Stephen Zunes
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szunes.bsky.social
Stephen Zunes
@szunes.bsky.social
7K followers 120 following 1.2K posts

professor, parent, interests in peace, human rights, U.S. foreign policy

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Stephen Zunes is an American international relations scholar specializing in Middle Eastern politics, U.S. foreign policy, and strategic nonviolent action. He is known internationally as a leading critic of United States policy in the Middle East, particularly under the George W. Bush administration, and an analyst of nonviolent civil insurrections against autocratic regimes. .. more

Political science 63%
Sociology 24%
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szunes.bsky.social
Stephen Zunes @szunes.bsky.social · 7h
This comes not long after Biden and Newsom ordered an aging nuclear plant not far from my home scheduled to close to stay open. This bipartisan hostility towards safe renewable wind and solar power is very upsetting www.nytimes.com/2026/01/16/c...
Trump Wants to Halt Almost All Coal Plant Shutdowns. It Could Get Messy.
www.nytimes.com

szunes.bsky.social
Stephen Zunes @szunes.bsky.social · 3d
Close to 3000 people were killed by the U.S.-backed forces of the Shah forces during the 1978-79 civil resistance campaign against that autocratic regime. Tragically, the death toll in the struggle against the current autocratic regime could surpass that.

szunes.bsky.social
Stephen Zunes @szunes.bsky.social · 3d
I've been seeing many posts from Greta Thunberg and many other leading pro-Palestinian activists in solidarity with the Iranian uprising and condemning the regime's oppression. Yet I still keep seeing posts from Israel supporters claiming they are either defending the repression or staying silent.

szunes.bsky.social
Stephen Zunes @szunes.bsky.social · 3d
Bombing Iran to ostensibly support the uprising would be a tragedy. Remember that it was not the eleven weeks of NATO bombing that brought down Milosevic in Serbia. It was the massive nonviolent resistance of the Serbian people.

szunes.bsky.social
Stephen Zunes @szunes.bsky.social · 3d
How does destroying 2500 homes help disarm and remove Hamas?

szunes.bsky.social
Stephen Zunes @szunes.bsky.social · 3d
Here’s my take on the latest developments between the U.S. and Iran on this afternoon’s edition of KTVU News.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=5Od5...
Unrest in Iran | KTVU
YouTube video by KTVU FOX 2 San Francisco
m.youtube.com

szunes.bsky.social
Stephen Zunes @szunes.bsky.social · 3d
Are there monarchists among the hundreds of thousands of Iranians in the streets? Yes. There are also communists, moderate Islamists, secular liberals, and lots of other folks. People are fed up. They want the regime gone!

szunes.bsky.social
Stephen Zunes @szunes.bsky.social · 3d
Biden's Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Anti-Semitism insists that Saturday's terrible arson attack on a Mississippi synagogue by a rightwing Christian anti-Semite is somehow the fault of Palestinians resisting the Israeli occupation.

szunes.bsky.social
Stephen Zunes @szunes.bsky.social · 3d
Based on my time in Iran and years of following the situation in that country, I can say with confidence that the majority of the Iranian people are both anti-regime and anti-imperialist. The people in the streets risking their lives are fighting for their freedom, not for foreign powers.

szunes.bsky.social
Stephen Zunes @szunes.bsky.social · 3d
Yes. Foreign powers will certainly try to manipulate the outcome, but it is indeed a popular uprising against a very repressive regime. I've been to Iran and seen it for myself. The people are both anti-regime and anti-imperialist.

szunes.bsky.social
Stephen Zunes @szunes.bsky.social · 3d
Such aid cannot ignite a mass uprising however any more than Soviet aid could ignite a revolution.

szunes.bsky.social
Stephen Zunes @szunes.bsky.social · 3d
How so? I support the uprising! Look at my posts!
I'm just saying that Trump, etc. doesn't really care about Iranian lives.

szunes.bsky.social
Stephen Zunes @szunes.bsky.social · 3d
I don't think more than a tiny minority want a Shah back.

szunes.bsky.social
Stephen Zunes @szunes.bsky.social · 3d
1) Hundreds of thousands of people in the streets is not hype.
2) I never claimed they want a pro-West regime. They do not.
3) I never claimed that the rioters are more than a tiny minority. 4) Why should I be embarrassed?

szunes.bsky.social
Stephen Zunes @szunes.bsky.social · 4d
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Two Months After Cease-Fire, Israel Is Still Demolishing Gaza (Gift Article)
More than 2,500 buildings have been destroyed since the start of the cease-fire, according to a New York Times analysis. Israel says it is demilitarizing Gaza.
www.nytimes.com

szunes.bsky.social
Stephen Zunes @szunes.bsky.social · 4d
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/c...
E.P.A. to Stop Considering Lives Saved When Setting Rules on Air Pollution
www.nytimes.com

szunes.bsky.social
Stephen Zunes @szunes.bsky.social · 4d
The Iranian regime is the first government to face a massive civil insurrection that initially came to power themselves through a massive civil insurrection. As a result, they have unfortunately developed better mechanisms than did the Shah (or Mubarak, Ben Ali, Milosevic, etc.) to suppress it.