Edward Herman and David Peterson on Peter Ackerman and Stephen Zunes.

On Ackerman “ICNC founder and chairman Peter Ackerman was a board member and eventual chairman of Freedom House (September 2005 – January 2009), an institution that has been as clear an instrument of U.S. foreign policy as has the CIA itself. While U.S. anti-war activists were still organizing to oppose the then-just-initiated U.S. aggression against … Continue reading Edward Herman and David Peterson on Peter Ackerman and Stephen Zunes. →

Stephen Zunes’ False Statements on Zimbabwe and Woza

By Stephen Gowans Stephen Zunes is making a career of legitimizing fundamental US government assessments of all but a few of its foreign policy targets, uncritically mimicking State Department slanders of target countries and falsely declaring US funded regime change organizations to be “progressive organizations which could by no means be considered American agents.” Reacting … Continue reading Stephen Zunes’ False Statements on Zimbabwe and Woza →

Reply to Zunes on 10 Rules for Understanding Civil Society Imperialism

Stephen Zunes has written a brief reply to my last article, 10 Rules for Understanding Civil Society Imperialism, which you can read here. The following is my response. Stephen, Let me address your points one by one. 1.You say: “I do not and have never singled out leftist governments for criticism.” I guess that depends … Continue reading Reply to Zunes on 10 Rules for Understanding Civil Society Imperialism →

Zunes’ Compromising with Capitalism’s Sad Reality

By Stephen Gowans Stephen Zunes has written a reply to my article criticizing his connections to US government- and ruling class-funded “peace” organizations, but far from rebutting my criticisms, he helps make my point. He writes, “The unfortunate reality in capitalist societies is that most non-profit organizations – from universities to social justice organizations to … Continue reading Zunes’ Compromising with Capitalism’s Sad Reality →

Stephen Zunes and the Struggle for Overseas Profits

“The name for our profits is democracy” – Phil Ochs, Cops of the World By Stephen Gowans Stephen Zunes, a professor of Politics and International Studies at the University of San Francisco, is bristling against what he calls the leftist attack on “independent” grassroots nonviolent activists who are trying to bring down “autocratic” governments and … Continue reading Stephen Zunes and the Struggle for Overseas Profits →

The ICNC: Propagating Uncle Sam’s Narrative

By Stephen Gowans “The narrative we want to come out of this is that the Libyan people overthrew a dictator, not that we came in and toppled a despot,” said Stephen J. Hadley, a former national security adviser to President George W. Bush. “And that’s the problem with going after command and control if it … Continue reading The ICNC: Propagating Uncle Sam’s Narrative →

Scholars or Bamboozlers?

By Stephen Gowans “When you’re criticized”, what should you do? asks Brian Martin, a scholar of non-violence. His answer: “Assess the way audiences are likely to perceive things.” That is, create the right impression. Martin has written an article soon to be published in the Journal of Scholarly Publishing about how to respond to criticism, … Continue reading Scholars or Bamboozlers? →

New York Times: Democracy is Bad for US Foreign Policy

By Stephen Gowans Here’s New York Times reporter Mark Landler on Washington’s reaction to the popular uprising in Egypt against the anti-liberal democratic, human rights-abusing Hosni Mubarak, a “staunch ally.” Washington is “proceeding gingerly, balancing the democratic aspirations of young Arabs with cold-eyed strategic and commercial interests.” In other words, democracy and human rights are … Continue reading New York Times: Democracy is Bad for US Foreign Policy →

Lester Kurtz’s Duty

By Stephen Gowans This is the continuation of an exchange between me and Lester Kurtz, a sociology professor and exponent of nonviolent resistance who sits on the academic advisory board of the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict. Kurtz’s reply to my “Leftist overthrow advisor Lester Kurtz: ‘I talked with the CIA’” is below, followed by … Continue reading Lester Kurtz’s Duty →