FEATURED

Post #499: Cuba is Trump’s Next Imperial Project

Another Nonexistent Threat Regime change in Cuba may be the next stop for the Trump war machine. Here’s what he…

14Mar 202614 Mar 2026

Post #498: Unexpected Gifts: Beijing and Moscow Gain from Trump’s War

I have previously commented about the strategic blunders the Trump regime has made in its war on Iran. Add this…

ANNOUNCEMENT: NEW PUBLICATION

China Inside and Out: Politics and Policies in a Turbulent World (Bloomsbury Academic). THIS BOOK OF FOCUSED READINGS AND DOCUMENTS…

Post #47 – Mission Impossible

29 Sep 201427 Feb 2017

The New York Times editorial board has finally awakened to Obama’s “strategy” in the “war” (as it is officially called now) against ISIS. It is essentially the same strategy that…

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…

Post #45 – America on Crusade: Now It’s Obama’s Turn

14 Sep 201427 Feb 2017

George F. Kennan, one of America’s greatest statesmen, warned in his classic American Diplomacy (1951) and many times thereafter of the country’s tendency to universalize its self-conceptions and its aims,…

Post #44 – Democracy Under the Gun: Hong Kong and Other Asian Stories

7 Sep 201427 Feb 2017

“Communist Party, you choke people,” reads the placard raised by a demonstrator in Hong Kong the other day. He and a few thousand others belonging to Occupy Central (in Chinese,…

Post #43 – Peacemaking or Provocations in Ukraine’s Crisis?

1 Sep 201427 Feb 2017

Call it aggression, invasion, incursion, or an illegal border crossing—whatever you call it, the fact remains that Russia has now become a direct participant in Ukraine’s civil war. To his…

Post #42 – The Lone Ranger Rides Again: America’s Return to Iraq

26 Aug 201427 Feb 2017

In an interview with Thomas Friedman of the New York Times on August 8 (www.nytimes.com/2014/08/09/opinion/president-obama-thomas-l-friedman-iraq-and-world-affairs.html?), President Obama stressed that the US was only fighting the Islamic State (IS, or…

Post #41 – The US-China Tangle Over the South China Sea

21 Aug 201427 Feb 2017

The best way to describe the latest round of U.S.-China dispute over the South China Sea (SCS) is “déjà vu all over again.” (See post #23 for background.) The setting…

Post #40 -The Coup in Baghdad

13 Aug 201427 Feb 2017

“What coup?” you ask. “How could I have missed it?” No, you didn’t exactly miss it; it’s just that the media didn’t call it a coup, describing Prime Minister Nouri…

Post #38 – Smoke and Mirrors in Gaza

4 Aug 201427 Feb 2017

One of the cardinal lessons of international conflict resolution is that two warring parties will not be interested in a peaceful settlement if they believe continuing to fight is worth…

Post #37 – War’s Other Casualties: The Situation in Gaza and the Global Refugee Crisis

28 Jul 201427 Feb 2017

I ended a recent post by asking when someone would step forward to bring about a cease-fire. Well, John Kerry eventually answered the call. But by the time he left…