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In the Human Interest – Mel Gurtov

In the Human Interest – Mel Gurtov

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Category: APB

Comments on today’s news

APB…

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…
APB

Five Reasons Why Nancy Pelosi Should Postpone a Trip to Taiwan

28 Jul 2022
            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…
APB

FYI Afghanistan

27 Aug 2021
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…
APB

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…
APB

APB: Our National Embarrassment

15 Jan 2021
It is not enough that under Donald Trump the United States has withdrawn from major international organizations at a time of global need; that its president has humiliated and withdrawn…
APB

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…
APB

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…
APB

APB: “Standing Up” for Hong Kong

24 May 2020
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…
APB

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.…
APB

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…
APB

APB: Embarrassing Moments from Trump’s Visit to India

25 Feb 2020
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…
APB

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…
APB

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…
APB

APB: The Democrats’ Scarlet Letter Strategy

20 Dec 2019
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…
APB

APB: Farewell, John Bolton

11 Sep 2019
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…
APB…

APB: The Caging of Human Rights

13 Jul 2019
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…
APB

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,…
APB

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…
APB

APB: After Mueller

25 Mar 201925 Mar 2019
Attorney General William Barr’s letter to Congress summarizing the Mueller investigation that absolved Trump of collusion and determined that Trump would not be prosecuted for possible obstruction of justice brought…
APB

APB: New Zealand Shows the Way

21 Mar 2019
Bravo to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand for demonstrating what leadership in a democracy is all about when national security is at stake. Her announcement of an outright…

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  • Post #362: Risky Business: Japan Steps Out
  • Post #361: Ukraine’s Future: Peace Through War?
  • Post #360 The Threat Business: China or Russia?
  • Post #359: The Iran Protests and US Policy
  • Post #358: China’s COVID Uprising

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Journals with my recent articles

  • Asian Perspective US-China Relations and Human Rights: The Xinjiang Case
  • China-US Focus Chinese domestic and foreign policy; US-China relations
  • Counterpunch critical commentary from my blog on current affairs
  • Foreign Policy in Focus COVID-19 has contributed to US-China tensions instead of to cooperation.
  • Global Asia Pres. Biden’s Asia policy will emphasize toughness with China in coalition with allies. But foreign policy will be subordinate to domestic renewal.
  • The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus Articles on US-China relations and the End-of-Poverty Illusion in East Asia

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  • MY RECENT BOOKS America in Retreat: Foreign Policy Under Donald Trump; Engaging Adversaries: Peacemaking and Diplomacy in the Human Interest. COMING THIS FALL: Engaging China: Rebuilding US-China Relations. Published by Rowman & Littlefield, available from Amazon

Listen to my "Global Citizen" commentaries every Tuesday on KBOO.fm (Portland area) and Wednesdays on KXCR.net (Florence, OR area). Podcasts may be accessed at https://www.podserve.fm/series/website/the-global-citizen,2906/

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