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…
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 #235: Impeach Trump 19 Jun 201918 Jun 2019 In a blog about a year ago (Post #212) entitled “Some May Call It Treason,” I referred to Donald Trump’s cozy relationship with Russia and the possibility that he has…
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…
APB APB: It’s War! 17 May 201917 May 2019 We’re at war, and I don’t mean in the Middle East. I’m referring to the war that the Trump administration, with support from an army of state and local legislators,…
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: The Play’s the Thing 16 Nov 201815 Nov 2018 The murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi is a tragedy, and it is of a piece with the related tragedy of US-Saudi relations. Weeks ago I outlined a play in four…
American Politics and the World… Post #148: Bannon’s Coup 31 Jan 201727 Feb 2017 Stephen K. Bannon, Donald Trump’s chief strategist, has been elevated to the Principals Committee of the National Security Council, the top tier of national-security policymakers.* It is the first…
BLOG… Post #134: Voting Against Peace in Colombia 28 Oct 201627 Feb 2017 Those of us who study how to end wars rather than find new ways to prosecute them must be stunned, like many Colombians, by a popular vote there on October…
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…
BLOG… Post #127: Mission Impossible in the Middle East 1 Sep 201627 Feb 2017 We all know from personal experience how difficult it is to burn the candle at both ends when we’re trying to satisfy two people who are at odds with one…
BLOG… Post #121: Unintended Consequences and the Warfare State 7 Jul 201627 Feb 2017 “The danger is, as ever with these things, unintended consequences.” So wrote Prime Minister Tony Blair to President George W. Bush in 2002, as Bush prepared to invade Iraq (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/07/06/full-text-annotated-tony-blairs-2002-iraq-memo-to-george-bush). …
BLOG… Post #119 – Too Close for Comfort: The Dangerous US-China Maritime Dispute 11 Jun 201627 Feb 2017 The Background Two recent close encounters between US spy planes and Chinese jets spell trouble for relations between Washington and Beijing. The first occurred over the South China Sea…
