BLOG… Post #78: The Middle East Quagmire: Give Peacemaking a Chance 23 May 201527 Feb 2017 The desperate state of US policy in the Middle East became apparent once again with the ISIS rout of the Iraqi army at Ramadi. It was another setback for US-supported…
BLOG… Post #74 – After Cuba: Will Obama Follow Up with Venezuela? 14 Apr 201527 Feb 2017 A year ago mainstream news reports out of Venezuela suggested that the post-Hugo Chàvez era was going badly for his successor, Nicolás Maduro. The US media painted a picture of…
BLOG… Post #73 – The Iran Framework: A Case Study in Engagement 8 Apr 201527 Feb 2017 We have every reason to celebrate the so-called framework agreement with Iran. It exemplifies the best of President Obama’s foreign policy, namely, engaging adversaries. Remember when candidate Obama’s argument for…
BLOG… Post #72 – An Enemy of Peace 30 Mar 201527 Feb 2017 Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has established himself as the biggest enemy of peace in the Middle East. His thoroughly unwelcome and error-marred speech to Congress on Iran, his last-minute…
BLOG… Post #70 – When It Comes to Foreign Policy, Obama Has the Upper Hand 13 Mar 201527 Feb 2017 The President and quite a few members of Congress are at a standoff over two important issues of foreign-policy process. Many in Congress, from both parties, dislike his proposal for…
BLOG… Post #68 – Netanyahu’s Visit and the US Opportunity 26 Feb 201527 Feb 2017 Washington is on edge these days. Democrats are bewildered, the President is seething, Republicans are salivating, K Street and J Street lobbyists are working overtime—all because Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu…
BLOG… Post #66 – Playing “Chicken” in Ukraine 6 Feb 201527 Feb 2017 Should the US dramatically increase military support to Ukraine as it faces defiant separatists in the east who are backed by Russian intelligence, advisers, and heavy weapons? Key members of…
BLOG… Post #61 – A Bad Start to the New Year in the Middle East 6 Jan 201527 Feb 2017 Having been thwarted in the UN Security Council when a vote to end Israel’s occupation of the West Bank went against it, the Palestinian Authority (PA) decided last week to…
BLOG… Post #59 – What Works: Engaging Cuba 17 Dec 201427 Feb 2017 President Obama has finally reversed what he called the “failed policy” of isolating Cuba, announcing today (December 17) the start of normal relations. “These 50 years [without official relations] have…
BLOG… Post #58 – The Abe-Xi Mini-Summit: A Positive Moment 14 Dec 201427 Feb 2017 The Chinese have a diplomatic tradition of “drawing from strength to offset weakness” (qu chang bu duan). The tradition was on display recently when China’s President Xi Jinping met with…
BLOG… Post #56 – What is to be Done? Six Paths to a New US Policy in the Middle East 1 Dec 201427 Feb 2017 If I am correct that the United States has once again fallen into a quagmire in the Middle East, one with some of the same features that marked the Vietnam…
BLOG… Post #54 – Is North Korea Having a Coming-Out Party? 18 Nov 201427 Feb 2017 Considering the overwhelming margin by which a UN General Assembly committee voted on November 18 to condemn North Korea for human-rights violations, one might think that establishing a stable relationship…
In the Human Interest - Mel Gurtov 
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