Outside the Beltway

Julian Assange is a loathsome human being. Is he also a rapist? Under Swedish law, maybe.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was arrested Tuesday in London on a Swedish warrant.

The long awaited new strategic concept, launching what has been termed “NATO 3.0,” has been published under the banner “Active Engagement, Modern Defense.”

Once again, Angela Merkel has held her ground and forced the other EU leaders to accommodate Germany’s policy concerns. This time, it’s a set of amendments to the Lisbon Treaty to deal with sovereign debt emergencies.

Police in Turkey have arrested 12 people suspected of links to Islamist militant network al-Qaeda in Istanbul and Van province.

World Politics Review has published a special issue on “NATO’s Identity Crisis” ahead of next month’s Lisbon summit and the unveiling of a new Strategic Concept. I contributed the lead essay, “NATO in an Age of Austerity.”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel declare multiculturalism in Germany to be a “failure.” Proof that anti-immigration activists in the United States are correct, right?

Venezuela have reached a series of agreement on energy. Should the US be concerned?

The State Department’s terrorism threat warning for Europe is probably meaningless. If it isn’t, it’ll be perceived that way.

Yesterday’s NATO Beyond Afghanistan conference was a depressing day for fans of the most successful military alliance in history.

Apparently, riding in a gilded carriage with footmen does not preclude one from seeking welfare funds in the United Kingdom.

Turkey reformed its constitution over the weekend, in what Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan promised “will go down in history as a turning point in Turkish democracy.” But there’s strong disagreement over which way it’s headed.

Lost amidst the welcome news of British-French cooperation on military cost-sharing in some tough talk from their ministers of defense on NATO.

Responding the near-collapse of the Greek economy, forestalled only by a massive bailout from their brethren, the EU’s finance ministers agreed this morning to submit the outlines of their budget plans for approval by the European Commission.

If you think anti-Muslim sentiment in the United States is running high, a look across the Pond will put things in perspective.

What do the critics mean when they say that the United States should be more like Germany?

German government payments compensating hunters for lost income due to radioactive boar have quadrupled since 2007.

The world would undoubtedly be a better place if Islamic fundamentalism reached even 19^th century Western notions of individualism and gender equality. But cultures evolve over decades, and bans on their practices are not useful means of promoting positive change within them.

84 of 91 European banks passed their stress tests. How will investors react?

Feldpost für unsere Soldaten is a campaign recognizing the sacrifices of German soldiers fighting in Afghanistan.

My latest for The National Interest, arguing that the talk of crisis in Europe is overblown, is up. Naturally, they’ve titled it “Crisis in the EU.”

It turns out that Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi isn’t dying after all, at least not any faster than any other human being.

Israel and Turkey held secret, informal talks recently. This is interesting, given the recent flotilla incident. What is more interesting is that the Israeli Foreign Minister learned of the event via the press.

Contrary to popular belief, Adolf Hitler didn’t come to power by democratic means or because of his ability to whip the public into a frenzy.

A comedian’s farcical run for mayor of Reykjavik ended in victory. It’s as if Stephen Colbert’s 2008 presidential bid had worked. Or Al Franken got elected to the Senate!

The European drive — led by Germany, naturally — to tighten spending to get their fiscal house in order and the Obama administration’s insistence on Keynesian stimulus will make for tense negotiations at the G20 Summit.