Outside the Beltway

Pakistan is trying to explain how the world’s most wanted man was able to hide in plain sight for six years, and failing badly.

Santorum has an interesting theory about the decline of great powers.

Congress is coming back to Washington and gas prices continue to rise. Expect a lot of demagoguery, but very little in the way of solutions.

President Obama is suffering in the polls because of high gas prices, but is there really anything he can do about them?

Francis Fukuyama: “In the developed world, we take the existence of government so much for granted that we sometimes forget how difficult it was to create.”

Prejudice and negative attitudes towards obese individuals is becoming a global norm, not just an American phenomenon.

America is about to enter a third war in the Muslim world with no clear idea of the end game.

The Obama Administration is asking the U.N. Security Council to authorize direct military intervention in Libya. The question is, why now?

We’ve been hearing about peak oil for years. But now some experts are warning of an even more serious crisis: Peak coffee.

We’re heading towards a future of higher food prices and more hunger.

Scientists have discovered that the Internet could be a useful collaborate tool.

As gas and oil prices rise, the pressure is increasing to tap into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. It’s a dumb idea.

Global poverty has plummeted in recent years.

There are a number of signs coming out of Libya that indicate the regime is in serious trouble despite the willingness of the state to use violence on the crowds.

European subsidies have given Airbus a competitive advantage over America’s Boeing in commercial aircraft salesboein. The reverse is true on military aircraft.

How rich is the United States? Our poor are richer than the richest in India.

What happened to the 15 million jobs that were supposed to be created in the past 10 years but weren’t?

A capsule look at the world situation as 2010 draws to a close.

Sarah Palin waded into the foreign policy pool today with a piece about Iran, and it was about as empty as most of the other ideas on Iran that we’ve heard over the last six years or so from everyone else.

Despite recurring predictions that the Internet and mass communications would allow people to work from anywhere, talent continues to cluster in big cities.

The latest wrong of documents from Wikileaks show that American diplomats are as worried about Pakistan as the rest of us, and not quite sure how to deal with the situation.

North Korea has unveiled to the world a new nuclear processing facility that puts back on the table the question of just what we should, or can, do about the fact that a rogue state possesses nuclear weapons and wants to build more.

The latest story being repeated by the conservative talking heads is the claim that President Obama will be spending $ 200 million per day on his upcoming overseas trip. The problem is that it’s not true.

President Obama is reportedly avoiding a visit to India’s Harmandir Sahib, or Golden Temple, for fear that he’ll be accused of being a Muslim.

Should the UN expand the number of permanent Security Council members?

Would non-violence really have failed against the Nazis? History suggests maybe not….

Western athletes who’ve complained about the conditions at the Commonwealth Games are coming in for a firestorm of criticism.

Paul Krugman says there’s zero evidence for structural causes for unemployment. It’s just a demand problem. How do we spark demand, then?

Is there a quiet cyberwar going on and we are just starting to notice it?

We need global cooperation to deal with a growing variety of serious problems. But we can’t even agree amongst ourselves on policy options.

Newt Gingrich is feeding the fires again, this time claiming that the President may be guided by a “Kenyan,” “anti-colonialist” worldview.

Ted Koppel thinks our actions since 9/11 have helped Osama bin Laden fulfill his goals. He couldn’t be more wrong.

According to Paul Krugman’s latest column, the massive destruction of World War Two was actually good for the U.S. economy. Sadly, there are people who consider him an expert.

Four news items and articles about China that have caught my eye.

The United States has promised $150 million in aid to flood-ravaged Pakistan. Should we have?

Mutated bacteria spreading in India could mark the end of effective antibiotic drugs. The medical repercussions would be enormous.

Despite 9.5% unemployment, American firms are struggling to find qualified applicants for job openings.