Articles by Mel Gurtov
We found 18 results.
The Middle East Peace Process: A Cruel Joke
Mel Gurtov | PeaceVoice – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 Feb 2018
1 Feb 2018 – As of now, there is no honest broker and there is no peace process—facts that prolong the Israeli Occupation and further undermine Palestinian hopes for internationally recognized statehood and a better life.
→ read full articleEchoes of Reagan: Another Nuclear Buildup
Mel Gurtov | PeaceVoice – TRANSCEND Media Service,
4 Sep 2017
Thirty years ago Americans endured an absurd expansion of the US nuclear-weapon force under President Reagan. The announced weapons modernization program was accompanied by a crazy talk from his advisers about the potential to fight and win a nuclear war. So here we are evidently back to the future as the Trump administration forges ahead with nuclear “modernization,” without a set strategy for the weapons but with billions of dollars to burn.
→ read full articleMad About THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense): An Untimely Decision
Mel Gurtov | PeaceVoice – TRANSCEND Media Service,
13 Mar 2017
8 Mar 2017 – The US decision, supported by the South Korean government, to deploy an antimissile system known as THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) may be one of the most thoughtless strategic moves in a generation. The official US argument is that close-in defense against North Korean missiles is necessary. But the deployment has resulted in the following:
→ read full articleWhile Our Attention Is Elsewhere, Climate Change Worsens
Mel Gurtov | PeaceVoice – TRANSCEND Media Sevice,
6 Mar 2017
The news of actual events—hurricanes, floods, drought, sharp temperature changes, and other distortions in weather patterns in the US and around the world—typically are being crowded out by Trump’s tantrums, fake news, and conflicts of interest. For the strong of heart, here are some important developments affecting climate change over the past several months that you may have missed.
→ read full articleFood Politics: The GMO Conspiracy
Mel Gurtov | PeaceVoice – TRANSCEND Media Service,
5 Dec 2016
One of the longest-standing tricks of corporations is to produce an item that is dangerous, breakable, or soon to be obsolete and then produce another that will supposedly remedy the defect. That is what is happening with GMO-laden crops: As they become resistant to Roundup and other toxins designed to keep them bug- or disease-free, the producers—such as Monsanto and Syngenta—come up with new herbicides for the farmer to apply.
→ read full articleOur Deteriorating Environment: Is Anybody Listening?
Mel Gurtov | PeaceVoice – TRANSCEND Media Service,
8 Aug 2016
6 Aug 2016 – While the scientists have been doing their job in calling attention to the multiple ways in which environmental decline threatens the planet, we hear less and less from political leaders. Their focus is on the here-and-now—terrorism, jobs, immigration—and not on commitments to the future. Last year’s Paris Agreement on climate change seems like a distant memory.
→ read full articleChina’s Bad Day in Court
Mel Gurtov | PeaceVoice – TRANSCEND Media Service,
18 Jul 2016
Perhaps in the South China Sea case China and the Philippines, now under a new president, will find their way back to the negotiating table and work out a deal that skirts the always-difficult sovereignty issue. That would be fine; but it would not address the fundamental problem of how law-abiding behavior can be promoted and enforced in an often anarchic world.
→ read full articleUnintended Consequences and the Warfare State
Mel Gurtov | PeaceVoice – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Jul 2016
As the Chilcot Commission has just concluded after a seven-year long investigation of British policy, bad judgment was multiplied by hubris, a deeply flawed decision-making process, and an unquestioned faith in the ability of military power to resolve political and economic problems…. At bottom the arrogance of power is the enemy, and the Chilcot Report provides no antidote for it.
→ read full articleNorth Korea’s New Weapons: Full Speed Ahead
Mel Gurtov | PeaceVoice – TRANSCEND Media Service,
9 May 2016
The best and only chance of dissuading Kim Jong-un from continuing on the path of weapons modernization, which is both dangerous and ruinous in terms of human development, is to put before him a package of alternative incentives— a peace treaty to end the Korean War, security guarantees, sustainable energy options, and meaningful economic aid.
→ read full articleSanctions and Defiance in North Korea
Mel Gurtov, PeaceVoice – TRANSCEND Media Service,
2 May 2016
When all is said and done, the most likely scenario is that the new round of sanctions will produce no better results than previous rounds. This is so not only because North Korea has many ways to procure items needed for its military purposes, and plenty of willing private sellers.
→ read full articleThe Panama Papers and the 1%
Mel Gurtov, PeaceVoice – TRANSCEND Media Service,
18 Apr 2016
Global companies do not simply “go abroad”; they shift capital, as well as labor and technology, to wherever the advantages are greatest. This reality of globalization is well known, and it is matched by the similar behavior of powerful, wealthy individuals, including present and former top government officials who find tax shelters abroad where their money is completely hidden from public view. It’s what the One Percent do.
→ read full articleNuclear Insecurity
Mel Gurtov, PeaceVoice – TRANSCEND Media Service,
11 Apr 2016
Mel Gurtov has been a nuclear analyst since his early days for the RAND corporation when he and Daniel Ellsberg worked together. Dr. Gurtov’s expertise–and anyone who studies these issues in depth–was affronted by President Obama’s patently false claims in his recent op-ed message in the Washington Post.
→ read full articleChina: Broken Rice Bowls, Stifled Voices
Mel Gurtov, PeaceVoice – TRANSCEND Media Service,
28 Mar 2016
China, no different from any other large country, has a multitude of domestic problems, but those two are especially worrisome in that they have the potential for significant unrest. And for the Chinese leadership, social instability always raises red flags.
→ read full articleDark Spots, Light Spots, and Apple’s Protest
Mel Gurtov, PeaceVoice – TRANSCEND Media Service,
29 Feb 2016
By their logic, 1984 is finally here, and embedding security (i.e., surveillance) chips in toothbrushes, children’s toys, and everywhere else The Enemy might lurk is both necessary and proper. You’d better consider flossing regularly and having your kids play with sticks and stones. Barbie is watching, and even Tim Cook can’t stop her.
→ read full articleDeadlock: North Korea’s Nuclear Test and US Policy
Mel Gurtov, PeaceVoice – TRANSCEND Media Service,
8 Feb 2016
Serious engagement with North Korea remains the only realistic policy option for the United States and its allies. To be effective, however, engagement must be undertaken strategically—as a calculated use of incentives with expectation of mutual rewards, namely in security and peace. And it should be undertaken in a spirit of mutual respect and with due regard for sensitivity in language and action.
→ read full articleArming Dictators: An American Tradition
Mel Gurtov, Peace Voice – TRANSCEND Media Service,
16 Nov 2015
10 Nov 2015 – Recently the Obama administration announced another military aid package for Pakistan: eight F-16 fighter jets. Once again considerations of human rights and democratic values have been sacrificed to strategic calculations.
→ read full articleManipulating Reality: Facebook Is Listening to You
Mel Gurtov, Peace Voice – TRANSCEND Media Service,
12 Oct 2015
We have become all too used to our reality being manipulated. Invading another country is defensive, rigged elections are democracy in action, more guns (or nuclear weapons) ensure the peace, trade and foreign investment increase jobs at home. Orwellian logic has become commonplace.
→ read full articleRethinking Syria
Mel Gurtov, Peace Voice – TRANSCEND Media Service,
14 Sep 2015
The current U.S. policy of simultaneously seeking to overthrow Assad and push back ISIS is simply unworkable.
→ read full article