Outside the Beltway

A piece at Foreign Policy provides a chance to give some thought to institutions.

A new poll shows that Americans don’t buy into the idea of “American exceptionalism” as much as they used to. That’s a positive development rather than a negative one.

Some surveys suggest that younger Americans are less patriotic than older generations.

If current trends holds, Democratic candidates are going to have a problem turning out voters in November.

Parties do not own voters, and the job of campaigns is to attract voters.

Some questions for the Republicans who would be President about the actions of the last Republican President.

Once again, conservatives demonstrate how little they understand minority voters.

Recent events in Iraq have opened up old domestic political arguments in the United States.

Twenty-five years after his seminal “End of History” article, Francis Fukuyama reflects on its legacy.

It’s sure beginning to look like a civil war in Iraq, albeit a rather one sided one at the moment.

An unknown Tea Party candidate unexpectedly beat the House Leader in today’s GOP primary.

For the fourth time in 30 years, an American President spoke at Normandy to honor a day of sacrifice and triumph.

After two and a half decades, the images of June 4, 1989 resonate with many, unless you happen to live in China.

Yet another autiobiography invites public discussion about her accomplishments.

Does the office of Vice-President serve any useful purpose anymore?

Different name, same result in Egypt.

The Supreme Court, subject to revision.

Diplomatic word games.

Today’s foreign-policy disputes rarely consider the way America’s response to one crisis might affect another.

A prairie populist challenger for Hillary Clinton?

Another civilian government falls in Thailand.

Hubris.

Vladimir Putin wants to put the Internet genie back in the bottle.

The right decision, or the triumph of mob rule?

Open mouth, insert foot.

The economy may be recovering but voters don’t want to hear that, Democratic strategists warn.

New York has joined nine other states and the District of Columbia to vote to for an Electoral College bypass.

Middle East peace talks are apparently in such bad shape that the U.S. is thinking of releasing Jonathan Pollard as an incentive to Israel.

The future may hold a lot of vehement arguing over insignificant bits of territory.

Benjamin Wallace-Wells wonders with some irritation “Why Henry Kissinger Never Goes Away.”

More on the pending referendum and some thoughts on elections in authoritarian contexts.

Why do dictators feel the need to pretend that they have the consent of the people over whom they rule?

The West owes Ukraine nothing.

The bizarre conservative love affair with Vladimir Putin continues.

President Obama is rewarding unqualified hacks who raised huge sums for his campaign with ambassadorships.

The Cold War may be over, but the negative opinions in the U.S. regarding Russia and its leadership seem to have continued.

Polarization is not the cause of our problems.