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Post #528: Chairman Xi Goes to Washington

The New Reality China’s President Xi Jinping’s sixth visit to the US has come and gone. Expectations were low for…

20Sep 202620 Sep 2026

Post #527: The Crimes of the Trump Regime

(Note to the Reader: This is the fifth iteration of a blog originally posted after the first two weeks of…

American Politics and the World…

Post #77: Keep It in the Ground

13 May 201527 Feb 2017

On January 17 the New York Times reported that, to appease environmentalists, the Obama administration would “ban drilling in portions of the Arctic Ocean’s Beaufort and Chukchi Seas.” But in…

American Politics and the World…

Post #76 – TPP: A Deeply Flawed Partnership

4 May 201527 Feb 2017

(Note: A longer version of this post was subsequently published at http://japanfocus.org/-Mel-Gurtov/4318/article.html.) The American people have become used to government trickery in foreign affairs—wars and interventions based on lies and…

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…

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…

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…

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,…

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…

Post #69 – Crime and Punishment in China: The Underside of Reforms

8 Mar 201527 Feb 2017

China’s supreme leader, Xi Jinping, is vigorously carrying out a campaign against corruption. The targets have been high-ranking party and military officials, past and present; province and other local officials;…

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…

Post #67 – Presidents and War

14 Feb 201527 Feb 2017

President Obama has submitted a request to Congress for authorization—actually, reauthorization—of wars the United States has been fighting for many years. Though he considered the initial authorization in 2001 to…

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…