Resource Author: Matt Duss

Trump’s Ethnic Cleansing Plan for Gaza: An Open Forum

The Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding in partnership with the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies hosts a special forum featuring Dr. Annelle Sheline (Quincy Institute), Dr. Josh Ruebner (IMEU Policy Project), Matt Duss (Center for International Policy), and Dr. Nader Hashemi (ACMCU), entitled “Trump’s Ethnic Cleansing Plan for Gaza: An Open Forum” on February 18th at 4PM in Copley Formal Lounge & on YouTube.

Tuesday, Feb 18, 2025 | 4:00pm – 5:30pm EST | Copley Formal Lounge
YouTube Livestream: https://youtube.com/live/1RWxyyUPqe4?feature=share

Event Description

Donald Trump’s plan to establish U.S. “ownership” over and “clean out” Gaza has prompted global condemnation and outrage, with many alleging the plan is nothing less than ethnic cleansing. While Trump’s team initially tried to walk back his comments, he has since doubled-down and reiterated that Gaza “would be turned over to the United States by Israel at the conclusion of the fighting” and that Palestinians would be “resettled” elsewhere. This expert panel will discuss and analyze this disturbing development. Join us for a sober reflection and discussion on what Trump’s plan for ethnic cleansing for Gaza means for Palestinians, the region at large, and the very foundations of the international order.

Panelists

Annelle Sheline, PhD, is a research fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, a think tank dedicated to advocating for a less militaristic U.S. foreign policy, and an adjunct lecturer at Georgetown University.

Matt Duss is the executive vice-president of Center for International Policy and former foreign policy advisor to Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and former president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace.

Josh Ruebner, Ph.D., is an adjunct lecturer in justice and peace studies at Georgetown University and policy director of the Institute for Middle East Understanding Policy Project.

Nader Hashemi, Ph.D., is the Director of the Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding and an Associate Professor of Middle East and Islamic Politics at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

RSVP here for In-Person, Use YouTube Link for Livestream

Jeffrey Sachs & Matt Duss Debate U.S.-Russia Talks to End Ukraine War

As top diplomats from the United States and Russia meet in Saudi Arabia to discuss ending the war in Ukraine and improving relations between Washington and Moscow, Economist Jeffrey Sachs and foreign policy analyst Matt Duss joined Democracy Now! to offer their analysis.

Duss emphasized that Ukrainians have agency and the conflict cannot be reduced to a question of NATO participation. “If there is a workable peace agreement to be had, that’s good,” he says, but attempting to decide Ukraine’s future without Ukrainians at the table is unlikely to be successful or sustainable.

Duss explains:

Putin’s vision for Russia’s role and for the eventual dispensation for Ukraine is that this is something to be worked out between Russia and the United States, between these two great powers. He sees Russia as a rising force. Again, he’s trying to kind of reestablish Russia as a great empire, a great force in global affairs. And his vision of how global affairs should work is that the great powers make decisions, and the lesser powers just have to deal with it. Their concerns are of very little concern. And unfortunately, I think that is something we’ve seen from the Trump administration, too, whether it’s Ukraine, whether it’s Gaza. It’s that the powerful make decisions, and the weak just deal with it. I don’t think that’s just. And more importantly, I don’t think that’s going to lead to a sustainable peace. So, listen, if they do — if they do come out of these talks with a workable and sustainable and durable peace agreement for Ukraine, one that protects Ukraine’s democracy, one that protects Ukraine’s sovereignty, we should all support that. But without the participation of Ukraine, I’m very, very skeptical that we’re going to get anything like that.

Some additional positive side effects could include reducing the corrosive power on our democracy and foreign affairs of the U.S. military-industrial complex. If NATO countries step up their security commitments, Duss notes, “that could have potential positive consequences for the United States, given the way that the US security architecture in Europe is something that helps buttress our own military-industrial complex & diminishes & really corrupts our own democracy.”

You can find the full interview and transcript on Democracy Now! here.

Additional Resources:

Trump’s Impact on Gaza Policy, USAID, China

Trump’s proposal for the US to “own” Gaza and force out the Palestinian population would make it American policy to support “a crime against humanity”, says Matt Duss.

On this episode of After America, Matt Duss, Executive Vice-President at the Washington DC-based Center for International Policy, joins Dr Emma Shortis to discuss Trump’s Gaza announcement, the freeze on US development funding, and the new Cabinet’s approach to China.

This discussion was recorded on Friday 7 February 2025 and things may have changed since recording.

Guest: Matt Duss, Executive Vice-President, Center for International Policy // @mattduss

Host: Emma Shortis, Director, International & Security Affairs, the Australia Institute // @EmmaShortis

This podcast originally appeared on The Australia Institute.

Order What’s the Big Idea? 32 Big Ideas for a Better Australia now, via the Australia Institute website.

Show notes:

‘Trump’s Gaza Proposal is Less Original Than He Thinks’ by Matthew Duss, Foreign Policy (February 2025)

‘America Is Cursed by a Foreign Policy of Nostalgia’ by Nancy Okail and Matthew Duss, Foreign Affairs (December 2024)

‘Democrats have become the party of war. Americans are tired of it’ by Matthew Duss, The Guardian (January 2025)

The Un-Diplomatic Podcast hosted by Van Jackson, Julia Gledhill and Matthew Duss

Theme music: Blue Dot Sessions

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Matt Duss Discusses Trump’s Dangerous Foreign Policy Actions – Mornings With Zerlina

On February 7, Center for International Policy Executive Vice-President Matt Duss joined SiriusXM’s “Mornings With Zerlina” for a discussion of Trump’s proposal to ‘clean out’ the Gaza Strip, the attacks on USAID, the administrative state, and more.

Duss on Trump’s Gaza Redevelopment Proposal, Netanyahu Visit

Matt Duss joined Al Jazeera Inside Story to discuss President Donald Trump’s proposal that the U.S. “take over” Gaza, redevelop it and resettle Palestinians at a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“We absolutely should not downplay or dismiss the gravity of what Trump proposed yesterday, he has made the policy of the United States a crime against humanity,” said Duss.

“There’s a great amount of continuity in an American president and an Israeli prime minister standing together and determining the future of the Palestinian people. Unfortunately, that reflects what American policy has largely been for decades, and it’s part of why that policy has continually failed.”


Watch the full video here.

Duss: Trump’s Gaza Proposal is Less Original Than He Thinks

Trump’s Gaza ethnic cleansing plan reflects the same disregard for Palestinian rights that has handicapped U.S. policy for decades. He’s making the same mistake as past administrations, just in a bigger and uglier way, argues Matt Duss in a new Foreign Policy analysis. He writes:

While it’s possible that Trump has proposed the mass expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza as a bargaining ploy, creating a potential “concession” out of thin air, we shouldn’t lose sight of the gravity of this moment.

The president of the United States has made the commission of a crime against humanity the explicit policy of his administration. The fact that Trump sees such a proposal as within the realm of acceptable discussion is itself a reflection on our deeply broken and corrupt political discourse, especially as it relates to the Palestinians.

While Trump’s proposal was particularly offensive, Tuesday’s press conference with Netanyahu demonstrated more continuity than many in Washington would like to admit. The spectacle of a U.S. president and an Israeli prime minister presuming to determine between themselves the future of the Palestinians is emblematic of decades of U.S. policy toward the conflict and a key reason for that policy’s consistent and continued failure. Trump is making the same mistake as past administrations, albeit in a bigger and uglier way.

Read the full piece on Foreign Policy or at the PDF below.

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[Video] What a Trump Administration Means for US Foreign Policy in the Middle East

On February 6, Northwestern University hosts Nancy Okail of the Center for International Policy and Shibley Telhami of the the University of Maryland and the Brookings Institution for a discussion of the incoming Trump presidential administration and possible implications for US foreign policy in the Middle East. Matt Duss of the Center for International Policy will moderate the discussion. RSVP here to join virtually.

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

WHEN: Thursday, February 6, 2025
12:30 PM – 2:00 PM CT / 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM ET

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Nancy Okail is President and CEO of the Center for International Policy. Dr. Okail is a leading scholar, policy analyst, and advocate with more than 20 years of experience working on issues of human rights, democracy, and security in the Middle East and North Africa region. She previously served as a visiting scholar at the Center for Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) at Stanford University, and as Executive Director of the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP), which under her leadership became an internationally renowned policy research organization. 

Shibley Telhami is the Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development, Distinguished Scholar-Teacher, and the Director of the University of Maryland Critical Issues Poll. He is also Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. Telhami is the author and editor of numerous books. He recently co-edited The One State Reality: What is Israel/Palestine? which was published in March 2023 with Cornell University Press. His current book project is Peace Derailed: Obama, Trump, Biden, and the Decline of Diplomacy on Israel/Palestine, 2011-2022 (co-authored). 

Matthew Duss is Executive Vice-President at the Center for International Policy. Before joining CIP, Duss was a visiting scholar in the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. From 2017-22, Duss was foreign policy advisor to Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt). From 2014-17, Duss was the president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace. From 2008-14 Duss was a National Security and International Policy analyst at the Center for American Progress.

Learn more about the event and co-organizers here.

Add to Calendar

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Trump’s Gaza Ethnic Cleansing Comments are Appalling

The Center for International Policy’s Executive Vice President Matt Duss issued the following statement in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments proposing to “just clean out” the Gaza Strip of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians:

“Donald Trump’s comments explicitly advocating for ethnic cleansing in the Gaza Strip are appalling and should be universally condemned. In making clear that he has been pressing U.S. partner governments on the idea, Trump is using the office of the American presidency to openly advocate for a crime against humanity.

The office of Palestinian president and the Jordanian government have already made clear that they reject any such proposal, and we hope other countries, as well as American lawmakers, swiftly do the same. We also hope that the international community will make absolutely clear to President Trump that by expressly pushing for the forcible transfer of population from Gaza, he risks violating international law, including the Rome Statute’s prohibition on aiding, abetting or assisting the commission or attempted commission of a crime against humanity.”

New Foreign Affairs Essay Offers Bold Blueprint for U.S. Foreign Policy Reform

In a provocative new essay published by Foreign Affairs, Nancy Okail, President and CEO of the Center for International Policy, and Matt Duss, the organization’s Executive Vice President, present a sweeping critique of the entrenched U.S. foreign policy orthodoxy and lay out a bold blueprint for reform. The essay, “America Is Cursed by a Foreign Policy of Nostalgia,” challenges decades of militarism and neoliberal economic policies that have prioritized corporate and elite interests over the well-being of most Americans and people worldwide.

With the 2024 election confirming the collapse of Washington’s traditional foreign policy consensus, Okail and Duss argue that neither “America First” unilateralism nor liberal internationalism can address the urgent needs of a world grappling with climate change, economic inequality, and political instability. Instead, they call for a transformative foreign policy rooted in shared global challenges, equitable economic reform, and principled international cooperation.

“The United States must choose between advancing a genuinely equitable global order or clinging to an undemocratic and unsustainable quest for global primacy,” said Okail. “Our current trajectory not only fails to meet the needs of working Americans but also alienates nations and peoples worldwide that are calling for a more just and inclusive international system.”

Key recommendations in the essay include:

  • Ending Failed Militarism: Shifting from prioritizing global military hegemony at any cost to a foreign policy that prioritizes human security, accountability, conflict prevention, and consistent application of international laws and norms.
  • Breaking from Neoliberal Economics: Ensuring prosperity is more widely shared among US communities, while reducing global inequality and economic precarity through equitable trade, labor, and investment rules, including by reforming global institutions like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund to support low- and middle-income countries, enabling sustainable development and debt relief.
  • Redefining Relations with China: Moving beyond Great Power Competition and zero-sum strategic thinking to focus on collaborative solutions for climate change, public health, technological innovation, and a more inclusive global economic and political system.

“Decades of militarized foreign policy and economic systems designed to benefit corporations and the wealthy have left working-class Americans—and communities around the world—paying the price,” added Duss. “The 2024 election put a decisive stamp on what has long been clear: the Washington foreign policy consensus is not only intellectually bankrupt but also increasingly alienating to the American people. It’s time for a new approach that breaks from the false choice between ‘America First’ unilateralism and ‘America is Back’ nostalgia, focusing instead on the needs of everyday people and a future built on common good, human rights, and shared prosperity.”

This essay is a call to action for policymakers, thought leaders, and citizens who recognize that the challenges of the 21st century require a fundamentally new approach to U.S. leadership.

The full essay is available in Foreign Affairs and can be read here.

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The Center for International Policy (CIP) is a woman-led, progressive, independent nonprofit center for research, education, and advocacy working to advance a more peaceful, just, and sustainable U.S. approach to foreign policy.

Foreign Policy: It’s Time for Ukraine to Make the Best Peace It Can

Trump’s victory in the presidential election means that, rather than the general continuity Ukraine could have expected from a Biden to Harris administrations, the United States will soon be governed by an executive less invested in Ukrainian freedom from Russian domination. In Foreign Policy, Matt Duss and Robert Farley argue that, “despite his ideological affinity for Putin, Trump has an interest in a genuinely durable settlement that does not simply result in Russian troops overrunning Ukraine,” if only for the simple reason that image-conscious Trump will want to avoid the appearance of unmanaged chaos that would come with the fall of Kyiv.

Write Duss and Farley:

On our visit to Ukraine in September 2023, we witnessed a vibrant democratic society rallying to prevent Russian domination of their country. Drawn out of Russia’s shadow since the 2014 war, Ukraine has undergone a cultural awakening, with art, music, literature, and history emphasizing a distinct national character. This awakening is hardly unconnected to the war. The normal avenues of Russian domination, including organized crime and state-sponsored religious activity, have been cut off by the war. Corruption still exists in Ukraine, but the impact of Russian dirty money has been substantially curtailed.

These outcomes are worth preserving, and any negotiated peace should seek to preserve them. The most important outcome of a cease-fire for Ukraine’s future must be an affirmation of Ukraine’s ability to protect itself, either by investing in its own defense or through relying upon its friends and neighbors. The threat posed by Russia to Ukraine is larger and more complex than simply a reprise of this invasion after a pause of months or years to recover strength.

Read the full piece “It’s Time for Ukraine to Make the Best Peace It Can” in Foreign Policy.