Obama’s Mideast Speech: Two Steps Back, One Step Forward
May 20, 2011 | Barack Obama's Mideast speech shows that the United States has not yet adapted to the regional realities brought about by the Arab Spring.
Articles by Stephen Zunes
Yemen on the Edge
May 13, 2011 | Democratic protests have nearly dislodged the autocratic leader of Yemen, yet the Obama administration has yet to commit fully to a post-Saleh era.
Bin Laden May Be Dead But His Grievances Live On
May 3, 2011 | The grievances expressed in bin Laden's manifestoes can still replenish the ranks of jihadis.
Libya: “R2P” and Humanitarian Intervention Are Concepts Ripe for Exploitation
March 26, 2011 | Can an airstrike ever be humanitarian?
Pro-Democracy Protests Spread to Oman
March 7, 2011 | Another autocratic U.S. ally in the Arab world faces a non-violent challenge.
America Blows It on Bahrain
March 2, 2011 | The non-violent pro-democracy struggle in Bahrain has failed to gain support from the Obama administration.
Why Egypt Will Not Turn Into Another Iran
February 10, 2011 | The protests in Egypt will produce a democracy, not a theocracy.
The United States and the Prospects for Democracy in Islamic Countries
January 21, 2011 | Tunisia is not the only democracy movement in the Muslim world, but will the United States provide consistent support to them all?
Pro-Democracy Uprising Fails to Keep Washington From Backing Tunisian Dictatorship
January 13, 2011 | In recent decades, largely nonviolent insurrections such as Tunisia's have toppled corrupt authoritarian rulers from the Philippines to Serbia to the Ukraine.
Israel Represses Israelis and Congress Approves
December 28, 2010 | Congress has turned a blind eye to the Israeli government's repression of its own citizens.