So many hot spots, so little time. I decided to approach this interview using the stances of the Democratic candidates for president as a lens. I think it worked pretty well.

We covered Israel-Palestine, Iran, and Yemen pretty thoroughly, even with only an hour. There’s also a fascinating segment on Sudan, which Prof. Zunes recently visited.

According to Zunes, a military confrontation with Iran remains a distinct possibility, even as Iran suffers greatly from a massive coronavirus outbreak. (Iran’s poor response to the pandemic can be laid directly at the feet of the crippling economic sanctions imposed by Trump’s “maximum pressure” policy.)

Congress is continuing to try to rein in Trump’s wild impulses with regard to Iran. Both chambers have now passed War Powers Resolutions and the Senate’s version is headed back to the House for a final vote in the coming weeks. Peace Action is circulating a letter to Representatives that you can and should sign today. Click here to take action.

Stephen Zunes is a Professor of Politics and International Studies at the University of San Francisco, where he served as founding director of the program in Middle Eastern Studies. Recognized as one the country’s leading scholars of U.S. Middle East policy and of strategic nonviolent action, Professor Zunes serves as a senior policy analyst for Foreign Policy in Focus project of the Institute for Policy Studies, an associate editor of Peace Review, and a contributing editor of Tikkun.