Outside the Beltway

Foolishly, the Palestinians are going forward with their effort to get Palestinian statehood recognized by the United Nations.

NATO is still seen as essential by 62 percent of both EU and U.S. respondents, demonstrating that the transatlantic military bond is still, despite a rough decade, firmly entrenched in American and European views of the world.

A new poll shows that Americans are starting to look East.

The US ambassador to Afghanistan said so in a recent interview, and it’s a stunning statistic if true. But it’s probably not.

Oz provides an excuse for some comparative politics.

Four American soldiers are now on the ground in Libya. Reports have them wearing boots.

The short-lived national unity spawned by the attacks of a decade ago was re-kindled for a few hours as former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush joined with Vice President Joe Biden to honor Flight 93.

Measuring our progress a decade after the 9/11 attacks

A mustachioed German has once again sent the world into panic. This time, it involves euros not tanks.

For a peace envoy, Blair has some nonpeaceful ideas.

If you haven’t experienced the joys of peddling around Germany with 15 of your closest friends while enjoying several liters of Munich’s finest, you’re too late.

Killing’s our business and business is good.

The Western fetish for turning cheap, efficient food into expensive, inefficient fuel is threatening the food supply–as is the European superstition against genetically modified foods.

Steve Clemons highlights former first lady Laura Bush’s continuing work in promoting education and international engagement.

Reports are coming out of Libya that paint the Libyan rebels in a very unkind light.

What are the contours of “mainstream” religious thought in today’s America?

My first piece for CNN has been posted at Fareed Zakaria’s Global Public Square.

The U.S may be on the verge of committing the next decade to the future of Afghanistan.

My latest for The National Interest is posted under the somewhat misleading headline “NATO Fails in Libya.”

Dick Cheney’s long-awaited book’s out and he promises lots of bombshells that will have heads exploding in DC.

Success in Libya does not make the American mission any less unjustified than it was on the day President Obama announced it.

There are 164 technically acceptable transliterations of the name of Libya’s soon-to-be-former dictator.

The Atlantic has published an essay I wrote yesterday morning titled “Libya After Qaddafi: Lessons from Iraq 2003.”

Steve Benen has coined the phrase “Thank America Last” to describe those avoiding praise of President Obama for success in Libya.