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In the Human Interest – Mel Gurtov

In the Human Interest – Mel Gurtov

Critical appraisals of foreign affairs and politics from a global-citizen perspective

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4Jul 2026
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Post #514: Out of Control

Mentally Unstable Ordinarily, July 4 would be a time to celebrate the virtues of America. But whatever virtues we once…

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26Jun 202626 Jun 2026
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Post #513: The Missing Art of the Deal with Iran

Understanding the MOU Most of the critical commentary on the Trump administration’s memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iran centers on…

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18Jun 2026
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Post #512: Dissecting the US-Iran Agreement

The US-Iran memorandum of understanding (MOU) has now been revealed, and it is clear why it took days before a…

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BLOG

Post #450-2: The Trump-Musk Outlaw Regime–The Scorecard So Far

17 Mar 202530 May 2026
(Note to the Reader: This is a third iteration of a blog originally posted after the first two weeks of the Trump administration. Sorry for the length, but the numerous…
BLOG

Post #429: No One Wants Another Middle East War, but Everyone is Preparing for One

30 Jun 202429 Jun 2024
Can Israel Be Restrained? Reports from the Middle East these days have two things in common: All the parties wish to avoid a war, yet all the movement is toward…
BLOG

Post #428: The European Parliament Elections: Crisis Averted?

16 Jun 2024
The Results and the Implications When it comes to paying attention to international news, Americans are notorious for focusing on wars, bad economic news, and not much else. That’s unfortunate,…
BLOG

Post #427: Is It Time for This War to End? Evidently Not

11 Jun 2024
            In a major speech May 31, Pres. Biden offered a three-phase plan for ending the Israel-Hamas war, saying “it is time for this war to end.” (I have appended…
BLOG

Post #426: The Elections-Democracy Gap

5 Jun 2024
South Africa, India, and Mexico just held general elections. Britain will hold a general election July 4. The US will hold one Nov. 5. Record-setting demonstrations in Israel may yet…
BLOG

Post #425: Alliance politics in East Asia: More Security or Less?

27 May 202416 Jun 2024
The Biden-Kishida Summit The best thing about diplomacy between government leaders is that it may ease tensions. The worst thing is that it doesn’t resolve the disputes between them, making…
BLOG

Post #424: China Calls the Shots with Russia and Europe

21 May 202419 May 2024
Putin the Supplicant             Xi Jinping’s balancing act with Russia and the West took on a new challenge with Vladimir Putin’s arrival in Beijing on May 16. It was roughly…
BLOG

Post #423: A Package Deal Full of Holes

17 May 2024
The Biden administration has been working on a package deal with Saudi Arabia that would guarantee a path to a Palestinian state in return for a permanent cease-fire and establishment…
BLOG

Post #422: Disruptions in US-China Student Exchanges

10 May 202410 May 2024
In recent talks between US and Chinese leaders, they have found common ground in support for more people-to-people exchanges, particularly in education. Presidents Biden and Xi both mentioned the importance…
BLOG

Post #421: India, Israel, and America’s Double Standard

4 May 2024
            India is hailed as the world’s biggest democracy, and Israel as the only democracy in the Middle East. Yet both are led by authoritarian rulers who are far more…
BLOG

Post #420 Are We on the Brink of World War III?

24 Apr 202423 Apr 2024
The Zone of Major Conflict I don’t think it is too alarmist to suggest that we could be at the beginning stage of World War III. The ingredients for another…
BLOG

Post 419: The Israel-Iran Confrontation: Episode or War?

14 Apr 202414 Apr 2024
            Condemnation of Iran’s attack on Israel seems to be nearly universal. The UN, NATO countries, Jordan and Egypt—it’s a pretty widespread view. We may all be thankful that the…
BLOG

Post #418: Crimes Against Humanity in Gaza

9 Apr 20249 Apr 2024
            Among the many brutalities in war prohibited under international humanitarian law are starvation of civilian populations and deliberate attacks on aid workers. Here are some new findings worth considering…
BLOG

Post #417: US Complicity in Israel’s War Crimes Takes Another Step

2 Apr 202427 Apr 2024
The Biden administration continues to act contrary to logic, law, and humane values in response to Israel’s war policies. Despite overwhelming evidence of Israel’s war crimes and acts that constitute…
BLOG

Post #416: TikTok, TikTok: The Clock is Running Out

16 Mar 2024
A National Security Threat?             The Chinese-owned TikTok has been under attack throughout the last two US administrations, on the argument that data collection of American users would threaten national…
BLOG

Post #415: Resolving Biden’s Dilemma

9 Mar 20249 Mar 2024
A "Come-to-Jesus" Moment Following the State of the Union speech, President Biden had a conversation on the House floor with Senator Michael Bennet, Democrat of Colorado, who urged the President…
BLOG

Post #414: Trump, NATO, and Appeasement

3 Mar 202429 Feb 2024
Appeasement             For many years Donald Trump has been out to end US participation in NATO, citing defense costs but actually being keen to appease Vladimir Putin. As some of…
BLOG

Post #413: Lessons From the China Spy Balloon Incident, One Year Ago

16 Feb 202416 Feb 2024
This month is the first anniversary of the infamous Chinese spy balloon incident. It’s an incident worth recalling for several reasons beyond the fact that it set back US-China relations…
APB

APB: Sneak Attacks on Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden

9 Feb 2024
The special counsel's report on Pres. Biden's handling of classified information raised unwarranted, and frankly disgusting, references to his age and memory. It was a sneak attack that may have…
BLOG

Post #412: Senate Progressives Seek to Hold Israel Accountable

4 Feb 2024
Larry Kirsch is co-author of this blog. Two Bills with Limited Support     For those who are dismayed and disturbed by Israel’s disproportionate response to the Hamas atrocities on Oct. 7…
BLOG

Post #411: Ending the Israel-Hamas War–Where Things Stand

29 Jan 202429 Jan 2024
            The New York Times reported January 27 on three negotiating tracks that are being pursued simultaneously to end the Israel-Hamas war (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/27/world/middleeast/gaza-war-israel-hamas-negotiations.html). None of them seems likely to succeed…
BLOG

Post #410: Is North Korea Preparing for War?

21 Jan 2024
North Korea’s Calculations Two of America’s most prominent North Korea experts, Robert Carlin and Siegfried Hecker, begin their latest analysis with this sentence: “The situation on the Korean Peninsula is…
BLOG

Post #409: The Taiwan Elections

16 Jan 202416 Jan 2024
The Election Results In normal times, a presidential election in Taiwan is mainly about domestic issues, not relations with the People's Republic of China. But the election January 13 put…
BLOG

Post #408: The Year Ahead: Ten Issues and One Wild Card

7 Jan 2024
2024 is likely to be filled with more than the usual challenges to planetary safety and survival. Here’s a look at ten issues and a wild card that suggest what’s…
BLOG

Post #407: Global Debt is Beyond Control

2 Jan 20244 Jan 2024
The Washington Consensus             The debt of developing countries is at “crisis” levels, the World Bank has just said. Supporting that view is a New York Times story December 16…
BLOG

Post #406: Bombing Gaza–Disturbing Comparisons with Vietnam

28 Dec 202327 Dec 2023
Indiscriminate Bombing             Investigations into Israel’s use of 2000-pound bombs in its Gaza campaign have determined that you have to go back to Vietnam to compare the brutality and mindlessness…
BLOG

Post #405: Europe is Moving Farther to the Right on Energy and Immigration

22 Dec 202322 Dec 2023
Self-Preservation Over Principle             Politics in the European Union provides a good example of how the best intentions in dealing with climate change can be thwarted. A European Green Deal…
BLOG

Post #404: Myanmar’s Junta is in Trouble

17 Dec 2023
A Badly Weakened Dictatorship Myanmar’s (Burma) military dictatorship, which seized power in 2021, suddenly is vulnerable to attack from the hodgepodge resistance forces loosely aligned under a National Unity Government.…
BLOG

Post #403: COP28–Doing Less While Pretending to Do More

10 Dec 2023
Following the Script             International conferences almost always fall well short of meeting ambitious reform goals because the large number and variety of participants ensure hard bargaining over policy ideas…
BLOG

Post #402: Israel’s Intelligence Failure: Worse Than We Thought

2 Dec 20232 Dec 2023
Turns out that over a year before the Hamas attack, Israeli intelligence secured multiple documentation that gave a detailed account on what Hamas would do Oct. 7. But the Israelis…
BLOG

Post #401: When Will It End? Some Might Prefer It Didn’t

29 Nov 202328 Nov 2023
Netanyahu, the Main Obstacle             In an opinion article published in the Washington Post November 18, President Biden described how far his ambitions stretch beyond the four-day pause in fighting…
BLOG

Post #400: Israel’s Al-Shifa Operation– A Critical Examination

20 Nov 202314 Dec 2023
Note to Readers: Larry Kirsch is co-author of this blog. Israel’s attack on the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City has become both the reality and the symbol of all that…
BLOG

Post #399: Biden and Xi Seek Coexistence

16 Nov 2023
            The first face-to-face meeting in a year between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping went about as expected: some potentially meaningful agreements, some continuing disagreements, some controversies unexplored, and…
BLOG

Post #398:Cease Fire? Obstacles and Opportunities

11 Nov 202311 Nov 2023
            Appeals for a cease fire in Israel’s war with Hamas are growing louder. Along with many governments and international and nongovernmental organizations, the UN General Assembly, by a 120-14…
BLOG

Post #397: Biden’s Choices

6 Nov 2023
Contradictions Presidents always face uncomfortable choices: supporting human rights versus providing weapons to governments that consistently violate human rights; adding to the nuclear weapons stockpile versus spending money on social…
BLOG

Post #396: Close Encounters Require US-China Military Talks

3 Nov 2023
Near Misses US officials have announced that the President will meet Xi Jinping in San Francisco later this month, the first such meeting in a year. No issue is more…
BLOG

Post #395: The War in Israel: Costs and Consequences

28 Oct 202330 Oct 2023
The Victims Israel’s air war on Gaza is not only the most extensive ever carried out there; it is one of the largest bombardments anywhere in recent times—one that, according…
BLOG

Post #394: The Doubtful Future of the American Experiment

22 Oct 202322 Oct 2023
Signs of Decline             Peter Baker, the outstanding New York Times columnist, writes: “There was a time, not that long ago, when the United States presumed to teach the world…
BLOG

Post #393: The Hamas Attack on Israel

11 Oct 2023
Terror and Retribution Once again, Israel and the Palestinians are at war. Hundreds are dead, thousands are wounded, Hamas has killed men, women, and children, and taken over 100 hostages.…
BLOG

Post #392: A Crisis in the Palestinian Authority

7 Oct 202330 Oct 2023
Israel and Hamas are at war, with many deaths on both sides being reported. Meantime, another crisis is brewing, within the Palestinian Authority (PA). Mahmoud Abbas, president of the PA…
BLOG

Post #391: Alarm over Kim Jong Un’s Russia Trip

3 Oct 2023
Weapons Deals and Heightening Tensions             Alarm bells are ringing in Tokyo, Seoul, and Washington over Kim Jong Un’s transactions during his 6-day stay in Vladivostok. He visited a full…
BLOG

Post #390: Dealing with Iran After the Prisoner Exchange

23 Sep 2023
Small Steps Forward             Just a few months ago, we heard talk about revival of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, this time in the form of an unwritten agreement.…
BLOG

Post #389: Vietnam and the United States: A Transformed Relationship

18 Sep 2023
Strategic Rethinking Nearly fifty years after the Vietnam War, and over twenty-five years since the US and Vietnam established diplomatic relations, the two countries have entered into a “comprehensive strategic…
BLOG

Post #388: Evaluating Three Peace Plans for the Ukraine War

7 Sep 20233 Oct 2023
Ideas about how to end the Ukraine war abound. None come from Ukraine. None have gained traction. Here, nevertheless, are three examples of what knowledgeable people are thinking, along with…
BLOG

Post #387: China’s Rise Hits a Wall

31 Aug 2023
            Over the last decade or so, the tendency among China watchers has been to see China’s rise as an endless upward progression. Just as happened during the Cold War…
BLOG

Post #386: The Fukushima Tragedy Resurfaces

25 Aug 202325 Aug 2023
Releasing the Water             Just as all Americans remember 9/11, Japanese remember 3/11, the day in 2011 that an earthquake and tsunami overwhelmed the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, destroying…
BLOG

Post #385: No Free Lunch: The Hidden Costs of EVs

20 Aug 202319 Aug 2023
The Hidden Costs             In his pathbreaking 1971 book, The Closing Circle, Barry Commoner proposed four laws of ecology: Everything is connected to everything else; Everything must go somewhere; Nature…
BLOG

Post #384: China’s (Un)popularity

4 Aug 2023
One of Xi Jinping’s signature initiatives is the idea of China’s renaissance—“the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,” as he puts it. Part of that effort is to arouse the loyalty…
BLOG

Post #383: Russia, Niger, and Coup Politics in Africa

31 Jul 20231 Aug 2023
If head counting is any indication, Russian diplomacy in Africa is slipping. A Russia-Africa summit meeting held in St. Petersburg drew only 21 African heads of state, far fewer than…
BLOG

Post #382: The Widening Breach, in Israel and in Israel-US Relations

24 Jul 202324 Jul 2023
The Growing Divide             Israel’s Knesset, or parliament, has passed the first law to scale back judicial independence, in line with the ambitions of Benjamin Netanyahu’s largely far-right, ultra-religious cabinet.…
BLOG…

Post #514: Out of Control

4 Jul 2026
Mentally Unstable Ordinarily, July 4 would be a time to celebrate the virtues of America. But whatever virtues we once possessed, Donald Trump and his inner circle of family and…
BLOG…

Post #513: The Missing Art of the Deal with Iran

26 Jun 202626 Jun 2026
Understanding the MOU Most of the critical commentary on the Trump administration’s memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iran centers on the specific commitments each side is supposed to have made…
BLOG…

Post #512: Dissecting the US-Iran Agreement

18 Jun 2026
The US-Iran memorandum of understanding (MOU) has now been revealed, and it is clear why it took days before a US official read it out to reporters in advance of…
BLOG…

Post #511: Lebanon, Netanyahu’s Nightmare and Opportunity

8 Jun 20268 Jun 2026
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s chances of reelection hinge on carrying on the war Hezbollah and keeping the fires burning with Iran. At the same time, he must assuage Donald…
BLOG…

Post #510: Defeats in the Middle East, One Place at a Time

3 Jun 2026
President Donald Trump hates to lose, but he is on a losing streak in the Middle East—not just in Iran, where his illegal war has been a strategic and diplomatic…
BLOG…

Post #509: The Crimes of the Trump Regime

30 May 202631 May 2026
(Note to the Reader: This is the fourth iteration of a blog originally posted after the first two weeks of the Trump administration. It is intended as a catalogue in…
BLOG…

Post #508: This Reported End-of-War Agreement Shows Its Pointlessness

28 May 2026
We’ve seen this movie several times already: Trump issues threats, Iran refuses to kneel, negotiators rush to Qatar, Trump or Rubio announces an imminent deal, and then optimism evaporates as…
BLOG…

Post #507: The Trump-Xi Summit and the New World Order

15 May 202616 May 2026
A Transformed Relationship A study of five decades of US-China summitry by the Asia Society finds that “these meetings rarely transform the relationship. What they can do, when handled well,…
BLOG…

Post #506: China Plays It Smart in the Iran War

7 May 2026
China has played a cautious hand on Iran. It has chosen not to try to defend a country that is a major source of oil and officially a “comprehensive strategic…
BLOG…

Post #505: Cuba’s Fate Should Not be in US Hands

25 Apr 2026
Another Venezuela? Negotiations are ongoing between the US and Cuba as the Trump administration decides whether or not to apply the Venezuela model to Cuba. The US embargo remains in…
BLOG…

Post #504: Where We Are and Where We Need to Be on Iran

21 Apr 202621 Apr 2026
As another week of Trump’s war begins, it becomes ever more clear that all his presumptions about how the war would go have proven wrong. Iran’s economy has bent but…
BLOG…

Post #503: Why the US-Iran Talks Failed

12 Apr 202620 Apr 2026
The first face-to-face high-level talks between the US and Iran since 1979 have ended without agreement. Hardly surprising; both sides put forward positions not subject to actual bargaining. On the…

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Listen to my "Global Citizen" commentaries every Tuesday, 5:25 pm, on KBOO.fm (Portland area) and Wednesdays on KXCR.net (Florence, OR area). The Global Citizen International Digest of the week's news is on KBOO Thursdays at 5:30 pm and is also on SUBSTACK, free, via https://melgurtov.substack.com

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