Dr. Stephen Zunes speaks on Trump's Mideast Policy

The rocky road of the Trump administration is marked by typically unpredictable heavy-handedness in the Middle East region. The president has zig-zagged on Syria policy (putting the Kurdish population there in grave danger); undermined the Palestinian population by supporting Israeli settlements on Palestinian land; tried to explain away a brutal murder of a journalist by the Saudis; and rendered the Iranian population and government vulnerable with sanctions that followed his pulling out of the Iran nuclear weapons agreement.

For details and implications on such precarious military and diplomatic moves, PASMC will turn to Dr. Stephen Zunes, Professor of Politics and International Studies at the University of San Francisco. Dr. Zunes will explore the nature of Trump's Middle East policy, as well as possible strategic alternatives should a different political party in the U.S. assume leadership next year. (Assuming said party is thinking about alternatives.)

Dr. Zunes will speak on Sunday, January 26 at the Unitarian Universalists of San Mateo, 300 E. Santa Inez Avenue (at Ellsworth) in San Mateo. The evening begins at 7 PM; admission is free, contributions will be welcome. The UUSM is wheelchair accessible.

Along with his professorial position at USF, Dr. Zunes serves as coordinator of the program in Middle Eastern Studies. Recognized as one the country's leading scholars of U.S. Mideast policy and of strategic nonviolent action, he is also a senior policy analyst for Foreign Policy in Focus's project of the Institute for Policy Studies, an associate editor of Peace Review, a contributing editor of Tikkun, and a member of the academic advisory council for the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict. Dr. Zunes has made frequent visits to the Middle East and other conflict regions,
meeting with top government officials, academics, journalists and opposition leaders.

We hope to see you January 26 for an insightful look at Middle East affairs, Trump-style.

Free, contributions welcome.