BLOG Post #345: Back to the Future: Biden in the Middle East 23 Jul 202229 Jul 2022 The audio version of this blog is at https://www.podserve.fm/episodes/65600/54-back-to-the-future-bidens-middle-east-trip.mp3 President Biden has now completed his first visit to the Middle East. The trip was billed as an opportunity to…
BLOG Post #302: Saving the US-Iran Nuclear Agreement 24 Jun 20216 Jul 2021 Note: This post is also available as a podcast at https://www.podserve.fm/dashboard/episode_player_2/34028 Despite the best efforts of the Israeli government under Benjamin Netanyahu to disrupt the nuclear talks with Iran by…
BLOG Post #253: Normal Nation? 6 Jan 20205 Jan 2020 With the assassination of Gen. Qasem Soleimani, Donald Trump has arguably done more to undermine US interests in the Middle East and sow the seeds of a region-wide war than…
BLOG Post #252: No Room for Dialogue 3 Jan 20203 Jan 2020 “Our president will start a war with Iran because he has absolutely no ability to negotiate. He’s weak, and he’s ineffective. So the only way he figures that he’s going…
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 #236: Iran—Who and Where is the Threat? 21 Jun 201921 Jun 2019 The official US narrative on Iran is that it is an escalating threat to “peace and security” in the Middle East and must be stopped. Step by step, with Mike…
BLOG Post #233: Another Fake “Emergency” 25 May 201924 May 2019 Just a few months ago Saudi Arabia’s leader, Mohammed bin-Salman (MBS), was on the defensive. He had authorized the murder of an independent journalist, his domestic “reforms” had turned out…
BLOG Post #232: Baiting Iran 14 May 2019 Ever since Donald Trump became president, regime change in Iran has been a prominent US aim. Trump began by backing out of the nuclear deal and imposing harsh sanctions, setting…
BLOG Post #222: Road to Ruin: Trump’s Middle East Retreat 22 Dec 201822 Dec 2018 The flight of the generals is now complete with the resignation of General James Mattis—the last of the four generals to depart, and the last to give up the naïve…
BLOG Post #221: Weaponizing Humanitarian Aid 13 Dec 201813 Dec 2018 Long ago, US foreign aid programs honored the principle that humanitarian aid should be treated separately from economic and military assistance to governments. Public Law 480 (popularized as “Food for…
BLOG Post #216: A Victory for Diplomacy on the Korean Peninsula 29 Sep 20182 Oct 2018 On September 18 leaders of North and South Korea signed a September Declaration to advance inter-Korean cooperation and the possibility of the North’s denuclearization. Critics immediately dismissed the agreement for…
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…
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 #136: The Trump Team: Loyal and Dangerous 15 Nov 201627 Feb 2017 Personnel appointments provide a useful glimpse into what policy will be. Senior-level appointees are the policy shapers, and from what we have seen thus far, we are right to have…
American Politics and the World… Post #135: Our Worst Nightmare Has Come to Pass 9 Nov 201627 Feb 2017 The American people voted for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump by nearly 800,000 votes.* But Trump was right: the system is rigged, meaning that thanks to our outdated and illogical…
American Politics and the World… Post #118: Cowgirl Diplomacy? Foreign Policy Under Hillary Clinton 24 May 201627 Feb 2017 America’s mainstream media, ever attracted to the splashy rather than the serious, has a new topic to occupy the time until Election Day: President Trump. What will he do first? …
BLOG… Post #105: Time for a Reset in US-Saudi Relations 27 Jan 201627 Feb 2017 The growing rift between Saudi Arabia and Iran is reportedly causing great consternation in US policymaking circles (www.nytimes.com/2016/01/05/us/politics/us-struggles-to-explain-alliance-with-saudis.html). Once again, US officials are called upon to decide whether to…
BLOG… Post #104 –Engaging and Apologizing: Two Exercises, Different Results 18 Jan 201627 Feb 2017 The art and wisdom of engaging and apologizing to adversaries was on display in recent days in two very different settings, one in East Asia and the other in the…
BLOG… Post #84: The Engagement Critics 15 Jul 201527 Feb 2017 One of the predictable outcomes of any US effort to reset relations with an adversary is that allies start whining about their vulnerability and demanding some sort of compensation for…
In the Human Interest - Mel Gurtov 