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In the Human Interest – Mel Gurtov

In the Human Interest – Mel Gurtov

Critical appraisals of foreign affairs and politics from a global-citizen perspective

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Category: What Work

American Politics and the World…

Post #149: Fighting Back

7 Feb 201727 Feb 2017
Since Inauguration Day, the streets of US cities have been filled with protesters. Major demonstrations are being planned to follow up on the hugely successful Women’s March. Environmental, science, human…
BLOG…

Post #138: Food Politics: The GMO Conspiracy

3 Dec 201627 Feb 2017
One of the longest-standing tricks of the corporate trade is to produce an item that is dangerous, breakable, or soon to be obsolete and then produce another item that will…
BLOG…

Post #104 –Engaging and Apologizing: Two Exercises, Different Results

18 Jan 201627 Feb 2017
The art and wisdom of engaging and apologizing to adversaries was on display in recent days in two very different settings, one in East Asia and the other in the…
BLOG…

Post #92: Two Cheers for Humanity

17 Sep 201527 Feb 2017
In the last few days the notion of a common humanity, a cornerstone of human-interest thinking, has received strong support from two very different but highly visible sources: Pope Francis’…
BLOG…

Post #85: We Apologize

23 Jul 201527 Feb 2017
The following article originally appeared in Global Asia, vol. 10, No. 2 (Summer 2015), pp. 112-117, under the title “'We Apologize': Two Words to Embrace to Right Injustices." Apologies are never easy—not between…
BLOG…

Post #71 –Should We “Balance” Threats to the Environment?

23 Mar 201527 Feb 2017
How does a US administration promote greater energy independence, protect its fragile environment, and make both oil executives and environmentalists happy?  President Obama’s answer is to give something to everyone,…
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 #46 – Scotland’s Vote, Our (Possible) Future

22 Sep 201427 Feb 2017
             Scotland’s vote for independence fell well short of victory.  But pro-independence Scots will surely try again, just like les Québecois.  From a practical point…
BLOG…

Post #39 – What Works? Microfinance: Financing Dignity

11 Aug 201427 Feb 2017
Back in the 1970s, Muhammad Yunus in Bangladesh had a brilliant idea.  He would found a bank to provide seed money to poor people who otherwise would have no way…
BLOG…

Post #36 – What Works? Person- and Planet-centered Development

22 Jul 201427 Feb 2017
The usual script for international development is the provision of aid—mostly in loans, occasionally in outright grants—by a “developed” country or international institution to an “underdeveloped” one. The money goes…
BLOG…

Post #31 – What Works? The Courage to Blow the Whistle

26 Jun 201427 Feb 2017
American heroes come in many forms, and historically, one of them is acting selflessly in the public interest and in defiance of established authority. Daniel Ellsberg did just that in…
BLOG…

Post #28 – What Works?  Saving Young Lives

17 Jun 201427 Feb 2017
While living in Tokyo back in 2001, my attention was captivated by a US public television program on a cardiovascular surgeon in Phoenix who was making annual trips to Sri…
BLOG…

Post #26-What Works? Good Neighbors Find Common Ground

9 Jun 201427 Feb 2017
It’s a powerful story of grassroots organizing. “Jane Kleeb vs. Keystone” details the tenacious efforts of one person in Nebraska to reach across the usual environmentalist-conservative divide in order to…

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  • Post #368: A Big Deal: China’s Middle East Diplomatic Coup
  • Post #367: Deepening Tensions on the Korean Peninsula Demand New Thinking in Washington
  • Post #366: No Exit: Two Ukraine Peace Proposals Going Nowhere
  • Post #365: The Coup in Israel
  • Post #364: China and Europe: Profits versus Principles

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Journals with my recent articles

  • Asian Perspective US-China Relations and Human Rights: The Xinjiang Case
  • 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

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  • MY RECENT BOOKS Engaging China: Rebuilding Sino-American Relations; America in Retreat: Foreign Policy Under Donald Trump; Engaging Adversaries: Peacemaking and Diplomacy in the Human Interest. All 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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