Outside the Beltway

The bad guys are having a bad week.

Thinking out loud, as one does.

His former National Security Advisor is not impressed.

Two related questions.

The perils of speaking loudly while carrying a small stick.

A man made famous for discovering Iraq’s WMD program was virtually nonexistent is gone at 82.

The Russian leader is very unlikely to be hauled before the Hague.

The most likely outcome is not a happy one.

Strikes near the Polish border show the real possibility of escalation.

Whether dupes or active participants, the damage is real (and points us back to 2016).

The first shoe has dropped.

The United States and its NATO allies are in a dangerous standoff.

The Vietnam War hero and one-term Georgia Senator has died at 79.

A blast from the past.

He was both the youngest and oldest man to run the Pentagon.

The fecklessness of U.S. human rights policy in full display.

Some informed speculation.

President Trump says that he would not spy on a rival regime like North Korea, once again making one wonder where his loyalties lie.

While he campaigned on a message of restraint, Donald Trump has largely adopted the interventionist foreign policies of his predecessors.

The Trump Administration still doesn’t have realistic goals for its negotiations with North Korea.

George H.W. Bush,, who served his nation as a warrior, Congressman, Ambassador, Vice-President, and President, has died at the age of 94.

One hundred years after the end of World War One, the forces that led to it are waking up from a long slumber.

Kofi Annan, who served as Secretary-General of the United Nations at the dawn of the “War On Terror,” has died at the age of 80.

Senator Corker provided a pretty damning run-down last week.

The Trump Administration is inviting Vladimir Putin to Washington, D.C. for a second summit in the fall. What could possibly go wrong?

Echoing the Obama Administration, the Trump Administration is arguing that it did not need Congressional authorization to attack Syria earlier this year.

Not surprisingly, Mike Pompeo was confirmed as America’s 70th Secretary of State today. Now, the hard work begins.

The Supreme Court heard oral argument in the challenge to President Trump’s Muslim Travel Ban. It didn’t appear to go well for the challengers.

President Trump undercut his own Ambassador to the United Nations today by blocking the imposition of new sanctions on Russia.

In the wake of the latest attack on Syria, some of the President’s strongest supporters seem shocked to discover that the unprincipled egomaniac they supported is, in fact, an unprincipled egomaniac.

There is no obvious strategy and even the expressed rationale makes no sense.

The United States can’t do any good in Syria, but we can do a lot of bad.

Hang on, the ride on the Trump Train is about to get a lot bumpier.

Without Congressional authorization, any attack on Syria would be illegal, but don’t expect Congress to do anything about it.

Once again, President Trump’s foreign policy tweeting is causing problems.

President Trump took to Twitter this morning and decided poke a stick in the eye of the Russian bear.

The United States has several options in Syria. None of them are good and one of them would be disastrous.

For every Trump tweet, there is literally something that says exactly the opposite.

A response to one of the most deadly chemical attacks in the Syrian civil war has come, probably from Israel. What’s next?

Just about a year after President Trump attacked Syria over the use of chemical weapons, the Assad regime has again used chemical weapons. There’s not much we can do about, nor should we.

Not unexpectedly, Russia has retaliated for Great Britain’s retaliation for Russia’s apparent assassination attempt on British history.

Theresa May has expelled 23 Russian diplomats and convened the North Atlantic Council.

The British prime minister and outgoing US Secretary of State declared a red line crossed. There’s no reason to think this White House will follow through.

President Trump continues to make irresponsible and dangerous threats in connection with American policy toward North Korea.

Continuing a long-standard tradition, the Trump Administration claims it doesn’t need to get legal authorization to keep American troops in Syria.

On North Korea, there are two options, deterrence and war. And only one of those options makes sense.

“Why the hell would we do that?” — White House official.

North Korea is threatening another nuclear test, the United States is threatening retaliation, and China is warning of a ‘gathering storm’ on the Korean Peninsula.

It’s been a bad week for U.S.-Russian relations.

Has China finally had enough of North Korea?