of multiple cities in South Vietnam. The event is said to have reinforced the United States opposition to the Vietnam War. The following is a compilation of […]
New Lebanese president’s career highlights US inconsistencies
28 November 2016
There are more than a few ironies regarding the Oct. 31 election by the Lebanese parliament of former Gen. Michel Aoun, a Maronite Catholic who received his military training in the United States, as the country’s new president. One of the most striking is his shifting allegiances and the inconsistencies of U.S. policy toward Lebanon.
Pick Your Poison: Clinton Vs. Trump on Foreign Policy
14 June 2016
In their remarks to the nation following the Orlando massacre, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump made their differences—and disturbing similarities—crystal clear.
The U.S. and the Rise of ISIS
10 December 2015
The rise of ISIS (also known as Daesh, ISIL, or the “Islamic State”) is a direct consequence of the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq. While there are a number of other contributing factors as well, that fateful decision is paramount….
Straight Talk on the U.S. and Ukraine
13 March 2014
Given the limits of its power and its own compromised relationship with international law, the U.S. isn’t in a position to do much about Ukraine.
