BLOG Post #362: Risky Business: Japan Steps Out 25 Jan 202325 Jan 2023 (This blog is also available as a podcast at https://www.podserve.fm/episodes/86207/67-risky-business-japan-steps-out-h1JT0.mp3) Background to a Changing Strategic Perspective Japan’s Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has just visited Washington, drawing attention to how Japan…
BLOG Post #361: Ukraine’s Future: Peace Through War? 14 Jan 202315 Jan 2023 Hopes and Realities Ukraine’s President Zelensky had a fairly successful visit to Washington last month, returning home with promises of more American weapons and unqualified US backing for Ukraine’s war…
BLOG Post #360 The Threat Business: China or Russia? 2 Jan 20233 Jan 2023 Dual Enemies For those in charge of US national security, the central challenge is identifying threats and determining how to counter them. The Biden administration has cast China and Russia,…
BLOG Post #359: The Iran Protests and US Policy 13 Dec 202212 Dec 2022 "Women, Life, Freedom" Streets in dozens of Iran cities are filled with angry people in popular protests that have already gone on much longer—three months and counting—than those in 2009…
BLOG Post #358: China’s COVID Uprising 4 Dec 20227 Jan 2023 Significant dissent in China reared its head for the first time since the Tiananmen uprising in 1989. In many of China’s major cities, protesters joined hands to denounce the COVID…
BLOG Post #357: The Biden-Xi Summit in Bali 22 Nov 202222 Nov 2022 Some Reasons for Optimism The much-ballyhooed first in-person summit between Pres. Biden and Xi on November 14 went off pretty well. Biden clearly communicated the US belief that a…
BLOG Post #356: A Post-Election Caution 15 Nov 2022 Reasons for Concern What a difference a day makes, as the old song goes. The day before Election Day, liberals and progressives feared the worst: a solidly MAGA takeover…
BLOG Post #355: Israel’s Religious Terrorists 10 Nov 20229 Nov 2022 Note to Readers: Larry Kirsch is co-author of this blog. He is a consulting economist who focuses on economic and social justice, consumer protection, and public finance. Note to Readers…
BLOG Post #354: Time to Reset Military Relations with Saudi Arabia 4 Nov 2022 An Uneven Balance Sheet Saudi Arabia and OPEC have decided to cut oil production by 2 million barrels a day. The President is miffed, and has signaled that he’s…
BLOG Post #353: Europe’s Far-Right Lurch 23 Oct 202222 Oct 2022 The struggle to save democracy is proving even more difficult in Europe than here in the US. Virtually every European country is bedeviled by rising conflict between traditional political parties…
BLOG Post #352: Can Russia’s Use of a Nuclear Weapon in the Ukraine War Be Prevented? 13 Oct 202225 Oct 2022 (The podcast of this blog is at https://www.podserve.fm/episodes/76143/62-on-dealing-with-russia-nuclear-weapons-and-the-off-ramp.mp3) President Biden surprised his top advisers along with everyone else when, at a fundraising event, he referred to “Armageddon” in the…
BLOG Post #351: Predictions of a Ukraine Victory are Premature 29 Sep 202229 Sep 2022 For the podcast of this blog, see the archive at https://wordpress.com/post/melgurtov.com/2247 Putin Under Fire Something extraordinary is happening in the course of Russia’s war in Ukraine. Putin is taking a…
BLOG Post #350: Two on China: Xi Does Well in Central Asia, Taiwan Fares Well in the US Senate 20 Sep 202219 Sep 2022 The Limits of “No Limits” In the course of his Central Asia tour, Xi Jinping met with Vladimir Putin for what some analysts thought would be a reprise of their…
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…
BLOG Post #349: Brazil’s Election and the Future of the Amazon 4 Sep 202217 Sep 2022 (The podcast of this and all other blogs is athttps://wordpress.com/post/melgurtov.com/2247.) The Candidates: Worlds Apart On October 2 we will have a presidential election in Brazil of enormous consequence for the…
BLOG Post #348: Another Missed Opportunity in US-China Relations 24 Aug 202223 Aug 2022 The Washington Post reports that Xi Jinping personally asked President Biden to find a way to put off House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan (https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/08/20/nancy-pelosi-biden-taiwan/) . According to…
BLOG Post #347: The Great Energy Game in Europe 12 Aug 202214 Aug 2022 The audio of this blog is at https://www.podserve.fm/episodes/67441/56-the-great-energy-game-in-europe.mp3 The Politics of Russia’s Energy Exports It won’t be long before winter descends on Europe. Before it does, most European countries…
BLOG Post #346: Nancy Pelosi’s Taiwan Trip: A Needless Provocation 3 Aug 20223 Aug 2022 The audio version of this blog is available at https://www.podserve.fm/episodes/66494/55-nancy-pelosis-taiwan-trip-a-needless-provocation.mp3 House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was intent on visiting Taiwan, and did so despite President Biden’s misgivings and criticisms from many China…
BLOG Post #345: Back to the Future: Biden in the Middle East 23 Jul 202229 Jul 2022 The audio version of this blog is at https://www.podserve.fm/episodes/65600/54-back-to-the-future-bidens-middle-east-trip.mp3 President Biden has now completed his first visit to the Middle East. The trip was billed as an opportunity to…
BLOG Post #344: Water, Water, No Longer Everywhere 14 Jul 202214 Jul 2022 The audio of this blog may be accessed at https://www.podserve.fm/episodes/64815/53-water-water-no-longer-everywhere.mp3 Drought and Scarcity "Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink.” Coleridge’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” is only halfway…