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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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Tag: nuclear weapons

BLOG

Post #373: Nuclear Politics: The US-South Korea “Washington Declaration”

5 May 20235 May 2023
The US-Republic of Korea (ROK) alliance began in 1953, at the end of the Korean War. Now seventy years later, President Biden and Korea’s Yoon Suk Yeol met to cement…
BLOG

Post #367: Deepening Tensions on the Korean Peninsula Demand New Thinking in Washington

18 Mar 202318 Mar 2023
The Mounting Danger Tensions on the Korean peninsula have reached a new level of intensity. North Korea’s foreign ministry issued a statement Feb. 17 in anticipation of another round of…
BLOG

Post #360 The Threat Business: China or Russia?

2 Jan 20233 Jan 2023
Dual Enemies For those in charge of US national security, the central challenge is identifying threats and determining how to counter them. The Biden administration has cast China and Russia,…
BLOG

Post #352: Can Russia’s Use of a Nuclear Weapon in the Ukraine War Be Prevented?

13 Oct 202225 Oct 2022
(The podcast of this blog is at https://www.podserve.fm/episodes/76143/62-on-dealing-with-russia-nuclear-weapons-and-the-off-ramp.mp3)             President Biden surprised his top advisers along with everyone else when, at a fundraising event, he referred to “Armageddon” in the…
BLOG

Post #338:North Korea: Missiles Over Human Security

24 May 202224 May 2022
Omicron Catches Up with North Korea After having proclaimed for over two years that the country was untouched by the coronavirus, North Korea now faces a potential health catastrophe.  Its…
BLOG

Post #329: Thinking About the Unthinkable in the Ukraine Crisis

11 Mar 202212 Mar 2022
 The audio version is at https://www.podserve.fm/episodes/54040/38-thinking-about-the-unthinkable-in-the-ukraine-crisis.mp3 We might be inclined to think that the most urgent decisions on Ukraine have been made: decisions on military aid to the Ukraine government,…
BLOG

Post #318: Finding Common Ground with China

18 Nov 202117 Nov 2021
Readers note: An audio version of this blog is available at https://www.podserve.fm/episodes/44104/26-finding-common-ground-with-china.mp3 “It seems clear to me we need to establish some common-sense guardrails,” President Biden told President Xi Jinping…
BLOG

Post #301: The Pentagon’s Untouchable Budget

11 Jun 20215 Jul 2021
This post is also available as a podcast at https://www.podserve.fm/dashboard/episode_player_2/33010 Did you really think that electing Joe Biden would mean major reductions in military spending and the shift of Pentagon…
BLOG

Post #288: A Progressive Agenda for Biden’s Foreign Policy

27 Jan 202126 Jan 2021
(Note to Readers: This overview of the challenging issues faced by the new administration will be followed by other blogs that examine US policy in greater detail, starting with the…
BLOG

Post #257: NUKES: The Unmentionable Election Issue (Part 2)

17 Mar 202015 Mar 2020
Getting to Zero Where are the Democrats? Why isn’t the present nuclear danger front and center in the Democrats’ presidential debates?  I can think of a few reasons.  First, Democrats…
BLOG

Post #256: NUKES: The Unmentionable Election Issue (Part 1)

9 Mar 20208 Mar 2020
Overkill More is Better One of these days, national security policy will get a few minutes of campaign debate time. And when that day occurs, perhaps—just perhaps—attention will turn to…
BLOG

Post #238: Trump-Kim III: Making History Without Making Progress?

2 Jul 20192 Jul 2019
Taking a few steps onto North Korean soil, and posing for pictures with a friendly dictator, seem to fit Trump-era diplomacy better than a carefully laid out process. But unless…
BLOG

Post #231: National Security—A Dangerous Confusion

7 May 201927 May 2019
This blog also appeared in Informed Consent, May 6, 2019, https://www.juancole.com/2019/05/backward-ignoring-interference.html There is a dangerous confusion in US national security policy when evaluating relations with Russia and China. The Trump…
APB

APB: Trump and Kim, Act II

28 Feb 201928 Feb 2019
Trump was correct to describe denuclearization last June as a lengthy “process” that one summit meeting could not achieve. However, the second summit, in Hanoi at the end of February…
BLOG

Post #223: Happy New Year from Kim Jong-un

6 Jan 2019
Kim Jong-un looked quite cosmopolitan on January 1 as he made his annual New Year’s address to the nation from the comfort of a paneled office, wearing a spiffy Western-style…
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…
APB

“Gangsterism” or “Progress”? Examining North Korea’s Latest Statement on Denuclearization

9 Jul 20188 Jul 2018
Most US news reports are suggesting that the North Koreans may be backtracking on their commitment to denuclearization,calling the US position “gangster-like” following the visit of Secretary of State Mike…
American Politics and the World…

Post #140: The Diplomacy of Donald J. Trump

27 Dec 201627 Feb 2017
Oblivious to Tradition and Good Sense Those of us who appreciate the unconventional have to have second thoughts after watching Donald J. Trump in action.  All the more so when…
American Politics and the World…

Post #130: Notes from the First Debate

28 Sep 201627 Feb 2017
Now that a few days have passed since the first Clinton-Trump debate, I want to offer a few evaluations.  Prior to the debate, pundits said that Trump needed to moderate…
BLOG…

Post #129: Carrots or Sticks? Addressing North Korea’s Fifth Nuclear Test

20 Sep 201627 Feb 2017
As many experts predicted, North Korea (DPRK) followed another ballistic missile test with its fifth nuclear-weapon test on September 9.  The event continues a pattern of testing increasingly sophisticated weapons…

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