APB – In the Human Interest – Mel Gurtov

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APB: Kissinger at 100

At the ripe age of 100, Henry Kissinger remains an icon of the governing class and the foreign policy establishment. Amazingly, his advice is still sought, he writes lucidly…

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APB: The Balloon is Up

3 Feb 20235 Feb 2023

During World War I, British forces sent up hot-air balloons to spy on advancing enemy forces. Thus the expression, "the balloon is up." In recent times, a number of…

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ANNOUNCEMENT: MY NEW BOOK ON CHINA

8 Sep 202214 Oct 2022

Dear Readers: On October 15, Engaging China: Rebuilding Sino-American Relations will be published by Rowman & Littlefield. As you know from my blogs on US-China relations, I am at once…

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Five Reasons Why Nancy Pelosi Should Postpone a Trip to Taiwan

House Leader Nancy Pelosi seems intent on visiting Taiwan. That might not seem like a big deal to Americans, but these are dangerous times in US-China relations. That makes…

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FYI Afghanistan

Here are a few sources from recent days with hopefully interesting ideas about the current situation in Afghanistan. A Zoom interview with Benon Sevan, a longtime senior official with the…

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APB: Repression in Myanmar (and an Invitation to a Presentation)

22 Mar 202125 Mar 2021

Democracy in Myanmar suffered a severe setback on February 1 when the Tatmadaw, the country’s military, seized power. The coup did not come as a complete surprise: the National League…

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APB: Our National Embarrassment

It is not enough that under Donald Trump the United States has withdrawn from major international organizations at a time of global need; that its president has humiliated and withdrawn…

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APB: The Gang Leader Speaks

4 Jan 20214 Jan 2021

Donald Trump’s telephone conversation with Georgia’s secretary of state will go down in history as a classic case of election interference, totally in keeping with Trump’s disdain for democratic processes…

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APB: Trump’s Occupy Portland Gambit

17 Jul 202019 Jul 2020

Federal troops in camouflage, without identification, heavily armed, uncommunicative, roving in unmarked cars, seizing and incarcerating peaceful protesters without charging them. Acting without invitation. No reporting of this deployment to…

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APB: “Standing Up” for Hong Kong

Has Xi Jinping finally overplayed his hand? The new security law for Hong Kong may be just that. Whereas the “cultural genocide” in Xinjiang, the roundup of lawyers and journalists…

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APB: Trump’s Cure and Our Disease

26 Mar 202026 Mar 2020

The surgeon-general said so. The federal reserve chairman said so. Epidemiologists across the US said so. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the most credible member of Trump’s coronavirus task force, said so.…

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APB: Derelict Leadership on Health Security

21 Mar 202021 Mar 2020

If one event shows both Trump’s flawed character and his ineptitude, it would have to be his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. It is all about him, claiming superior knowledge…

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APB: Embarrassing Moments from Trump’s Visit to India

Donald Trump abroad never ceases to entertain with his ignorance and misstatements. As India’s leaders learned from Trump’s previous visits to Saudi Arabia and China, all it takes is pomp…

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APB: Poor Bill Barr

14 Feb 202017 Feb 2020

Attorney General William Barr’s interview the other day in which he said Trump’s constant tweeting had made his job “impossible” has gotten mixed responses in the media. Some think the…

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APB: Thanks to Trump, Iran Has the Upper Hand

8 Jan 20208 Jan 2020

The assassination of General Soleimani is proving to be a resounding success for Iran. It accomplished what the ayatollah could not: common ground between Iran and Iraq, Iraq’s invitation to…

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APB: The Democrats’ Scarlet Letter Strategy

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has evidently decided not to turn over the articles of impeachment to the Senate until Congress resumes its work January 7. Some observers think that’s a…

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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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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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APB: It’s War!

17 May 201917 May 2019

We’re at war, and I don’t mean in the Middle East. I’m referring to the war that the Trump administration, with support from an army of state and local legislators,…

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APB: At Risk—the Idea of America

16 Apr 201913 Apr 2019

Perhaps the most damaging legacy of the Trump years is the disservice he and his associates are doing to Americans’ sense of self and nation. In ordinary times there would…