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Post #223: Happy New Year from Kim Jong-un

Kim Jong-un looked quite cosmopolitan on January 1 as he made his annual New Year’s address to the nation from…

22Dec 201822 Dec 2018

Post #222: Road to Ruin: Trump’s Middle East Retreat

The flight of the generals is now complete with the resignation of General James Mattis—the last of the four generals…

13Dec 201813 Dec 2018

Post #221: Weaponizing Humanitarian Aid

Long ago, US foreign aid programs honored the principle that humanitarian aid should be treated separately from economic and military…

APB

What the Chinese are Saying About the Trade Summit

3 Dec 20183 Dec 2018

Kicking the can down the road is a familiar way to avoid dealing with a problem. That is what happened in the Trump-Kim talks in Singapore on denuclearization, and it…

APB

APB: The Play’s the Thing

16 Nov 201815 Nov 2018

The murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi is a tragedy, and it is of a piece with the related tragedy of US-Saudi relations. Weeks ago I outlined a play in four…

BLOG

Post #219: Is China a “Responsible Great Power”?

31 Oct 201830 Oct 2018

President Xi Jinping would like everyone to pay attention to how China is exerting leadership in world affairs as a “responsible great power.” While the Trump administration is in retreat,…

APB

The Khashoggi Affair: A Murder Mystery in Four Acts

17 Oct 201817 Oct 2018

Act 1 (Washington, DC): Upon learning of the disappearance and possible murder of the Saudi journalist and critic, Jamal Khashoggi, Pres. Trump expresses concern and vows to get to the…

BLOG

Post #218: Getting Away with Murder

In March I wrote about the visit to Washington of Saudi Arabia’s new leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. At the time most of the media were reporting uncritically about…

BLOG

Post #217: Waiting For Hitler

11 Oct 201819 Oct 2018

If there is one thing I have learned as a political analyst, it is that there is no such thing as "never again." Use of weapons of mass destruction against…

BLOG

Post #216: A Victory for Diplomacy on the Korean Peninsula

29 Sep 20182 Oct 2018

On September 18 leaders of North and South Korea signed a September Declaration to advance inter-Korean cooperation and the possibility of the North’s denuclearization. Critics immediately dismissed the agreement for…

BLOG

Post #215: On Dealing with China

18 Sep 201826 Sep 2018

(Note: A slightly different version of this article has been published as "The China Conundrum" at https://www.chinausfocus.com/foreign-policy/the-china-conundrum.) A Self-Confident China Ever since China’s economic reforms began in 1978, the goal…

APB

Coming Apart? Maybe Not

6 Sep 20186 Sep 2018

Day by day the Trump administration is coming apart. Revelations abound about the dysfunctions of the Trump team, about Trump’s ignorance and incompetence, and now about a “resistance” group in…

APB

Another Week Under Trumpocracy

21 Aug 201820 Aug 2018

Some takeaways from another week under He Who Would Be Emperor: “All politics is local.” Speaking to local issues rather than echoing the official mantra may be the only way…

BLOG

Post #214: Saving Democracy

Writing on democracy, I’m reminded of a great old Stevie Wonder song, “Love’s In Need of Love Today.” Democracy is in need of love today: It is taking a beating…

BLOG

Post #213: While Rome (and Most Everywhere Else) Burns

3 Aug 20182 Aug 2018

By now we’re accustomed to learning that every year brings record high temperatures around the world. Extreme weather, says Prof. Michael Mann of Pennsylvania State University, “is the face of…

BLOG

Post #212: Some Dare Call It Treason

19 Jul 201819 Jul 2018

Is Donald Trump not merely gullible, uninformed, and indifferent but actually treasonous when it comes to Russia? More and more high-profile people are saying so. He’s acting like “a Russian…

BLOG

Post #211: At Home and Abroad, Trump Abandons Human Rights (Part 2)

16 Jul 201814 Jul 2018

(Note: This is the continuation of Post #210, published July 7. The full version is available in The Asia-Pacific Journal/Japan Focus, https://apjjf.org/2018/15/Gurtov.html. Deceptive Reporting Discussion in the Trump administration of…

APB

“Gangsterism” or “Progress”? Examining North Korea’s Latest Statement on Denuclearization

9 Jul 20188 Jul 2018

Most US news reports are suggesting that the North Koreans may be backtracking on their commitment to denuclearization,calling the US position “gangster-like” following the visit of Secretary of State Mike…

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