BLOG Post #330: An Engagement Moment for the US and China 20 Mar 202222 Mar 2022 Listen to this blog at https://www.podserve.fm/episodes/54894/39-an-engagement-moment-with-china-on-ukraine.mp3 One of the more interesting developments in Putin’s war on Ukraine is the retreat of China from full-fledged support of Russia. When the Russian…
BLOG Post #325: China’s Careful Dance Around the Ukraine Crisis 6 Feb 20225 Feb 2022 The podcast of this blog may be heard at https://www.podserve.fm/episodes/50923/34-china-russia-relations-and-the-ukraine-crisis.mp3 Reports out of Washington suggest worry over a Russia-China partnership that would facilitate Vladimir Putin’s presumed ambition to absorb Ukraine…
BLOG Post #323 – Destroying Democracy: China in Hong Kong 11 Jan 202211 Jan 2022 An audio version of this blog is available at https://www.podserve.fm/episodes/48006/32-destroying-democracy-china-in-hong-kong.mp3 On July 1, 1997 the United Kingdom formally handed Hong Kong over to China under an agreement that was supposed…
BLOG Post #322: The Battle Over Cobalt 22 Dec 202111 Jan 2022 The audio version of this blog is at https://www.podserve.fm/episodes/46515/30-the-battle-over-cobalt.mp3 Today’s commentary is about a valuable mineral that is the subject of intense international competition. Not a new subject: In past…
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 #312: The China Initiative, A Flawed and Dysfunctional Policy 22 Sep 2021 President Biden is continuing the disengagement policy toward China that began under Donald Trump, with strong bipartisan support. Many people may not be aware that the opposite policy once…
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 #299: War Over Taiwan? Avoiding a US-China Miscalculation 2 Jun 20211 Jun 2021 This blog is available as a podcast: https://www.podserve.fm/dashboard/episode_player_2/32051 A shorter audio version can be accessed at "Today in Foreign Affairs" on the website. The Increasing US Commitment to Taiwan Taiwan…
BLOG Post #293: The US-China Dialogue of the Deaf in Alaska 30 Mar 202128 Mar 2021 Rules-Based Order? Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he knew, going into the first face-to-face meetings with China’s top two foreign affairs officials on March 17, that “we are fundamentally…
BLOG Post #290: Biden’s Opportunity with China 23 Feb 202121 Feb 2021 The dominant view of China in both Washington and in American public opinion is that the United States faces an increasingly ruthless Chinese leadership, requiring that US policy restrain if…
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 #286: Biden and the World: A First Look at His Foreign Affairs Team (Part 2) 31 Dec 20202 Jan 2021 In the previous post, I introduced the president-elect’s team: a group of serious professionals dedicated to halting and reversing America’s retreat from the world. But, I asked, will they…
BLOG Post #285: Biden and the World: A First Look at His Foreign Affairs Team (Part 1) 27 Dec 202024 Dec 2020 Dream Team? President-elect Joe Biden has introduced his foreign policy and national security team, and it is certainly a far cry from the haphazardly organized group assembled under Donald…
BLOG Post #283: Mike Pompeo’s Crusade against the red menace 13 Dec 202012 Dec 2020 Thanks in good part to the Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, McCarthyism is alive and well in the US. Pompeo has become one of America’s leading dogmatist, ranting and railing…
BLOG Post #279: In Defense of Confucius Institutes 30 Oct 202029 Oct 2020 Readers may be surprised to learn that while disputes between the US and China over trade, human rights, and the pandemic are making headlines, educational exchange programs are Washington’s chief…
BLOG Post #273: Trump’s China Diversion 12 Sep 202020 Dec 2020 The Trump administration’s orchestrated attack on China is commonly assumed to stem from upset over China’s human rights violations and its aggressive behavior in the South China Sea and along…
BLOG Post #267: In China, Your DNA Belongs to the State 7 Jul 202019 Jul 2020 The roundup and incarceration of hundreds of thousands of people of a specific ethnic or religious group has all too many precedents in modern history. The fact that the group…
APB APB: “Standing Up” for Hong Kong 24 May 2020 Has Xi Jinping finally overplayed his hand? The new security law for Hong Kong may be just that. Whereas the “cultural genocide” in Xinjiang, the roundup of lawyers and journalists…
BLOG Post #262: Weaponizing the Virus 22 May 202021 May 2020 China is “the central threat of our times,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in January 2020. Since then, the Trump administration has done everything it can to pump up…
BLOG Post 260: The Coming New World Disorder 3 May 20202 May 2020 After the demise of the Soviet Union and the US intervention that crushed Saddam Hussein’s attack on Kuwait in 1991, President George H. W. Bush pronounced a new world order.…
In the Human Interest - Mel Gurtov 