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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: war

BLOG

Post #342: Europe’s Uneasy Unity on the War in Ukraine

28 Jun 202226 Jun 2022
The audio of this blog is available at https://www.podserve.fm/episodes/63347/50-europes-uneasy-unity-in-the-ukraine-war.mp3.             Welcoming the leaders of Finland and Sweden to Washington on May 19, President Biden said that “what makes NATO strong…
BLOG

Post #336: Loose Lips Can Sink Peace   

9 May 20228 May 2022
   During World War II, US sailors were warned: Loose lips sink ships. A similar warning should have gone out to all US officials in recent days—and the President should…
BLOG

Post #332: Big Oil’s War Bonanza

6 Apr 20224 Apr 2022
The audio of this blog is at https://www.podserve.fm/episodes/55789/41-the-war-a-bonanza-for-big-oil.mp3 In case you haven’t noticed, a major consequence of the Ukraine war is the bonanza it has provided for the oil and…
BLOG

Post #331: When Will It End, and How?

30 Mar 202229 Mar 2022
The podcast of this blog is at https://www.podserve.fm/episodes/55380/40-when-will-it-end-and-how.mp3 How will it end? In the wake of Ukraine’s stunning and stubborn resistance to Putin’s invasion, the question whose answer once seemed…
BLOG

Post #327: Putin’s War

24 Feb 202225 Feb 2022
           Shortly after Joe Biden took office, a distinguished political science professor (whom I won’t name) advised the new administration to engage with Russia in order to stop the Chinese threat.…
BLOG

Post #326: Employing Confidence Building Measures in the Ukraine Crisis

18 Feb 2022
The audio of this blog is at https://www.podserve.fm/episodes/52277/35-confidence-building-measures-in-the-ukraine-crisis.mp3.             Last week a tiny back-page item in the New York Times reported that the president of Ukraine had come to believe…
BLOG

Post #324 – How to Avoid War Over Ukraine

21 Jan 2022
            The threat of a major war hangs over eastern Europe. Four different negotiating forums between Russia and NATO on the Ukraine situation have not gone well.  The two sides…
BLOG

Post #319: The US and Yemen: Putting a Disreputable Policy Right

29 Nov 202128 Nov 2021
An audio version of this blog is at https://www.podserve.fm/episodes/44803/27-the-us-and-yemen-putting-a-disreputable-policy-right.mp3 In Yemen, Saudi Arabian and Iranian interests collide, a civil war involving multiple parties has devastated the country, important issues of…
BLOG

Post #304: Presidential Warmaking

14 Jul 202114 Jul 2021
A podcast of this blog is available at https://www.podserve.fm/dashboard/episode_player_2/35072 Presidential Prerogatives Once upon a time, American leaders only went to war when, in accordance with the Constitution, Congress declared it. …
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…
APB

APB: Thanks to Trump, Iran Has the Upper Hand

8 Jan 20208 Jan 2020
The assassination of General Soleimani is proving to be a resounding success for Iran. It accomplished what the ayatollah could not: common ground between Iran and Iraq, Iraq’s invitation to…
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 #248: Getting Rid of Treacherous Friends

17 Nov 201916 Nov 2019
Backing the Wrong Horse, Again The United States has a long record of befriending the wrong people—authoritarian leaders who rely on military and police power to enforce social inequality and…
BLOG

Post #245: Overreach, the Achilles Heel of Autocrats

6 Oct 20196 Oct 2019
It Has Happened Here and Everywhere It seems like just yesterday that we were celebrating the democratic wave sweeping Europe in the wake of the Soviet Union’s collapse. It seems…
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 #239: The US-China Trade War: A Cease-fire, Nothing More

25 Jul 201928 Jul 2019
The Financial Times reported on July 10 that Donald Trump, at his last meeting with Xi Jinping in Osaka in June, promised to “tone down” criticism of China’s actions in…
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 #237: The Trump Way of War

29 Jun 20191 Aug 2019
Notice how similar are the Trump administration’s interactions with Iran and North Korea?  The pattern in both cases is dangerous, ill-informed, and bound to fail.  US adversaries by now understand…

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