FEATURED

5Dec 20195 Dec 2019

Post #249: Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and the Insecurity of China’s Leadership

Hong Kong is in chaos, with no sign that the protesters will yield on their demands. Mass incarceration and indoctrination…

17Nov 201916 Nov 2019

Post #248: Getting Rid of Treacherous Friends

Backing the Wrong Horse, Again The United States has a long record of befriending the wrong people—authoritarian leaders who rely…

6Nov 20195 Nov 2019

Post #247: From President to Autocrat

An Autocrat Like All Others A recent special issue of Foreign Affairs is devoted to profiling some of the world’s…

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Post #244: Listen to the Children

23 Sep 201922 Sep 2019

The Republicans are on the sidelines on the climate crisis. Government scientists are muzzled. Leading Democrats—though not all—are cautious. CEOs of some of America’s biggest corporations are pledging action while…

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Post #243: No War for Saudi Oil!

17 Sep 201922 Sep 2019

Even if US intelligence decisively shows that some of the drones and cruise missiles used in the attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil fields originated in Iran, a decision to go…

Post #240: Our Racist President

31 Jul 201930 Jul 2019

"Donald Trump lost the election because he veered so far off course from what it means to be a decent person, to be a leader, and to be an American.…

APB…

APB: The Caging of Human Rights

At a hearing yesterday (July 12) on the Trump administration’s immigration policies, Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia was appropriately livid: "I never thought as a member of Congress — as…

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Post #245: Overreach, the Achilles Heel of Autocrats

6 Oct 20196 Oct 2019

It Has Happened Here and Everywhere It seems like just yesterday that we were celebrating the democratic wave sweeping Europe in the wake of the Soviet Union’s collapse. It seems…

APB

APB: Farewell, John Bolton

The firing (or, he insists, the resignation) of John Bolton as national security special assistant is being treated by some observers as a great loss for coherence and professionalism in…

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Post #242: Trump and the Climate Crisis–A Crime Against Humanity

22 Aug 201921 Aug 2019

The President of the United States is a criminal. I’m not referring to the twenty-odd investigations of him currently underway for violations of the Constitution, obstruction of justice, and collaboration…

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Post #241: China’s Hong Kong Nightmare, and the US Response

16 Aug 201916 Aug 2019

Donald Trump has kept his promise, reportedly made to Xi Jinping in June, that Washington would "tone down" its comments on the spiraling HK protests. "Very tough situation" Trump tweeted…

A Few Suggested New Readings

5 Aug 20195 Aug 2019

Video: A Moving Cry for Change in Gun Laws: https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2019/08/04/relative-of-victims-message-to-trump-dayton-ohio-mass-shooting-nr-vpx.cnn My friend and Asia scholar Mark Selden teamed up to write the following on “The Dangerous New US Consensus on…

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Post #239: The US-China Trade War: A Cease-fire, Nothing More

25 Jul 201928 Jul 2019

The Financial Times reported on July 10 that Donald Trump, at his last meeting with Xi Jinping in Osaka in June, promised to “tone down” criticism of China’s actions in…

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Post #238: Trump-Kim III: Making History Without Making Progress?

2 Jul 20192 Jul 2019

Taking a few steps onto North Korean soil, and posing for pictures with a friendly dictator, seem to fit Trump-era diplomacy better than a carefully laid out process. But unless…

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Post #237: The Trump Way of War

29 Jun 20191 Aug 2019

Notice how similar are the Trump administration’s interactions with Iran and North Korea? The pattern in both cases is dangerous, ill-informed, and bound to fail. US adversaries by now understand…

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Post #236: Iran—Who and Where is the Threat?

21 Jun 201921 Jun 2019

The official US narrative on Iran is that it is an escalating threat to “peace and security” in the Middle East and must be stopped. Step by step, with Mike…

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Post #235: Impeach Trump

19 Jun 201918 Jun 2019

In a blog about a year ago (Post #212) entitled “Some May Call It Treason,” I referred to Donald Trump’s cozy relationship with Russia and the possibility that he has…

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Post #234: Why the Trade War with China is So Dangerous

4 Jun 20193 Jun 2019

The trade war with China that Trump so confidently predicted would result in a great new deal now threatens to become a permanent feature of US-China relations. Why that is…

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