The Global Citizen

Pegasus spyware, developed by an Israeli company, has penetrated the smart phones of thousands of activists, journalists, and political leaders. Some 50,000 names have so far been uncovered, including current government officials around the world. The Pegasus case shows that neither the producers nor the users of surveillance technology can be trusted to prevent criminal abuses.

Episode 12 examines influence peddling in Washington: the lobbying firms and the people who pay huge sums for access to policy makers. It's a pernicious business that undermines democratic policy making. I look at three areas of lobbying: social media, voting rights, and foreign policy. The written version of this podcast, with sources, can be found at Mel's blog at melgurtov.com.

This is an interview July 23 with Prof. James N. Green, the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes Professor of Latin American History at Brown University. He's an expert on Brazil where, under the rightwing government of Jair Bolsonaro, over a half million people have died from the pandemic, democracy has been set back, and the Amazon rainforest and its indigenous people have suffered immensely. Jim Green has written and co-edited 11 books on Brazil and Latin America in English and six in Portuguese. He is the National Co-coordinator of the U.S. Network for Democracy in Brazil, a decentralized, democratic, and non-partisan network of Brazilian and U.S. friends of Brazil living in the United States that mobilizes public opinion against the policies of the Bolsonaro government.

Foreign meddling in Haiti's latest political crisis is the last thing the Haitian people need. Nor is immediate elections for a new president a useful answer to a population with a multitude of human security problems. There are civil society groups with a grassroots agenda that should be consulted and relied upon to address Haitians' real needs while sidelining self-interested politicians.

This 9th podcast critically examines presidential authority to use force, an authority that has consistently been granted by Congress. Recent Authorizations to Use Military Force (AUMF) have provided blank checks for warfare, whereas the 1993 War Powers Bill has been systematically ignored or slighted. Thus both Congress and presidents are responsible for an abuse of power, and only a redefinition of US national security, with emphasis on diplomacy over use of force, can remedy the situation.

I examine the new global threat posed by "modernization" of nuclear weapons arsenals in the US, Russia, and China. What the major nuclear-weapon states should be doing is further reducing nuclear weapons and delivery systems, and signing the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Other commentaries on nuclear-weapon issues can be found at Mel's blog at melgurtov.com.

The Biden administration is on the verge of delivering on the promise to restore the nuclear deal with Iran. To clinch the deal, however, he will have to overcome resistance not only from Republicans but also from Israel and Saudi Arabia. Time is of the essence because of Iran's election of a hard-line president. Most important is that Biden follow through on removing sanctions on Iran and testing its continued compliance with the nuclear deal.

In this sixth Podserve episode of Global Citizen, Dr. Gurtov critiques the Pentagon's untouchable, always rising budget. Money desperately needed for the economy and society is going to redundant strategic weapons that have little relationship to threats to national security such as climate change and pandemics. Gurtov identifies 8 points every administration uses in its narrative justifying excessive military spending.

This episode draws attention to the very real threat to democracy posed by the far-right Republican leadership. Voting rights, so central to democratic governance, are in grave danger in much of the country. I argue for Pres. Biden doing whatever it takes to pass voting rights legislation. Failure to do so would not only undermine US foreign policy priorities; it could well mean democracy's demise in short order.

Taiwan has returned as a central issue in contention between the US and China. Biden is continuing the Trump policy of upgrading relations with Taiwan, while China is sometimes encroaching on Taiwan's air and naval space. The longstanding US policy of "strategic ambiguity" over Taiwan is dangerously eroding. Recalling a previous crisis in the Taiwan Strait in 1958 that nearly led to US use of nuclear weapons, this podcast urges increase US-China contact to avoid what happened then: a misreading by both sides of the other's intentions.