Viewing the world from Chicago
Expecting Trump to end the war in Ukraine? Read Michael Bremmer s insightful analysis and think again: Here it is: We are experiencing times of global transition. Where we have been is self-evident. Where the world is headed remains obscure. Some Continue reading The post Dilemmas, by Michael Brenner first appeared on Jack F. Matlock, Jr .
Newspaper headlines and television pundits are screaming that Donald Trump’s election is a threat to “our democracy.” A strange charge following an election when a clear majority of voters chose the winner. Isn’t that consistent with the very definition of Continue reading The post Democracy and the Trump Election first appeared on Jack F. Matlock, Jr .
One death in Russia; tens of thousands in Gaza Continue reading The post The Biden-Stalin Doctrine first appeared on Jack F. Matlock, Jr .
Rummaging through my accumulated papers, I just came across the English translation of a speech I delivered in Czech on July 4, 1982, when I was American ambassador in Prague. At that time Czechoslovakia was ruled by a Communist regime Continue reading The post WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO AMERICA? first appeared on Jack F. Matlock, Jr .
Genocide is a crime—not just a “war crime,” but a crime against humanity. No genuine friend of Israel could support the carpet bombing of Gaza, the order for more than a million Gazans to leave their residences on territory Israel, Continue reading The post “SELF DEFENSE” DOES NOT LICENSE GENOCIDE first appeared on Jack F. Matlock, Jr .
Just before Russia invaded Ukraine, I drafted a comment on the situation which describes some of the events and factors that contributed to the war that has gone on now for nearly eight months. The Russian invasion and the war Continue reading The post Ukraine: Tragedy of a Nation Divided first appeared on Jack F. Matlock, Jr .
Last night, when I was casually browsing in a copy of my Autopsy on an Empire that I had taken off the shelf to give a friend, I ran into the following passage on page 175: Chebrikov’s Xenophobia Throughout 1987 Continue reading The post When Intelligence Organizations Make Policy … first appeared on Jack F. Matlock, Jr .
America “goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy.” (John Quincy Adams) It was long a family tradition to read the Declaration of Independence at breakfast on July 4. We found that an appropriate way to start the day Continue reading The post MUSINGS III … Celebrating July 4 first appeared on Jack F. Matlock, Jr .
Did the U.S. “Intelligence Community” judge that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election? Most commentators seem to think so. Every news report I have read of the planned meeting of Presidents Trump and Putin in July refers to “Russian Continue reading The post Musings II … The “Intelligence Community,” “Russian Interference,” and Due Diligence first appeared on Jack F. Matlock, Jr .
Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad. That saying—often attributed to Euripides, though not found in his extant writings comes to mind most mornings when I bring in the home-delivered New York Times and read the headlines of the Continue reading The post MUSINGS … “RUSSIAGATE” HYSTERIA first appeared on Jack F. Matlock, Jr .