APB… National Emergency? 15 Feb 201915 Feb 2019 Donald Trump’s power play in order to get his border wall built would seem to be unconstitutional on its face. But courts may well uphold his action. “Congress’s delegation to…
BLOG Post #225: Trump’s Crusade in Latin America 28 Jan 201927 Jan 2019 What we are witnessing in Venezuela is a Latin America policy that draws from the Cold War and the era of US interventions, when regard for democracy and international law…
BLOG Post #217: Waiting For Hitler 11 Oct 201819 Oct 2018 If there is one thing I have learned as a political analyst, it is that there is no such thing as "never again." Use of weapons of mass destruction against…
BLOG 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…
BLOG Post #214: Saving Democracy 15 Aug 2018 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…
BLOG 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…
BLOG 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…
BLOG 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.”…
BLOG Post #151: Trump, Europe, and Chaos 20 Feb 201727 Feb 2017 Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of Defense James Mattis went to the Munich Security Conference with reassurances about the US commitment to NATO. But their visit was anything but…
American Politics and the World… Post #144: Donald Trump’s Lies and Team Trump’s Headaches 19 Jan 201727 Feb 2017 We are all aware that Donald Trump lies—repeatedly, and without remorse. That is outrageous enough; but equally outrageous is the insistence of some of his handlers that truth no longer…
American Politics and the World… Post #143: Donald Trump’s Fake News Conference 12 Jan 201727 Feb 2017 The media waited with baited breath for Donald Trump’s first news conference in 167 days. But I’m sure many journalists knew what was coming: a show, orchestrated by The Apprentice…
American Politics and the World… Post #142: Unfit to Command 9 Jan 201727 Feb 2017 During the presidential campaign a significant number of former senior foreign policy and national security officials from both parties spoke in no uncertain terms about Donald Trump’s qualifications to…
American Politics and the World… Post #133: Left Unsaid at the Third Debate 21 Oct 201627 Feb 2017 Donald Trump waited one day before delivering the punch line to his sad joke, “I will keep you in suspense” about respecting the election results. “Unless I win,” he said…
American Politics and the World… Post #123: Donald Trump—A “Unique and Present Danger” 23 Jul 201627 Feb 2017 “There can be no prosperity without law and order.” If you saw Donald Trump delivering those words—he repeated “law and order” three more times—you had every reason to think you…
