FEATURED

24Feb 201923 Feb 2019

Post #227: Game Over? Report Card on Our Planet’s Environment

Unrelenting Warming The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report for 2019 indicates that most experts point to environmental problems as…

5Feb 20194 Feb 2019

Post #226: On China, the US Public Stands Apart

Why isn’t the American public as agitated about China as are the Trump administration, the mainstream media, and even many…

28Jan 201927 Jan 2019

Post #225: Trump’s Crusade in Latin America

What we are witnessing in Venezuela is a Latin America policy that draws from the Cold War and the era…

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Post #215: On Dealing with China

18 Sep 201826 Sep 2018

(Note: A slightly different version of this article has been published as "The China Conundrum" at https://www.chinausfocus.com/foreign-policy/the-china-conundrum.) A Self-Confident China Ever since China’s economic reforms began in 1978, the goal…

APB

Coming Apart? Maybe Not

6 Sep 20186 Sep 2018

Day by day the Trump administration is coming apart. Revelations abound about the dysfunctions of the Trump team, about Trump’s ignorance and incompetence, and now about a “resistance” group in…

APB

Another Week Under Trumpocracy

21 Aug 201820 Aug 2018

Some takeaways from another week under He Who Would Be Emperor: “All politics is local.” Speaking to local issues rather than echoing the official mantra may be the only way…

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Post #214: Saving Democracy

Writing on democracy, I’m reminded of a great old Stevie Wonder song, “Love’s In Need of Love Today.” Democracy is in need of love today: It is taking a beating…

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Post #213: While Rome (and Most Everywhere Else) Burns

3 Aug 20182 Aug 2018

By now we’re accustomed to learning that every year brings record high temperatures around the world. Extreme weather, says Prof. Michael Mann of Pennsylvania State University, “is the face of…

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Post #212: Some Dare Call It Treason

19 Jul 201819 Jul 2018

Is Donald Trump not merely gullible, uninformed, and indifferent but actually treasonous when it comes to Russia? More and more high-profile people are saying so. He’s acting like “a Russian…

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Post #211: At Home and Abroad, Trump Abandons Human Rights (Part 2)

16 Jul 201814 Jul 2018

(Note: This is the continuation of Post #210, published July 7. The full version is available in The Asia-Pacific Journal/Japan Focus, https://apjjf.org/2018/15/Gurtov.html. Deceptive Reporting Discussion in the Trump administration of…

APB

“Gangsterism” or “Progress”? Examining North Korea’s Latest Statement on Denuclearization

9 Jul 20188 Jul 2018

Most US news reports are suggesting that the North Koreans may be backtracking on their commitment to denuclearization,calling the US position “gangster-like” following the visit of Secretary of State Mike…

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Post #210: At Home and Abroad, Trump Abandons Human Rights (Part 1)

7 Jul 20187 Jul 2018

In January 1941, with the prospect looming of US involvement in another European war, President Franklin Roosevelt spoke of America’s purpose in the world: to protect and promote “four freedoms.”…

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Post #209: After Singapore, is Iran the Next US Target?

23 Jun 201822 Jun 2018

Predictably, both sides at the Singapore summit are claiming victory. Kim Jong-un, having shared the stage with Donald Trump, can say that North Korea is now recognized de facto as…

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Post #208: What Happened? Assessing the Singapore Summit

13 Jun 201813 Jun 2018

“Peace and prosperity,” “lasting and stable peace,” “peace regime,” “denuclearization,” “new US-DPRK relations”—these fine words and phrases dominate the joint statement of Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un. Yet it’s difficult…

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Post #207: Trump’s War on the Poor: An Impeachable Offense

6 Jun 20187 Jul 2018

Were it not for the source, it would hardly be news to learn that the United States can’t take care of its most needy—that it may be the richest country,…

APB

Who Is Kim Yong-chol?

General Kim Yong-chol is arriving in New York to discuss North Korea’s denuclearization with top US officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo whom Kim has met twice. The meetings…

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Post #206: In Iran and North Korea, China Holds Some Cards

25 May 201825 May 2018

Donald Trump made his television reputation by telling people “You’re fired.” The same bullying approach now substitutes for his international diplomacy, with Trump’s withdrawal from the nuclear deal with Iran…

APB

Who’s To Blame if the US-North Korea Summit Isn’t Held?

16 May 201817 May 2018

Virtually everyone in the US faults North Korea for threatening to cancel the Trump-Kim summit scheduled for June 12 in Singapore. No one, including the liberal media, bothers to address…

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