BLOG… Post #16 – Too Good to be True: the Deal on Ukraine 21 Apr 201427 Feb 2017 The April 17 US-European Union-Russia-Ukraine “joint diplomatic statement” on Ukraine reads pretty reasonably. It condemns “extremism” of all kinds, calls for disarming illegal groups and their vacating all illegally seized…
BLOG… Post #15: Obama’s Defining Moment? 15 Apr 201427 Feb 2017 Now that Crimea is in Vladimir Putin’s pocket, Russian soldiers, jets, artillery, and trucks are arrayed all along the border with eastern Ukraine. What will the US and NATO do…
BLOG… Post #14 Making Peace in the Middle East: Part 2, A Different Way Forward 10 Apr 201427 Feb 2017 As I argued in the previous post (#13), the US approach to a Middle East peace is essentially flawed because it is one-sided and doesn’t effectively address the core obstacles…
BLOG… Post #13 Making Peace in the Middle East, Part 1: The Wrong Way 8 Apr 201427 Feb 2017 At the close of an international gathering in November 2007, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators agreed “to engage in vigorous, ongoing and continuous negotiations, and shall make every effort to conclude…
BLOG… Post #12: Some Footnotes on Inequality 3 Apr 201427 Feb 2017 Readers have raised issues related to the two previous posts on inequality. Here are my responses: 1. Definitions of middle and upper class. There are economists' answers and sociologists' answers,…
BLOG… Post #11: Negotiating Ukraine’s Future 31 Mar 201427 Feb 2017 President Putin apparently called President Obama to propose talks on Ukraine, and as I write the two countries’ foreign ministers are meeting. This is a welcome move in view of…
BLOG… Post #10: Inequality: Pretense and Reality, Part 2 28 Mar 201427 Feb 2017 Let’s not forget to keep an eye on another place where inequality is being abetted. The outstanding economist Joe Stiglitz has written a powerful critique of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which…
BLOG… Post #9: Inequality: Pretense and Reality (Part 1) 28 Mar 201427 Feb 2017 The managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, has recently come out against rising income inequality. Imagine, a leading figure in global finance actually acknowledged that “rising inequality…
BLOG… Post #8: We Were Warned 21 Mar 201427 Feb 2017 How ironic that during the same week that scientists confirmed the Big Bang theory of the origins of the universe, other scientists confirmed that we are close to destroying…
BLOG… Post #7: Addressing Syria’s Humanitarian Crisis 17 Mar 201427 Feb 2017 Remember Syria? The civil war there is entering its fourth year. While all eyes are on the Ukraine crisis, a far deadlier conflict goes on in Syria. Like his partner…
BLOG… Post #6 China Threat? The Military Side of US-China Relations 11 Mar 201427 Feb 2017 Looking back over the history of the US-USSR Cold War competition, two aspects stand out: first, the USSR’s inability to catch up with the US in strategic weapons capability; second,…
BLOG… Post #5 Can Ukraine Be Saved? 6 Mar 201427 Feb 2017 As the Obama administration and the rest of us ponder what might happen next in Ukraine, here are some suggested thinking points: The crisis is in Russia’s backyard. Russia has…
In the Human Interest - Mel Gurtov 
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