Post #491: The Second American Declaration
WHEN in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary to decide that a government that purports to represent the union of states has failed to do so; that the unalienable rights of Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness have been trampled upon…
Post #490: The United States is an International Lawbreaker
The illegality of US intervention in Venezuela has been amply cited with reference to its attacks on alleged drug boats, its declaration of an oil blockade, and its kidnapping of Venezuela’s leader. When it comes to the US invasion, I have not seen reference…
APB: Regime Change in Venezuela
America First; Who’s Next? The US has overthrown the Maduro regime in Venezuela, captured its leader, Nicolas Maduro, and occupied the country. Continuing a long history of US interventions in Latin America, Trump has vowed to “run the country until such time that we…
Post #489: The Year in Review
A podcast of this post is available at https://melgurtov.substack.com/p/global-citizen-international-digest-916 The reelection of Donald J. Trump is clearly the most notable event of 2025. We thought we knew him and what to expect of him. But we, and the world, discovered that we had grossly…
Post #488: Trump’s Anti-Immigrant Crusade
The New Know Nothings In the mid-19th century, an influential political party, the Know Nothings, carried on about the dangers of immigration—not from African slaves but from Europe. The Know Nothings faded out with the Civil War, but they have made a comeback—today’s Republican…
Post #487: The National Security Strategy Paper on China
The Trump administration’s National Security Strategy paper released this month is filled with nasty, nativist language and half-truths straight out of the Project 2025 playbook. But amidst the bluster about historic success in strengthening national security and claims about resolving wars is a stark…
Post #486: The US National Security Strategy Paper Puts Europe on Edge
The Trump administration has issued a National Security Strategy (NSS) document that fundamentally transforms US relations with Europe. Traditional closeness is out; open hostility to liberal governments and alignment with far-right parties are in. Europe, says the document, is facing the “stark prospect of…
Post #485: The Trump Peace Plan: A Study in Diplomatic Malfeasance
Coaching Russia The official US line on how the peace plan to end the Ukraine war emerged has Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy, and Jared Kushner developing it, Marco Rubio endorsing it, and then Russia assenting to it. But that story does not hold…
Post #484: Zelensky’s Predicament
A Plan for Ukraine Without Ukraine’s Consent The US has forged a peace proposal with Russia that, as the French are putting it, amounts to Ukraine’s capitulation. For President Volodymyr Zelensky, the worst possible world stares him in the face—a world in which Ukraine…
Post#483: Wag the Dog in Venezuela
Analysis of why countries go to war sometimes argues that leaders are motivated by problems at home. They attack another country to divert attention from an economic crisis, an unlawful act, or—as in the Robert De Niro movie, Wag the Dog—a sex scandal. In…
Post #482: Trump’s War on America
The Abuse of “National Security” Throughout much of the post-World War II history of American foreign policy, national security has meant international security—that is, defense of the US homeland was believed to require a global military presence, the world’s highest military spending, and regular…
Post #481: No Big Deal: The Trump-Xi Meeting in Korea
Promises, Promises The much-awaited meeting in Korea between Pres. Trump and Pres. Xi Jinping promised—according to Trump—a major trade deal. The Chinese seemed prepared to offer much less. In remarks to Trump, Xi repeated Chinese refrains about the need for cooperation, stressed that the…
Post #480: Gunboat Diplomacy in the Caribbean
Disproportionate Force, Hidden Motives The Trump administration has now conducted ten known strikes on boats off the Venezuelan and Colombian coasts that supposedly carry drugs destined for the US. The administration has now amassed a veritable armada in the region—several attack boats, a nuclear-capable…
Post #479: A Plan for Halting the Ukraine War
Separating the Practical from the Ideal Intractable conflicts are wars without end, and Russia’s war with Ukraine seems to fit the bill. Now three and a half years old, the war goes on without any sign of a letup in the violence. Neither side…
Post #478: The Gaza War May End, but Peace Remains Elusive
Some Questions Hamas has accepted Donald Trump’s plan for ending the Gaza war. Under the plan, Hamas, in exchange for the release of 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,700 Gazans in prison, will release all remaining hostages and the remains of others; will disarm; and…
Post #477: Trump’s Dangerous Distortion of National Security
During a large part of the post-World War II history of American foreign policy, national security meant international security—that is, defense of the US homeland was believed to require a global military presence and regular interventions—political, military, economic—in the affairs of other countries. The…
Post #476: Playing Trump
One cannot examine the wars in Ukraine and Gaza without noticing certain parallels. First and foremost are the human and economic costs of aggression. Those costs are staggering, and how they might be made up is anybody’s guess, since the aggressors—Russia and Israel—are not…
Post #475: Trump Upends the International Economic Order
Protectionism by Another Name Tariff hikes across the board, political interference through trade threats, pressure on US multinational corporations, supply chain disruptions—these are among the ways the Trump administration is trying to change economic globalization, from one based on consensus among the major trading…
Post #474: Trump, Drugs, and War
Murder License Issued The sinking of a boat allegedly carrying drugs from Venezuela has turned out to have ominous political and military implications. President Trump has taken the entirely illegal (and irrational) step of authorizing the US military to issue shoot-to-kill orders against suspected…
Post #473: A Nobel Peace Prize for Trump? Inconceivable
Four US presidents have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize: Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Jimmy Carter, and Barack Obama. Donald Trump is determined to be the fifth recipient. He has been campaigning for a Nobel, which is decided by a Norwegian committee appointed by…
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In the Human Interest - Mel Gurtov 