Published on by Gary Grappo
Published first at Fair Observer on June 9, 2018
The US is abandoning one of the G7’s founding principles: free trade. How could that be? Most normal people have an aversion to war. It brings on death, suffering, destruction and incalculable loss. We avoid it usually by diplomacy and negotiation in which all sides manage to get something while also giving something up. Trade […]
Published on by Gary Grappo
Published first at The Cipher Brief on May 25, 2018
A revised and improved “Cuba model” for denuclearizing North Korea might have gotten a more receptive ear from Pyongyang than US National Security Adviser John Bolton’s dead-on-arrival “Libya model.” Yesterday, President Trump called off his summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un. The reason, according to a White House statement, was “tremendous anger and open hostility” […]
Published on by Gary Grappo
Published first at Fair Observer on May 17, 2018
All too predictable violence has again broken out between the Israelis and Palestinians, but this time with no mediator and, therefore, no possible good end for either side. Their conflict is so familiar, so predictable. The Book of Ecclesiastes sums it up prophetically: “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and […]
Published on by Gary Grappo
Published first at The World Weekly (by Manuel Langendorf) on May 18, 2018
In a surprising result, infamous Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s coalition came out on top in the Iraqi elections. Despite the firebrand politician’s rocky relationship with the US, al-Sadr’s win presents a “policy opportunity for the US,” according to former US Ambassador Gary Grappo. A group of Iraqis celebrated in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square earlier this week, […]
Published on by Gary Grappo
Published first at Fair Observer on May 10, 2018
In assessing the American withdrawal from the Iran nuclear accord, all parties would be well advised to heed the well-known physicians’ Hippocratic oath: do no harm, or in this case, no further harm. On May 8, US President Donald Trump announced America’s long-anticipated withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), concluded under his predecessor, […]