Outside the Beltway

Thoughts on the Scottish referendum (and on the issue of thresholds and decision-making).

Despite the President’s assurances of an international coalition, the rest of the world doesn’t seem all that interested in joining the fight.

The Global War on Terror isn’t over after all.

If the President is going to increase American involvement in the Middle East, he needs to address some fundamental questions first.

Bestiality and prostitution are legal in Denmark. And not just separately.

Is the West next in ISIS’s crosshairs?

A major escalation.

Alabamians like to exclaim, “Thank God for Mississippi.” Perhaps it’s time for that slogan to cross the Pond.

Dispelling a rising myth,

The United States is, in fact, doing the exact opposite.

The rebels in eastern Ukraine continue to suffer setbacks, and Russia is massing troops on the border again.

Iraq’s problems cannot be fixed by the United States.

President Obama doesn’t seem to have any idea what he wants to do in Iraq.

End game? Or the potential spark of a wider war?

Institutional reform does take place in other democracies.

The war in Gaza seems to be winding down, but the underlying issues remain.

Some words from the past, apparently uttered mere hours before the world changed forever.

A glimmer of hope in Gaza is quickly snuffed out.

Scottish independence may be more likely than many think.

The Israeli public if overwhelmingly behind the war in Gaza, and that means it will probably continue for awhile.

The U.S. and Europe have announced a new round of sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine crisis, but it’s not clear that the Russians will be motivated to change course.

Republicans are dismissing talk of impeachment as a Democratic fundraising ploy, but it may be they are protesting just a bit too much.

A new poll shows that Americans are divided over Israel’s actions in Gaza, but this most likely will not impact relations between the two countries.

History matters.

Hopes for a temporary respite in the Gaza conflict faded away today.

Relying on the policies of a man who was President in a very different time is not a substitute for a rational foreign policy.