Category: United Nations

united-nations

Has Senator Cruz been Misinformed About Western Sahara or What?

Posted on

Counterpunch, April 27, 2026: by Bill Fletcher Jr. – Stephen Zunes
Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), along with Senators Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Rick Scott R-FL), have introduced a bill targeting what they call the “Iranian Regime’s Polisario Front,” designating that popular North African nationalist movement as a “terrorist organization”… Since the early 1970s, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Rio de Oro (Frente Polisario) has led a fight initially for independence from Spain and subsequently for freedom from Morocco’s efforts to forcibly annex the territory.  The Polisario is a moderate secular movement whose leadership is democratically elected by refugees…

Quote: US Aims at Heavy Staff & Budgetary Cuts, Seeks to Launch Cost-Saving Artificial Intelligence at UN meetings

Posted on

Inter Press Service News, United Nations, April 6, 2026:
Stephen Zunes told IPS this is not about cost-cutting or fiscal responsibility. “Like cutbacks to important U.S. government agencies and domestic programs, the Trump administration appears determined to dismantle the system itself.” This should be understood in the context of pulling out of international organizations and treaties, the establishment of the so-called “Board of Peace,” the Iran War, and the recently announced dramatic increases in military spending—it is about undermining international legal institutions and replacing them with an imperial order backed by raw military force, said Zunes.

Iran: America’s War of Choice is Israel’s War of Necessity

Posted on

Counterpunch, March 10, 2026, by Daniel Falcone (quotes Zunes):
Stephen Zunes remarked just after the attack, “An Omani mediator said a nuclear agreement with Iran was within reach [and] in response, the United States and Israel started bombing… schools, hospitals, city parks, and cultural sites are being targeted in the United States and Israeli bombing of Tehran… This is not a preemptive war. A preemptive war is in response to an imminent attack. This is a war of aggression. A flagrant violation of the United Nations Charter.” Alarmingly, Trump stated over a month before the invasion that “I don’t need international law,” as he currently creates new norms. Zunes previously stated, “this war isn’t about nonproliferation, it’s about inflicting as much damage as possible on a country that isn’t willing to accept U.S. hegemony in the region.”

Zunes’s key articles on Iran 2011-2025

Posted on

Two articles and an interview during the summer 2025 bombing of Iran:
It’s Not About the Bomb
Missed Opportunity on Iran
Updates on the Iran-Israel War: Conversations with Leading Analysts

Debunking Trump’s claim that Iranians were responsible for the deaths of thousands of U.S. soldiers in Iraq:
No Evidence Iran is Responsible for the Deaths of Hundreds of Americans

For years, Republicans and hawkish Democrats have been pushing for war with Iran. Here are some articles in which I examined these dangerous efforts which have led to the current unfolding tragedy:
2018: Pompeo’s Iran Speech a Prelude to War? The Progressive
2016: Republicans and Democrats Alike Still Level Threats towards Iran Huffington Post
2015: Hardliners on All Sides Undermining Iran’s Nuclear Talks The Progressive
2013: U.S. Threats Weaken Iran’s Pro-Democracy Movement
2012: Congress Pushes for War with IranForeign Policy in Focus
2011: Iran Threat Reduction Act Actually Enhances Threat of War Huffington Post

What Are the Trump Administration’s True Objectives in Iran?

Posted on

Truthout, March 4, 2026, by Stephen Zunes [podcast]: Many of President Trump’s stated justifications for the US and Israeli war on Iran are demonstrably false… Much of it has to do with what was perceived as an opportunity. The Iranian regime has never been more isolated [and] U.S. hostility toward an independent-minded Iran has been a major component of U.S. foreign policy for decades, regardless of Israel…

Interview: Is the US Planning to Throw a Lifeline to a Sinking UN?

Posted on

Inter Press Service, UNITED NATIONS, Feb 6 2026 (IPS)
Zunes is quoted about U.S. efforts to undermine the United Nations.
Dr. Stephen Zunes, Professor of Politics and International Studies at the University of San Francisco, told IPS on the one hand, the United States has been in arrears in its payments to the United Nations quite a bit in recent years, but the UN has managed to get by. However, the extent of the Trump administration’s cutbacks and the ways they are being targeted at particularly vulnerable programs has resulted in this unprecedented fiscal crisis. “The hostility of the Trump administration to the United Nations is extreme. Trump has made clear he believes there should be no legal restraints on the conduct of U.S. foreign policy, so it is not surprising he would seek to undermine the world’s primary institution mandated with supporting international law and world order,” declared Dr Zunes.

Is US Moving Towards UN’s Exit Door?

Posted on

Inter Press Service by Thalif Deen, United Nations, Jan 13 2026 (quotes Zunes): “The Trump administration, however, appears to be rejecting the post-WWII international legal system as a whole. His statements, particularly since the attack on Venezuela, appear to be a throwback to the 19th-century imperial prerogatives and a rejection of modern international law.”
“As a result, it is possible that Trump could indeed pull the United States out of the United Nations and force the UN out of New York.”

The Real Reason Trump Invaded Venezuela: It’s not drugs, democracy, or even oil. It’s power.

Posted on

The Progressive, January 6, 2026 and republished by Common Dreams as,
Until Democrats Confront the Lawlessness of Trump’s Venezuela Assault, Expect More War.
The U.S. attack resulted from having an incredibly corrupt and autocratic-minded President using his office to enrich himself and his supporters, deploying the country’s armed forces against his own citizens, abusing the justice system to punish political opponents, and manipulating the electoral process to try to stay in power. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has engaged in similar behavior as well…

Interview: Monroe Doctrine Rises Again

Posted on

WORT FM, Madison, January 8, 2026 (48-min):
The Monroe Doctrine Rises Again in Venezuela.
Host Allen Ruff and Professor Stephen Zunes discuss his recent article in The Progressive, “The Real Reason Trump Invaded Venezuela: It’s not drugs, democracy, or even oil. It’s power.” Zunes puts the Trump administration’s lies — calling Maduro a narco-terrorist despite that no fentanyl comes from Venezuela, that Maduro stole “our oil” despite Venezuela nationalizing its oil in the 1970s, and more — in the context of international law, the Monroe Doctrine, Venezuelan opposition to Maduro, and the US military’s recent boat-bombing campaign. He says the US will control all Venezuelan oil for the foreseeable, but “Trump plans to take control of the oil personally and stash the cash in offshore accounts.”