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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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22May 202021 May 2020
4 Comments

Post #262: Weaponizing the Virus

China is “the central threat of our times,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in January 2020. Since then, the…

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12May 2020
3 Comments

Post #261: For Trump, It’s Mission Accomplished

“We have met the moment and we have prevailed,” Donald Trump said at a news briefing May 11. “The moment”…

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3May 20202 May 2020
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Post 260: The Coming New World Disorder

After the demise of the Soviet Union and the US intervention that crushed Saddam Hussein’s attack on Kuwait in 1991,…

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BLOG

Post #250: The Afghanistan Pentagon Papers

10 Dec 20199 Dec 2019
The war in Afghanistan, America’s longest, has cost about 2,300 US lives, over 20,000 wounded, and about $1 trillion. Now, thanks to the persistence of the Washington Post, we have…
BLOG

Post #249: Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and the Insecurity of China’s Leadership

5 Dec 20195 Dec 2019
Hong Kong is in chaos, with no sign that the protesters will yield on their demands. Mass incarceration and indoctrination of Uyghurs and other Chinese Muslims has become so widely…
BLOG

Post #248: Getting Rid of Treacherous Friends

17 Nov 201916 Nov 2019
Backing the Wrong Horse, Again The United States has a long record of befriending the wrong people—authoritarian leaders who rely on military and police power to enforce social inequality and…
BLOG

Post #247: From President to Autocrat

6 Nov 20195 Nov 2019
An Autocrat Like All Others A recent special issue of Foreign Affairs is devoted to profiling some of the world’s most prominent autocrats: Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, Recep Tayyip Erdogan,…
BLOG

Post #246: Will Trump Leave Quietly?

24 Oct 201923 Oct 2019
On October 23, about two dozen unhappy Republican congress members stormed a closed hearing that was part of the impeachment inquiry, determined to show their loyalty to Trump (who knew…
BLOG

Post #245: Overreach, the Achilles Heel of Autocrats

6 Oct 20196 Oct 2019
It Has Happened Here and Everywhere It seems like just yesterday that we were celebrating the democratic wave sweeping Europe in the wake of the Soviet Union’s collapse. It seems…
BLOG

Post #244: Listen to the Children

23 Sep 201922 Sep 2019
The Republicans are on the sidelines on the climate crisis.  Government scientists are muzzled.  Leading Democrats—though not all—are cautious.  CEOs of some of America’s biggest corporations are pledging action while…
BLOG

Post #243: No War for Saudi Oil!

17 Sep 201922 Sep 2019
Even if US intelligence decisively shows that some of the drones and cruise missiles used in the attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil fields originated in Iran, a decision to go…
APB

APB: Farewell, John Bolton

11 Sep 2019
The firing (or, he insists, the resignation) of John Bolton as national security special assistant is being treated by some observers as a great loss for coherence and professionalism in…
BLOG

Post #242: Trump and the Climate Crisis–A Crime Against Humanity

22 Aug 201921 Aug 2019
The President of the United States is a criminal.  I’m not referring to the twenty-odd investigations of him currently underway for violations of the Constitution, obstruction of justice, and collaboration…
BLOG

Post #241: China’s Hong Kong Nightmare, and the US Response

16 Aug 201916 Aug 2019
Donald Trump has kept his promise, reportedly made to Xi Jinping in June, that Washington would "tone down" its comments on the spiraling HK protests. "Very tough situation" Trump tweeted…
ARTICLES

A Few Suggested New Readings

5 Aug 20195 Aug 2019
Video: A Moving Cry for Change in Gun Laws: https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2019/08/04/relative-of-victims-message-to-trump-dayton-ohio-mass-shooting-nr-vpx.cnn My friend and Asia scholar Mark Selden teamed up to write the following on “The Dangerous New US Consensus on…
BLOG…

Post #240: Our Racist President

31 Jul 201930 Jul 2019
"Donald Trump lost the election because he veered so far off course from what it means to be a decent person, to be a leader, and to be an American.…
BLOG

Post #239: The US-China Trade War: A Cease-fire, Nothing More

25 Jul 201928 Jul 2019
The Financial Times reported on July 10 that Donald Trump, at his last meeting with Xi Jinping in Osaka in June, promised to “tone down” criticism of China’s actions in…
APB…

APB: The Caging of Human Rights

13 Jul 2019
At a hearing yesterday (July 12) on the Trump administration’s immigration policies, Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia was appropriately livid: "I never thought as a member of Congress — as…

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