Bio
Melvin A. Goodman is a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy in Washington, DC, and an adjunct professor of international relations at Johns Hopkins University. His 42-year government career included tours at the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of State, and the Department of Defense’s National War College, where he was a professor of international security. His books on international security include “A Whistleblower at the CIA: The Path of Dissent;” “National Insecurity: The Cost of American Militarism;” “Bush League Diplomacy: How the Neoconservatives are Putting the World at Risk;” “The Wars of Eduard Shevardnadze;” “The Phantom Defense: America’s Pursuit of the Star Wars Illusion;” “The End of Superpower Conflict in the Third World,” and “Gorbachev’s Retreat: The Third World.”
He has written numerous articles and opeds that have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Baltimore Sun, Foreign Policy; Harper’s Magazine; the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists; and the Foreign Service Journal. His TV appearances include the PBS Newshour; the Amy Goodman Show; NBC; and CBS. He has lectured at college campuses all over the country as well as to numerous chapters of the World Affairs Council, the Council on Foreign Relations, and various veteran organizations. In 1991, he testified before the Senate intelligence committee in order to block the confirmation of Robert M. Gates as director of the CIA.
Recent News and Latest Book
A New John Ratcliffe or the Same Old Story?
Ratcliffe was denied a hearing a year ago because he had no national security experience and made false claims in his resume in order to create the impression of experience.If anything, Ratcliffe appears to be more of a loyalist now than he was a year ago. When Senator Tom Cotton (R/AR) argued the specious line from Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that the novel coronavirus could not have originated in a public market, Ratcliffe agreed. When Cotton, the strongest Trump loyalist in the Senate, pressed Ratcliffe to agree that the president is allowed to set intelligence priorities, Ratcliffe signed on.
The Washington Post’s Neocons are Beating Cold War Drums…Again
The Washington Post is particularly supportive of a more militarized national security policy, including a possible confrontation with China. A group of their oped writers, particularly Michael Gerson, David Ignatius, and George Will, argue that the United States needs to increase defense spending to “protect the country from a full range of global disasters.”
