ROTARY LUNCHEON: Stephen Zunes and Outlook on the Middle East

Professor Stephen Zunes from the University of San Francisco (USF) will share his outlook on the Middle East. He has been at USF since 1995, teaching courses on the politics of the Middle East and other regions, nonviolence, conflict resolution, U.S. foreign policy, globalization, and the politics of war and peace. In 2004, he founded USF's Middle Eastern Studies Program and currently serves as Program Director. In 2025, he was named as USF's inaugural Daniel Greenberg Fellow in Interfaith Nonviolence. 

A prominent specialist on U.S. Middle East policy, Professor Zunes has presented hundreds of public lectures and conference papers in both the United States and over a dozen foreign countries. He has traveled frequently to the Middle East and other conflict regions, meeting with prominent government officials, scholars, and dissidents. He has served as a political analyst for local, national, and international radio and television and as a columnist for several print and online publications, and has published hundreds of articles in academic journals, anthologies, magazines, websites, and elsewhere on such topics as U.S. foreign policy, Middle Eastern politics, human rights, arms control, social movements, international law, and strategic nonviolent action. He has served as a writer and senior analyst for Foreign Policy in Focus, an associate editor for Peace Review, and a contributing editor of Tikkun.

Professor Zunes earned a Bachelor of Arts in Government from Oberlin College, a Master of Arts in Political Science from Temple University, and a Master of Arts and a Ph.D. in Government from Cornell University.

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For in-person attendees: We welcome all attendees!

• The in-person registration cost for all members of the Rotary Club of San Francisco is $45 until 11:59 AM on Friday, November 27, 2026. The meeting cost increases to $60 at noon and beyond on November 27, 2026 and includes any walk-ins on Tuesday, December 1. 
• The in-person registration cost for all Visiting Rotarians and Guests is $60.

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