And the winner is … December 16, 2016 by Marvin Ott on Columnists, Marvin Ott, Opinion During the Presidential campaign, Donald Trump repeatedly and loudly asserted that “the election is rigged.” Many of us scoffed at the time, but it turns out he was absolutely right. Consider what we now know to be facts. Hillary Clinton received over 2.8 million more votes than Trump. Some of us still cling to the …
Fidel Castro: unique and flawed December 1, 2016 by Marvin Ott on Columnists, Marvin Ott, Opinion It’s a cliché, but in this case it’s true. The death of Fidel Castro marks the end of an era. That is obvious when it comes to Cuba, itself, and to U.S.-Cuban relations. But it is also true in a broader historical sense. Castro was the last of a very distinctive and (for a while) …
The Russia factor November 30, 2016 by Marvin Ott on Columnists, Marvin Ott, Opinion The presidential election of 2016 is shaping up as the most consequential in several generations. When this whole process started with the first primaries, most observers expected it to shake out as a contest between Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush. If that were the case, this election would be a pretty ordinary affair. But it …
The Battle for Mosul November 30, 2016 by Marvin Ott on Marvin Ott, Opinion The military campaign to retake Iraq’s second largest city from the Islamic State has begun. This a big deal. Mosul is the centerpiece of what the IS claim to be a state and a caliphate. — an entity that holds and governs an expanding territory. Without territory under its control, IS is just another terrorist …
Syria without end November 30, 2016 by Marvin Ott on Columnists, Marvin Ott, Opinion Syria has become a case study of a dark dictum: “No matter how bad things are, they can always get worse — and probably will.” Ten years ago, Syria was a stable, reasonably prosperous Arab country ruled by an autocrat with a modern style. Bashar al-Assad had been educated as an ophthalmologist in Britain. His …
The oil curse September 9, 2016 by Marvin Ott on Columnists, Marvin Ott, Opinion In the 20th century, petroleum (oil and natural gas) emerged as an absolutely vital component of any modern economy. You simply can’t run a modern transportation system (vehicles, ships, planes) without it — not to mention power plants and petrochemicals (plastics). Those countries that by accident of geography were sitting on large petroleum deposits were …
Decoding China August 12, 2016 by Marvin Ott on Columnists, Marvin Ott, Opinion From the earliest times world history has been shaped by contests for primacy between and among the great powers of the era — from Carthage and Rome to England, Prussia, and France to the United States and the Soviet Union. It is increasingly clear that the international politics of this century will be characterized by …
Coping with terror July 29, 2016 by Marvin Ott on Columnists, Marvin Ott, Opinion It has gotten to the point where we almost expect the world news to include yet another mass casualty attack — terrorism, if you like — against innocent populations somewhere. The awful roll call of recent days/weeks has included Orlando, Dhaka, Nice, Kabul, Munich and Ansbach. The hard reality is that such atrocities will continue, …
NATO 2.0 July 15, 2016 by Marvin Ott on Columnists, Marvin Ott, Opinion If you are working at North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Headquarters in Brussels, these are heady and daunting times. If you are Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, NATO’s military commander, your adrenaline is up, there is urgency in your step, but you may not be getting much sleep. Last week, the 28-member grouping convened for a biennial …
Brexit aftershocks July 1, 2016 by Marvin Ott on Columnists, Marvin Ott, Opinion The victory of the Brexit campaign in Britain’s referendum on European Union (EU) membership is at once understandable and deplorable. It’s understandable because many in Britain, as in the United States, are feeling the pressures of a fast changing, increasingly globalized world — and they don’t like it. Once familiar and comfortable economic and cultural …
